Blinken Sees ‘Urgency’ in Resolving Iran’s Nuclear Problem

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his airplane prior to departing from Cornwall Airport Newquay, following his visit to the G7 summit, before heading to Brussels, in Newquay, Cornwall, Britain, Juna 12, 2021. Saul Loeb/Pool via REUTERS
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his airplane prior to departing from Cornwall Airport Newquay, following his visit to the G7 summit, before heading to Brussels, in Newquay, Cornwall, Britain, Juna 12, 2021. Saul Loeb/Pool via REUTERS
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Blinken Sees ‘Urgency’ in Resolving Iran’s Nuclear Problem

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his airplane prior to departing from Cornwall Airport Newquay, following his visit to the G7 summit, before heading to Brussels, in Newquay, Cornwall, Britain, Juna 12, 2021. Saul Loeb/Pool via REUTERS
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his airplane prior to departing from Cornwall Airport Newquay, following his visit to the G7 summit, before heading to Brussels, in Newquay, Cornwall, Britain, Juna 12, 2021. Saul Loeb/Pool via REUTERS

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that there is an urgent need to know whether the Vienna Talks will help stop Iran’s progress in its nuclear program.

“First, when it comes to the nuclear talks, we’re not trading any other issues or interests for the sake of the nuclear talks… Second, I’m not going to get ahead of the President. I suspect he’ll be taking this up with President (Vladimir) Putin in a couple of days,” he responded to a CBS question.

He added that the “meeting with President Putin is not happening in a vacuum. The President will be coming off of the G7, the NATO summit, the meeting with the European Union’s leaders. When we bring the world’s democracies together, it’s an incredibly powerful force militarily, economically, politically, diplomatically.”

“Since we pulled out of the nuclear deal and then Iran began to ignore the constraints that the deal had imposed on it, it has been galloping forward and it’s enriching more material. It’s enriching at higher levels, degrees than were allowed under the agreement. It is gaining knowledge. And if this goes on a lot longer, if they continue to gallop ahead, then you’re right, they’re going to have knowledge that’s going to be very hard to reverse, which I think puts some urgency in seeing if we can put the nuclear problem back in the box that the agreement had put it in that.”

In another context, personal lawyer for former President Donald Trump Rudy Giuliani slammed President Joe Biden for wanting to rejoin the Iranian nuclear accord.

“He’s caving into Iran before Iran even wants to make a deal,” Giuliani said in an interview that aired Sunday.

“He’s already let a couple of very big Iranian terrorist businesspeople off the hook. He’s already taken sanctions away from Iranian companies that have been dealing in oil,” he added.

“So, already Iran has gotten concessions, without giving up anything that they want to get from us. It’s the worst way to negotiate a deal, particularly with a regime of terror,” he said.
Giuliani said that Biden has “displayed a level of weakness that, I don’t know …”

“I remember years ago when Kennedy did this and made that mistake with Khrushchev. Khrushchev took it as a sign of weakness, and we got the Cuban missile crisis. Well, Kennedy straightened them out then, but I’m not sure that Biden will be able to do it,” Giuliani stated.



Poland Bars Chinese-Made Cars from Military Sites Over Data Security Fears 

A soldier from the 18th Mechanized Division stands guard on a Light Strike Vehicle "Zmija" during a media tour organized by the country's military to demonstrate the security measures on the Polish Belarusian border, near Bialowieza, Poland, January 10, 2025. (Reuters)
A soldier from the 18th Mechanized Division stands guard on a Light Strike Vehicle "Zmija" during a media tour organized by the country's military to demonstrate the security measures on the Polish Belarusian border, near Bialowieza, Poland, January 10, 2025. (Reuters)
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Poland Bars Chinese-Made Cars from Military Sites Over Data Security Fears 

A soldier from the 18th Mechanized Division stands guard on a Light Strike Vehicle "Zmija" during a media tour organized by the country's military to demonstrate the security measures on the Polish Belarusian border, near Bialowieza, Poland, January 10, 2025. (Reuters)
A soldier from the 18th Mechanized Division stands guard on a Light Strike Vehicle "Zmija" during a media tour organized by the country's military to demonstrate the security measures on the Polish Belarusian border, near Bialowieza, Poland, January 10, 2025. (Reuters)

Poland has barred Chinese-made vehicles from entering military facilities due to concerns their onboard sensors could be used to collect sensitive data, the Polish Army said on Tuesday evening.

The army said in ‌a statement ‌that such vehicles ‌may ⁠still be allowed onto ⁠secured sites if specified functions are disabled and other safeguards required under each facility's security rules are in place.

To ⁠limit the risk ‌of ‌exposing confidential information, the military has ‌also banned connecting company ‌phones to infotainment systems in vehicles manufactured in China.

The restrictions do not apply ‌to publicly accessible military locations such as hospitals, ⁠clinics, ⁠libraries, prosecutors' offices or garrison clubs, the army said.

It added that the measures are precautionary and align with practices used by NATO members and other allies to ensure high standards of protection for defense infrastructure.


Starmer, Trump discussed Russia-Ukraine, Iran after Geneva Talks, Downing Street Says 

US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce an agreement between the two countries as they hold a press conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, Britain. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce an agreement between the two countries as they hold a press conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, Britain. (Reuters)
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Starmer, Trump discussed Russia-Ukraine, Iran after Geneva Talks, Downing Street Says 

US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce an agreement between the two countries as they hold a press conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, Britain. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce an agreement between the two countries as they hold a press conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, Britain. (Reuters)

British ‌Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke to US President Donald Trump on Tuesday night about US-mediated Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Geneva, as well as talks between the US and Iran on ‌their nuclear ‌dispute, a Downing Street ‌spokesperson ⁠said.

Starmer also discussed ⁠Gaza with Trump and stressed on the importance of securing further access for humanitarian aid, the spokesperson said.

Negotiators ⁠from Ukraine and ‌Russia ‌concluded the first of two days ‌of the US-mediated ‌peace talks in Geneva on Tuesday, with Trump pressing Kyiv to act fast ‌to reach a deal.

Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister ⁠Abbas ⁠Araqchi said Tehran and Washington reached an understanding on Tuesday on "guiding principles" aimed at resolving their longstanding nuclear dispute, but that did not mean a deal is imminent.


Japan PM Takaichi Reappointed Following Election

Sanae Takaichi gestures at the Lower House of the Parliament in Tokyo, Japan, 18 February 2026. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON
Sanae Takaichi gestures at the Lower House of the Parliament in Tokyo, Japan, 18 February 2026. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON
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Japan PM Takaichi Reappointed Following Election

Sanae Takaichi gestures at the Lower House of the Parliament in Tokyo, Japan, 18 February 2026. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON
Sanae Takaichi gestures at the Lower House of the Parliament in Tokyo, Japan, 18 February 2026. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON

Japan's lower house formally reappointed Sanae Takaichi as prime minister on Wednesday, 10 days after her historic landslide election victory.

Takaichi, 64, became Japan's first woman premier in October and won a two-thirds majority for her party in the snap lower house elections on February 8.

She has pledged to bolster Japan's defenses to protect its territory and waters, likely further straining relations with Beijing, and to boost the flagging economy.

Takaichi suggested in November that Japan could intervene militarily if Beijing sought to take Taiwan by force.

China, which regards the democratic island as part of its territory and has not ruled out force to annex it, was furious.

Beijing's top diplomat Wang Yi told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that forces in Japan were seeking to "revive militarism".

In a policy speech expected for Friday, Takaichi will pledge to update Japan's "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" strategic framework, local media reported.

"Compared with when FOIP was first proposed, the international situation and security environment surrounding Japan have become significantly more severe," chief government spokesman Minoru Kihara said Monday.

In practice this will likely mean strengthening supply chains and promoting free trade through the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) that Britain joined in 2024.

Takaichi's government also plans to pass legislation to establish a National Intelligence Agency and to begin concrete discussions towards an anti-espionage law, the reports said.

Takaichi has promised too to tighten rules surrounding immigration, even though Asia's number two economy is struggling with labor shortages and a falling population.

On Friday Takaichi will repeat her campaign pledge to suspend consumption tax on food for two years in order to ease inflationary pressures on households, local media said, according to AFP.

This promise has exacerbated market worries about Japan's colossal debt, with yields on long-dated government bonds hitting record highs last month.

Rahul Anand, the International Monetary Fund chief of mission in Japan, said Wednesday that debt interest payments would double between 2025 and 2031.

"Removing the consumption tax (on food) would weaken the tax revenue base, since the consumption tax is an important way to raise revenues without creating distortions in the economy," Anand said.

To ease such concerns, Takaichi will on Friday repeat her mantra of having a "responsible, proactive" fiscal policy and set a target on reducing government debt, the reports said.

She will also announce the creation of a cross-party "national council" to discuss taxation and how to fund ageing Japan's ballooning social security bill.

But Takaichi's first order of business will be obtaining approval for Japan's budget for the fiscal year beginning on April 1 after the process was delayed by the election.

The ruling coalition also wants to pass legislation that will outlaw destroying the Japanese flag, according to the media reports.

It wants too to accelerate debate on changing the constitution and on revising the imperial family's rules to ease a looming succession crisis.

Takaichi and many within her Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) oppose making it possible for a woman to become emperor, but rules could be changed to "adopt" new male members.