Biden Told US Partners that Ukraine Air Defense Missile Responsible for Poland Blast

Polish security officers cordoning off the blast site - EPA
Polish security officers cordoning off the blast site - EPA
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Biden Told US Partners that Ukraine Air Defense Missile Responsible for Poland Blast

Polish security officers cordoning off the blast site - EPA
Polish security officers cordoning off the blast site - EPA

US President Joe Biden told G7 and NATO partners that a missile blast in eastern Poland was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile, a NATO source told Reuters on Wednesday.

The blast, which killed two people, raised global alarm that the Ukraine conflict could spill into neighboring countries.

For its part, Russia said that its Tuesday strikes were carried out on targets only on the territory of Ukraine, saying its military experts identified the rocket as fragments of a guided anti-aircraft missile of a Ukrainian S-300 air defense system, according to AFP.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that strikes were carried out at a distance of no closer than 35 kilometers from the Ukrainian-Polish border.

"Photographs of the wreckage... were unequivocally identified by Russian military experts as fragments of a guided anti-aircraft missile of a Ukrainian S-300 air defense system," the statement added.

Russian Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the American response had been "restrained" compared to that of other countries, stressing that Russia had nothing to do with the incident.



Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi announced he intends to visit Tehran through a letter he addressed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iranian Mehr Agency reported that Grossi sent a congratulatory message to the Iranian president-elect, which stated: “I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you on your election win as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“Cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been at the focal attention of the international circles for many years. I am confident that, together, we will be able to make decisive progress on this crucial matter.”

“To that effect, I wish to express my readiness to travel to Iran to meet with you at the earliest convenience,” Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Grossi as saying.

The meeting – should it take place - will be the first for Pezeshkian, who had pledged during his election campaign to be open to the West to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue.

Last week, American and Israeli officials told the Axios news site that Washington sent a secret warning to Tehran last month regarding its fears of Iranian research and development activities that might be used to produce nuclear weapons.

In May, Grossi expressed his dissatisfaction with the course of the talks he held over two days in Iran in an effort to resolve outstanding matters.

Since the death of the former Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisi, the IAEA chief refrained from raising the Iranian nuclear file, while European sources said that Tehran had asked to “freeze discussions” until the internal situation was arranged and a new president was elected.