Australia Targets Iran, Myanmar with Economic Sanctions

A picture obtained by AFP outside Iran shows Iranian police on motorbikes during a protest in support of Mahsa Amini, a woman who reportedly died after being arrested by the country's "morality police", in Tehran on September 19, 2022. (AFP)
A picture obtained by AFP outside Iran shows Iranian police on motorbikes during a protest in support of Mahsa Amini, a woman who reportedly died after being arrested by the country's "morality police", in Tehran on September 19, 2022. (AFP)
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Australia Targets Iran, Myanmar with Economic Sanctions

A picture obtained by AFP outside Iran shows Iranian police on motorbikes during a protest in support of Mahsa Amini, a woman who reportedly died after being arrested by the country's "morality police", in Tehran on September 19, 2022. (AFP)
A picture obtained by AFP outside Iran shows Iranian police on motorbikes during a protest in support of Mahsa Amini, a woman who reportedly died after being arrested by the country's "morality police", in Tehran on September 19, 2022. (AFP)

Australia on Wednesday announced targeted financial sanctions and travel bans against “individuals responsible for egregious human rights abuses” in Myanmar two years after a military junta seized power in the Southeast Asian country.

Australia also imposed additional sanctions on Iranian individuals and entities over “abhorrent abuses of human rights,” a government statement said.

The Myanmar sanctions target 16 members of the military’s governing regime and two military-controlled entities, the government said. The entities are Myanmar Economic Public Holdings Ltd. and Myanmar Economic Corp.

Two successive Australian governments had resisted calls to impose sanctions on Myanmar since the military takeover on Feb. 1, 2021, while Sydney economist Sean Turnell, an adviser to Myanmar’s elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, was detained by the military.

Turnell was sentenced to three years in prison for violating Myanmar’s official secrets law and immigration law but was released in November as part of a broader prisoner amnesty and deported.

But the junta issued a decree in December that has circulated on social media, annulling his amnesty and ordering him to appear in a Myanmar court for spreading “misinformation” in the media.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement last week the government was “deeply concerned” that Myanmar had annulled Turnell’s amnesty and issued a subpoena for him to appear in court.

“The Australian government never accepted the basis of Prof. Turnell’s detention, nor the charges against him, and we are disappointed that he is now being asked to answer for an undefined offence following his release from detention,” the statement said.

Turnell has advocated Australian sanctions against Myanmar since his release.

“Sanctions would cause negligible-to-zero effect on the average person in Myanmar and nothing compared to the suffering that’s occurred under the junta,” Turnell told The Australian newspaper before the sanctions were announced.

The new sanctions against Iran target individuals and entities involved in the violent crackdown on protests since 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in September last year while being held by the morality police.

The sanctions also target individuals and entities involved in supplying drones to Russia. Russia has targeted Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure with Iranian-made drones, the government said.

“Australia stands with the people of Myanmar, the people of Iran and with the people of Ukraine,” the statement said.



Pakistan Says It Is Committed to Truce with India, Vows Response to Aggression 

A boy looks out of his damaged house from Pakistani artillery shelling upon his return to Kotmaira village along the Line of Control in Akhnoor Sector, India, Tuesday, May 13, 2025.(AP)
A boy looks out of his damaged house from Pakistani artillery shelling upon his return to Kotmaira village along the Line of Control in Akhnoor Sector, India, Tuesday, May 13, 2025.(AP)
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Pakistan Says It Is Committed to Truce with India, Vows Response to Aggression 

A boy looks out of his damaged house from Pakistani artillery shelling upon his return to Kotmaira village along the Line of Control in Akhnoor Sector, India, Tuesday, May 13, 2025.(AP)
A boy looks out of his damaged house from Pakistani artillery shelling upon his return to Kotmaira village along the Line of Control in Akhnoor Sector, India, Tuesday, May 13, 2025.(AP)

Pakistan said on Tuesday it remained committed to a truce with India agreed after four days of intense fighting last week, but vowed to respond with full resolve to any future aggression by New Delhi.

The nuclear-armed neighbors halted their worst fighting in nearly three decades after agreeing to a ceasefire on Saturday, following diplomacy and pressure from the United States.

Tuesday's comments from Islamabad came in response to a speech by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the previous day that warned Pakistan New Delhi would target "terrorist hideouts" across the border again if there were new attacks on India, without being deterred by "nuclear blackmail".

Pakistan's foreign ministry said Islamabad categorically rejected Modi's "provocative and inflammatory assertions" in the speech.

"At a time when international efforts are being made for regional peace and stability, this statement represents a dangerous escalation," it said in a statement.

"Pakistan remains committed to the recent ceasefire understanding and taking necessary steps towards de-escalation and regional stability," it said, promising full resolve in meeting any future aggression by its neighbor.

The two sides fired missiles and drones targeting each other's military installations after India said it struck "terrorist infrastructure" sites in Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir on Wednesday in retaliation for an attack in Indian Kashmir that killed 26 Hindu tourists.

Pakistan, which said the targets were all civilian, denies Indian accusations that it was behind the attack in the Himalayan region. Its military has said 40 civilians and 11 of its armed forces were killed in the attack.

India said at least five of its military personnel and 16 civilians died.

India said on Tuesday it had declared an official of the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi persona non grata "for indulging in activities not in keeping with his official status".

Pakistan also declared a staff member at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad persona non grata "for engaging in activities incompatible with his privileged status".

Each was given 24 hours to leave the country.

Both countries have already reduced the strength of their embassies after relations nosedived after the April 22 attack.

MODI REPEATS WARNING

Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan each rule part of Kashmir, but both claim it in full, having fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over it, along with several limited flare-ups, particularly in 1999 and 2019.

Earlier on Tuesday, Modi visited the Adampur air base near the border and repeated his warning to Pakistan in remarks to Indian Air Force personnel, with whom he posed for photographs.

"We will not differentiate between the government sponsoring terrorism and the masterminds of terrorism," Modi said, referring to India's response in the event of another attack.

"We will enter their dens and hit them without giving them an opportunity to survive."

Separately, the Indian foreign ministry said the issue of trade did not come up in talks with Washington regarding the tension with Pakistan.

The understanding to stop the fighting was reached directly with Islamabad after Pakistan's military operations chief called his Indian counterpart and made the proposal, it added.

Pakistan has said it called India in response to a call from New Delhi on May 7, which the Indian military immediately followed its strikes on the "terrorist infrastructure" in Pakistan.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump said the leaders of India and Pakistan were "unwavering", and the United States had "helped a lot" to secure the ceasefire, adding that trade was a "big reason" why the countries stopped fighting.

India has said the military operations chiefs of both nations spoke by telephone on Monday, reiterating their commitment to halt firing and consider steps to reduce troops on the border.

Pakistan has not provided details of the call.