Iran

Iran showed off at least 16 drone types, one of which it said was the world's longest-range, as President Ebrahim Raisi urged regional cooperation against the American military presence in the Persian Gulf. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday warned Iran at the United Nations of a "nuclear threat" in what his office quickly walked back as a slip of the tongue.The hawkish prime minister said that alarm over Tehran's clerical leaders was driving Israel closer to the Arab world, with his government on the "cusp" of a historic breakthrough with Saudi Arabia.Netanyahu, who has repeatedly used the UN stage to issue dark warnings about Tehran, briefly gave pause at the General Assembly when he appeared to threaten nuclear attack if Tehran pursues its own atomic bomb.

Iran says it has received thousands of Achaemenid-era clay tablets from the United States in the fifth such instalment, following a drawn-out legal effort to repatriate the antiquities."After the two-year follow-up of the government... the Achaemenid tablets confiscated by the American government were returned to the country," said a statement posted on Iran's presidency website late Thursday.The 3,506 tablets were repatriated on the plane that also brought home the Iranian delegation from New York after it attended the United Nations General Assembly.

Majed Al-Ansari, an adviser to the Qatari prime minister, details the behind-the-scenes diplomacy that led to the prisoner deal, and why Doha believes there now exists a “platform for dialogue” between Iran and the United States.

Saudi leader Mohammed bin Salman said that a normalization deal with Israel is getting "closer" as the negotiations continue on a Saudi civilian nuclear program.

Saudi Arabia and Israel voiced optimism Wednesday that they were moving closer to a historic normalization of ties as Iran -- their common foe -- accused the kingdom of betraying the Palestinians through the US-led effort.US President Joe Biden is hoping to transform the Middle East -- and score an election-year diplomatic victory -- by securing recognition of the Jewish state by Saudi Arabia, the guardian of Islam's two holiest sites.