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Iran’s Guard Holds Ballistic Missile Drill

FILE - Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard march during a parade in Tehran, Sept. 22, 2011. Reuters
FILE - Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard march during a parade in Tehran, Sept. 22, 2011. Reuters
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Iran’s Guard Holds Ballistic Missile Drill

FILE - Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard march during a parade in Tehran, Sept. 22, 2011. Reuters
FILE - Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard march during a parade in Tehran, Sept. 22, 2011. Reuters

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard forces on Friday held a military exercise involving ballistic missiles and drones in the country's central desert, state TV reported, amid heightened tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program.

In the first phase of the drill Friday morning, the Guard’s aerospace division launched several surface-to-surface ballistic missiles against simulated enemy bases, state TV reported. It said the drill included Zolfaghar and Dezful solid-fuel ballistic missiles. Bomb-carrying drones were also deployed.

The Dezful, a version of the Zolfaghar, has a 700-kilometer range and 450-kilogram warhead.

In recent weeks, Iran has increased its military drills. On Wednesday, Iran’s navy held a two-day short-range missile drill in the Gulf of Oman. On Saturday, the Revolutionary Guard held a naval parade in the Arabian Gulf. A week earlier, Iran held a massive drone maneuver across half the country.

Tensions are again rising in the waning days of the administration of President Donald Trump, as Iran ramps up pressure on the West over the US sanctions campaign against Tehran.

Trump in 2018 unilaterally withdrew the US from Iran’s nuclear deal, in which Tehran had agreed to limit its uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Trump cited Iran’s ballistic missile program among other issues in withdrawing from the accord.

When the US then increased sanctions, Iran gradually and publicly abandoned the deal’s limits on its nuclear development.

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US Top Diplomat Rubio, China’s Wang Speak in First Phone Call, China Says

Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks next to his wife Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks next to his wife Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Top Diplomat Rubio, China’s Wang Speak in First Phone Call, China Says

Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks next to his wife Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks next to his wife Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi by phone on Friday, China's foreign ministry said, the first call between the two top diplomats since President Donald Trump's administration took office on Monday.

The call is the first publicly disclosed contact between an official in the second Trump administration and a Chinese counterpart.

According to a Chinese foreign ministry readout of the call, the two discussed US-China relations and Taiwan.

Wang told Rubio, a known China hawk, "I hope you would conduct yourself well and play a constructive role in the future of the Chinese and American people and in world peace and stability," according to the readout.

In his Senate confirmation hearing last week Rubio labeled China as the gravest threat facing the United States.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the talks, which come days after Trump said on Wednesday he was considering a 10% duty on Chinese imports because of Beijing’s role in the fentanyl trade.

On Thursday, at a speech to the World Economic Forum, Trump said he was expecting to do "very well" and to get along with China, but his inner circle including Rubio have different views on how to deal with China.

Last week, Xi and Trump agreed on a phone call ahead of the latter's inauguration for a second term, to create a strategic communication channel on "major issues."

During his first term, Trump quickly struck up a relationship with Xi and both men lavishly hosted each other in Florida and Beijing. But that did not stop ties deteriorating into a trade war that unleashed a series of tit-for-tat tariffs and uprooted global supply chains.

According to China's Foreign Ministry, Wang told Rubio that heads of state and China had "pointed out the direction and established the tone for China-US relations."

"The teams of both sides should implement the important consensus of the two heads of state, maintain communication, manage differences, expand cooperation, promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-US relations, and find the right way for China and the United States to get along in the new era."

Wang also said that China has "no intention of surpassing or replacing anyone, but we must defend our legitimate right to development."

On Taiwan, he said that the island Taiwan has been part of China's territory since ancient times and China would never allow it to be separated from China.

"The United States has made a solemn commitment to pursue the one-China policy in the three Sino-US joint communiques and must not break its promise," Wang said.

"A major power should behave like a major power, should assume its due international responsibilities, should maintain world peace, and should help all countries achieve common development," he added, echoing statements US officials have made about China.