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Rubio Trip to Israel on Iran Tensions 'Subject to Change'

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio waves as he departs at the Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio waves as he departs at the Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
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Rubio Trip to Israel on Iran Tensions 'Subject to Change'

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio waves as he departs at the Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio waves as he departs at the Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio may push back a trip to Israel in which he is expected to speak to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about potential strikes on Iran, a US official said Monday.

"Secretary Rubio is still planning to travel to Israel but the schedule remains subject to change," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Rubio had earlier been expected to meet Netanyahu on Saturday, but Israeli media reports said he was now expected in the country on Monday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier told CBS News that he expected new talks on Thursday with the United States and held out hope for progress.

President Donald Trump has sent a major deployment of air and sea power to the Middle East and has threatened to strike Iran if it does not reach a deal on key concerns starting with its nuclear program.

Netanyahu has long advocated a hard line on Iran's clerical state and last June ordered a 12-day bombing campaign inside the country, which the United States briefly joined.

Netanyahu visited Washington on February 11 to speak with Trump, who said afterward that he "insisted" on giving time for diplomacy.

Iran has publicly insisted that it has a right to uranium enrichment.

The United States and Israel have threatened new military action against Iran after mass protests against the Islamic republic, which authorities crushed at a cost of thousands of lives.

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World

Russian Document Reveals How Moscow Sought to Deepen Ties with Iran to Evade US Sanctions

Russian President Vladimir Putin with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian during a session held on the sidelines of the BRICS summit (EPA) 
Russian President Vladimir Putin with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian during a session held on the sidelines of the BRICS summit (EPA) 
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Russian Document Reveals How Moscow Sought to Deepen Ties with Iran to Evade US Sanctions

Russian President Vladimir Putin with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian during a session held on the sidelines of the BRICS summit (EPA) 
Russian President Vladimir Putin with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian during a session held on the sidelines of the BRICS summit (EPA) 

An official Russian document obtained and reviewed by Fox News reveals how Moscow sought to deepen its relationship with Iran to bypass US sanctions, laying out plans for alternative financial channels, nuclear cooperation, Iranian production of Russian aircraft components, well as open new financial avenues.

The 44-page Russian-language document was approved on the Russian side on Sept. 2, 2024. It indicated that Russia had drawn up a comprehensive plan for the period 2024-2026, which included the creation of alternative financial channels, the use of national currencies in transactions, strengthening nuclear cooperation, projects in the oil and gas sectors, the production of spare parts for Russian aircraft in Iran, and the continuation of the operation of the Bushehr nuclear power plant by Rosatom.

The roadmap also calls for Russia to help establish production in Iran of individual parts and assemblies for Russian aircraft.

Russian authorities were instructed to determine which aircraft parts could be repaired or manufactured in Iran, identify Iranian companies capable of producing them, certify selected sites through Russia’s aviation regulator Rosaviatsiya and conclude a localization agreement, according to Fox News.

The document also proposed building a railway line from the Iranian border with Azerbaijan to ports on the Arabian Gulf. However, it remains unclear which of these projects are still being implemented, given the changes brought about by the current war.

Russia has maintained close ties with Iran for years, but those relations have intensified since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. US reports say Iran has provided drone support to Russia, but Tehran has categorically denied them.

This cooperation was further strengthened as the US exerted pressure on Iran through economic sanctions, amid reports that Moscow had offered Tehran assistance in the production of cruise missiles.

Keti Korkiya, a research analyst with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Russia program, reviewed the document for Fox News Digital and said its significance lies less in any single project than in the architecture Moscow was trying to build around the relationship.

“The roadmap is not revelatory: people paying close attention to the relationship between Russia and Iran will see many collaborations between the two countries that have been public for years,” Korkiya said in written analysis provided to Fox News Digital.

“What is more revealing is the architecture of the relationship Moscow is trying to build,” she said, pointing to financial mechanisms, transportation routes, energy investment and aviation cooperation as different ways of reducing vulnerabilities created by sanctions and Western economic pressure.

World

Trump Administration Prepares Sanctions against International Criminal Court

(FILES) This general view shows the exterior of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on March 28, 2026. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)
(FILES) This general view shows the exterior of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on March 28, 2026. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)
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Trump Administration Prepares Sanctions against International Criminal Court

(FILES) This general view shows the exterior of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on March 28, 2026. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)
(FILES) This general view shows the exterior of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on March 28, 2026. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)

President Donald Trump's administration has prepared sanctions against the entire International Criminal Court and plans to announce them soon, two sources familiar with the matter said, a move that would step up its attack on the global tribunal that prosecutes war crimes and genocide worldwide.

The Trump administration has made no secret of its disdain for the court and has worked to undermine it. US officials want the ‌court to drop ‌its arrest warrants against Israeli leaders as well as ‌a ⁠past probe into American ⁠troops in Afghanistan, Reuters said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in July announced a campaign to isolate the court, calling on other countries to withdraw from the tribunal. Washington has imposed sanctions on a number of ICC judges and prosecutors but has so far held off from imposing sanctions on the court itself, although the move has long been considered as one of the options.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request ⁠for comment.

Sanctions against the court have been prepared, the sources said, ‌even though the exact timing of an ‌announcement remained unclear. The Wall Street Journal cited officials who said the decision could be finalized ‌as soon as this week during the United Nations General Assembly meeting.

Targeting the ‌entire organization directly, as well as entities that cooperate with it, could severely undermine the court's work.

Any entity-wide sanctions imposed by the US Treasury would prohibit US citizens and companies from providing funds, goods, or services to the court without a license from the US Treasury's Office ‌of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Banks often over-comply with such US sanctions because they depend on access to the American financial system.

Among ⁠the court's operations ⁠that could be affected by sanctions against the entire organization are the purchasing of IT services and insurance, the hiring of investigators and conducting everyday financial transactions, such as paying dozens of American employees, the ICC's registrar and president have warned.

Trump's opposition to the court goes back to his first term. It surfaced again with a plan to penalize ICC officials, an idea developed in November 2024 when Trump was reelected and the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict.

The ICC was established in 2002 by the international community to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. It asserts jurisdiction only if a member state is unable or unwilling to prosecute atrocities itself.

The United States has never been a member.

World

Russia Vows Strikes on Kyiv in Response to Election-day Attacks

Smoke rises behind a multi-story building following a reported Ukrainian drone attack in Dzerzhinsky, Moscow region, Russia, 20 September 2026. EPA/STRINGER
Smoke rises behind a multi-story building following a reported Ukrainian drone attack in Dzerzhinsky, Moscow region, Russia, 20 September 2026. EPA/STRINGER
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Russia Vows Strikes on Kyiv in Response to Election-day Attacks

Smoke rises behind a multi-story building following a reported Ukrainian drone attack in Dzerzhinsky, Moscow region, Russia, 20 September 2026. EPA/STRINGER
Smoke rises behind a multi-story building following a reported Ukrainian drone attack in Dzerzhinsky, Moscow region, Russia, 20 September 2026. EPA/STRINGER

Russia vowed Sunday to "intensify" its strikes on Kyiv in response to a wave of Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow during three-day parliamentary elections.

"In response to the Kyiv regime's attacks on civilian targets within Russia, the Russian army will continue and intensify its high-accuracy strikes against military targets in Kyiv," the Russian defense ministry said, accusing Ukraine of attempting to "disrupt the democratic will of Russian citizens.”

Ukrainian forces fired more than 1,000 drones at Russia overnight, including hundreds that were launched toward Moscow, officials said Sunday, as the Kremlin was wrapping up the third and last day of its parliamentary elections.

Moscow’s mayor described the wave of drones as the “largest ever” drone attack on the Russian capital and said there had been damage to the Moscow Oil Refinery, which is among several sites that supply the Russian capital, and a residential building.

Across the wider Moscow region, the attack killed two people and wounded 20, local Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said. The dead were a 74-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman, he said.

Writing on social media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv had used a range of missiles and drones in the attack — including Ukraine's domestically made Flamingo and Pelican missiles — to hit oil and logistics facilities.