Iran | Pakistan

WASHINGTON: Iranian missile strikes on southern Israel and toward a key US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean have escalated the conflict into its fourth week, prompting US Democrats to call for transparency and oversight. The developments are bound to intensify their push in Congress for public hearings on US President Donald Trump’s war on Iran — even as their efforts have so far failed to gain traction. Iran fired long-range ballistic missiles at southern Israeli towns, including Dimona and Arad, near Israel’s sensitive nuclear research facilities. Israeli authorities said dozens were wounded and some missiles penetrated air defence systems. In a significant widening of the conflict, Iran also launched missiles toward the US-UK base on Diego Garcia. US officials said the missiles did not strike the base, with one failing mid-flight and another intercepted by a US naval vessel. President Trump has not sought congressional authorisation for the military campaign. On Friday, he suggested operations could be...

President Donald Trump ends the third week of the Iran war, confronting a crisis that seems to be slipping out of his hands. Global energy prices are surging, the United States stands isolated from allies and more troops are preparing to deploy despite his promise that the war would be only a “short excursion.” A defensive Trump called other NATO countries “cowards” for refusing to help secure the Strait of Hormuz and insisted the campaign was unfolding according to plan. But his declaration on Friday that the battle “was Militarily WON” clashed with the reality of a defiant Iran that is choking off Gulf oil and gas supplies while launching missile strikes across the region. Trump, who took office promising to keep the US out of “stupid” military interventions, now appears to control neither the outcome nor the messaging of a conflict he helped to initiate. The lack of a clear exit strategy carries risks both for his presidential legacy and his party’s political prospects as Republicans scramble to defend nar...

Donald Trump’s war with Iran is weighing on independent US voters, a crucial bloc likely to determine if the president’s Republican Party maintains control of Congress in the November midterm elections. At a breakfast diner in Pennsylvania, a swing state where voters often shift between parties, there was a mix of anger and confusion over the new conflict. “Trump’s just miring us in another Iraq, Vietnam situation,” said retired postal worker Jolene Lloyd, 65, referencing the two prolonged wars often seen as failures for the United States. Lloyd has never voted for Trump, but has previously split her ticket between parties. Not this year — in November, she will only support Democrats. Republicans only narrowly control Congress — where every seat is up in the House and about one-third of the Senate — so even a small loss of voters could spell trouble. The midterm contests will determine whether Trump governs with a cooperative Congress or faces a Democratic majority empowered to block legislation and launch in...

'Trump has built himself ​a box called the Iran war, and he can’t figure out how to get out of it,' says ex-official

President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States was considering “winding down” military operations against Iran but was not seeking a ceasefire with the Islamic Republic. Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei meanwhile, claimed in a message to mark the first day of the Persian New Year to have delivered a “dizzying blow” to enemies in the three-week-old Middle East war. On Wall Street, stocks ended sharply lower after oil prices shot up on fears that lengthy supply disruptions could lead to a global economic downturn. All three major indices were firmly in the red, with the broad-based S&P 500 down 1.5 percent and the price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, rising 3.3 percent to $112.19 per barrel. Turkiye lashed out at Israel meanwhile, for striking Syrian army camps in southern Syria, calling it a “dangerous escalation” and urging the international community to intervene. Syria has so far avoided being dragged into the regional war that began on February 28 when Israel and the Unit...

Iran FM Araghchi says Starmer endangering British lives by allowing US to use UK airbases

Iran’s supreme leader, Mojataba Khamenei, denied on Friday Tehran’s role in recent attacks in Turkiye and Oman, claiming that it was a “false flag tactic” by Israel instead. “I should also remark that the attacks against Turkiye and Oman – both of which have good relations with us — targeting certain locations in these countries, were in no way carried out by the armed forces of the Islamic republic or the other forces of the Resistance Front. “This is a ploy by the Zionist enemy (Israel), employing the false flag tactic to create discord between the Islamic republic and its neighbours, and it may also occur in some other countries,” Khamenei said in a statement published on his Telegram channel and official Iranian media on the occasion of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. This is Mojtaba’s second message since becoming Iran’s supreme leader following the assassination of his father and the previous supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Ali Khamenei was assassinated on February 28, when the US and Israel launc...

On the twenty-first day of the US-Israeli war on Iran, a sombre Nowruz and Eidul Fitr eve set the domestic mood in Iran, as fresh military developments and a shifting coalition posture pointed to an imminent widening of the war. Across Iran, the Persian New Year arrived without usual festivities associated with it. Celebrations were scaled down, with war, blackouts and economic strain shaping public sentiment. Markets remained open but subdued, and even among diaspora communities, observances lacked the usual fervour. ‘Rare moral boost’ Against this backdrop, a reported Iranian air defence success provided a rare morale boost. Iranian systems are said to have damaged a US F-35 during a combat mission, forcing it to make an emergency landing at Al-Dhafra Airbase in the United Arab Emirates. While the operational impact appears limited, the symbolic value of hitting a stealth fifth-generation aircraft would be considerable. The Iranian media is projecting it as evidence that advanced US platforms can be challen...

Hundreds of Muslim worshippers held Eidul Fitr prayers at the gates of Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday, with Israel closing access to the Al-Aqsa mosque and other holy sites over its war on Iran. “Today, Al-Aqsa has been taken from us. It’s a sad and painful Ramazan,” Wajdi Mohammed Shweiki, a silver-haired Palestinian man in his 60s, told AFP. “It’s a catastrophic situation for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for Palestinians in general and for all Muslims across the globe.” Since Israel and the United States started the war on Iran on February 28, Israeli authorities have closed access to Jerusalem’s world-renowned holy sites over security concerns — Al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslims, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians and the Western Wall for Jews. As Iranian missile barrages head towards Israel, the authorities have banned gatherings of more than 50 people nationwide to limit potential casualties. In a sign of the risks, police said this week that shrapnel fragments had fallen on the Old City. Research...

Govt says no new licences issued for war materiel exports to US since Feb 28 strikes on Iran

WASHINGTON: Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sailed smoothly past a potential clash with Donald Trump on Iran on Thursday — although the US president whipped up a bit of a storm about Pearl Harbor. Days after lashing out at US allies including Japan for failing to heed his calls to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Trump praised Tokyo’s efforts related to the Middle East war in vague terms. “I believe that, based on statements (which) were given to us yesterday, the day before yesterday, having to do with Japan, they are really stepping up to the plate,” Trump told reporters as he hosted Takaichi in the Oval Office. After a long pause Trump then added “unlike Nato,” repeating his criticisms of the US-led military alliance with mainly European countries. Trump gave few details about what help Japan might provide in securing the crucial waterway, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil normally passes. But his tone towards Takaichi was far more friendly than the tongue-lashings he has given to allies, ...

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has claimed it struck and “seriously damaged” a F-35 Lightning II over central Iran, amid rising regional tensions.

SMOKE rises after an Iranian retaliatory salvo damaged an Israeli oil refinery in Haifa.—Reuters • Tehran strikes Qatari LNG plant, Saudi and Kuwaiti refineries • Trump warns of ‘furious response’ if attacks on Qatar continue • Rules out troop deployment, but officials say reinforcements under review • Hegseth sets no timeline for war; White House to seek $200bn more from Congress • Global energy markets shaken; Brent jumps to $119, gas prices up 35pc • Riyadh asserts it reserves right to retaliate after refinery drone strike • Netanyahu says Israel ‘acted alone’ in striking Iran gas field • Claims Tehran no longer able to enrich uranium or build missiles DOHA: As Washington rushed to arm its Gulf allies with a $16.46 billion military package, Iran issued its starkest warning yet, vowing “zero restraint” if its energy infrastructure is targeted again, pushing the Middle East closer to a regional war. The developments came after Iranian attacks on the world’s largest LNG plant in Qatar and refineries in Saudi ...

Rejects US assertions about major losses to Iran’s air defences and navy

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed on Thursday that it had struck and “seriously damaged” a US F-35 fighter jet over central Iran. In a statement, the IRGC said the aircraft was hit by its air defence systems at around 2:50am (local time) on Thursday (2320GMT Wednesday night), adding that “a US F-35 fighter jet was struck and seriously damaged” over central Iran. It added that “the fate of the aircraft remains unknown and is under investigation,” noting there is a “high possibility” that the jet may have crashed. The IRGC also said the operation came “following the successful interception of more than 125 US-Israeli drones,” adding that the incident “reflects significant and targeted improvements in the country’s integrated air defence systems.” The US military, meanwhile, said in a statement that a US F-35 aircraft conducted an emergency landing after flying a combat mission over Iran. The military said the pilot was in stable condition. A US official, speaking on the condition of anonym...

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called on the US and Isreal to end the war on Iran while urging Tehran to stop “attacking your neighbours”. “Let me start by two clear messages. First, to the United States and to Israel: It’s high time to end this war that is risking to get completely out of control, causing immense suffering on civilians and with propagation around the global economy, that is really dramatic with potential tragic consequences, especially for the least developed countries,” Guterres told reporters in Brussels after he met with European Union leaders. Then, turning his attention to Iran, he said: “Stop attacking your neighbours; they were never parties to the conflict.” Guterres’s remarks come as the US-Israel war on Iran rages on. It began was Washington and Tel Aviv launching strikes on Iran on February 28, which also resulted in the assassination of supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei. The war has expanded since, with Iran targeting US assets and bases in Gulf cou...

On what should be a time of celebration, families across Pakistan will instead be marking Eid in mourning, after their loved ones working in the Gulf were killed in the Iran conflict. At least 23 workers from countries including Pakistan, India and Bangladesh were killed or reported missing since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, according to an Anadolu tally. Muzaffar Ali, a 28-year-old from Sindh province, was among those killed when shrapnel from a missile struck his car in Dubai. He left behind three young children, the eldest just 7 years old. “He went to Dubai four years ago in search of a better life,” his uncle Abdul Hakim told Anadolu by phone. “He was paying off the loans he had taken from relatives for the move. The last time we spoke, he told me he had nearly paid off everything he owed. Now he could finally settle down.” “Shrapnel wounded his face. He died at the hospital,” Hakim said. “I don’t know who will feed his family. He was the breadwinner.” Ali was among three Pakistanis confir...

Preparations for the end of Ramadan were in full swing at a beauty salon in the Punjab, with customers getting haircuts, eyebrow-threading and henna tattoos. In Multan’s markets, crowds of women young and old shopped for colourful bangles, shoes, new clothes, make-up and sweet treats. But in Multan and elsewhere in Pakistan, the ripple effects of the US-Israeli war against Iran were being felt. “It feels very different because inflation has risen so much due to the ongoing war. Every poor person is distressed. It is affecting them deeply,” said make-up artist Rozina Amjad. Chaand Raat — the eve of Eidul Fitr — used to be “lively”, Amjad told AFP, adding: “Now that charm is gone. It’s not like it used to be.” Pakistan is reliant on oil and gas from the Gulf but since war broke out last month, fuel supply pressures have seen prices rise at the pump and government austerity measures. Rising oil prices have pushed up costs across the board, affecting purchasing power before the most important festival in the Musl...

As Eidul Fitr approaches, marking the end of Ramazan, delivery riders on Karachi’s streets say they’re working longer hours, but earning less, with little left for the new clothes and treats that usually mark the festival. A few weeks ago, 23-year-old Mohammad Mohsin could make around Rs1,500 a day. Now, with the US-Israeli war on Iran choking oil supplies, petrol prices have surged above Rs320 per litre and Mohsin’s earnings have shrunk to around Rs1,100. This July 8, 2020 picture shows Foodpanda riders getting ready for deliveries outside a restaurant during Covid-19 pandemic in Kuala Lumpur. —Reuters/File “Before it was all mine,” he said. “Now, a huge sum goes into petrol.” The rising cost of fuel is hitting some of Pakistan’s lowest-paid urban workers hardest, and many riders are making barely enough to cover the essentials, let alone the Eid celebrations. Reuters spoke to more than half a dozen riders in Karachi, all of whom said the fuel price surge had squeezed earnings ahead of Eid, a time when they ...

A ministerial meeting, hosted by Saudi Arabia, called on Iran to “immediately and unconditionally” halt attacks against Gulf countries in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. The conflict began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. In retaliatory strikes, Iran has targeted US assets and bases in Gulf countries. A day earlier, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar travelled to the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh for the ministerial meeting. In a statement on X, the ministry said that the consultative meeting was attended by Azerbaijan, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Pakistan, Turkiye, Syria, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon and Egypt, where they condemned Iranian “missile and drone attacks” and held Iran “fully responsible”. They called on the country to “immediately and unconditionally cease its aggression and to comply with UN Security Council resolutions”. The ministers maintained that Iran’s actions amount to “violation of sov...