Esmaeil Baghaei was commenting on an American airstrike that hit a family home and killed three people, including a two-year-old, last week US airstrikes on residential areas and other non-military targets in Iran constitute “war crimes” for which Washington must be held accountable, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told RT at a press briefing on Monday. His remarks came after a US airstrike hit a residential neighborhood on Qeshm Island in Iran’s Hormozgan Province last week, leveling a family home and killing three people, including a two-year-old child. Iran said the strike hit a densely populated working-class neighborhood, with footage from the scene appearing to support that claim. US Central Command, however, insisted it had targeted Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) positions in retaliation for the force firing “multiple ballistic missiles” a...
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Trump’s promises to Erdogan made headlines, but law, Congress, and entrenched security politics still decide what actually moves An official letter sent by the US Department of State to Congress in late July set the dispute between Türkiye and the US over F-35 fighter jets back to square one. The transfer of the aircraft and Türkiye’s reinstatement in the program are still impossible because Ankara continues to possess the Russian-made S-400 air defense system and associated equipment, has not provided legally sufficient guarantees that it will avoid similar purchases in the future and has therefore failed to meet the conditions under which the US administration could certify to Congress that the security risks to the F-35 program had been removed. Washington has not closed the door on negotiations, allowing both sides to maintain the appearance of moving forward even though the legal situa...
Brussels has quietly restored access to Russian sable pelts, a high-end fur used by European fashion houses, citing the lack of alternative suppliers Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has mocked the European Commission for what he called blatant hypocrisy after it quietly exempted Russian luxury sable fur from sanctions, reportedly bowing to pressure from member states dependent on the trade. The EU initially banned imports of finished Russian fur garments shortly after the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022, alongside luxury goods such as diamonds and caviar. Raw pelts remained legal until April, when Brussels closed the loophole by banning both raw and processed furskins, including sable. However, in its 21st sanctions package unveiled late last month – already diluted as member states balked at measures damaging their own economies – Brussels reversed course, exempting raw sable pelts while ...
The national security minister accused judges of siding with Palestinian detainees by suspending the controversial project An Israeli court has temporarily blocked National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from using Nile crocodiles to guard security prisoners, most of them Palestinians. Ben-Gvir proposed surrounding prisons with crocodile-filled moats in December, arguing that the reptiles would strengthen security and deter escapes. While the Israel Nature and Parks Authority initially deemed the plan unfeasible because Nile crocodiles were considered wild animals that could be be kept only in zoos and sanctuaries, the hurdle was removed last month when Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman redesignated them as “tended wild animals,” potentially allowing their deployment at prisons. On Sunday, however, the Jerusalem District Court issued an injunction against the project following a p...
With conflict spreading and old forums faltering, Manila became one of the rare places where powers still chose dialogue In late July, the Philippines did something that has become increasingly rare. It made great powers sit down. Under the chairmanship of the Philippines, the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Manila and its dense constellation of related gatherings turned the capital into one of the few reliable stages where rivals still appear in the same rooms, exchange views, and keep channels open. From July 20 to 24, foreign ministers from Southeast Asia, the United States, China, Russia, Japan, India, Europe, and beyond convened against a distinctly unsettled backdrop of escalating hostilities between the US and Iran and rising tensions between Beijing and the Philippines after incidents in the South China Sea. Yet ASEAN did what it has long done best – it refused to let the frict...
The US president said the outlines of a deal had been agreed that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end what he called Iran’s nuclear threat US President Donald Trump has canceled a planned attack on Iran after saying the outlines of an agreement had been reached that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz and address what he described as Tehran’s “nuclear threat.” CBS News reported that the US and Israel had been preparing a major bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic’s energy infrastructure that could begin as early as the weekend. The network said the proposed operation, which it described as potentially one of the harshest campaigns against Iran to date, was expected to target power plants and oil refineries, while military officials also reportedly discussed cutting electricity across Tehran. In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump wrote that despite the US being ...