NATO Allies Pledge Additional Air Defense Systems for Kyiv, Stoltenberg Says

 Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a press conference at the end of a virtual meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council (NUC) at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, on April 19, 2024. (AFP)
Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a press conference at the end of a virtual meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council (NUC) at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, on April 19, 2024. (AFP)
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NATO Allies Pledge Additional Air Defense Systems for Kyiv, Stoltenberg Says

 Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a press conference at the end of a virtual meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council (NUC) at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, on April 19, 2024. (AFP)
Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a press conference at the end of a virtual meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council (NUC) at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, on April 19, 2024. (AFP)

NATO allies on Friday agreed to provide Kyiv with additional air defense systems, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said after a special meeting of allied defense ministers with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

"In addition to Patriots, there are other weapons that allies can provide, including (the French system) SAMP/T, and many others, who do not have available systems, have pledged to provide financial support to purchase them for Ukraine," Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels.

Zelenskiy asked for the meeting, which was held online, as his country is facing a shortage of ammunition, with vital funding from the US blocked by Republicans in Congress for months and the EU failing to deliver munitions on time.

Stoltenberg didn't go into detail how many new air defense systems Ukraine will receive, but said he expected fresh announcements in the coming days.

"Help is on its way. And I expect more help and support to be announced in the very near future," he told reporters.

Last week, Germany pledged to supply Kyiv with a third Patriot battery out of its military stocks.

The United States has the highest number of Patriot systems in its inventories. In Europe, nations such as Spain and Greece own Patriot batteries.



Iran Police Commander Dismissed After Death in Custody

A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
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Iran Police Commander Dismissed After Death in Custody

A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)

Iran's police force has dismissed the commander of a city in the northern province of Gilan after the death in custody of a detainee, state media said on Saturday.

Mohammad Mir Mousavi, 36, was arrested on July 22 after being involved in a fight in Lahijan, police said in a statement carried by the official news agency IRNA.

"The police commander... was dismissed due to insufficient oversight of the conduct and behaviour of staff," the police said, AFP reported.

"Due to the complexity of the matter, the final conclusion on the cause of Mohammad Mir Mousavi's death depends on the medical examiner's final report.

The police said the station commander and several officers involved in the incident had been suspended.

"The behaviour of some law enforcement officers was against the professional policy of the police and that is not acceptable in any way, so they were referred to the judicial authority," the statement added.

The Norway-based Kurdish human rights organization, Hengaw, on Wednesday said Mir Mousavi "was killed under torture in the detention center".

On Thursday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered an investigation into the case.

Dismissals of members of the security forces are rare in Iran.

In 2022, the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who had been arrested in Tehran for an alleged breach of the country's strict dress code for women, sparked months of deadly nationwide protests.