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Iran Says Will Provide Russia with '40 Turbines'

An Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. (Reuters)
An Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. (Reuters)
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Iran Says Will Provide Russia with '40 Turbines'

An Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. (Reuters)
An Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. (Reuters)

Iran announced Sunday a contract with Russia to supply it with 40 turbines to help its gas industry amid Western sanctions over Moscow's war in Ukraine, local media reported.

Iran's "industrial successes are not limited to the fields of missiles and drones," Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company's CEO, Reza Noushadi, was quoted as saying by Shana, the oil ministry's news agency.

"Currently, 85 percent of the facilities and equipment needed by the gas industry are built inside the country, and based on this capability, a contract has recently been signed to export 40 Iranian-made turbines to Russia," he added.

Noushadi did not specify when the contract was signed, and when the turbines are due to be delivered, said AFP.

Following the imposition of economic sanctions over the Kremlin's offensive in Ukraine, Russia reduced or halted supplies to different European nations, causing energy prices to soar.

The Kremlin insists sanctions have prevented the proper maintenance of Russian gas infrastructure and, in particular, blocked the return of a Siemens turbine that had been undergoing repairs in Canada.

"Give us a turbine, we will turn Nord Stream on tomorrow", Putin said at the Vladivostok forum in September, referring to a vital gas pipeline between Russia and Germany.

Western countries have accused Russia of using gas supplies as a "weapon".

Noushadi said the US sanctions on Russia are aimed at excluding Moscow from the gas market.

"In recent years, the United States of America has widely set up LNG production plants, and recently, with the all-out embargo on Russia and then the explosion in the Nord Stream gas pipeline, it effectively eliminated one of its biggest competitors in gas exports," he noted.

Russia and Iran hold some of the world's largest gas reserves, and are both under strict US sanctions.

Both countries have in recent months stressed the importance of enhancing bilateral cooperation.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin visited Tehran in July where he met his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi and the Iranian republic's supreme leader Ali Khamenei who also called for stronger "long-term co-operation" with Moscow.

Tehran has recently denied supplying Russia with weapons for use in the war, after Kyiv and its Western partners accused Moscow of using Iranian-made drones in Ukraine.

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World

Spanish Police Evict Hundreds of Migrants from Squat Deemed Safety Hazard

Migrants confront police as they begin carrying out eviction orders at an abandoned school building where hundreds of mostly undocumented migrants had been living, in Badalona, near Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Migrants confront police as they begin carrying out eviction orders at an abandoned school building where hundreds of mostly undocumented migrants had been living, in Badalona, near Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
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Spanish Police Evict Hundreds of Migrants from Squat Deemed Safety Hazard

Migrants confront police as they begin carrying out eviction orders at an abandoned school building where hundreds of mostly undocumented migrants had been living, in Badalona, near Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Migrants confront police as they begin carrying out eviction orders at an abandoned school building where hundreds of mostly undocumented migrants had been living, in Badalona, near Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Police in northeastern Spain carried out eviction orders Wednesday to clear an abandoned school building where hundreds of mostly undocumented migrants were living in a squat north of Barcelona.

Knowing that the eviction in the middle of winter was coming, most of the occupants had left to try to find other shelter before police in riot gear from Catalonia's regional police entered the school’s premises early in the morning under court orders. Those who had waited left peacefully.

The squat was located in Badalona, a working class city that borders Barcelona. Many sub-Saharan migrants, mostly from Senegal and Gambia, had moved into the empty school building since it was left abandoned in 2023.

The mayor of Badalona, Xavier García Albiol, announced the evictions in a post on X. “As I had promised, the eviction of the squat of 400 illegal squatters in the B9 school in Badalona begins," he wrote.

The judicial order obliged the Badalona town hall to provide the evicted people with access to social services, but it did not oblige local authorities to find housing for all the squatters.

Lawyer Marta Llonch, who represents the squatters, said that many people would surely end up without shelter in the cold.

“Many people are going to sleep on the street tonight,” Llonch told The Associated Press. “Just because you evict these people it doesn’t mean they disappear. If you don’t give them an alternative place to live they will now be on the street, which will be a problem for them and the city.”

Many of the squatters lived from selling scrap metal collected from the streets. Others had residency and work permits but were forced to live there because they couldn't afford housing during a cost-of-living crunch that is making it difficult even for working Spaniards to buy or rent homes. That housing crisis has led to widespread social angst and public protests.

On leaving the school, people loaded their belongings onto carts, some used as trailers led by bicycles, to haul them away.

García Albiol, of the conservative Popular Party, has built his political career as Badalona's long-standing mayor with an anti-immigration stance.

The Badalona town hall had argued that the squat was a public safety hazard. In 2020, an old factory occupied by around a hundred migrants in Badalona caught fire and four people were killed in the blaze.

Like other southern European countries, Spain has for more than a decade seen a steady influx of migrants who risked their lives crossing the Mediterranean or Atlantic in small boats.

World

EU's Von der Leyen: Europe Must be Responsible for its Own Security

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a debate on the preparation of a European Council meeting, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, on December 17, 2025. (Photo by FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a debate on the preparation of a European Council meeting, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, on December 17, 2025. (Photo by FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP)
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EU's Von der Leyen: Europe Must be Responsible for its Own Security

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a debate on the preparation of a European Council meeting, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, on December 17, 2025. (Photo by FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a debate on the preparation of a European Council meeting, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, on December 17, 2025. (Photo by FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP)

Europe must be responsible for its own security, European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.

"This is no longer an option. It is a must," she told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

She added that Europe "cannot afford to let others define its worldview," adding that while the US national security strategy is right to say that Europe's share of global GDP is declining, the United States is on "the same path."

The European Council meets on December 18 and 19 to discuss in particular the need to support Ukraine, transatlantic relations and the EU's strategic autonomy.

World

Pakistan’s Military Chief Asim Munir in Spotlight over Trump’s Gaza Plan 

In this photo released by the Inter Services Public Relations, Pakistan's Chief of Defense Forces and Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir speaks during a ceremony at the joint military command headquarters in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (Inter Services Public Relations via AP)
In this photo released by the Inter Services Public Relations, Pakistan's Chief of Defense Forces and Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir speaks during a ceremony at the joint military command headquarters in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (Inter Services Public Relations via AP)
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Pakistan’s Military Chief Asim Munir in Spotlight over Trump’s Gaza Plan 

In this photo released by the Inter Services Public Relations, Pakistan's Chief of Defense Forces and Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir speaks during a ceremony at the joint military command headquarters in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (Inter Services Public Relations via AP)
In this photo released by the Inter Services Public Relations, Pakistan's Chief of Defense Forces and Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir speaks during a ceremony at the joint military command headquarters in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (Inter Services Public Relations via AP)

Pakistan's most powerful military chief in decades faces the toughest test of his newly amassed powers as Washington pushes Islamabad to contribute troops to the Gaza stabilization force, a move analysts say could spark domestic backlash.

Field Marshal Asim Munir is expected to fly to Washington to meet President Donald Trump in the coming weeks for a third meeting in six months that will likely focus on the Gaza force, two sources told Reuters, one of them a key player in the general's economic diplomacy.

Trump's 20-point Gaza plan calls for a force from Muslim nations to oversee a transition period for reconstruction and economic recovery in the war-torn Palestinian territory, decimated by over two years of Israeli military bombardment.

Many countries are wary of the mission to demilitarize Gaza's Hamas group, which could drag them into the conflict and enrage their pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli populations.

But Munir has built a close relationship with the mercurial Trump to repair years of mistrust between Washington and Islamabad. In June, he was rewarded with a White House lunch - the first time a US president hosted Pakistan's army chief alone, without civilian officials.

"Not contributing (to the Gaza stabilization force) could annoy Trump, which is no small matter for a Pakistani state that appears quite keen to remain in his good graces - in great part to secure US investment and security aid," said Michael Kugelman, Senior Fellow, South Asia at Washington-based Atlantic Council.

'PRESSURE TO DELIVER'

Pakistan, the world's only Muslim country with nuclear weapons, has a battle-hardened military having gone to war with arch-rival India three times and a brief conflict this summer. It has also tackled insurgencies in its far-flung regions and is currently embroiled in a bruising war with militants who it says are operating from Afghanistan.

Pakistan's military strength means "there is a greater pressure on Munir to deliver his capacity," said author and defense analyst Ayesha Siddiqa.

Pakistan's military, foreign office and information ministry did not respond to questions from Reuters. The White House also did not respond to a request for a comment.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said last month that Islamabad could consider contributing troops for peacekeeping but disarming Hamas "is not our job."

UNPRECEDENTED POWER

Munir was earlier this month anointed chief of the defense forces to head the air force and navy as well, with a job extension until 2030.

He will retain his field marshal title forever, as well as enjoy lifetime immunity from any criminal prosecution under the constitutional amendments that Pakistan's civilian government pushed through parliament late last month.

"Few people in Pakistan enjoy the luxury of being able to take risks more than Munir. He has unbridled power, now constitutionally protected," Kugelman added.

"Ultimately, it will be Munir's rules, and his rules only."

THE HOME FRONT RISK

Over the past few weeks, Munir has met military and civilian leaders from countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Jordan, Egypt and Qatar, according to the military's statements, which Siddiqa said appeared to be consultations on the Gaza force.

But the big concern at home is that the involvement of Pakistan troops in Gaza under a US-backed plan could re-ignite protests from Pakistan's Islamist parties that are deeply opposed to the US and Israel.

The Islamists have street power to mobilize thousands. A powerful and violent anti-Israel Islamist party that fights for upholding Pakistan's ultra-strict blasphemy laws was banned in October.

Authorities arrested its leaders and over 1,500 supporters and seized its assets and bank accounts in an ongoing crackdown, officials said.

While Islamabad has outlawed the group, its ideology is still alive.

The party of former jailed premier, Imran Khan, whose supporters won the most seats in the 2024 national elections and has wide public support, also has an axe to grind against Munir.

Abdul Basit, Senior Associate Fellow, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said if things escalated once the Gaza force was on the ground, it would cause problems quickly.

"People will say 'Asim Munir is doing Israel's bidding' - it will be foolhardy of anyone not to see it coming."