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.



China’s Foreign Minister Warns Philippines over US Missile Deployment

 China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 14th EAST Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting in the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos July 27, 2024. (Reuters)
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 14th EAST Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting in the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos July 27, 2024. (Reuters)
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China’s Foreign Minister Warns Philippines over US Missile Deployment

 China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 14th EAST Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting in the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos July 27, 2024. (Reuters)
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 14th EAST Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting in the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos July 27, 2024. (Reuters)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has warned the Philippines over the US intermediate-range missile deployment, saying such a move could fuel regional tensions and spark an arms race.

The United States deployed its Typhon missile system to the Philippines as part of joint military drills earlier this year. It was not fired during the exercises, a Philippine military official later said, without giving details on how long it would stay in the country.

China-Philippines relations are now at a crossroads and dialogue and consultation are the right way, Wang told the Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo on Friday during a meeting in Vientiane, the capital of Laos where top diplomats of world powers have gathered ahead of two summits.

Wang said relations between the countries are facing challenges because the Philippines has "repeatedly violated the consensus of both sides and its own commitments", according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

"If the Philippines introduces the US intermediate-range missile system, it will create tension and confrontation in the region and trigger an arms race, which is completely not in line with the interests and wishes of the Filipino people," Wang said.

The Philippines' military and its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wang's remarks.

China and the Philippines are locked in a confrontation in the South China Sea and their encounters have grown more tense as Beijing presses its claims to disputed shoals in waters within Manila's its exclusive economic zone.

Wang said China has recently reached a temporary arrangement with the Philippines on the transportation and replenishment of humanitarian supplies to Ren'ai Jiao in order to maintain the stability of the maritime situation, referring to the Second Thomas Shoal.

Philippine vessels on Saturday successfully completed their latest mission to the shoal unimpeded, its foreign ministry said in a statement.