CAIRO (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi discussed rising tensions in the region with Egyptian officials Thursday in Cairo during the first such visit by a top Iranian official to the North African nation in around a decade.
Araghchi held talks with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi focusing on efforts to deescalate Israel's conflicts against Gaza and Lebanon.
El-Sissi reiterated calls to end Israel’s war in Gaza to prevent it from expanding into a regional conflict. An expanded war would have serious repercussions for the security and capabilities of all nations in the region, he added.
The Egyptian president also called for an end to the escalation in Lebanon, the violations in the West Bank, and to ensure the delivery of much needed humanitarian aid.
Araghchi’s visit to Egypt is part of a wider diplomatic tour in the region meant to ease tensions. This month he met with officials in Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, Oman, and Iraq, and is expected to head to Turkey after concluding talks in Egypt.
The diplomatic effort by the top Iranian official comes as the region is anticipating an offensive by Israel in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attackson Israel on Oct. 1.
The Iranian foreign minister met his Jordanian counterpart Ayman al-Safdiin Amman to discuss regional stability “in light of Israeli regime’s continuing atrocity and aggression in Gaza and against Lebanon,” the Iranian foreign ministry’s spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei posted on X.
Araghchi’s visit comes two days after Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman met El-Sissi to discuss developments in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. The pair agreed on the necessity of establishing an independent Palestinian state as the only path to achieving sustainable ceasefire, peace, and security in the region.
A statement released by the Egyptian government said the Saudi and Egyptian leaders “called for steps towards de-escalation, including a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, as well as addressing the worsening humanitarian conditions, and halting policies that push the region to the brink of further conflict.”
"They also reaffirmed the necessity of respecting Lebanon’s sovereignty, security, stability, and territorial integrity,” it said.
In this photo provided by Egypt's presidency media office, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, right, meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Oct.17, 2024. (Egyptian Presidency Media Office via AP)
BANGKOK (AP) — World shares were mixed on Thursday, with European stocks gaining in anticipation that the European Central Bank will cut borrowing costs.
The rate-setting council of the ECB, which sets interest rates for the 20 countries that use the euro currency, is expected to lower its benchmark rate from 3.5% to 3.25% after figures showed inflation across the bloc falling to its lowest level in more than three years and economic growth waning.
Germany's DAX gained 0.8% to 19,594.72 and the CAC 40 in Paris advanced 1.3% to 7,585.76. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.5% to 8,367.96.
The future for the S&P 500 was up 0.4% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% higher.
In Asian trading, Chinese markets fell back after officials in Beijing announced the government was expanding financing for housing projects to try to turn around a slump in the property market triggered by a crackdown on excessive borrowing by developers.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1% to 20,079.10, while the Shanghai Composite index shed 1.1% to 3,169.38.
China is due to announce its economic growth data for the April-September quarter on Friday. Economists are forecasting annual growth at about 4.5%, short of the government's target of about 5%.
China's leaders have promised more measures to help boost the economy, but so far have not provided details of stimulus on a scale that would satisfy investors hoping to see reforms that might address longer term problems such as massive local debt and weak consumer demand.
Plans announced so far amount to a “bailout” aimed at nurturing a gradual recovery instead of a “V” shaped short-term rebound in prices, economists at ANZ Research said in a report.
“Without announcing a major shift in housing policy stance, the policy measure will not induce massive investment demand in real estate,” the report said. But it added that “The package of credit injection is an effective measure to reduce the financial risks and liquidity crunch faced by the developers and the related supply chains, fending off a subprime crisis in China.”
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index lost 0.7% to 38,911.19 after the government reported Japan's exports fell 1.7% from a year earlier in September, widening the country's trade deficit.
South Korea's Kospi slipped less than 0.1% to 2,609.30 and in Australia the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.9% to 8,355.90.
Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.2% and India's Sensex was down 0.6%. In Thailand, the SET gained 0.7% a day after the central bank cut its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, to 2.25%.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 picked up 0.5% to 5,842.47 to recover much of the slide from its all-time high the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8%, to set a record at 43,077.70. The Nasdaq composite added 0.3% to 18,367.08.
Morgan Stanley rallied 6.4% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
United Airlines flew 12.4% higher after reporting a milder drop in summer profit than expected and announcing plans to send up to $1.5 billion to its shareholders by buying back its stock. J.B. Hunt Transport Services motored up by 3.1% after the freight company delivered better-than-expected results.
The price of oil rose early Thursday. After surging recently it has fallen back as worries recede that Israel will attack Iranian oil facilities as part of its retaliation for Iran’s missile attack early this month. Iran is a major producer of crude, and a strike could upend its exports to China and elsewhere. Concerns about the strength of demand because of China’s flagging economic growth have also hit oil prices.
Early Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil was up 25 cents at $70.64 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 21 cents to $74.43 per barrel.
The dollar fell to 149.58 Japanese yen from 149.64 yen. The euro rose to $1.0864 from $1.0862.
The New York Stock Exchange is shown on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024 in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
A passerby moves past an electronic stock board showing Japan's stock prices outside a securities firm in Tokyo, on Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
FILE - People walk past Hong Kong's stock exchange building as the market closed with a massive fall of more than nine percent in the benchmark Hang Seng Index, on Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo, File)
