These are some of the headlines we are tracking for you in this episode of On the News Line:
Saudi war on Yemen
The ongoing war by Saudi Arabia and its allies on Yemen has clearly brought the role of the United Nations under question. Criticisms are growing that the UN is no longer a relevant organization when it comes to the situation in Yemen where the war has left thousands dead and a nation devastated. The UN is also facing criticisms for removing Saudi Arabia from a blacklist of countries facing allegations of rights violations.
Israel’s attacks against Palestinians
Over the days leading to International Quds Day, the Israelis intensified violence against the Palestinians. They specifically stepped up arresting Palestinians in al-Quds (Jerusalem) as well as the West Bank. This came following three days of sporadic clashes fueled by provocative visits by Israeli settlers to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. The rise in violence by the Israelis against the Palestinians comes at a time when diplomatic efforts to resolve tensions between them have effectively failed.
Iran remembers US downing of airliner
Iran remembers the shooting down of its passenger plane by a US Navy ship called the Vincennes in the Persian Gulf. The incident on July 3, 1988, killed all 290 people on board. The US claims the Vincennes fired two surface-to-air missiles at the aircraft because it mistook the Airbus A300 civilian airliner for a much smaller and faster F14 fighter jet. The horrible incident’s effects have lingered to date in Iran. What matters for Iran is that the downing of the passenger plane by the US happened at a time Iran was engaged in what it known in the country as the eight-year Iraqi imposed war.