Israeli FM Addresses Rapprochement with Europe to Confront Iran

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen with the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell (Josep Borrell Twitter account)
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen with the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell (Josep Borrell Twitter account)
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Israeli FM Addresses Rapprochement with Europe to Confront Iran

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen with the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell (Josep Borrell Twitter account)
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen with the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell (Josep Borrell Twitter account)

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has said that Europe is finally coming to Israel's side on Iran.

Cohen held consultations with senior European officials in Brussels as part of Tel Aviv's efforts to push the EU to take a more assertive policy with Iran, according to the Times of Israel website.

Cohen said that he discussed with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, the importance of the EU designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

Cohen said on his Twitter account that he discussed with Metsola ways to promote a determined fight against Iranian nuclear plans.

He said Europe "understands the danger of the Iranian reign of terror now more than ever," adding that economic and political sanctions should be expanded to include other entities.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel's top priority was preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and confronting Tehran's "proxies" in the region.

Meanwhile, 25 members of the Knesset withdrew their signatures from a letter recommending the Foreign Ministry supports the independence of "South Azerbaijan" in northwestern Iran.

Initially, a group of 32 lawmakers from parties supporting Netanyahu supported the demands of some Azeri parties opposing Iran to establish the "South Azerbaijan" state.

Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel tweeted that she had persuaded the deputies who signed the recommendation to retract the letter.

She said that she was informed of the so-called proposal to support the movement for autonomy, and the members of the Knesset were convinced to back down."

The minister asserted that fighting the regime of religious extremism is a common desire of many countries.

The recommendation angered the Iranian media, but the authorities did not comment.

It also prompted angry reactions among the nationalist parties in Iran, including supporters of the Shah's son, Reza Pahlavi, who visited Israel last month at the invitation of Gamliel.

In a tweet, Reza Pahlavi described the Israeli lawmakers' statement as a "verbal assault on Iran's territorial integrity," saying it was "unacceptable and a service to the interests of the anti-Iranian Islamic Republic regime."

He added that the letter was "in total conflict with the positions communicated to me by Israeli leaders and senior government officials during my recent meetings with them."



Russia: Man Suspected of Shooting Top General Detained in Dubai

An investigator works outside a residential building where the assassination attempt on Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev took place in Moscow, Russia February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Anastasia Barashkova
An investigator works outside a residential building where the assassination attempt on Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev took place in Moscow, Russia February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Anastasia Barashkova
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Russia: Man Suspected of Shooting Top General Detained in Dubai

An investigator works outside a residential building where the assassination attempt on Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev took place in Moscow, Russia February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Anastasia Barashkova
An investigator works outside a residential building where the assassination attempt on Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev took place in Moscow, Russia February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Anastasia Barashkova

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Sunday that the man suspected of shooting top Russian military intelligence officer Vladimir Alexeyev in Moscow has been detained in Dubai and handed over to Russia.

Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, deputy head of the GRU, ⁠Russia's military intelligence arm, was shot several times in an apartment block in Moscow on Friday, investigators said. He underwent surgery after the shooting, Russian media ⁠said.

The FSB said a Russian citizen named Lyubomir Korba was detained in Dubai on suspicion of carrying out the shooting.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine of being behind the assassination attempt, which he said was designed to sabotage peace talks. ⁠Ukraine said it had nothing to do with the shooting.

Alexeyev's boss, Admiral Igor Kostyukov, the head of the GRU, has been leading Russia's delegation in negotiations with Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on security-related aspects of a potential peace deal.


Factory Explosion Kills 8 in Northern China

Employees work on an electric vehicle (EV) production line at the Volkswagen Anhui factory in Hefei, Anhui province, China, February 4, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo
Employees work on an electric vehicle (EV) production line at the Volkswagen Anhui factory in Hefei, Anhui province, China, February 4, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo
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Factory Explosion Kills 8 in Northern China

Employees work on an electric vehicle (EV) production line at the Volkswagen Anhui factory in Hefei, Anhui province, China, February 4, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo
Employees work on an electric vehicle (EV) production line at the Volkswagen Anhui factory in Hefei, Anhui province, China, February 4, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo

An explosion at a biotech factory in northern China has killed eight people, Chinese state media reported Sunday, increasing the total number of fatalities by one.

State news agency Xinhua had previously reported that seven people died and one person was missing after the Saturday morning explosion at the Jiapeng biotech company in Shanxi province, citing local authorities.

Later, Xinhua said eight were dead, adding that the firm's legal representative had been taken into custody.

The company is located in Shanyin County, about 400 kilometers west of Beijing, AFP reported.

Xinhua said clean-up operations were ongoing, noting that reporters observed dark yellow smoke emanating from the site of the explosion.

Authorities have established a team to investigate the cause of the blast, the report added.

Industrial accidents are common in China due to lax safety standards.
In late January, an explosion at a steel factory in the neighboring province of Inner Mongolia left at least nine people dead.


Iran Warns Will Not Give Up Enrichment Despite US War Threat

Traffic moves through a street in Tehran on February 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Traffic moves through a street in Tehran on February 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
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Iran Warns Will Not Give Up Enrichment Despite US War Threat

Traffic moves through a street in Tehran on February 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Traffic moves through a street in Tehran on February 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Iran will never surrender the right to enrich uranium, even if war "is imposed on us,” its foreign minister said Sunday, defying pressure from Washington.

"Iran has paid a very heavy price for its peaceful nuclear program and for uranium enrichment," Abbas Araghchi told a forum in Tehran.

"Why do we insist so much on enrichment and refuse to give it up even if a war is imposed on us? Because no one has the right to dictate our behavior," he said, two days after he met US envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman.

The foreign minister also declared that his country was not intimidated by the US naval deployment in the Gulf.

"Their military deployment in the region does not scare us," Araghchi said.