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Rouhani Defends Attack on Riyadh

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gestures during a televised speech in the capital Tehran on May 20, 2017. AFP Photo
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gestures during a televised speech in the capital Tehran on May 20, 2017. AFP Photo
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Rouhani Defends Attack on Riyadh

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gestures during a televised speech in the capital Tehran on May 20, 2017. AFP Photo
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gestures during a televised speech in the capital Tehran on May 20, 2017. AFP Photo

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani defended on Wednesday the Houthi insurgents’ weekend ballistic missile that was intercepted by Saudi Arabia’s air defenses and brought down near Riyadh airport without causing any casualties.

During a government meeting in Tehran, Rouhani said that Houthis have no other option but to use weapons in confronting the Arab coalition in Yemen.

The Iranian president also defended his country’s intervention in regional affairs by claiming that Tehran wants the welfare and development of Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

Meanwhile, a US State Department spokesperson told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Wherever Iran is present, there is chaos, and we can see the Iranian hand in Syria and Yemen.”

The US official said that the administration in Washington is currently implementing a comprehensive strategy to confront the Iranian regime.

The spokesperson also stressed that the US maintains excellent relations with Gulf countries.

On Wednesday morning, the White House had issued a statement condemning the missile attack by Houthis, saying they threatened the region’s security and undermined the UN-sponsored efforts to halt the conflict.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian condemned the attack too.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that France's Foreign Ministry said it was taking accusations by the US that Iran had violated two UN Security Council resolutions seriously and urged Iran to comply with all of its international commitments.

In a related development, Iran's judiciary has suspended publication of the official Kayhan newspaper for two days over a provocative front-page story saying Houthis will next target Dubai.

The Judicial decision is an attempt to lessen the international embarrassment caused by the headline while the Iranian president insists that his country would continue to play its role in the region.

Iran's official news agency, IRNA, said that the prosecutor's suspension order came following a complaint by the secretariat of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, which had said that Kayhan's headline opposed Iran's regional and security policies.

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World

Trump Says Cuba, a 'Failed Nation,' Should Make a Deal with US

IN FLIGHT - FEBRUARY 16: President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media aboard Air Force One while flying from Palm Beach International Airport on February 16, 2026 enroute to Washington, DC. Nathan Howard/Getty Images/AFP
IN FLIGHT - FEBRUARY 16: President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media aboard Air Force One while flying from Palm Beach International Airport on February 16, 2026 enroute to Washington, DC. Nathan Howard/Getty Images/AFP
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Trump Says Cuba, a 'Failed Nation,' Should Make a Deal with US

IN FLIGHT - FEBRUARY 16: President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media aboard Air Force One while flying from Palm Beach International Airport on February 16, 2026 enroute to Washington, DC. Nathan Howard/Getty Images/AFP
IN FLIGHT - FEBRUARY 16: President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media aboard Air Force One while flying from Palm Beach International Airport on February 16, 2026 enroute to Washington, DC. Nathan Howard/Getty Images/AFP

President Donald Trump on Monday said Cuba was a "failed nation" and called on Havana to make a deal with the United States, though he dismissed mounting a regime change operation.

"Cuba is right now, a failed nation," the US leader told reporters aboard Air Force One.

However, when asked if the United States would oust Cuba's government, as Washington did when it raided Venezuela and captured president Nicolas Maduro, Trump said: "I don't think that will be necessary."

The island is facing major fuel shortages and blackouts as Trump intensifies the decades-long US embargo on the country and presses other countries to stop sending Havana oil, according to AFP.

"It's a humanitarian threat," Trump admitted of the fuel shortages biting the country.

World

North Korea’s Kim Marks Completion of Pyongyang Housing Project as Key Party Congress Nears 

This picture taken on February 16, 2026 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on February 17, 2026 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) and his daughter Ju Ae (center L) attending the inauguration ceremony of 10,000 flats of the fourth stage in Hwasong Area of Pyongyang. (KCNA via KNS / AFP)
This picture taken on February 16, 2026 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on February 17, 2026 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) and his daughter Ju Ae (center L) attending the inauguration ceremony of 10,000 flats of the fourth stage in Hwasong Area of Pyongyang. (KCNA via KNS / AFP)
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North Korea’s Kim Marks Completion of Pyongyang Housing Project as Key Party Congress Nears 

This picture taken on February 16, 2026 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on February 17, 2026 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) and his daughter Ju Ae (center L) attending the inauguration ceremony of 10,000 flats of the fourth stage in Hwasong Area of Pyongyang. (KCNA via KNS / AFP)
This picture taken on February 16, 2026 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on February 17, 2026 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) and his daughter Ju Ae (center L) attending the inauguration ceremony of 10,000 flats of the fourth stage in Hwasong Area of Pyongyang. (KCNA via KNS / AFP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un marked the completion of 10,000 new houses built in Pyongyang, state media KCNA said on Tuesday, as the country prepares to hold a key party congress.

Kim has been touring construction sites and touting project progress ahead of this month's Ninth Congress of the ruling Workers' Party, the country's biggest political gathering that reviews performance, sets ‌new policy ‌goals and can bring leadership change.

On Monday, ‌Kim ⁠oversaw the completion ⁠ceremony for 10,000 houses in Hwasong District, Pyongyang, which achieved the goal of 50,000 new houses in the metropolitan area set during the Eighth Congress five years ago, according to state broadcaster KCNA.

This picture taken on February 16, 2026 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on February 17, 2026 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (center R) and his daughter Ju Ae (center L) attending the inauguration ceremony of 10,000 flats of the fourth stage in Hwasong Area of Pyongyang. (KCNA via KNS / AFP)

"Based on the transformational achievements... during the Eighth period, the Ninth Congress ⁠of the party will set a grander ‌goal of restoration and ‌creation," Kim said, according to KCNA.

Kim's daughter Ju Ae was ‌shown at her father's side at the completion ceremony, ‌hugging and congratulating the residents of the new estate. There has been increasing speculation among analysts and from South Korea's spy agency that Kim is grooming the teenager to ‌succeed him.

As part of their tour of the housing project, North Korean state TV ⁠showed Kim ⁠and Ju Ae also visiting an arcade game center that looked similar to an internet cafe, a musical instrument shop and an animal hospital where they petted a puppy.

Meanwhile, KCNA said those participating in the upcoming party congress arrived in Pyongyang on Monday.

In the past two instances in 2016 and 2021, the Congress began three to four days after representatives arrived in Pyongyang, according to Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.

World

At Least 14 Killed in Spate of Attacks in Northwest Pakistan

A spate of attacks in northwest Pakistan on Monday killed at least three civilians and 11 security personnel. Karim ULLAH / AFP
A spate of attacks in northwest Pakistan on Monday killed at least three civilians and 11 security personnel. Karim ULLAH / AFP
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At Least 14 Killed in Spate of Attacks in Northwest Pakistan

A spate of attacks in northwest Pakistan on Monday killed at least three civilians and 11 security personnel. Karim ULLAH / AFP
A spate of attacks in northwest Pakistan on Monday killed at least three civilians and 11 security personnel. Karim ULLAH / AFP

Two bomb attacks and a gunfight between police and militants in northwest Pakistan killed at least 11 security personnel and three civilians, including a child, a security official said.

The separate incidents on Monday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which left at least 25 others wounded, come as Pakistan's security forces battle intensifying insurgencies in southern and northern provinces that border Afghanistan.

This month the ISIS group claimed responsibility for a massive suicide blast at a mosque in the capital Islamabad that killed at least 31 people, with 169 more wounded.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the security official told AFP that on Monday evening a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the wall of a religious college in the tribal district of Bajaur in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

"As a result, eight police and Frontier Corps personnel present inside the seminary were martyred and 10 others injured," he said.

"The blast also caused the roofs of several nearby houses to collapse, killing a child."

He added the death told may rise.

In another attack in the town of Bannu, a bomb planted in a rickshaw exploded at the Miryan police station, killing two civilians and wounding 17 others, the official said.

- Chinese targeted -

Elsewhere, three police personnel and three militants were also killed during a search operation in Shangla district.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police force said in a statement, also late on Monday, that the three militants who died in the firefight had been involved in "attacks targeting Chinese nationals".

Beijing has poured billions of dollars into Pakistan in recent years, but Chinese-funded projects have sparked resentment and their citizens have frequently come under attack.

In March last year, five Chinese nationals working on a major dam construction site were killed along with their driver when a suicide bomber targeted their vehicle, which plunged into a deep ravine off the mountainous Karakoram Highway.

Beijing is Islamabad's closest regional ally, readily providing financial assistance to bail out its often struggling neighbor.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has seen tens of billions of dollars funneled into massive transport, energy and infrastructure projects -- part of Beijing's transnational "Belt and Road" scheme.

The police statement said "due to the area's proximity to the Silk Road route, (the militants) posed a persistent threat to the strategic road corridor and Chinese development projects."

"In light of this, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and the district police launched a joint operation today under a coordinated strategy."