Xinhua Middle East news summary at 2200 GMT, Feb. 16


  • World
  • Friday, 17 Feb 2023

TEHRAN -- Iranian foreign minister on Thursday denied the U.S. claims that an al-Qaeda leader is "based in Iran," slamming such allegations as a "failed Iranophobia game."

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in a Twitter post, in response to the U.S. State Department's claim on Wednesday that it "aligned with the assessments that al-Qaeda leader Seif al-Adel is based in Iran." (Iran-Iranophobia-Dismissal)

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ISTANBUL -- Two Chinese search and rescue teams departed Türkiye Thursday as their mission to save earthquake survivors came to a close.

Footage from local media showed an 11-member team and a 60-member team greeted by officials from the Turkish Foreign Ministry before their departure. (Türkiye-Chinese Rescue Teams-Departure)

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BEIRUT -- Lebanese caretaker Economy Minister Amin Salam on Thursday announced that supermarkets in Lebanon will price items in U.S. dollars starting Feb. 22. amid the unprecedented collapse of the local currency, the National News Agency reported.

"We cannot change the prices of 38,000 products daily in supermarkets with every change in the U.S. dollar exchange rate," Salam said at a press conference, adding that customers can pay in Lebanese pounds according to the daily exchange rate of the U.S. dollar. (Lebanon-Supermakets Pricing-USD)

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ANKARA -- Turkish Foreign Minister reiterated Thursday that his country can evaluate Finland and Sweden's bids to join NATO separately.

"We could evaluate Finland's NATO membership process separately from Sweden," Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the Turkish capital of Ankara. (Türkiye-NATO-Finland-Sweden)

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