عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

US Issues Fresh Iran-Related Sanctions

A woman walks past a giant banner depicting Iranian missiles and a sword belonging to Imam Ali, the first Imam of the Shiites, at the Vanak Square in Tehran, Wednesday (AFP) 
A woman walks past a giant banner depicting Iranian missiles and a sword belonging to Imam Ali, the first Imam of the Shiites, at the Vanak Square in Tehran, Wednesday (AFP) 
TT
TT

US Issues Fresh Iran-Related Sanctions

A woman walks past a giant banner depicting Iranian missiles and a sword belonging to Imam Ali, the first Imam of the Shiites, at the Vanak Square in Tehran, Wednesday (AFP) 
A woman walks past a giant banner depicting Iranian missiles and a sword belonging to Imam Ali, the first Imam of the Shiites, at the Vanak Square in Tehran, Wednesday (AFP) 

The administration of US President Donald Trump has issued a fresh round of Iran-related sanctions targeting six individuals and four entities, including some tied to China, according to a notice posted on the US Department of Treasury's website on Wednesday.

The ‌US government on Wednesday said it was imposing sanctions against 11 people and entities, including several based in China and Hong Kong, ⁠for supporting weapons procurement by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian military, according to Reuters.

Nine of those designated were China- and Hong Kong-based individuals and companies that facilitated the procurement of weapons for Iran's military, and ‌a ⁠Hong Kong-based company operating within Iran’s clandestine banking network, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said in ⁠a statement.

The US State Department also designated two companies and individuals based in Iran ⁠and Belarus in connection with Iran's conventional arms-related activities, Treasury ⁠said.

Trump on Wednesday said Tehran has taken too long to negotiate a deal and would now “have to pay the price” after Iran and ‌the United States exchanged strikes in the region amid reported efforts to continue talks.

“Iran is all talk and no action,” Trump wrote in a social media post. “They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!”

Trump, in a later interview with ⁠Fox News, said he was getting close to ordering new strikes targeting Iran's power plants and bridges if Tehran is unwilling to sign an agreement.

The United States and Iran traded air attacks on Thursday for a second straight day.

The escalation in hostilities began earlier this week with the downing of a US Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz, which sparked a series of tit-for-tat attacks across Iran and on US bases around the ‌region.

The US military said its latest attacks targeted “military surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defense sites across Iran” in response to what it called Tehran's “unwarranted and continued aggression.”

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Iran Maritime Body Says Hormuz Completely Closed 'Until Further Notice'

Vessels are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Vessels are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
TT
TT

Iran Maritime Body Says Hormuz Completely Closed 'Until Further Notice'

Vessels are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Vessels are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer

Iran's new body overseeing the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday confirmed a complete closure order for the strategic waterway until further notice, after the Revolutionary Guards announced the move overnight.

"Due to the tensions caused by the aggression of the American forces in the region and the announcement made last night by the Iranian armed forces, the Strait of Hormuz will be closed until further notice," PGSA said in a post on X .

"Applicants who have been granted a transit permit are asked to be patient and wait for instructions from the PGSA."

World

A Mass Funeral is Held for 22 Pakistani Soldiers Who Died in a Helicopter Crash in Kashmir

Smoke billows after an army MI-17 helicopter crashed due to a technical fault, in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)
Smoke billows after an army MI-17 helicopter crashed due to a technical fault, in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)
TT
TT

A Mass Funeral is Held for 22 Pakistani Soldiers Who Died in a Helicopter Crash in Kashmir

Smoke billows after an army MI-17 helicopter crashed due to a technical fault, in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)
Smoke billows after an army MI-17 helicopter crashed due to a technical fault, in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)

Rescuers recovered the remains of all 22 soldiers aboard a military helicopter that crashed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir the previous day, officials said Thursday, confirming there were no survivors, as senior government and military officials attended a mass funeral for the victims.

The helicopter crashed Wednesday in Muzaffarabad, the regional capital, apparently because of a technical fault, according to Pakistan’s military. An investigation is underway to determine the exact cause.

An Associated Press reporter counted 22 coffins draped in Pakistan’s national flag at a funeral ceremony.

Witnesses and regional officials said the remains of the soldiers were recovered from the badly burned wreckage. The dead included a colonel and two army majors, according to two security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Among those attending the funerals was regional Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore.

According to the officials, the soldiers had been traveling to carry out security duties after a call for a march on Muzaffarabad by the Joint Awami Action Committee, a recently banned alliance of various groups.

Authorities have not indicated any connection between the planned protest and the crash.

Pakistan has deployed additional security forces across the region, where tensions have been high since the weekend after members of an outlawed group attacked police and security personnel, killing four officers.

Military helicopter crashes are not uncommon in Pakistan.

In September, an army helicopter on a routine flight crashed in northern Pakistan, killing two pilots and three technicians.

World

Taiwan Says Chinese Ships Entered Waters of Disputed South China Sea Island

A Taiwan Coast Guard boat patrols, as seen from a boat with Chinese tourists, to observe Taiwan's Kinmen Islands, off Xiamen, in China's southeastern Fujian province on May 25, 2026. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
A Taiwan Coast Guard boat patrols, as seen from a boat with Chinese tourists, to observe Taiwan's Kinmen Islands, off Xiamen, in China's southeastern Fujian province on May 25, 2026. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
TT
TT

Taiwan Says Chinese Ships Entered Waters of Disputed South China Sea Island

A Taiwan Coast Guard boat patrols, as seen from a boat with Chinese tourists, to observe Taiwan's Kinmen Islands, off Xiamen, in China's southeastern Fujian province on May 25, 2026. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
A Taiwan Coast Guard boat patrols, as seen from a boat with Chinese tourists, to observe Taiwan's Kinmen Islands, off Xiamen, in China's southeastern Fujian province on May 25, 2026. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)

Taiwan said Chinese ships entered the "prohibited" waters off a disputed island in the South China Sea for the first time on Thursday, condemning escalating "harassment" by Beijing.

The two Chinese vessels "openly intruded" into the waters around the Taiwan-controlled Taiping Island and stayed for 15 minutes before the Taiwanese coast guard expelled them, the force said in a statement.

The island, also known as Itu Aba, is the largest in the Spratly archipelago claimed by Taiwan, China, the Philippines and Vietnam, said AFP.

The Taiwanese coast guard expressed its "strongest condemnation of this incident", saying it "once again maliciously escalates grey-zone harassment in an attempt to create a false impression of jurisdiction".

China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and in recent years has ramped up military pressure on the island democracy.

Beijing also claims most of the South China Sea.

Taiping's "prohibited" waters extend four kilometers (2.5 miles) from shore, Taiwan's coast guard said.

"China is systematically harassing Taiwan," the Ocean Affairs Council, which is responsible for the coast guard, said on X.

The latest in a series of Chinese activities in waters around Taiwan and islands under its control follows an operation to Taiwan's east, which Beijing said was in response to talks between Japan and the Philippines to draw a maritime boundary there.

The Ocean Affairs Council said Thursday's incident "also proves that what China did in the waters east of Taiwan should be dealt with as a challenge to international order; Japan-Philippines talks were just an excuse."

China called the Japan-Philippines talks "illegal" and has claimed exclusive control over the affected waters.

Taiwan has branded the Chinese operation in recent days as "provocative" and "expansionism in disguise".

Taipei has also accused the Chinese ships of "harassment" after they requested information from three passing commercial cargo ships, including their port of destination.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's coast guard said Saturday that a Chinese survey vessel had joined a coast guard ship in waters around Pratas Island in the northern part of the South China Sea.

It was "the first observed instance of Chinese coast guard and survey vessels acting in coordination to provoke Taiwan", the coast guard said.

Taiwan controls Pratas but Beijing also claims the island, along with most of the strategic waterway.