High-level delegations from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey were yesterday in Tehran for meetings with Iranian authorities to try to avert renewed fighting between Iran and Israel and the US, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The talks come as many in Iran are bracing themselves for the possible return to an all-out war, as Israeli and US leaders have been sharpening their threats ahead of pending elections in both countries, while Iranian leaders have remained defiant.
Saudi Arabian Minister of Defense Khalid bin Salman, Pakistan army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Ibrahim Kalin, the head of Turkey’s intelligence service, were to meet with Iran’s top security official negotiators to push for a deal between Tehran and Washington.
Photo: EPA
The war in Yemen and strikes by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels against Saudi Arabia were topics also on the table, said two regional officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.
Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran that the meeting’s agenda was not set, but that they would “undoubtedly address the most pressing threats to regional security.”
Saudi Arabia said in a statement that the delegations hoped to find “ways to de-escalate tensions, enhance regional security and promote its stability.”
Qatari mediators were in Tehran on Sunday, working in coordination with the U.S., as part of ongoing efforts to de-escalate regional tensions, a regional official said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks.
Pakistan and Qatar helped broker an agreement in June aimed at having Iran fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, ending a US blockade of Iranian ports and opening negotiations on a broader settlement addressing Iran’s nuclear program. However, the deal unraveled quickly, as both sides renewed attacks.
With worries about renewed fighting ahead of Israel’s election today and US midterm elections on Tuesday next week, Baghaei on the weekend said Tehran had not closed the window of diplomacy and that messages were being passed to the US via intermediaries.
With negotiations long stalled, he said that the US appeared to be persisting in unilateral demands and that Trump and US officials repeatedly use the phrase “complete surrender,” which Baghaei said no Iranian accepts.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday repeated his warning that Iran or its proxies could attack ahead of the close elections to disrupt the vote, citing intelligence.
“The [military] is ready both to defend and to strike,” he said in a video statement, adding: “You will suffer disproportionate blows far greater than you can imagine.”
Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Sunday night that Netanyahu and his military chief of staff clashed over an instruction by Netanyahu to carry out an “action” that the army believes could quickly trigger a resumption of the conflict with Iran.
Netanyahu’s office later described the report as “fake news.” There was no immediate military comment.
Asked whether Iran was planning attacks, Baghaei yesterday only said that “the Israeli regime is highly skilled at carrying out false-flag operations.”
However, he underscored that “we are in a state of war” and that Iran would defend itself.
A Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) cybersecurity tool called ARTEX was used in a spate of recent hacks of Japanese companies, the subsidiary of a major Tokyo-based Internet company yesterday. Dozens of Japanese companies, from restaurant chains to a car hire operator, have disclosed unauthorized access or data breaches in the past weeks — potentially impacting millions of customers. The information security arm of GMO Internet Group Inc said it had “confirmed ARTEX was used” having investigated the attacks in collaboration with external organizations. “It also became clear ... the attacks were almost exclusively targeting Japan,” GMO cybersecurity center director Daiki
A STEP UP: The moving of small military positions forward should be taken seriously amid the North’s recent demonstrations of its firepower, an analyst said North Korea has moved new units into “firing positions,” the sister of leader Kim Jong-un said yesterday, days after Pyongyang warned it was considering deploying additional strike means to its border with South Korea. Tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang have soared since the South last month blamed an explosion inside the heavily fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two countries on landmines laid by North Korea, an accusation it has rejected. “Our military leadership underlined the need to make those rogues aware that our new firepower units have taken their firing positions,” state media cited Kim Yo-jong as saying. Her statement came a
China’s first fully artificial intelligence (AI)-generated feature film opened in cinemas yesterday in what promised to be a tough box-office test for the country’s booming tech industry as advance ticket sales lag. More than 10,000 screenings of the sci-fi thriller Sanxingdui: Future Past were scheduled yesterday, according to ticketing platform Maoyan. However, public reception has been less than enthusiastic. Presale revenue as of yesterday morning was 80,000 yuan (US$11,992), while total box-office takings were forecast to remain below 150,000 yuan, only a fraction of the reported production cost, Maoyan said. Ticket prices range from 20 to 90 yuan, bringing the number sold to a
Thousands of British and French troops have taken part in a military training exercise that included one of Britain’s largest airborne operations in two decades, the British government said yesterday. The war game is designed to show how NATO countries could be defended against a modern-day attack and comes during fears about Russian aggression in Europe amid Moscow’s war against Ukraine. About 2,500 troops were involved in the seven-week exercise, in which 600 British and French paratroopers dropped from four RAF A400M Atlas transport aircraft over Germany. The exercise called Rhino Titan, held at the Sennelager military training center in
RSS