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Challenging the West, Iranian Army Launches Drone Drills

A suicide drone of the ‘Arsh’ model during Iranian Army exercises (Tasnim)
A suicide drone of the ‘Arsh’ model during Iranian Army exercises (Tasnim)
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Challenging the West, Iranian Army Launches Drone Drills

A suicide drone of the ‘Arsh’ model during Iranian Army exercises (Tasnim)
A suicide drone of the ‘Arsh’ model during Iranian Army exercises (Tasnim)

The Iranian Army on Tuesday launched large-scale joint drone drills across the country, including the coastlines of the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

This move comes as a challenge to Western powers gearing up to maintain sanctions set to expire according to the timetable in the 2015 nuclear agreement.

The state-owned “Mehr” news agency quoted General Alireza Sheikh, the spokesperson for the drills, as saying that the joint exercises will last for two days.

According to Sheikh, the drills are being conducted under the supervision of the operations room that coordinates between the army and its parallel units within the Revolutionary Guards.

Sheikh clarified that the maneuvers are exclusively focused on drones in an attempt to “assess the readiness of the armed forces for potential threats from the enemy.”

He also noted the use of reconnaissance, offensive, and suicide drones in the drills.

The exercises involve close to 200 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from the Iranian Army's four units of Ground Force, Navy, Air Force and Air Defense Force, according to Habibollah Sayyari, the drill’s commander.

Sayyari stated that the joint drills also involve the strategic electronic warfare unit, reported Iranian media.

He mentioned that in the early hours of the maneuvers, “surveillance aircraft successfully carried out border monitoring operations, identified training targets, and captured images from the training area.”

“Evaluating domestically produced aircraft by experts from within, and understanding how to use drones according to the nature of the mission, are among the primary objectives of this training,” said Brig. Gen. Kioumars Heydari, who heads the Iranian military’s ground forces.

Heydari also pointed out that the Iranian navy was conducting these exercises in seven border provinces.

The Iranian military had been grappling with a shortage of modern equipment until just a few years ago, before acquiring drones and missile systems, including ballistic and cruise missiles.

In May 2022, the Iranian army announced a shift in the modernization of its equipment, particularly drones.

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World

Russia, North Korea Connect Road Bridge Ahead of Summer Opening

This handout image released by the Russian Transport Ministry on April 21, 2026, shows a ceremony marking the connection of the two sides of the new Russia-North Korea road bridge over the Tumen River, set to open this summer. (Handout / Russian Transport Ministry / AFP)
This handout image released by the Russian Transport Ministry on April 21, 2026, shows a ceremony marking the connection of the two sides of the new Russia-North Korea road bridge over the Tumen River, set to open this summer. (Handout / Russian Transport Ministry / AFP)
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Russia, North Korea Connect Road Bridge Ahead of Summer Opening

This handout image released by the Russian Transport Ministry on April 21, 2026, shows a ceremony marking the connection of the two sides of the new Russia-North Korea road bridge over the Tumen River, set to open this summer. (Handout / Russian Transport Ministry / AFP)
This handout image released by the Russian Transport Ministry on April 21, 2026, shows a ceremony marking the connection of the two sides of the new Russia-North Korea road bridge over the Tumen River, set to open this summer. (Handout / Russian Transport Ministry / AFP)

Russia and North Korea held a ceremony Tuesday to mark the joining of the first road bridge connecting the countries, set to open for traffic this summer, Moscow said.

Ties between the two heavily sanctioned countries have surged amid Russia's war on Ukraine, with Moscow and Pyongyang deepening economic, political, cultural and military links.

South Korea warned last week that Chinese and Russian support was helping revive the North Korean economy, which has struggled for years under sweeping international sanctions, almost complete international isolation and huge military investment.

Moscow's foreign ministry said the opening of the bridge would "become a truly landmark stage in Russian-Korean relations. Its significance goes far beyond a purely engineering task."

The bridge, which crosses the Tumen River that marks the border between the two countries, will be able to handle up to 300 vehicles and 2,850 people a day, Russia's transport ministry said.

Russia and North Korea inked a defense treaty in 2024 that calls for military support in the case of either country being attacked.

Pyongyang that year sent thousands of troops to Russia to support its war on Ukraine. They were deployed to the western Kursk region to held fend off a months-long counter-offensive by Kyiv's troops.

Several senior Russian officials have visited North Korea recently, including the interior minister, currently in the country.

Russia's foreign ministry said the bridge would help "develop trade, economic and humanitarian exchanges" between Russia's Far East and North Korea.

North Korea does not publish official data on the size of its economy.

Its nominal gross domestic product was equivalent to about $30 billion in 2024, according to Seoul's official estimate -- a tiny fraction of the South Korean economy, one of the most developed in the world.

North Korea has long faced shortages. A famine in the mid-1990s killed hundreds of thousands of people, and reports indicate that the Covid-19 pandemic also pushed many into extreme hunger.

World

Germany Rejects Push to Suspend EU-Israel Cooperation Deal

Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Luxembourg, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP)
Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Luxembourg, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP)
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Germany Rejects Push to Suspend EU-Israel Cooperation Deal

Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Luxembourg, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP)
Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Luxembourg, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP)

Germany on Tuesday poured cold water on calls to suspend the EU's cooperation deal with Israel, despite rising anger over the war in Lebanon and the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Spain and Ireland had put the issue of halting the agreement back on the table at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

But German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul called the proposal "inappropriate".

"We have to talk with Israel about the critical issues," he said at the start of the meeting.

"That has to be done in a critical, constructive dialogue with Israel. That is what we stand for."

Attitudes towards Israel among EU member states, already hardened over its conduct in the war in Gaza, stiffened further after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and a new law on the death penalty for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

"We need to act. We need to make sure that our fundamental values are protected," Irish foreign minister Helen McEntee said.

Facing alarm at the civilian toll exacted in the Gaza war, the EU last year already put on the table a raft of potential measures to punish Israel, including cutting trade ties or sanctioning government ministers.

But so far none of the steps laid out by Brussels has garnered enough support from member states to be put into action.

Suspending the entirety of the EU's cooperation agreement, as Spain and Ireland are pushing for, requires unanimity among the bloc's 27 countries and would almost certainly be blocked by allies of Israel.

More feasible could be suspending the part of the deal facilitating closer trade ties, a move that only requires support from a weighted majority of EU countries.

That would require a shift in position from EU heavyweights such as Germany or Italy.

Rome has already signaled a tougher line on Israel by suspending a defense agreement.

But EU officials and diplomats said it seemed there would not be sufficient support to take those actions, especially after a ceasefire was agreed in Lebanon.

"If the opinions of the member states have changed, then we can move forward with these decisions," said EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

France and Sweden meanwhile re-upped an earlier call from some other EU countries for the bloc to consider halting the import of goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law.

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UN Maritime Agency Urges Help for Seafarers Stranded in Hormuz

Ships and boats in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Musandam, Oman, April 20, 2026. (Reuters)
Ships and boats in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Musandam, Oman, April 20, 2026. (Reuters)
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UN Maritime Agency Urges Help for Seafarers Stranded in Hormuz

Ships and boats in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Musandam, Oman, April 20, 2026. (Reuters)
Ships and boats in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Musandam, Oman, April 20, 2026. (Reuters)

The head of the UN maritime agency appealed on Tuesday for help for thousands of seafarers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, as the Middle East war paralyzes the vital shipping route.

Around 20,000 seafarers and 2,000 ships have been stranded in the waterway since US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 that triggered the war, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

Around one-fifth of the world's crude and liquefied natural gas normally passes through the strait.

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez told a maritime conference in Singapore on Tuesday that stranded sailors were suffering from stress and fatigue.

"We need to know everything that they're going through," he said.

Dominguez urged shipping companies to provide remote support to the sailors on areas like mental health.

He said some countries have established round-the-clock helplines for the seafarers, while others have been providing them with food.

But more could be done on a personal level, such as proactively reaching out to sailors to listen to them so they feel less isolated.

Shipping remained curtailed on the strait as the United States and Iran both warned they were ready for war, while the clock ticked down on a ceasefire set to expire Wednesday.