Russian-Installed Officials Claim Moscow Forces Destroy First US-Supplied Abrams Tank in Ukraine

 A Ukrainian soldier looks out of a shelter at the frontline in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024. (AP)
A Ukrainian soldier looks out of a shelter at the frontline in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024. (AP)
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Russian-Installed Officials Claim Moscow Forces Destroy First US-Supplied Abrams Tank in Ukraine

 A Ukrainian soldier looks out of a shelter at the frontline in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024. (AP)
A Ukrainian soldier looks out of a shelter at the frontline in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024. (AP)

Russian-installed officials said on Monday that Moscow's forces had for the first time destroyed a US-supplied Abrams tank in Ukraine, a battlefield claim that drew approving comment from the Kremlin.

Reuters could not immediately verify a video published on social media that purported to show an Abrams on fire.

"From the very beginning, our soldiers said that these tanks would burn just like others," state news agency RIA quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying. He was referring to previous instances where Russia says it has destroyed Western weaponry in Ukraine.

The United States began supplying the Abrams to Ukrainian forces last September.



Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi announced he intends to visit Tehran through a letter he addressed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iranian Mehr Agency reported that Grossi sent a congratulatory message to the Iranian president-elect, which stated: “I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you on your election win as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“Cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been at the focal attention of the international circles for many years. I am confident that, together, we will be able to make decisive progress on this crucial matter.”

“To that effect, I wish to express my readiness to travel to Iran to meet with you at the earliest convenience,” Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Grossi as saying.

The meeting – should it take place - will be the first for Pezeshkian, who had pledged during his election campaign to be open to the West to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue.

Last week, American and Israeli officials told the Axios news site that Washington sent a secret warning to Tehran last month regarding its fears of Iranian research and development activities that might be used to produce nuclear weapons.

In May, Grossi expressed his dissatisfaction with the course of the talks he held over two days in Iran in an effort to resolve outstanding matters.

Since the death of the former Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisi, the IAEA chief refrained from raising the Iranian nuclear file, while European sources said that Tehran had asked to “freeze discussions” until the internal situation was arranged and a new president was elected.