Isabel Debre

Jewish and Arab attendees celebrate the opening of the Israeli pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Thursday, October 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

October 7, 2021, 10:55 pm

Israel opens its pavilion with big bash at Dubai’s Expo 2020

Flasy videos promote Israeli tech and sights, as Hebrew music plays and balloons fly — amid high security

By Isabel Debre

Women walk through Syria's pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, October 2, 2021. (Jon Gambrell/AP)

October 4, 2021, 12:33 pm

At Dubai Expo, infomercial-like pavilions can’t quite gloss over world problems

Over 190 countries are participating in multi-billion dollar extravaganza where war, famine, and political and economic turmoil are kept out of sight

By Isabel Debre

Qatar's Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, center left, awaits a posed photo op with Emirati Energy and Infrastructure Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei, center right, during the Gastech 2021 conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, September 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

September 21, 2021, 4:54 pm

UAE welcomes regional rivals at major natural gas conference

Energy officials from Qatar and Turkey in Dubai for world’s largest gas expo and industry’s first in-person conference since pandemic began

By Isabel Debre

The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Eslami (center) speaks during a joint press briefing with Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Mariano Grossi (second right) in Tehran, Iran, on Sunday, September 12, 2021. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran via AP)

September 16, 2021, 7:31 pm

Iran’s nuclear chief admits removing damaged IAEA monitoring cameras

Mohammad Eslami also says he’s heading to Vienna next week for talks with UN nuclear watchdog

By Nasser Karimi and Isabel Debre

A presenter walks off stage at an event announcing new economic programs in the United Arab Emirates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, September 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

September 5, 2021, 3:08 pm

UAE rolls out plan to invest in economy, liberalize laws

Nation’s plan to lure foreign talent reflects an emerging contrast with other sheikhdoms of the Gulf, which are growing increasingly protectionist

By Isabel Debre

In this August 22, 2019, photo, Saudi passengers enter the departure terminal of Abha airport, in southwestern Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

August 31, 2021, 3:19 pm

Bomb-laden drone targets Saudi airport, wounding 8, says state TV

The attack is the second such strike on Abha airport in country’s southwest in the last 24 hours

By Isabel Debre

Ali Hedieloo takes a photo of his product to post on social media at his furniture workshop in the southern suburbs of Tehran, Iran, July 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

August 4, 2021, 7:24 pm

New legislation in Iran stokes fears of even further restricted internet

Tehran moved last week toward further government control of Instagram and other apps with draft bill that some worry could wipe out their livelihoods

By MEHDI FATTAHI and Isabel Debre

A fireball is seen after an explosion at the Jebel Ali port in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, July 7, 2021. (Screen capture/Twitter)

July 7, 2021, 11:50 pm

Fire erupts on ship at Dubai port, causing large explosion

Tremors felt across UAE commercial hub from blast, which sends fireball into the sky; no immediate reports of casualties or extent of damage

By Isabel Debre and Aya Batrawy

In this August 21, 2005 file photo, former Iranian Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi listens to a speech during a session of parliament in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

July 1, 2021, 3:39 pm

Iran’s supreme leader appoints new hardline judiciary chief

Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi to take the reins from Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s new president-elect

By Isabel Debre

Iranian warships are seen in the Atlantic Ocean, in a photo released on June 10, 2021. (Iranian Army via AP)

June 10, 2021, 8:20 pm

Iran warships sail through Atlantic, said heading for US-sanctioned Venezuela

Vessels departed in May from Iran’s southern port, says deputy army chief, describing their mission as navy’s longest, most challenging voyage yet

By Isabel Debre and Jon Gambrell

Senator Chris Coons of Delaware talks to the journalists during a press briefing in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on May 3, 2021. (AP/Kamran Jebreili)

May 3, 2021, 7:33 pm

US officials in Gulf to reassure jittery allies over effort to rejoin Iran deal

Biden administration envoys and US senators say they plan to consult, engage with Mideast allies, as indirect talks in Vienna over nuclear program progress

By Isabel Debre

File: Seagulls fly over the Red Sea port city of Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 11, 2019 (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

April 27, 2021, 3:22 pm

Saudi Arabia says it destroyed explosives-laden attack boat targeting port

Private security firms suggest commercial maritime traffic may have been hit in assault on remote-controlled, ‘booby-trapped’ vessel

By Jon Gambrell and Isabel Debre

A member of the Muslim Brotherhood waves his hand from a defendants cage in a courtroom in Torah prison, southern Cairo, Egypt, August 22, 2015. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)

April 21, 2021, 8:20 am

Iran, Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia top 2020 global executioners list

Amnesty says while numbers dropped due to pandemic, Middle East figures show region is ‘truly out of sync with the rest of the world’; China executes thousands, but classifies info

By Isabel Debre

An undated promotional handout still from the Iranian state TV series, 'Gando,' shows actor Payam Dehkordi, center, who plays a character apparently based on Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, among other actors. (Mohammad Bagheri/TV series, 'Gando,' via AP)

April 4, 2021, 5:06 pm

Iranians say TV spy thriller partially censored by regime

Hardliners and other fans of ‘Gando,’ which valorizes Revolutionary Guards and criticizes diplomats, accuse the government of pulling the 2nd season off the air prematurely

By Isabel Debre and Amir Vahdat

The Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo ship, is pulled by one of the Suez Canal tugboats, in the Suez Canal, Egypt, March 29, 2021. (Suez Canal Authority via AP)

March 29, 2021, 4:57 pm

Ever Given finally set free in Suez, with tugboats helped by high tide

Giant cargo ship that has been blocking traffic in vital waterway wrenched clear after nearly a week, canal service provider says

By Isabel Debre and Samy Magdy