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UN Says Turkish Cypriot Forces Assault Cyprus Peacekeepers

A Greek Cypriot protestor waves a banner, during a peace protest in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Saturday, April 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
A Greek Cypriot protestor waves a banner, during a peace protest in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Saturday, April 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
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UN Says Turkish Cypriot Forces Assault Cyprus Peacekeepers

A Greek Cypriot protestor waves a banner, during a peace protest in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Saturday, April 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
A Greek Cypriot protestor waves a banner, during a peace protest in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Saturday, April 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Turkish Cypriot forces assaulted UN peacekeepers Friday as they attempted to block the construction of a controversial road in the buffer zone dividing Cyprus, the UN mission on the island said.

The incident occurred in Pyla, a village in the UN-patrolled Green Line that slices between the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot statelet in the north.

The United Nations mission had on Thursday warned the Turkish Cypriot authorities against "unauthorized construction activities inside the UN buffer zone".

But it said its peacekeepers had come under attack on Friday as they tried to block the construction of the road that encroaches on the buffer zone, AFP reported.

"The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus condemns the assaults against UN peacekeepers and damage to UN vehicles by personnel from the Turkish Cypriot side this morning," UNFICYP said in a statement.

It said the incident occurred inside the buffer zone near Pyla, outside the southern coastal town of Larnaca.

"Threats to the safety of UN peacekeepers and damage to UN property are unacceptable and constitute a serious crime under international law which will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law," the UN mission said.

An official said Turkish Cypriot police and military in plain clothes had punched a peacekeeper and assaulted a dozen others by "pushing them back violently".

A tractor was used to drag a UN vehicle out of the way and major damage had been caused to three vehicles, said the source who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.

In its statement, the UN mission urged the Turkish Cypriot side to "respect the mission's mandated authority inside the UN buffer zone, refrain from any actions that could escalate tensions further, and withdraw all personnel and machinery from the UN buffer zone immediately".

UNFICYP said it was determined to block any construction work and would remain in the area.

"The mission is monitoring the situation closely and remains committed to ensuring calm and stability are maintained in the area," it said.

Cyprus government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis accused the Turkish side of trying to create new "faits accomplis" at Pyla by constructing a road connecting the "occupied village of Arsos with a forward illegal military outpost".

He said it was "an attempt at a very serious violation of the status quo".

European Union member Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish forces occupied the island's northern third in response to a military coup sponsored by the junta then in power in Greece.

The statehood of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus that Turkish Cypriot leaders proclaimed in 1983 is recognized only by Türkiye.

Efforts to reunify the eastern Mediterranean island have been at a standstill since the last round of UN-backed talks collapsed in 2017.

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World

Russia Says It Won’t Breach Limits of Expired Nuclear Treaty if US Does the Same 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reacts during a meeting with Tanzanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Mahmoud Thabit Kombo (not pictured), in Moscow, Russia, 09 February 2026. (EPA)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reacts during a meeting with Tanzanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Mahmoud Thabit Kombo (not pictured), in Moscow, Russia, 09 February 2026. (EPA)
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Russia Says It Won’t Breach Limits of Expired Nuclear Treaty if US Does the Same 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reacts during a meeting with Tanzanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Mahmoud Thabit Kombo (not pictured), in Moscow, Russia, 09 February 2026. (EPA)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reacts during a meeting with Tanzanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Mahmoud Thabit Kombo (not pictured), in Moscow, Russia, 09 February 2026. (EPA)

Russia will keep observing the missile and warhead limits in the New START nuclear treaty with the United States, which expired last week, as long as Washington continues to do the same, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

The 2010 treaty ran out on February 5, leaving the world's two biggest ‌nuclear-armed powers ‌with no binding constraints on their ‌strategic ⁠nuclear arsenals for ⁠the first time in more than half a century.

US President Donald Trump declined a formal proposal from Russian President Vladimir Putin to voluntarily abide by the New START limits for another year. ⁠Lavrov said Moscow would stick ‌to the limits ‌itself for now anyway.

"Our position is that this ‌moratorium on our side that ‌was declared by the president is still in place, but only as long as the United States doesn't exceed the said limits," ‌Lavrov told parliament's lower house, the State Duma.

The treaty's expiry has ⁠spurred ⁠fears of a three-way arms race involving Russia, the US and China, which has far fewer warheads than the other two countries but is arming rapidly.

Some analysts say, however, that Russia is keen to avoid the cost of such a contest at a time when its state budget is feeling the strain from its four-year-old war in Ukraine.

World

After Vance Visit, the Kremlin Says Russia Will Develop Ties with Armenia and Azerbaijan 

A handout photo made available by the Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan shows Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev (R) and US Vice President JD Vance (L) during a meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, 10 February 2026. (EPA/Azerbaijan Presidential Press Service Handout)
A handout photo made available by the Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan shows Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev (R) and US Vice President JD Vance (L) during a meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, 10 February 2026. (EPA/Azerbaijan Presidential Press Service Handout)
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After Vance Visit, the Kremlin Says Russia Will Develop Ties with Armenia and Azerbaijan 

A handout photo made available by the Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan shows Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev (R) and US Vice President JD Vance (L) during a meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, 10 February 2026. (EPA/Azerbaijan Presidential Press Service Handout)
A handout photo made available by the Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan shows Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev (R) and US Vice President JD Vance (L) during a meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, 10 February 2026. (EPA/Azerbaijan Presidential Press Service Handout)

Russia intends to further develop its relations with both Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, after US Vice President JD Vance visited the two South Caucasus nations.

The United States and Azerbaijan signed a strategic partnership, and Vance signed a nuclear deal with Armenia which operates an ageing ‌Soviet-era nuclear ‌power plant and is ‌looking to ⁠commission a new ⁠one.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Azerbaijan and Armenia were sovereign countries who had the right to develop their own foreign policies and that Moscow had deep mutually-beneficial ties with both nations.

"We have ⁠a huge range of bilateral ‌relations with both Baku ‌and Yerevan, covering all possible areas. These ‌include mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation, ‌mutual investments, cultural relations, and so on.

"And, of course, we intend to further develop our relations with our partners so that they ‌are beneficial not only for us, but also for them."

Peskov said ⁠Russia ⁠was well placed to tender for any new nuclear power plant in Armenia.

"As the most advanced country in the world in this field, Russia is capable of withstanding the highest level of international competition," said Peskov. "If such competition is demanded by partners, Russia is capable of providing better quality for many years to come at a lower cost."

World

Iran President Says Will Not ‘Give in to Excessive Demands’ 

Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran, attends the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, on Sept. 25, 2025. (AP)
Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran, attends the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, on Sept. 25, 2025. (AP)
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Iran President Says Will Not ‘Give in to Excessive Demands’ 

Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran, attends the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, on Sept. 25, 2025. (AP)
Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran, attends the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, on Sept. 25, 2025. (AP)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Wednesday that his country would "not yield to excessive demands" on its nuclear program, after Tehran resumed talks with the United States.

"Our country, Iran, will not yield to their excessive demands," he said in a speech at Azadi Square in the capital for the 47th anniversary of Iran's revolution.

"Our Iran will not yield in the face of aggression, but we are continuing dialogue with all our strength with neighboring countries in order to establish peace and tranquility in the region."

Iran marked the revolution anniversary as the country’s theocracy remains under pressure, both from US President Donald Trump who suggested sending another aircraft carrier group to the Middle East and a public angrily denouncing Tehran's bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.

The commemoration represented a spit-screen view of life in Iran, with state television showing hundreds of thousands of people across the country attending pro-government rallies, which included the burning of American flags and cries of “Death to America!”

A top Iranian security official traveled Qatar on Wednesday after earlier visiting Oman, which has mediated this latest round of negotiations. Just before the official's arrival, Qatar's ruling emir received a phone call from Trump.

In his speech, Pezeshkian also insisted that his nation was “not seeking nuclear weapons. ... and are ready for any kind of verification.” However, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog — the International Atomic Energy Agency — has been unable for months to inspect and verify Iran’s nuclear stockpile.

“The high wall of mistrust that the United States and Europe have created through their past statements and actions does not allow these talks to reach a conclusion,” Pezeshkian said.

Tehran’s missile capabilities are a red line and “non-negotiable,” said Ali Shamkhani, adviser to Iran's supreme leader said at the commemoration. 

Commemoration overshadowed by crackdown

On Iranian state TV, authorities broadcast images of people taking to the streets across the country Wednesday to support the theocracy and its 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

But on Tuesday night, as government-sponsored fireworks lit the darkened sky, witnesses heard shouts from people’s homes in the Iranian capital, Tehran, of “Death to the dictator!”

In the streets Wednesday, people waved images of Khamenei and Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, alongside Iranian and Palestinian flags. Some chanted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” Others criticized Iran's exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, who had been calling for anti-government protests.

“I am here to say we don’t stop supporting our leader and our country as the Americans and Israelis are increasingly threatening" us, said Reza Jedi, a 43-year-old participant.

Among Iran's 85 million people, there is a hard-line element of support for Iran's theocracy, including members of the country's powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which crucially put down the protests last month in a bloody suppression that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands detained, according to activists.

Also, many Iranians often take part in pro-theocracy demonstrations as they are government employees or turn up to enjoy the carnival atmosphere of a government-sponsored holiday. Iran has 2.5 million government employees, with a fifth in Tehran alone.

While not directly addressing the bloodshed by authorities, Pezeshkian acknowledged the crackdown that began in earnest on Jan. 8 had “caused great sorrow.”

“We are ashamed before the people, and we are obligated to assist all those who were harmed in these incidents,” he said. “We are not seeking confrontation with the people.”

However, he also criticized what he described as “Western propaganda” over the crackdown.

One man sadly watched the commemoration from a sidewalk in Tehran, not taking part.

“I regularly participated in the rally in past years,” said the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. “But how can I do that now as the streets' asphalt were bloodied last month?”

Larijani in Qatar

As the commemoration took place, senior Iranian security official Ali Larijani left Oman for Qatar, a Mideast nation that hosts a major US military installation and one that Iran attacked in June after the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites during the 12-day Iran-Israel war.

The state-run Qatar News Agency reported that Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani spoke with Trump about “the current situation in the region and international efforts aimed at de-escalation and strengthening regional security and peace,” without elaborating.

Speaking to the Russian state channel RT, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran still does “not have full trust for the Americans.”

“Last time we negotiated, last June we were in the middle of negotiation then they decided to attack us and that was a very very bad experience for us,” he said. “We need to make sure that that scenario is not repeated and this is mostly up to America.”

Despite that concern, Araghchi said it could be possible “to come to a better deal than Obama,” referencing the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers Iran reached when former US President Barack Obama was in office. Trump in his first term unilaterally withdrew America from the accord.