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Iran Resumes Commercial Flights to Afghanistan

Passengers get off a Mahan Air aircraft at Kabul airport on Sept. 15, 2021. (AFP)
Passengers get off a Mahan Air aircraft at Kabul airport on Sept. 15, 2021. (AFP)
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Iran Resumes Commercial Flights to Afghanistan

Passengers get off a Mahan Air aircraft at Kabul airport on Sept. 15, 2021. (AFP)
Passengers get off a Mahan Air aircraft at Kabul airport on Sept. 15, 2021. (AFP)

Iran Wednesday resumed commercial flights to Afghanistan that had been halted after the Taliban assumed power, news agencies reported.

The semiofficial Fars news agency reported that a charter return flight transported passengers from Tehran to Kabul. It said a second flight from northeastern city of Mashhad left for Kabul, too.

The flights were from the Mahan Air Airbus fleet. Iran stopped flights to Afghanistan in mid-August.

Tehran has remained a critic of the Taliban and has routinely urged the formation of a government representing all Afghan groups.

Iran and Afghanistan share some 945 kilometers, (580 miles) of borders. Reportedly, Iran hosts some 800,000 registered Afghan refugees and more than two million undocumented Afghans live in the country over the past four decades.

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World

UN: DR Congo Ebola Outbreak 'Growing Exponentially'

People wearing protective clothing carry a coffin during a burial at Nyamurongo Cemetery in Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 18 August 2026. EPA/DIEUDONNE DIROLE
People wearing protective clothing carry a coffin during a burial at Nyamurongo Cemetery in Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 18 August 2026. EPA/DIEUDONNE DIROLE
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UN: DR Congo Ebola Outbreak 'Growing Exponentially'

People wearing protective clothing carry a coffin during a burial at Nyamurongo Cemetery in Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 18 August 2026. EPA/DIEUDONNE DIROLE
People wearing protective clothing carry a coffin during a burial at Nyamurongo Cemetery in Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 18 August 2026. EPA/DIEUDONNE DIROLE

The Ebola outbreak raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo is growing "exponentially,” the United Nations' senior Ebola coordinator warned Friday.

The Ebola outbreak is already the biggest in the country's history having killed more than 2,300 people from more than 5,000 cases, according to the African Union health agency.

The virus eruption is "growing exponentially," Julien Harneis told reporters in Geneva, speaking from DRC.

On Thursday, the World Health Organization said Congo has been allocated 70,000 doses of Merck's Ervebo vaccine for Ebola.

Last week Congo had requested a release of Ervebo vaccines from the global Ebola virus disease vaccine stockpile, managed by the International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision, according to WHO.

The health agency said the group allocated 70,000 Ervebo doses ⁠for Congo, of ⁠which 20,000 shots will be used in a late-stage trial to understand the impact of the vaccine on the Bundibugyo virus.

Geneva-based global vaccine alliance Gavi said they would provide $7 million to fund the shipment to Congo along with another $6 million to help with ⁠vaccination efforts in high-risk areas.

The ongoing outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, which has no approved vaccines or treatments.

"It is not known whether Ervebo may be protective against the Bundibugyo virus in humans," WHO said, stressing the importance of clinical trials to provide new evidence.

Ervebo is approved to prevent disease caused by the more common Zaire ebolavirus strain.

World

Iran's Qalibaf Says Tehran Must Plan to Overcome 'Unjust Sanctions', Following US Threats

Iran's parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf speaks during a news conference in Beirut on Oct. 12, 2024. (AP)
Iran's parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf speaks during a news conference in Beirut on Oct. 12, 2024. (AP)
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Iran's Qalibaf Says Tehran Must Plan to Overcome 'Unjust Sanctions', Following US Threats

Iran's parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf speaks during a news conference in Beirut on Oct. 12, 2024. (AP)
Iran's parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf speaks during a news conference in Beirut on Oct. 12, 2024. (AP)

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said ‌Iran ‌must plan ‌to ⁠overcome the "unjust sanctions", ⁠after US Treasury Secretary ⁠Scott ‌Bessent announced ‌what he described ‌as ‌the toughest sanctions ‌ever imposed on Iran, according ⁠to ⁠Qalibaf's channel on Telegram.

Bessent said the United States will impose "the toughest sanctions in history" on Iran, a move he suggested would lessen the need for new major military operations, reported Reuters.

Bessent's comments on Thursday followed President Donald Trump's threat a day earlier of "Economic Warfare" and warning of economic consequences against any country that provided "any type ‌of lifeline to Iran." Bessent promised details next week.

Iran has weathered near-continuous, punishing economic sanctions for nearly 50 years, since the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

Before Bessent spoke, Iran's foreign ministry said it condemned US economic and trade sanctions, calling them "economic terrorism" that would not "create even the slightest hesitation in Iranians’ determination to safeguard Iran’s independence, dignity and national sovereignty."

Bessent told CNBC he would share more details on the latest package and "talk about exactly what we're going to do" on Iran at a press conference on Monday.

World

China Says US ‘Sanctions and Pressure’ on Iran Not a Solution

Women walk past a portrait of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the US and Israel strike on Feb. 28, and images of the Iranian flag, on a sidewalk in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (AP)
Women walk past a portrait of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the US and Israel strike on Feb. 28, and images of the Iranian flag, on a sidewalk in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (AP)
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China Says US ‘Sanctions and Pressure’ on Iran Not a Solution

Women walk past a portrait of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the US and Israel strike on Feb. 28, and images of the Iranian flag, on a sidewalk in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (AP)
Women walk past a portrait of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the US and Israel strike on Feb. 28, and images of the Iranian flag, on a sidewalk in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (AP)

China said on Friday that US "sanctions and pressure" would not resolve the Middle East conflict, after Washington urged governments including Beijing to join efforts to isolate the Iranian economy.

The United States has vowed it would "collapse" the Iranian regime with its threatened campaign, which Tehran has branded as "economic terrorism" doomed to fail, nearly six months since their war began.

Asked about US President Donald Trump's threats, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Friday that "sanctions and pressure will not help resolve the issue".

"China calls on all relevant parties to take responsible measures and resolve the problem through political and diplomatic means," he said.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has defended Trump's push for economic pressure on Tehran.

When asked whether the United States would pressure China to join the campaign, Bessent told CNBC that "many conversations are best to have in private", but called on Beijing "to get with the program".

Spokesman Lin reiterated the need for all parties to take "responsible measures" in resolving the war, when he was asked about Bessent's comments.

"China opposes illegal unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law and are not authorized by the UN Security Council," Lin said.