عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Iran's Foreign Minister Vows 'Definitive' Retaliation against Israel

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. (AP)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. (AP)
TT
TT

Iran's Foreign Minister Vows 'Definitive' Retaliation against Israel

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. (AP)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. (AP)

Iran’s foreign minister again has referenced his country’s planned retaliation over the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
Abbas Araghchi said late Sunday he made the remark in a conversation with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani by telephone.
“Iran reaction to Israeli terrorist attack in Tehran is definitive, and will be measured & well calculated,” Araghchi wrote on the social platform X. “We do not fear escalation, yet do not seek it — unlike Israel.”
Tajani said in a statement he “called for restraint and to pursue a constructive approach, in order to stop the cycle of military actions in the region, which only risks bringing more suffering”, The Associated Press said.
“It is important that Iran exercises moderation towards Hezbollah in order to avert an escalation on the Lebanese-Israeli border, where Italian soldiers of the UNIFIL contingent are operating, and towards the Houthis in order to avoid an increase in tensions in the Red Sea area, where Italy plays a leading role in the (European Union’s) Aspides mission,” he said in the statement.
Their call came after Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, long backed by Iran, traded heavy fire early Sunday but backed off from sparking a widely feared all-out war.
Meanwhile, a round of high-level talks in Cairo meant to bring about a cease-fire and hostage deal to at least temporarily end the 10-month Israel-Hamas war in Gaza ended Sunday without a final agreement, a US official said. But talks will continue at lower levels in the coming days in an effort to bridge remaining gaps.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the talks, said lower level “working teams” will remain in Cairo to meet with mediators the United States, Qatar and Egypt in hopes of addressing remaining disagreements.
The talks included CIA director William Burns and David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. A Hamas delegation was briefed by Egyptian and Qatari mediators but did not directly take part in negotiations.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Xi and Putin Meet to Reaffirm China-Russia Ties Days After Trump’s Visit to Beijing

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a picture during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 20, 2026. (Sputnik/Maxim Stulov/Pool via Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a picture during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 20, 2026. (Sputnik/Maxim Stulov/Pool via Reuters)
TT
TT

Xi and Putin Meet to Reaffirm China-Russia Ties Days After Trump’s Visit to Beijing

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a picture during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 20, 2026. (Sputnik/Maxim Stulov/Pool via Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a picture during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 20, 2026. (Sputnik/Maxim Stulov/Pool via Reuters)

Chinese leader Xi Jinping welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Wednesday in a meeting meant to reaffirm ties and that takes place only days after a visit by US President Donald Trump to China.

Xi welcomed Putin with a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People. The two delegations later held bilateral talks, to be followed by a ceremony for signing cooperation agreements.

Putin’s visit comes just days after Trump’s own trip to Beijing – in a sequence that is meant to cement Beijing’s image as an influential superpower, experts say.

“The message is clearly one that China maintains friendship and strategic partnership with whichever power it likes, and the USA is just one of them,” said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London.

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said earlier that there was “no connection” between Trump and Putin’s visits, noting the trip by the Russian leader was agreed several days after Putin and Xi spoke via videoconference on Feb. 4.

The Russian and Chinese leaders are set to discuss energy and security as well as their overall ties. The two sides agreed to extend a friendship treaty first signed in 2001, Chinese state media reported.

China became Russia's top trading partner following after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Beijing has said it is neutral in the conflict while maintaining trade ties with the Kremlin despite economic and financial sanctions by the US and Europe.

China is the top customer for Russian oil and gas supplies, and Moscow expects the war in Iran to increase the demand. China also has ignored demands from the West to stop providing high-tech components for Russia’s weapons industries.

Ushakov said Russia’s oil exports to China grew by 35% in the first quarter of 2026 and that Russia is one of the biggest exporters of natural gas to China.

During “the crisis in the Middle East,” Russia remains a reliable energy supplier and China is a “responsible consumer,” Ushakov said.

Putin noted earlier this month that Moscow and Beijing have reached “a very substantial step forward in our cooperation in the oil and gas sector.”

“Practically all the key issues have been agreed upon,” he said. “If we succeed in finalizing these details and bringing them to a conclusion during this visit, I will be extremely pleased.”

Putin also praised their bilateral relationship as a crucial, balancing force in international relations.

“Interaction between such nations as China and Russia undoubtedly serves as a factor of deterrence and stability,” he said.

Moscow welcomes China’s dialogue with the US as another stabilizing element for the global economy, Putin added.

“We stand only to benefit from this, from the stability and constructive engagement between the US and China,” he said.

World

Tankers Exit Hormuz as Trump, Vance Talk Up Iran Deal Prospects

Vessels are seen anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, off the port city of Khasab on Oman's northern Musandam Peninsula on May 17, 2026. (AFP)
Vessels are seen anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, off the port city of Khasab on Oman's northern Musandam Peninsula on May 17, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

Tankers Exit Hormuz as Trump, Vance Talk Up Iran Deal Prospects

Vessels are seen anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, off the port city of Khasab on Oman's northern Musandam Peninsula on May 17, 2026. (AFP)
Vessels are seen anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, off the port city of Khasab on Oman's northern Musandam Peninsula on May 17, 2026. (AFP)

Two Chinese tankers laden with oil exited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, shipping data showed, brightening hopes that the US-Israeli conflict with Iran may soon be resolved after positive comments from the US president and his deputy.

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the war would be over "very quickly" while Vice President JD Vance talked up progress in talks with Tehran about an agreement to end hostilities.

"We're in a pretty good spot here," Vance told a White House press briefing.

Trump made his comments a day after saying he had paused a planned resumption of hostilities following a new proposal by Tehran to end the conflict.

"I was an hour away from making the decision to go today," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.

Iran's leaders are begging for a deal, he said, adding that a new US attack would happen in coming days if no agreement was reached.

The United States has been struggling to end the ‌war it began with ‌Israel nearly three months ago. Trump has repeatedly said during the conflict that a deal ‌with ⁠Tehran was close, ⁠and similarly threatened heavy strikes on Iran if it did not reach an accord.

The US president is under intense political pressure at home to reach an accord that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz - a key route for global supplies of oil and other commodities. Gasoline prices remain high and Trump's approval rating has plummeted with congressional elections looming in November.

The conflict has caused the worst-ever disruption to global energy supplies, blocking hundreds of tankers from leaving the Gulf while damaging energy and shipping facilities across the region.

Two Chinese ships, among a handful of supertankers carrying Iraqi crude, exiting the Gulf this month, passed through the narrow strait carrying around 4 million barrels of crude, according to data from LSEG ⁠and Kpler.

Oil prices eased on the positive signals from the White House and in the Gulf, ‌with Brent crude falling to as low as $110.16 a barrel, before regaining much ‌of its losses.

"Investors are keen to gauge whether Washington and Tehran can actually find common ground and reach a peace agreement, with the US stance ‌shifting daily," said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at Fujitomi Securities.

DIFFICULTIES IN NEGOTIATIONS

Speaking to reporters at a White House briefing, Vance acknowledged ‌difficulties in negotiating with a fractured Iranian leadership. "It's not sometimes totally clear what the negotiating position of the team is," he said, so the US is trying to make its own red lines clear.

He also said one objective of Trump's policy is to prevent a nuclear arms race from spreading in the region.

Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, said on X that Trump's pausing of an attack was due to ‌the realization that any move against Iran would mean "facing a decisive military response."

Iranian state media said Tehran's latest peace proposal involves ending hostilities on all fronts including Lebanon, the exit ⁠of US forces from areas ⁠close to Iran, and reparations for destruction caused by the US-Israeli attacks.

Tehran also sought the lifting of sanctions, release of frozen funds and an end to the US marine blockade, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi as cited by IRNA news agency.

The terms as described in the Iranian reports appeared little changed from Iran's previous offer, which Trump rejected last week as "garbage."

CEASEFIRE MOSTLY HOLDING

The US-Israeli bombing killed thousands of people in Iran before it was suspended in a ceasefire in early April. Israel has killed thousands more and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes in Lebanon, which it invaded in pursuit of the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Iranian strikes on Israel and neighboring Gulf states have killed dozens of people.

The Iran ceasefire has mostly held, although drones have lately been launched from Iraq towards Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, apparently by Iran and its allies.

Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they launched the war to curb Iran's support for regional armed proxies, dismantle its nuclear program, destroy its missile capabilities and create conditions for Iranians to topple their rulers.

But the war has yet to deprive Iran of its stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium or its ability to threaten neighbors with missiles, drones and proxies.

Iran’s clerical leadership, which had faced a mass uprising at the start of the year, withstood the superpower onslaught with no sign of organized opposition.

World

Nigeria Says Joint US Strikes Kill 175 ISIS Militants, Senior Leaders

Nigerian soldiers walk past military tanks prepared for deployment during a tour of the Theater Command Operation Lafiya Dole by Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff at Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria, November 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Nigerian soldiers walk past military tanks prepared for deployment during a tour of the Theater Command Operation Lafiya Dole by Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff at Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria, November 7, 2025. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Nigeria Says Joint US Strikes Kill 175 ISIS Militants, Senior Leaders

Nigerian soldiers walk past military tanks prepared for deployment during a tour of the Theater Command Operation Lafiya Dole by Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff at Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria, November 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Nigerian soldiers walk past military tanks prepared for deployment during a tour of the Theater Command Operation Lafiya Dole by Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff at Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria, November 7, 2025. (Reuters)

Nigerian forces, working with the United States, have killed 175 ISIS militants in a series of joint air and ground strikes in the country's northeast in recent days, the Defense Headquarters said on Tuesday.

The military said operations conducted with US Africa Command destroyed checkpoints, weapons caches, logistics hubs, and financing networks ‌used by ISIS West Africa Province, which ‌has ⁠led a years-long ⁠insurgency in the region.

Since suffering major setbacks in the Middle East, ISIS has pivoted toward Africa, which accounted for 86% of the group's global activity in the first three ⁠months of 2026, according to crisis ‌monitoring group Armed ‌Conflict Location & Event Data.

"As of 19 May, ‌assessments indicate that 175 ISIS militants have ‌been eliminated from the battlefield," Nigeria's Defense spokesperson Major-General Samaila Uba said in a statement.

Strikes that killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki on May ‌16, described by both governments as ISIS’s global No. 2, ⁠were followed ⁠by further raids last weekend that also killed Abd al-Wahhab, an ISWAP leader overseeing attacks and propaganda, Abu Musa al-Mangawi, and Abu al-Muthanna al-Muhajir, a senior media operative and close associate of al-Minuki, the statement said.

The Defense Headquarters said the operations formed part of an ongoing campaign to "hunt down and destroy" militants threatening Nigeria and the wider region.