Iran Says US Responsible for Any Israeli Attack against it

A picture released by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) of a squadron of US and Israeli fighters over Ashdod port.
A picture released by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) of a squadron of US and Israeli fighters over Ashdod port.
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Iran Says US Responsible for Any Israeli Attack against it

A picture released by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) of a squadron of US and Israeli fighters over Ashdod port.
A picture released by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) of a squadron of US and Israeli fighters over Ashdod port.

Iran warned it would firmly respond to any move threatening its security, saying the US was responsible for any action taken by its ally Israel.

The Israeli army said its Defense Forces and US Central Command (CENTCOM) launched Juniper Oak, a joint drill Sunday focused on air defense, cyber security, intelligence, and logistics.

Some 6,400 US and over 1,500 Israeli troops, over 140 aircraft, 12 naval vessels, and artillery systems are taking part, making it the nations' largest-ever joint drill.

Juniper Falcon is part of the ongoing strategic cooperation between the Israeli and US armies and is complementary to Juniper Oak.

"The exercise will focus on aerial defense, cyber and spectrum, intelligence and logistical scenarios, and will test joint US-Israeli readiness for potential security events," said the Israeli army.

The new maneuvers come amid renewed Iranian-Israeli tension following a drone attack against a military facility on Jan. 29.

Relations between Iran and the West have been strained over Tehran's nuclear program and ita supplying of Russia with weapons and long-range drones in its war against Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said Iran would take "decisive and serious" actions against security threats and those behind them.

Kanaani indicated that Iran had responded to Israel's attacks against its security, reiterating Tehran's position against any action by the United States and Israel in the region that would compromise its safety.

Washington is responsible for any move by Tel Aviv because the US is Israel's ally and supporter, he asserted, saying the "Zionist entity should consider its turbulent domestic situation."

Moreover, he said Israel was too weak to make a military move against Iran, remarking that it has “tasted Tehran's firm response.”

On Friday, Iran announced that its security forces arrested the main perpetrators of the attack on Isfahan.

"So far, the involvement of mercenaries of the … Zionist regime [Israel] in that act has been proven," reported the state news agency IRNA.

Furthermore, Kanaani said Tehran prioritizes lifting sanctions during negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.

He welcomed the Iraqi mediation to restore diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, hoping it would lead to progress in the negotiations between the two countries.

The spokesman addressed regional countries, saying cooperation is the best solution for maintaining security.

Kanaani criticized French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, saying her statements would not affect the course of resolving the issues and misunderstandings between Iran and European parties.

On Friday, Colonna told her US counterpart, Antony Blinken, there must be a stronger "international response" to the threat posed by Iran's ballistic missiles program.

He stressed that the missile program is defensive and based on legal rights, international norms, and principles.



Ukraine Shot Down 16 of 30 Russian Drones

 21 September 2023, Ukraine, Cherkasy: A burnt-out stall is seen at a local market during a response effort to the Russian missile attack. (dpa)
21 September 2023, Ukraine, Cherkasy: A burnt-out stall is seen at a local market during a response effort to the Russian missile attack. (dpa)
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Ukraine Shot Down 16 of 30 Russian Drones

 21 September 2023, Ukraine, Cherkasy: A burnt-out stall is seen at a local market during a response effort to the Russian missile attack. (dpa)
21 September 2023, Ukraine, Cherkasy: A burnt-out stall is seen at a local market during a response effort to the Russian missile attack. (dpa)

Ukraine's air defense systems shot down 16 out of around 30 drones that Russia launched on Ukraine's territory overnight, Ukrainian Air Forces said on Sunday.

It said on Telegram messaging app that drones were launched from the southern, southeastern and northern directions.

Authorities said the central Ukrainian Cherkasy region was under the attack.

"At night, the enemy massively attacked our Cherkasy region with attack drones. Unfortunately, there were hits on industrial infrastructure in (the city of) Uman," Cherkasy Governor Ihor Taburets said on Telegram.

"As a result, fires broke out in warehouses. In particular, where grain was stored," he said, adding that one person was injured.

Reuters could not independently verify the report.


Armenia's Government: Almost All of Nagorno-Karabakh's People Have Left

Armenian refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh travel in a car loaded with their belongings on the road between Goris and Yerevan on September 30, 2023. (Photo by Diego Herrera Carcedo / AFP)
Armenian refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh travel in a car loaded with their belongings on the road between Goris and Yerevan on September 30, 2023. (Photo by Diego Herrera Carcedo / AFP)
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Armenia's Government: Almost All of Nagorno-Karabakh's People Have Left

Armenian refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh travel in a car loaded with their belongings on the road between Goris and Yerevan on September 30, 2023. (Photo by Diego Herrera Carcedo / AFP)
Armenian refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh travel in a car loaded with their belongings on the road between Goris and Yerevan on September 30, 2023. (Photo by Diego Herrera Carcedo / AFP)

An ethnic Armenian exodus has nearly emptied Nagorno-Karabakh of residents since Azerbaijan attacked and ordered the breakaway region’s militants to disarm, the Armenian government said Saturday.

Nazeli Baghdasaryan, the press secretary to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, said 100,417 people had arrived in Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh, which had a population of around 120,000 before Azerbaijan reclaimed the region in a lightning offensive last week.

A total of 21,043 vehicles had crossed the Hakari Bridge, which links Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, since last week, Baghdasaryan said. Some lined up for days because the winding mountain road that is the only route to Armenia became jammed.

The departure of more than 80% of Nagorno-Karabakh's population raises questions about Azerbaijan’s plans for the enclave that was internationally recognized as part of its territory. The region's separatist ethnic Armenian government said Thursday it would dissolve itself by the end of the year after a three-decade bid for independence.

Pashinyan has alleged the ethnic Armenian exodus amounted to “a direct act of an ethnic cleansing and depriving people of their motherland.” Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry strongly rejected the characterization, saying the mass migration by the region's residents was “their personal and individual decision and has nothing to do with forced relocation.”

In a related development, Azerbaijani authorities on Friday arrested the former foreign minister of Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist government, presidential advisor David Babayan, Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General’s Office said Saturday.

Babayan's arrest follows the Azerbaijani border guard's detention of the former head of Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist government, State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, as he tried to cross into Armenia on Wednesday.

The arrests appear to reflect Azerbaijan’s intention to quickly enforce its grip on the region after the military offensive.


Putin Marks Anniversary of Annexation of Ukrainian Regions

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a video celebrating the anniversary of the incorporation of regions of Ukraine to join Russia in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a video celebrating the anniversary of the incorporation of regions of Ukraine to join Russia in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
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Putin Marks Anniversary of Annexation of Ukrainian Regions

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a video celebrating the anniversary of the incorporation of regions of Ukraine to join Russia in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a video celebrating the anniversary of the incorporation of regions of Ukraine to join Russia in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday insisted that the residents of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow annexed a year ago “made their choice — to be with their Fatherland.”

In an address released in the early hours to mark the first anniversary of the annexation, Putin insisted that it was carried out “in full accordance with international norms.”

He also claimed that residents of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions had again expressed their desire to be part of Russia in local elections earlier this month. Russia’s Central Election Commission said the country’s ruling party won the most votes.

"Just as a year ago in the historic referendums, people again expressed and confirmed their will to be with Russia and supported their countrymen who, through their labor and real actions, proved worthy of the people's trust," he said in a video of just over four minutes issued at midnight.

Putin reiterated his stance that Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine saved people from nationalist leaders in Kyiv who had unleashed a "full-scale civil war" and "terror against those who think differently.”

The West has denounced both the referendum votes carried out last year and the recent ballots as a sham. The votes were held as Russian authorities attempted to tighten their grip on territories Moscow illegally annexed a year ago and still does not fully control.

A concert was held in Red Square on Friday to mark the anniversary, but Putin did not participate.

The address came after Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday it would enlist 130,000 men for compulsory military service this fall, beginning Oct. 1, in most regions of the country. It announced it would for the first time begin enlisting residents of the annexed territories as part of its twice-yearly military conscription campaign.

Russia says conscripts are not deployed to what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, or to serve in the annexed territories. However, after their service, conscripts automatically become reservists, and Russia has previously deployed reservists to Ukraine.

In Ukraine, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell referenced the anniversary of the regions being “illegally annexed” by Russia in a video recorded during an unannounced visit to the Black Sea port city of Odesa on Saturday. Speaking from the city’s Transfiguration Cathedral, severely damaged in a Russian missile strike in July, Borrell reiterated the EU’s support for Ukraine.

“Odesa is a beautiful historic city. It should be in the headlines for its vibrant culture and spirit. Instead, it marks the news as frequent target of Putin’s war,” the EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy chief wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Meanwhile, the governor of Ukraine’s partly occupied southern Zaporizhzhia region, Yurii Malashko, said five people were wounded on Saturday in two missile strikes on the village of Matviivka, located on the northeastern outskirts of the regional capital, also called Zaporizhzhia.

Air defenses shot down 30 out of 40 Iranian-made kamikaze drones aimed at the Odesa, Mykolaiv and Vinnytsia provinces overnight, the Ukrainian air force said Saturday.

Vinnytsia regional Gov. Serhii Borzov said that air defenses shot down 20 drones over his central Ukrainian region, but that a “powerful fire” broke out in the town of Kalynivka when a drone struck an unspecified infrastructure facility.


New York Stunned, Swamped by Record-breaking Rainfall

A man clears debris from a drain as a car make their way through floodwater in Brooklyn, New York on September 29, 2023. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP)
A man clears debris from a drain as a car make their way through floodwater in Brooklyn, New York on September 29, 2023. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP)
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New York Stunned, Swamped by Record-breaking Rainfall

A man clears debris from a drain as a car make their way through floodwater in Brooklyn, New York on September 29, 2023. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP)
A man clears debris from a drain as a car make their way through floodwater in Brooklyn, New York on September 29, 2023. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP)

One of New York's wettest days in decades left the metropolitan area stunned and swamped Friday after heavy rainfall knocked out several subway and commuter rail lines, stranded drivers on highways, flooded basements and shuttered a terminal at LaGuardia Airport for hours.

Some 8.65 inches (21.97 centimeters) of rain had fallen at John F. Kennedy Airport by nightfall Friday, surpassing the record for any September day set during Hurricane Donna in 1960, the National Weather Service said.

Parts of Brooklyn saw more than 7.25 inches (18.41 centimeters), with at least one spot recording 2.5 inches (6 centimeters) in a single hour, according to weather and city officials.

More downpours were expected Saturday, The Associated Press reported.

The deluge came two years after the remnants of Hurricane Ida dumped record-breaking rain on the Northeast and killed at least 13 people in New York City, mostly in flooded basement apartments.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams declared states of emergency and urged people to stay put if possible. But schools were open, students went to class and many adults went to work, only to wonder how they would get home.

Virtually every subway line was at least partly suspended, rerouted or running with delays. Metro-North commuter rail service from Manhattan was suspended for much of the day but began resuming by evening. The Long Island Rail Road was snarled, 44 of the city's 3,500 buses became stranded and bus service was disrupted citywide, transit officials said.


Israeli's Nano-X Settles US SEC Charges over Costs of Flagship Imaging Device

Israeli flag seen during anti-government protest in Jerusalem - File/EPA/ABIR SULTAN
Israeli flag seen during anti-government protest in Jerusalem - File/EPA/ABIR SULTAN
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Israeli's Nano-X Settles US SEC Charges over Costs of Flagship Imaging Device

Israeli flag seen during anti-government protest in Jerusalem - File/EPA/ABIR SULTAN
Israeli flag seen during anti-government protest in Jerusalem - File/EPA/ABIR SULTAN

Nano-X Imaging and its founder Ran Poliakine agreed to pay nearly $1.1 million to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission charges accusing the Israeli medical imaging company of negligently misleading investors about the cost to make its flagship product.

Poliakine was accused of claiming in 2020 and 2021 that Nano-X could mass-produce Nanox.ARC, purportedly a lower-cost alternative to existing X-ray devices, for $8,000 to $12,000 each, while ignoring higher estimates provided by company executives, including engineering executives, Reuters reported.

The SEC said Nano-X also touted the misleadingly low estimate before and after its August 2020 initial public offering, which raised $165 million.

Poliakine was Nano-X's chief executive at the time of the misleading statements, and is now non-executive chairman, the SEC said.

Without admitting or denying wrongdoing, Nano-X and Poliakine agreed to pay respective civil fines of $650,000 and $150,000, and Poliakine will pay $267,000 in disgorgement plus interest.


Armenia Asks World Court to Order Azerbaijan to Withdraw Troops from Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenians at a Red Cross registration center on the border with Azerbaijan (EPA)
Armenians at a Red Cross registration center on the border with Azerbaijan (EPA)
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Armenia Asks World Court to Order Azerbaijan to Withdraw Troops from Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenians at a Red Cross registration center on the border with Azerbaijan (EPA)
Armenians at a Red Cross registration center on the border with Azerbaijan (EPA)

Armenia has asked the World Court to order Azerbaijan to withdraw all its troops from civilian establishments in Nagorno-Karabakh and provide the United Nations access, the court said on Friday.

The World Court, formally known as the International Court of Justice, in February ordered Azerbaijan to ensure free movement through the Lachin corridor to and from the disputed region, in what then was an intermediate step in legal disputes with neighbouring Armenia.

More than three quarters of the 120,000-strong population of the ethnic Armenian breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh had fled by Friday afternoon after defeat by Azerbaijan last week.

In a request for provisional measures submitted on Thursday, Armenia asked the court to reaffirm the orders it gave Azerbaijan in February and to order it to refrain from all actions directly or indirectly aimed at displacing the remaining ethnic Armenians from the region, Reuters reported.

Some international experts have said the exodus of ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh meets the conditions for the war crime of "deportation or forcible transfer", or even a crime against humanity.

The United States and others have called on Baku to allow international monitors into Karabakh, amid concerns about possible human rights abuses. Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of ethnic cleansing in Karabakh, something Baku strongly denies.

Azerbaijan has invited a United Nations mission to visit Nagorno-Karabakh "in the coming days", the foreign ministry said on Friday.

The World Court in The Hague is the UN court for resolving disputes between countries. Its rulings are binding, but it has no direct means of enforcing them.


Cyprus Considers Sheltering Some Armenian Refugees if Needed

An aerial view of the tent camp for Ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh arriving to Armenia in Goris, in Syunik region, Armenia, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. Armenian officials say more than 70% of Nagorno-Karabakh's original population have fled the region for Armenia. (AP Photo)
An aerial view of the tent camp for Ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh arriving to Armenia in Goris, in Syunik region, Armenia, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. Armenian officials say more than 70% of Nagorno-Karabakh's original population have fled the region for Armenia. (AP Photo)
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Cyprus Considers Sheltering Some Armenian Refugees if Needed

An aerial view of the tent camp for Ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh arriving to Armenia in Goris, in Syunik region, Armenia, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. Armenian officials say more than 70% of Nagorno-Karabakh's original population have fled the region for Armenia. (AP Photo)
An aerial view of the tent camp for Ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh arriving to Armenia in Goris, in Syunik region, Armenia, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. Armenian officials say more than 70% of Nagorno-Karabakh's original population have fled the region for Armenia. (AP Photo)

European Union member Cyprus on Friday said it was considering ways to host, if needed, displaced ethnic Armenians who had fled Azerbaijan's war-ravaged breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

More than three-quarters of the Armenian population of 120,000 had fled by Friday after a lightning defeat by Azerbaijani forces. The enclave had broken away in the 1990s, Reuters reported.

Cyprus traditionally has close ties with Armenia, and has a minority Armenian Christian population represented in parliament.

"The Cypriot government maintains an open corridor for the Armenian people and in that framework is ready to offer immediate humanitarian aid," the Cypriot Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"Cyprus is considering, among other things, ways to host a number of displaced Armenians in our country should that be deemed necessary."

There have been Armenians in Cyprus for centuries. Many trace their roots back to Armenian people or orphans forced to flee mass killings under the Ottoman Empire in 1915, which some governments today consider genocide.


Azerbaijan Says it Invited UN Mission to Visit Karabakh in Coming Days

Volunteers hand out water and food to ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh as they cross the border with Azerbaijan, near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia, 29 September 2023. EPA/ANATOLY MALTSEV
Volunteers hand out water and food to ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh as they cross the border with Azerbaijan, near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia, 29 September 2023. EPA/ANATOLY MALTSEV
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Azerbaijan Says it Invited UN Mission to Visit Karabakh in Coming Days

Volunteers hand out water and food to ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh as they cross the border with Azerbaijan, near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia, 29 September 2023. EPA/ANATOLY MALTSEV
Volunteers hand out water and food to ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh as they cross the border with Azerbaijan, near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia, 29 September 2023. EPA/ANATOLY MALTSEV

Azerbaijan has invited a United Nations mission to visit Nagorno-Karabakh "in the coming days", the foreign ministry said on Friday, amid a mass exodus of ethnic Armenians from the region following a lightning Azerbaijani military offensive.
The United States and others have called on Baku to allow international monitors into Karabakh due to concerns about possible human rights abuses. Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of ethnic cleansing in Karabakh, something Baku strongly denies.
"The visit will allow (the mission) to become acquainted with the current humanitarian activities being carried out by Azerbaijan in the region," the ministry said in a statement.
"In addition, the group members will be shown the process of rebuilding certain infrastructure, disarmament and confiscation of ammunition from illegal Armenian armed forces, as well as the dangers posed by mines," it said.
Earlier, an Azerbaijani government official said media would also be allowed to visit the region, which is internationally viewed as part of Azerbaijan but which had been run by an ethnic Armenian breakaway state since the 1990s.


More than 70% of Nagorno-Karabakh's Population Flees

A local rides a horse (R, back) as ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh cross the border with Azerbaijan on a bus with their belongings, near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia, 29 September 2023. EPA/ANATOLY MALTSEV
A local rides a horse (R, back) as ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh cross the border with Azerbaijan on a bus with their belongings, near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia, 29 September 2023. EPA/ANATOLY MALTSEV
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More than 70% of Nagorno-Karabakh's Population Flees

A local rides a horse (R, back) as ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh cross the border with Azerbaijan on a bus with their belongings, near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia, 29 September 2023. EPA/ANATOLY MALTSEV
A local rides a horse (R, back) as ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh cross the border with Azerbaijan on a bus with their belongings, near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia, 29 September 2023. EPA/ANATOLY MALTSEV

More than 70% of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh has fled the ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan for neighboring Armenia, the Armenian government said Friday, as the enclave's separatist government said it will dissolve itself by the end of the year after a three-decade bid for independence.

Armenian officials said that 84,770 people had left Nagorno-Karabakh by Friday morning out of a total population of around 120,000.

The mass exodus that began Sunday raises questions about Azerbaijan’s plans for Nagorno-Karabakh following its lightning offensive last week to reclaim the breakaway region, and demand that its militants disarm and its separatist government disband.

Some people have lined up for days to get out of Nagorno-Karabakh as the only road to Armenia quickly filled up with vehicles, creating a major traffic jam on the winding mountain road.

Armenian Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan said that some people, including the elderly, had died while on the road to Armenia, because they were “exhausted due to malnutrition, left without even taking medicine with them, and were on the road for more than 40 hours.”

On Thursday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan noted the departure of ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh and alleged it was “a direct act of an ethnic cleansing and depriving people of their motherland.” Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry strongly rejected Pashinyan’s accusations, calling the departure of Armenians “their personal and individual decision and has nothing to do with forced relocation.”

In the 1990s, the Azerbaijani population was itself expelled from Nagorno-Karabakh and hundreds of thousands of people were displaced within Azerbaijan. As part of its “Great Return” program, the government in Baku has already relocated Azerbaijanis to territories recaptured from Nagorno-Karabakh forces in a 2020 war.

Analysts believe Azerbaijan could expand the program and resettle Nagorno-Karabakh with Azerbaijanis, while stating that ethnic Armenians could stay or exercise a right to return in order to “refute accusations that Karabakh Armenians have been ethnically cleansed,” Broers said.

A decree signed by the region’s separatist president, Samvel Shakhramanyan, cited a Sept. 20 agreement to end the fighting under which Azerbaijan will allow the “free, voluntary and unhindered movement” of Nagorno-Karabakh’s residents to Armenia.

On Thursday, Azerbaijani authorities charged Ruben Vardanyan, the former head of Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist government, with financing terrorism, creating illegal armed formations and illegally crossing a state border. He was detained on Wednesday by Azerbaijani border guards as he was trying to leave Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia along with tens of thousands of others.


Switzerland Tightens Sanctions over Iran Drone Deliveries to Russia

A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service shows Ukrainian rescuers putting out a fire of industrial storage after shock drone debris fell on it, in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, Ukraine, 19 September 2023 amid the Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service shows Ukrainian rescuers putting out a fire of industrial storage after shock drone debris fell on it, in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, Ukraine, 19 September 2023 amid the Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE HANDOUT
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Switzerland Tightens Sanctions over Iran Drone Deliveries to Russia

A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service shows Ukrainian rescuers putting out a fire of industrial storage after shock drone debris fell on it, in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, Ukraine, 19 September 2023 amid the Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service shows Ukrainian rescuers putting out a fire of industrial storage after shock drone debris fell on it, in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, Ukraine, 19 September 2023 amid the Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE HANDOUT

Switzerland adopted further sanctions in connection with Iran's drone deliveries to Russia, in line with European Union measures, the government said in a statement on Friday.

The sale, supply, export and transit of components used for the manufacture and production of drones is now prohibited, and targeted financial and travel sanctions against persons and entities connected with support for Iran's drone program are in place, added Switzerland's Federal Council.

The United States on Wednesday placed sanctions on entities and people based in several countries for aiding the Iranian attack drone program, which Washington accuses of supplying such weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine.

The US Treasury said it put sanctions on five entities and two people who were part of a network helping procure sensitive parts - including servomotors, which help control position and speed - for Iran's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program.

The network facilitated shipments and financial transactions for the Revolutionary Guard Corps' procurement of such motors used in Iran's Shahed-136 drones, it said, adding that a motor procured by the network was found recently in the remains of a Russia-operated Shahed-136 drone shot down in Ukraine.