Iran FM: We Are Working with Saudi Arabia on Stability of Region

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian speaks during a news conference in Tehran, Iran March 19, 2023. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian speaks during a news conference in Tehran, Iran March 19, 2023. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran FM: We Are Working with Saudi Arabia on Stability of Region

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian speaks during a news conference in Tehran, Iran March 19, 2023. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian speaks during a news conference in Tehran, Iran March 19, 2023. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian revealed on Sunday that he will hold a meeting “in the near future” with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah.

The Iranian government has proposed to Saudi Arabia three locations for the meeting, he revealed, citing the latest messages with Riyadh since the countries agreed to re-establish ties.

Amirabdollahian told a news conference in Tehran his country had agreed to such a meeting, although he did not list the three locations or say when such a meeting might take place.

Moreover, he added that ties with Riyadh had returned to normal after five rounds of talks in Baghdad.

On the Yemen crisis, the FM said the issue “is an internal Yemeni affair. We are working with Saudi Arabia on ensuring the stability of the region.”

“We will not accept any threat against us from neighboring countries,” he went on to say.

Amirabdollahian revealed that he will visit Moscow next week to discuss regional and international affairs.

He said Tehran had requested concrete evidence from Ukraine that proves that Iranian drones have been used in the war with Russia.

On relations between Iran and Egypt, he said: “We welcome the development of ties with Egypt as it plays an important role in the Arab world.



China, Taiwan Spar Over Legality of Coast Guard Patrols East of Island

 A Taiwanese Army M109A2 self-propelled howitzer fires during a live-fire training exercise in Taichung on June 9, 2026. (AFP)
A Taiwanese Army M109A2 self-propelled howitzer fires during a live-fire training exercise in Taichung on June 9, 2026. (AFP)
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China, Taiwan Spar Over Legality of Coast Guard Patrols East of Island

 A Taiwanese Army M109A2 self-propelled howitzer fires during a live-fire training exercise in Taichung on June 9, 2026. (AFP)
A Taiwanese Army M109A2 self-propelled howitzer fires during a live-fire training exercise in Taichung on June 9, 2026. (AFP)

China and Taiwan sparred on Wednesday over the legality of Chinese coast guard patrols to the east of the island, after the government in Taipei said merchant ships had been "harassed" close to its waters.

China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, was angered after Japan and the Philippines said last month they would begin formal talks on their maritime boundaries, viewing that as involving waters off Taiwan.

Late on Saturday, ‌Chinese state ‌media reported ships had been sent to ‌carry ⁠out a "special maritime ⁠traffic law-enforcement operation" in the waters east of Taiwan in response to the Japanese and Philippine announcement.

Taiwan said those ships had in recent days been "harassing" commercial shipping by asking them for information about their point of origin and destination and claiming jurisdiction.

"The relevant mainland authorities' ⁠law-enforcement patrols in the relevant waters are a ‌just act to safeguard ‌national sovereignty and maritime rights and interests," Zhang Han, a spokesperson ‌for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said in Beijing.

The ‌Chinese coast guard is conducting "law-enforcement patrols" in the waters east of Taiwan in accordance with the law, and China will continue to strengthen its control over those waters, she said.

The patrols ‌have angered Taiwan's government, which rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only the Taiwanese ⁠people can decide ⁠their future.

Speaking to reporters in Taipei on Wednesday, Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said China was "using so-called 'law enforcement' as a pretext to pursue expansion".

"The Chinese communists have no right to intervene in matters concerning the waters east of Taiwan, whether they involve Taiwan's sovereignty or jurisdiction," he said.

China is a "trouble-maker that is damaging the status quo," Lin said.

Beijing recognizes no claims of sovereignty by Taiwan's government and has rejected multiple offers of talks by President Lai Ching-te, saying he is a "separatist."


Death Toll From Philippines Quake Rises to 46

 People sit outside their house on an earthquake-cracked street a day after the magnitude 7.8 quake in General Santos, southern Philippines, June 9, 2026. (Reuters)
People sit outside their house on an earthquake-cracked street a day after the magnitude 7.8 quake in General Santos, southern Philippines, June 9, 2026. (Reuters)
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Death Toll From Philippines Quake Rises to 46

 People sit outside their house on an earthquake-cracked street a day after the magnitude 7.8 quake in General Santos, southern Philippines, June 9, 2026. (Reuters)
People sit outside their house on an earthquake-cracked street a day after the magnitude 7.8 quake in General Santos, southern Philippines, June 9, 2026. (Reuters)

Rescuers in the southern Philippines pulled a body from the rubble of a collapsed supermarket on Wednesday, as the death toll from a major earthquake climbed to 46.

The 7.8-magnitude tremor just off the coast of Mindanao on Monday brought down buildings, triggered landslides and set off tsunami warnings across a swathe of the southern island.

Joey Deluvio, 39, was one of two employees at a supermarket in General Santos City that has been the focus of recovery efforts despite the constant threat of aftershocks.

Life-detecting equipment had traced a "weak pulse" earlier in the operation, local rescuer Michelle Chua told AFP on Wednesday, but "when they got to the body... there were no signs of life".

Deluvio's body was found pinned between two beams, Chua added.

The national disaster agency raised the death toll to 45 on Wednesday, while the number of people missing jumped dramatically from four to 17.

However, the figure for fatalities did not include Deluvio, the civil defense office confirmed.

Most of the additional dead were from Davao Occidental province, and most had been killed in landslides or collapsing buildings, civil defense official Rafaelito Alejandro said in a radio interview.


More Than 1,100 Migrants Rescued Off Mauritania in Past Fortnight

File photo of migrants rescued off the coast of Mauritania. Photo: Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy
File photo of migrants rescued off the coast of Mauritania. Photo: Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy
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More Than 1,100 Migrants Rescued Off Mauritania in Past Fortnight

File photo of migrants rescued off the coast of Mauritania. Photo: Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy
File photo of migrants rescued off the coast of Mauritania. Photo: Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy

More than 1,100 migrants have been rescued off the coast of Mauritania in less than two weeks, its coastguard said Tuesday, signaling a resurgence in migration along the perilous Atlantic route.

Thousands of people, most of them young, have tried to reach Europe from west Africa in recent years, mainly via Spain's Canary Islands, on overcrowded and often dilapidated boats known as pirogues.

The latest departures took place a few days after the major Muslim festival of Tabaski at the end of May, following a lull for several months.

Given the new uptick "at this rate, arrivals could reach an unprecedented level this year,” Ahmed Moulaye, director of the Mauritanian coastguard's irregular migration unit, told AFP.

Moulaye said 1,187 migrants were rescued in Mauritanian waters since May 28.

The eight intercepted pirogues came from the nearby countries of The Gambia and Senegal but the nationalities of those on board were not specified, Pierre Beziz, a European diplomat stationed in the capital, Nouakchott, told AFP.

One was stopped around 2:00 am (0200 GMT) on Tuesday off Mamghar, some 200 km (120 miles) north of Nouakchott, according to the coastguard.

The migrants were taken to new temporary reception centers in Nouakchott and the northwest city of Nouadhibou which are funded by the European Union.

The individuals were registered to determine whether they are vulnerable or eligible for international protection.

A recent tightening of maritime controls in Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco has led to a shift in the departure points of clandestine boats bound for the Canary Islands.

Migrants are now departing from further south, particularly from the coasts of The Gambia and Guinea, lengthening the time spent at sea and increasing the dangers.

Many African migrants have turned to the clandestine route as Europe drastically restricted the issuance of visas and strengthened border control.

Thousands of people have died or disappeared attempting to reach Europe along the route in recent years.