30 Injured as Train Derails in Iran's South

A person walks by a row of Iranian flags on a street in Tehran, Iran, 06 August 2025. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
A person walks by a row of Iranian flags on a street in Tehran, Iran, 06 August 2025. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
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30 Injured as Train Derails in Iran's South

A person walks by a row of Iranian flags on a street in Tehran, Iran, 06 August 2025. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
A person walks by a row of Iranian flags on a street in Tehran, Iran, 06 August 2025. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

A train derailed in the southern Iranian province of Kerman on Friday, injuring more than two dozen people though no deaths were reported, according to local media.

"Thirty people were injured when a train derailed on the Kerman-Zarand railway path," Babak Mahmoudi, head of the Red Crescent Society's Relief and Rescue Organization, told the Mehr news agency.

A statement from the public relations office of the national railway body carried by the Tasnim news agency reported that after "the timely arrival of railway technical personnel and rescue forces, all passengers safely exited the train".

Train derailments are not uncommon in Iran, and while they do not generally result in deaths, there have been fatal disasters in the past.

In June 2022, 21 people were killed and dozens injured when a train derailed near the central Iranian city of Tabas after hitting an excavator beside the track.

In 2016, two trains collided and caught fire in northern Iran, killing 44 people and injuring scores.



Spain Rules Out Participating in Military Operations in Strait of Hormuz

FILE PHOTO: An LPG gas tanker at anchor as traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Shinas, Oman, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An LPG gas tanker at anchor as traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Shinas, Oman, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
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Spain Rules Out Participating in Military Operations in Strait of Hormuz

FILE PHOTO: An LPG gas tanker at anchor as traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Shinas, Oman, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An LPG gas tanker at anchor as traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Shinas, Oman, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

Spain will not take part in any military mission in the Strait of Hormuz because it considers the US-Israeli war on Iran to be illegal, Madrid's defense and foreign affairs ministers said on Monday. The leftist coalition government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has criticized the offensive and banned participating US aircraft from using jointly operated bases in southern Spain.

Defense Minister Margarita Robles rejected a demand by US President Donald Trump for military support to secure the waterway - which Tehran has de facto blocked to oil tanker traffic - and his threats of a "very bad future" for NATO allies failing to do so.

"Spain will never accept any stopgap measures, because the objective must be for the war to end, and for it to end now," Robles said.

The situation in the strait is a matter of grave concern for Europeans, but the European Union's position should be that the war must end regardless of economic considerations, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said, Reuters reported.

"We mustn't do anything that would add even more tension or cause the situation to escalate further," he told reporters in Brussels.

Some EU members such as Germany, Italy or Greece have also signalled they will not join military operations in the strait, while others including Denmark have yet to make a decision.

 

 

 


UK PM Starmer Says Work to Reopen Strait of Hormuz Will Not Be NATO-led

13 March 2026, Ireland, Cork: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets student researchers at the Tyndall National Institute in Cork. Photo: Cathal Mcnaughton/PA Wire/dpa
13 March 2026, Ireland, Cork: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets student researchers at the Tyndall National Institute in Cork. Photo: Cathal Mcnaughton/PA Wire/dpa
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UK PM Starmer Says Work to Reopen Strait of Hormuz Will Not Be NATO-led

13 March 2026, Ireland, Cork: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets student researchers at the Tyndall National Institute in Cork. Photo: Cathal Mcnaughton/PA Wire/dpa
13 March 2026, Ireland, Cork: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets student researchers at the Tyndall National Institute in Cork. Photo: Cathal Mcnaughton/PA Wire/dpa

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday that ongoing work to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would not be a NATO mission but would involve a broad alliance ‌including Gulf ‌partners as well ‌as ⁠European countries and the ⁠United States.

"We are working with others to come up with a credible plan for the Straits ⁠of Hormuz to ‌ensure ‌that we can reopen shipping and ‌passage through the ‌Strait. Let me be clear, that won't be and it's never been envisioned ‌to be a NATO mission," Starmer told reporters.

"That ⁠will ⁠have to be an alliance of partners, which is why we're working with partners, both in Europe, in the Gulf, and with the US."


Kremlin Dismisses FT Report that Ukraine Peace Process is Fizzling Out

People gather on a bridge in front of the Kremlin during sunset on a warm and sunny day in Moscow, Russia, 13 March 2026. EPA/SERGEI ILNITSKY
People gather on a bridge in front of the Kremlin during sunset on a warm and sunny day in Moscow, Russia, 13 March 2026. EPA/SERGEI ILNITSKY
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Kremlin Dismisses FT Report that Ukraine Peace Process is Fizzling Out

People gather on a bridge in front of the Kremlin during sunset on a warm and sunny day in Moscow, Russia, 13 March 2026. EPA/SERGEI ILNITSKY
People gather on a bridge in front of the Kremlin during sunset on a warm and sunny day in Moscow, Russia, 13 March 2026. EPA/SERGEI ILNITSKY

The Kremlin on Monday dismissed a report by the Financial Times which suggested that the Ukraine peace process was fizzling out because US President Donald Trump's attention was now on Iran and he was losing interest in Ukraine as a result.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had noted such media reports, but had reached ⁠a different conclusion ⁠about Trump's attitude towards Ukraine peace talks.

"President Trump's frequent references to Ukraine in his recent statements suggest the opposite," Peskov told reporters, according to Reuters.

"Judging by his statements, President Trump has ⁠lost no interest whatsoever. Furthermore, he is strongly urging (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskiy to strike a deal."

Trump expressed frustration with Zelenskiy in an interview with Politico earlier this month, saying the Ukrainian president "has to get on the ball, and he has to get a deal done."

Trump also rejected Zelenskiy's offer ⁠to ⁠help the US with downing drones over the Gulf states, telling NBC's Meet the Press that the "last person we need help from is Zelenskiy."

Peskov said Russia was still interested in continuing talks to end the war, but that a venue and date for the next round of negotiations remained unclear.