Iran Summons Senior Ukraine Diplomat over Comments on Drone Strike

Eyewitness footage shows what is said to be the moment of an explosion at a military industry factory in Isfahan, Iran, January 29, 2023, in this still image obtained from a video. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
Eyewitness footage shows what is said to be the moment of an explosion at a military industry factory in Isfahan, Iran, January 29, 2023, in this still image obtained from a video. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
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Iran Summons Senior Ukraine Diplomat over Comments on Drone Strike

Eyewitness footage shows what is said to be the moment of an explosion at a military industry factory in Isfahan, Iran, January 29, 2023, in this still image obtained from a video. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
Eyewitness footage shows what is said to be the moment of an explosion at a military industry factory in Isfahan, Iran, January 29, 2023, in this still image obtained from a video. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)

Iran summoned Ukraine's charge d'affaires in Tehran on Monday over his country's comments on a drone strike on a military factory in the central Iranian province of Isfahan, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

In Ukraine, which accuses Iran of supplying hundreds of drones to Russia to attack civilian targets in Ukrainian cities far from the front, a senior aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy linked the incident directly to the war there.

"Explosive night in Iran," Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted. "Did warn you."

Iran has acknowledged sending drones to Russia but says they were sent before Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last year.

Moscow denies its forces use Iranian drones in Ukraine, although many have been shot down and recovered there.

The Kremlin on Monday condemned the Iran strike and said it was analyzing what had happened.

"In any case, one can only condemn such actions against a sovereign state," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

A US official said on Sunday that Israel appeared to have been behind the overnight drone strike. Iran said it had intercepted the strike and that there were no casualties or serious damage.



Traffic on French High-Speed Trains Gradually Improving after Sabotage

Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)
Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)
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Traffic on French High-Speed Trains Gradually Improving after Sabotage

Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)
Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)

Traffic on France's TGV high-speed trains was gradually returning to normal on Saturday after engineers worked overnight repairing sabotaged signal stations and cables that caused travel chaos on Friday, the opening day of the Paris Olympic Games.

In Friday's pre-dawn attacks on the high-speed rail network vandals damaged infrastructure along the lines connecting Paris with cities such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west and Strasbourg in the east. Another attack on the Paris-Marseille line was foiled, French rail operator SNCF said.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility.

"On the Eastern high-speed line, traffic resumed normally this morning at 6:30 a.m. while on the North, Brittany and South-West high-speed lines, 7 out of 10 trains on average will run with delays of 1 to 2 hours," SNCF said in a statement on Saturday morning.

"At this stage, traffic will remain disrupted on Sunday on the North axis and should improve on the Atlantic axis for weekend returns," it added.

SNCF reiterated that transport plans for teams competing in the Olympics would be guaranteed.