Khamenei Invites Cuba to Form ‘Global Alliance’ Against US

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei met in Tehran on Monday with visiting Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei met in Tehran on Monday with visiting Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel
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Khamenei Invites Cuba to Form ‘Global Alliance’ Against US

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei met in Tehran on Monday with visiting Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei met in Tehran on Monday with visiting Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel

Iran and Cuba on Monday pledged to strengthen their relations in various fields and to stand together in the face of US sanctions imposed on the two countries.
During a meeting with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who is visiting Tehran for the first time, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called for a global coalition against what he called “US and Western arrogance.”
He said, “The numerous political and economic capacities of Iran and Cuba should be used to form an alliance and a coalition between countries that have the same stance against the coercive behaviors of the US and Western countries.”
The Supreme Leader’s website also quoted Khamenei as saying that, “By focusing on economic cooperation, this coalition can take a common and effective position on important global issues such as the Palestinian issue.”
Khamenei then noted that the position of the Cuban president on global issues, especially the issue of Palestine, is in line with the views of Iran.
During the meeting, Iran’s Supreme Leader also reflected on the meeting he had 22 years ago with Fidel Castro, the late leader of Cuba. “The Cuban Revolution and the personality of Mr. Castro always had a special appeal for Iranian revolutionaries before the victory of the Iranian Revolution and this was due to his honesty in his revolutionary positions,” he affirmed.
He added that “revolutionary honesty, revolutionary steadfastness and revolutionary seriousness" are the common features of the Cuban Revolution and the Iranian Revolution, even though Iran imposes a ban on the activities of leftist parties that participated in the revolution that overthrew the Shah's regime in 1979.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said during a joint statement with his visiting Cuban counterpart that, “There is a serious determination between the two countries to develop relations,” adding that "the common feature of the two countries is that they both stand against the system of domination.”
Cuba has been under a US embargo since 1962 and is included on the American list of countries supporting terrorism — like Iran, which is also subject to severe sanctions linked primarily to its nuclear program.
According to Raisi, “What can neutralize the sanctions is the exchange of capacities between the two countries,” referring to the policy that Khamenei has presented as a means to nullify Western sanctions targeting Tehran.
Diaz-Canel, who arrived in Tehran on Sunday after participating in the UN’s COP28 climate talks in Dubai, thanked Iran for supporting his country's “fight against the cruel embargo” imposed by the United States.
Seven memorandums of understanding and cooperation documents were signed between the two countries in a range of sectors, including science and technology, health, agriculture, energy and mining, communications and medicine.
Cuba is going through its worst economic crisis since the disappearance of Soviet subsidies in the 1990s.
Raisi visited Havana in June on the last stop of a tour of “friendly countries” in Latin America, which also included Venezuela.



Russia, Ukraine Complete Second Round of Prisoner Exchange

Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) react following a prisoner swap at an undisclosed location, Ukraine, 10 June 2025. (EPA)
Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) react following a prisoner swap at an undisclosed location, Ukraine, 10 June 2025. (EPA)
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Russia, Ukraine Complete Second Round of Prisoner Exchange

Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) react following a prisoner swap at an undisclosed location, Ukraine, 10 June 2025. (EPA)
Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) react following a prisoner swap at an undisclosed location, Ukraine, 10 June 2025. (EPA)

Russia and Ukraine said Tuesday they had exchanged captured soldiers, the second stage of an agreement struck at peace talks last week for each side to free more than 1,000 prisoners.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday's exchange saw "the return of our injured and severely wounded warriors from Russian captivity."

Neither side said how many soldiers had been freed in the swap -- the second in as many days following another exchange on Monday.

The two sides had agreed in Istanbul last week to release all wounded soldiers and all under the age of 25.

Russia's defense ministry said: "In accordance with the Russian-Ukrainian agreements reached on June 2 in Istanbul, the second group of Russian servicemen was returned."

Zelensky said further exchanges would follow.

"The exchanges are to continue. We are doing everything we can to find and return every single person who is in captivity."

The agreement had appeared in jeopardy over the weekend, with both sides trading accusations of attempting to thwart the exchange.

Russia says Ukraine has still not agreed to collect the bodies of killed soldiers, after Moscow said more than 1,200 corpses were waiting in refrigerated trucks near the border.

Russia said it had agreed to hand over the remains of 6,000 killed Ukrainian soldiers, while Kyiv said it would be an "exchange".

Moscow and Kyiv have carried out dozens of prisoner exchanges since Russia invaded in 2022, triggering Europe's largest conflict since World War II.