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Iran Says it Warned off US Drones Near its Gulf Drills

Members of the Iranian Army take part in a military exercise dubbed “Zulfiqar 1400”, in the coastal area of the Gulf of Oman, Iran, in this picture obtained on November 7, 2021. Iranian Army/WANA/Handout via Reuters
Members of the Iranian Army take part in a military exercise dubbed “Zulfiqar 1400”, in the coastal area of the Gulf of Oman, Iran, in this picture obtained on November 7, 2021. Iranian Army/WANA/Handout via Reuters
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Iran Says it Warned off US Drones Near its Gulf Drills

Members of the Iranian Army take part in a military exercise dubbed “Zulfiqar 1400”, in the coastal area of the Gulf of Oman, Iran, in this picture obtained on November 7, 2021. Iranian Army/WANA/Handout via Reuters
Members of the Iranian Army take part in a military exercise dubbed “Zulfiqar 1400”, in the coastal area of the Gulf of Oman, Iran, in this picture obtained on November 7, 2021. Iranian Army/WANA/Handout via Reuters

Iran’s military warned off US drones trying to approach Iranian war games near the mouth of the Gulf, state broadcaster IRIB said on Tuesday.

The annual exercises concluded on Tuesday, a few weeks before resumption of talks between Tehran and world powers to revive a 2015 nuclear deal.

“These aircraft (RQ-4 and MQ-9 US drones) changed their route after approaching the borders of Iran following the air defense’s interception and decisive warning,” IRIB reported.

The exercises stretched from the east of the Strait of Hormuz to the north of the Indian Ocean and parts of the Red Sea. About a fifth of oil that is consumed globally passes through the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway in the Gulf.

Periodic confrontations have taken place between Iran’s military and US forces in the Gulf since 2018, when former US President Donald Trump exited the nuclear pact and reimposed harsh sanctions against Tehran.

Iran has reacted by breaching the deal’s limits on its nuclear program.

Indirect talks between Iran and US President Joe Biden’s administration to revive the pact, which were put on hold since the election of Iran’s hardline President Ebrahim Raisi in June, are set to resume in Vienna on Nov. 29.

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Venezuela’s Maduro Rejects Panama’s Offer of Safe Passage

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks to the press at the Supreme Court where he arrived for procedures related to the court's audit of presidential election results in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. Behind is an image of Independence hero Simon Bolivar. (AP)
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks to the press at the Supreme Court where he arrived for procedures related to the court's audit of presidential election results in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. Behind is an image of Independence hero Simon Bolivar. (AP)
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Venezuela’s Maduro Rejects Panama’s Offer of Safe Passage

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks to the press at the Supreme Court where he arrived for procedures related to the court's audit of presidential election results in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. Behind is an image of Independence hero Simon Bolivar. (AP)
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks to the press at the Supreme Court where he arrived for procedures related to the court's audit of presidential election results in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. Behind is an image of Independence hero Simon Bolivar. (AP)

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gave a scathing response to an offer on Friday from his Panamanian counterpart, Jose Raul Mulino, to facilitate his departure to a third country to allow for a political transition.

Mulino told broadcaster CNN he would give Maduro safe passage to act as a "bridge" to a third country, in the aftermath of a July 28 election Maduro says he won but independent pollsters claim as an opposition landslide.

"If that's the contribution, the sacrifice that Panama has to make, by offering our soil so that this man and his family can leave Venezuela, Panama would do it without a doubt," Mulino said in an interview.

But Maduro accused the Panamanian president, who himself was elected to office just three months ago, of getting "carried away by the gringos," using a derogatory term for Americans.

"I will try to learn your name, President of Panama, but whoever messes with Venezuela runs aground," Maduro told reporters outside a courtroom where he filed an appeal to verify the electoral results.

Panama has also agreed a deal with the United States under which the latter will pay for flights to deport migrants who cross the country's Darien Gap, a dangerous stretch of jungle that joins to the South American continent and a route more than 200,000 have taken so far in 2024, many hoping to reach the US.

Last year, Venezuelans made up over 60% of some half a million migrants who crossed the Darien in search of better opportunities and security abroad.

Maduro has claimed a 51% victory in last month's election, while the political opposition maintains its candidate won by millions of votes. Venezuela's electoral authority has yet to release detailed vote tallies.

Panama is part of a group of Latin American countries that have cut diplomatic ties with Venezuela since the disputed July 28 election, including Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Peru, and Uruguay.

Mulino has called for a regional summit to discuss the elections' outcome, and told CNN on Friday that seven presidents had confirmed their attendance.

He said the summit could take place in the Dominican Republic to coincide with the inauguration of President Luis Abinader, which is scheduled for Aug. 16.