With Iran going to the polls Friday, and at a critical time in its history, in Tehran Mustafa El-Labbad charts the political landscape and key personalities of the presidential elections in the Islamic Republic

Adding insult to injury, Israel blocks the work of UN investigators charged with ascertaining if it committed war crimes in its New Year Gaza offensive, Amira Howeidy reports

Despite US attempts to coax Iran into cooperation, Israeli pre-emptive action, and consequent war, remain closer than many believe, writes Mohammed Herzallah

Blown apart and maimed, if not killed, and then ignored, hundreds of children in Gaza are callously cut off from vital medical help, writes Ramzy Baroud

After Obama's candid address in Cairo, Israel's prime minister is gearing up to swamp hopes of peace in impossible conditions and demands, writes Khaled Amayreh in occupied Jerusalem

An address by the US president at Cairo University attempted to undo the legacy of bitterness left by his predecessor, says Anayat Durrani

With relations between Fatah and Hamas deteriorating even further, nothing short of a regional caesura appears able to dislodge the deadlock at the heart of Palestinian politics, writes Saleh Al-Naami

Election weekend was a surreal festival of airport hugs, car convoys, and gunfire, Lucy Fielder reports

History will judge who lost Mauritania, writes Gamal Nkrumah