Türkiye, Bulgaria, Romania to Sign Black Sea Demining Deal

Russia mined Ukraine's Black Sea coastline in the early stages of its invasion last year - AFP
Russia mined Ukraine's Black Sea coastline in the early stages of its invasion last year - AFP
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Türkiye, Bulgaria, Romania to Sign Black Sea Demining Deal

Russia mined Ukraine's Black Sea coastline in the early stages of its invasion last year - AFP
Russia mined Ukraine's Black Sea coastline in the early stages of its invasion last year - AFP

NATO members Türkiye, Bulgaria and Romania will sign this week a preliminary agreement on demining the Black Sea, officials said on Wednesday.

The Russian navy mined Ukraine's Black Sea coastline in the early stages of its invasion last year.

Some of the mines have since washed up in the Black Sea waters of the three NATO member states, endangering shipping and complicating Ukraine's efforts to break through the Russian naval blockade.

Top defense officials from Türkiye, Bulgaria and Romania will sign a memorandum of understanding in Istanbul on Thursday establishing Mine Countermeasures Naval Group in the Black Sea (MCM Black Sea), which will oversee the demining mission's operations, officials from the three countries said.

"MCM Black Sea's activities are entirely peaceful in nature and are not directed against any other country," the Bulgarian defense ministry said.

"It is expected to help improve interaction and good neighbourly relations between the participants, without replacing NATO's presence and ongoing deterrence and defense activities in the Black Sea area."

The Romanian defense ministry said the initiative will have a rotating command structure and "contribute to strengthening the allied posture of deterrence and defence of the eastern flank."

According to AFP, neither Russia nor Ukraine immediately commented on the announcement.

Türkiye controls Black Sea maritime and naval traffic, which must pass Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait and the Dardanelles before reaching the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas.

With the outbreak of war, Türkiye invoked a clause of an international treaty called the Montreux Convention banning the passage of naval vessels from non-literal countries to and from the Black Sea.

The measure prevented Britain from following through on plans last month to send two mine hunting ships into the region to help Ukraine's efforts to export its grain.



Iran Guards Say Military Capabilities ‘Red Lines’ in US Talks 

The US flag is seen at the former United States Embassy in Tehran, Iran, April 8, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
The US flag is seen at the former United States Embassy in Tehran, Iran, April 8, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran Guards Say Military Capabilities ‘Red Lines’ in US Talks 

The US flag is seen at the former United States Embassy in Tehran, Iran, April 8, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
The US flag is seen at the former United States Embassy in Tehran, Iran, April 8, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said Tuesday the country's military capabilities were off limits, ahead of a second round of talks with the United States on its nuclear program.

"National security and defense and military power are among the red lines of Iran, which cannot be discussed or negotiated under any circumstances," Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini said, quoted by state broadcaster IRIB.

Iran and the United States will hold another round of talks in Muscat on Saturday, a week after top officials met in the Omani capital for the highest-level discussions since the 2015 nuclear deal collapsed.

US President Donald Trump, who withdrew the United States from the 2015 deal during his first term, has reinstated his "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran since returning to office in January.

In March, he sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei calling for nuclear talks and warning of possible military action if Tehran refused.

Trump addressed reporters on Monday regarding Iran, saying "I'll solve that problem" and "That's almost an easy one".

The US leader also threatened to attack Iran's nuclear facilities and called Iranian authorities "radicals" who should not possess nuclear weapons.

Iran has repeatedly denied seeking an atomic bomb, insisting its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, especially the provision of energy.

Late Sunday, Iran's official IRNA news agency said the country's regional influence and its missile capabilities were among its "red lines" in the talks.

Tehran supports the "axis of resistance" -- a network of armed groups opposed to Israel, including Yemen's Houthi militias, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Shiite militia groups in Iraq.

On April 12, Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, met with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman for "indirect" talks, according to Iranian officials and media.

The talks were the highest-level Iran-US nuclear negotiations since the collapse of the 2015 accord, formally known is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The accord offered Iran relief from international sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program.

Both Tehran and Washington, enemies who have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after Iran's 1979 revolution, have called the latest round of negotiations "constructive".

Araghchi's office has said he will travel to Moscow at the end of this week for talks with Russia, a close ally of Iran and party to the 2015 nuclear deal.

Moscow welcomed the Iran-US talks as it pushed for a diplomatic solution and warned any military confrontation would be a "global catastrophe".