Iran yesterday launched strikes toward Israel and neighboring Gulf countries, with explosions heard in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, and interceptions reported in Saudi Arabia.
The attacks came hours after Iranian state media confirmed that Israel’s military had killed top Iranian security official Ali Larijani in an overnight strike, as well as General Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij force, known for its role in suppressing protests.
Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz later yesterday said that the military had killed Iranian Minister of Intelligence Esmail Khatib.
Photo: AP
In Washington on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said that NATO and most other allies had rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump, who has been pressing allies to help safeguard the waterway to ease a chokepoint on the region’s oil exports, said that the US is not getting support “despite the fact that we helped” NATO “so much,” and said that it was in allies’ interest to prevent Iran from securing a nuclear weapon.
“You would have thought they would have said: ‘We’d love to send a couple of minesweepers.’ That’s not a big deal,” Trump said. “It doesn’t cost very much money, but they didn’t do that.”
Trump said that NATO allies have counted on tens of billions of dollars in US backing for Ukraine to fend off Russia’s invasion, but could not return the favor to help the US and Israel in its efforts to defang Iran.
The US has spent hundreds of billions of dollars fortifying Europe and Asian defenses, he added.
Trump said that Japan, Australia, South Korea and China rejected his calls to get involved in helping secure the strait.
Asia is the most exposed to the trade disruption because it relies heavily on imported fuel, much of which is shipped through the strait.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said that the 27-nation bloc does not want to be dragged into the US-Israel war with Iran.
“This is not Europe’s war. We didn’t start the war. We were not consulted,” Kallas said, a day after chairing talks among EU member countries about Trump’s warship request.
“We don’t know what are the objectives of this war,” Kallas said. “The member states do not have the wish to be dragged into this.”
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North Korea tested nuclear-capable rocket launchers, state media reported yesterday, a day after Seoul detected the launch of about 10 ballistic missiles. The test comes after South Korean and US forces launched their springtime military drills, due to run until Thursday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday oversaw the testing of the multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS), the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The test involved 12 600mm-caliber ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies, it said. Kim said the drill gave Pyongyang’s enemies, within the 420km striking range, a sense of “uneasiness” and “a deep understanding
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