The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday condemned Iran’s use of military force to attack Israel and damage peace in the Middle East, and it urged the relevant parties to exercise restraint and resolve their conflicts through diplomacy and communication.
“On the evening of October 1 local time, Iran fired more than 100 ballistic missiles against major cities in Israel, seriously damaging regional and global peace and stability,” the ministry said in a statement.
Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel on Tuesday, the latest in a series of rapidly escalating attacks between Israel and Iran and its Arab allies, The Associated Press (AP) reported yesterday.
Photo: Fang Wei-li, Taipei Times
“Taiwan and all peace-loving democratic partners around the world together condemn [Iran’s] use of force, and call for the relevant parties to exercise restraint and resolve the conflicts through diplomacy and communication to prevent the crisis from expanding,” the ministry said.
The ministry said that given the escalating regional tensions in the Middle East, it was again urging Taiwanese to avoid traveling to Israel, Lebanon and Iran.
Taiwanese who are traveling for business in the three nations should increase their vigilance and pay attention to their personal safety, it said, adding that they can contact Taiwan’s representative offices in those nations as needed.
Taiwanese who need emergenciy assistance in Israel can call the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Tel Aviv at +972-544-275-204.
Those in Lebanon can contact the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Jordan at +962-79-5552605.
Taiwanese who need emergency assistance in Iran should call the Commercial Office of Taipei in Dubai at +971-50-6453018, or the Taiwan Trade Center in Tehran at +971-50-6453018.
Taiwanese who are traveling in other nations and need emergency assistance can call the ministry’s global 24-hour emergency service hotline at +886-800-085-095, the ministry said.
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
Deliveries of delayed F-16V jets are expected to begin in September, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said today, after senior defense officials visited the US last week. The US in 2019 approved a US$8 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 jets to Taiwan, a deal that would take the nation’s F-16 fleet to more than 200 jets, but the project has been hit by issues including software problems. Koo appeared today before a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which is discussing different versions of the special defense budget this week. The committee is questioning officials today,
TALENT SCOUTING: The university is investing substantial funds in its future to bring in the kind of researchers that would keep the college internationally competitive National Taiwan University (NTU) plans to invest NT$2 billion (US$62.6 million) to launch two programs aimed at attracting and retaining top research talent, university president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) said yesterday. The funding would support the “Palm Grove Scholars Project,” which targets academics aged 40 to 55. Up to 20 scholars would be selected, each receiving as much as NT$10 million annually, Chen said. The initiative is designed to attract leading researchers to Taiwan and strengthen NTU’s global competitiveness by fostering a more research-friendly environment and expanding international collaboration, he said. NTU is also introducing a “Hong Hu” chair grant, which would provide Palm