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European Companies Continue to Withdraw from Iran

Daimler AG sign is pictured at the IAA truck show in Hanover, Germany. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer
Daimler AG sign is pictured at the IAA truck show in Hanover, Germany. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer
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European Companies Continue to Withdraw from Iran

Daimler AG sign is pictured at the IAA truck show in Hanover, Germany. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer
Daimler AG sign is pictured at the IAA truck show in Hanover, Germany. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer

Major companies have continued to withdraw from Iran despite the European Union’s announcement that the blocking statute entered into force on August 7, to protect EU companies doing legitimate business with Iran from the impact of US extra-territorial sanctions.

Germany's multinational automotive corporation, Daimler AG, said on Tuesday that it had suspended all activities in Iran in connection to the reimposition of US sanctions that target companies doing business with Iran.

"We have ceased our already restricted activities in Iran in accordance with the applicable sanctions", Daimler said in a statement.

“We will continue to closely monitor the political developments, especially in connection with the future of the nuclear agreement," it added.

Daimler's move put a sudden end to its plans to expand its activities Iran, where it had signed a cooperation agreement with two local companies to assemble Mercedes Benz trucks.

The company added that the Iranian economy and the country's automobile market were developing much weaker than expected, and Daimler AG had not managed to resume the sale of Mercedes-Benz cars and trucks in Iran.

Daimler had signed letters of intent with joint venture partners in Iran in January 2016 as part of the German truck maker’s re-entry into the Iranian market after economic sanctions were lifted under the 2015 international agreement that sought to limit the country's nuclear program.

Daimler confirmed in its statement that it has not yet started manufacturing or selling its trucks in Iran, nor is it selling any of its vehicles in the Iranian market.

The company’s withdrawal came few days after CEO Henrik Henriksson said Scania had canceled all orders that it could not deliver by mid August as anything after would have been hit by the new sanctions.

Scania was one of the first truck companies to return to Iran after the EU lifted sanctions in early 2016.

US President Donald Trump's May withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal led Washington to reimpose sanctions on Iran on Tuesday. The second tranche kicks in on November 5.

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World

Iran Maritime Body Says Hormuz Completely Closed 'Until Further Notice'

Vessels are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Vessels are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
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Iran Maritime Body Says Hormuz Completely Closed 'Until Further Notice'

Vessels are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Vessels are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer

Iran's new body overseeing the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday confirmed a complete closure order for the strategic waterway until further notice, after the Revolutionary Guards announced the move overnight.

"Due to the tensions caused by the aggression of the American forces in the region and the announcement made last night by the Iranian armed forces, the Strait of Hormuz will be closed until further notice," PGSA said in a post on X .

"Applicants who have been granted a transit permit are asked to be patient and wait for instructions from the PGSA."

World

A Mass Funeral is Held for 22 Pakistani Soldiers Who Died in a Helicopter Crash in Kashmir

Smoke billows after an army MI-17 helicopter crashed due to a technical fault, in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)
Smoke billows after an army MI-17 helicopter crashed due to a technical fault, in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)
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A Mass Funeral is Held for 22 Pakistani Soldiers Who Died in a Helicopter Crash in Kashmir

Smoke billows after an army MI-17 helicopter crashed due to a technical fault, in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)
Smoke billows after an army MI-17 helicopter crashed due to a technical fault, in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)

Rescuers recovered the remains of all 22 soldiers aboard a military helicopter that crashed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir the previous day, officials said Thursday, confirming there were no survivors, as senior government and military officials attended a mass funeral for the victims.

The helicopter crashed Wednesday in Muzaffarabad, the regional capital, apparently because of a technical fault, according to Pakistan’s military. An investigation is underway to determine the exact cause.

An Associated Press reporter counted 22 coffins draped in Pakistan’s national flag at a funeral ceremony.

Witnesses and regional officials said the remains of the soldiers were recovered from the badly burned wreckage. The dead included a colonel and two army majors, according to two security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Among those attending the funerals was regional Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore.

According to the officials, the soldiers had been traveling to carry out security duties after a call for a march on Muzaffarabad by the Joint Awami Action Committee, a recently banned alliance of various groups.

Authorities have not indicated any connection between the planned protest and the crash.

Pakistan has deployed additional security forces across the region, where tensions have been high since the weekend after members of an outlawed group attacked police and security personnel, killing four officers.

Military helicopter crashes are not uncommon in Pakistan.

In September, an army helicopter on a routine flight crashed in northern Pakistan, killing two pilots and three technicians.

World

Taiwan Says Chinese Ships Entered Waters of Disputed South China Sea Island

A Taiwan Coast Guard boat patrols, as seen from a boat with Chinese tourists, to observe Taiwan's Kinmen Islands, off Xiamen, in China's southeastern Fujian province on May 25, 2026. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
A Taiwan Coast Guard boat patrols, as seen from a boat with Chinese tourists, to observe Taiwan's Kinmen Islands, off Xiamen, in China's southeastern Fujian province on May 25, 2026. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
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Taiwan Says Chinese Ships Entered Waters of Disputed South China Sea Island

A Taiwan Coast Guard boat patrols, as seen from a boat with Chinese tourists, to observe Taiwan's Kinmen Islands, off Xiamen, in China's southeastern Fujian province on May 25, 2026. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
A Taiwan Coast Guard boat patrols, as seen from a boat with Chinese tourists, to observe Taiwan's Kinmen Islands, off Xiamen, in China's southeastern Fujian province on May 25, 2026. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)

Taiwan said Chinese ships entered the "prohibited" waters off a disputed island in the South China Sea for the first time on Thursday, condemning escalating "harassment" by Beijing.

The two Chinese vessels "openly intruded" into the waters around the Taiwan-controlled Taiping Island and stayed for 15 minutes before the Taiwanese coast guard expelled them, the force said in a statement.

The island, also known as Itu Aba, is the largest in the Spratly archipelago claimed by Taiwan, China, the Philippines and Vietnam, said AFP.

The Taiwanese coast guard expressed its "strongest condemnation of this incident", saying it "once again maliciously escalates grey-zone harassment in an attempt to create a false impression of jurisdiction".

China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and in recent years has ramped up military pressure on the island democracy.

Beijing also claims most of the South China Sea.

Taiping's "prohibited" waters extend four kilometers (2.5 miles) from shore, Taiwan's coast guard said.

"China is systematically harassing Taiwan," the Ocean Affairs Council, which is responsible for the coast guard, said on X.

The latest in a series of Chinese activities in waters around Taiwan and islands under its control follows an operation to Taiwan's east, which Beijing said was in response to talks between Japan and the Philippines to draw a maritime boundary there.

The Ocean Affairs Council said Thursday's incident "also proves that what China did in the waters east of Taiwan should be dealt with as a challenge to international order; Japan-Philippines talks were just an excuse."

China called the Japan-Philippines talks "illegal" and has claimed exclusive control over the affected waters.

Taiwan has branded the Chinese operation in recent days as "provocative" and "expansionism in disguise".

Taipei has also accused the Chinese ships of "harassment" after they requested information from three passing commercial cargo ships, including their port of destination.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's coast guard said Saturday that a Chinese survey vessel had joined a coast guard ship in waters around Pratas Island in the northern part of the South China Sea.

It was "the first observed instance of Chinese coast guard and survey vessels acting in coordination to provoke Taiwan", the coast guard said.

Taiwan controls Pratas but Beijing also claims the island, along with most of the strategic waterway.