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Iran and India Agree on Long-Term Cooperation

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and the visiting Indian Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal hold talks in Tehran on Tuesday. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and the visiting Indian Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal hold talks in Tehran on Tuesday. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
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Iran and India Agree on Long-Term Cooperation

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and the visiting Indian Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal hold talks in Tehran on Tuesday. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and the visiting Indian Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal hold talks in Tehran on Tuesday. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)

Iran and India signed on Monday a 10-year contract to develop and operate the Iranian port of Chabahar, located at the mouth of the Gulf of Oman.

The contract is a further step to strengthen ties between both countries. It came as Washington has warned of potential sanctions for any country considering business deals with Iran.

On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian held talks with Indian Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, who is visiting Tehran to sign the new contract.

Abdollahian emphasized that Tehran views its relationship with India as strategic, stressing that it was keen on reaching long-term cooperation with New Delhi, reported Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.

“Our approach to relations with India is strategic and we are ready to further expand our cooperation with India in bilateral and multilateral capacities and within the framework of BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organization,” the top Iranian diplomat said.

Abdollahian also termed the recent agreement between the two states as a very important opportunity to expand the volume of trade relations, according to IRNA.

India has been developing the port in Chabahar as a way to transport goods to Iran, Afghanistan and central Asian countries, bypassing the port of Karachi and Gwadar in its rival Pakistan.

US sanctions on Iran, however, slowed the port's development.

“Chabahar Port's significance transcends its role as a mere conduit between India and Iran; it serves as a vital trade artery connecting India with Afghanistan and Central Asian Countries,” Sonowal said after the signing of the agreement.

US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel, asked about the deal, told reporters that US sanctions on Iran remain in place and warned that Washington will continue to enforce them.

“Any entity, anyone considering business deals with Iran - they need to be aware of the potential risks that they are opening themselves up to and the potential risk of sanctions,” Patel said.

The long-term deal was signed between Indian Ports Global Limited (IPGL) and the Port & Maritime Organization of Iran.

Under the agreement, IPGL will invest about $120 million while there will be an additional $250 million in financing, bringing the contract's value to $370 million, said Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash.

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World

North Korean Leader Kim Backs China’s Push for ‘Multi-polar World’ in Talks with FM

This picture taken on April 10, 2026 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 11, 2026, shows Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) shaking hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the headquarters of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang. (KCNA / KCNA via KNS / AFP)
This picture taken on April 10, 2026 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 11, 2026, shows Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) shaking hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the headquarters of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang. (KCNA / KCNA via KNS / AFP)
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North Korean Leader Kim Backs China’s Push for ‘Multi-polar World’ in Talks with FM

This picture taken on April 10, 2026 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 11, 2026, shows Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) shaking hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the headquarters of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang. (KCNA / KCNA via KNS / AFP)
This picture taken on April 10, 2026 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 11, 2026, shows Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) shaking hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the headquarters of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang. (KCNA / KCNA via KNS / AFP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un voiced support for China’s push to build a “multi-polar world” and called for deeper ties between the traditional allies during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, state media said Saturday.

During the meeting Friday, Kim said his government will fully support Chinese efforts to achieve territorial integrity based on its “one-China principle,” a reference to Beijing’s official position that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, according to North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency.

Kim also outlined North Korea’s position on unspecified regional and international issues of “mutual concern” and said sustained development of ties between the two countries has become more crucial in the current geopolitical environment, KCNA said.

Wang, on a two-day trip to North Korea, said the countries’ relations were entering a “new phase” following a summit last year between Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Embracing the ideas of a “new Cold War” and a “multi-polarized world,” Kim has sought to break out of international isolation and push a more assertive foreign policy by expanding ties with governments locked in confrontations with the United States.

While Russia has been Kim’s top foreign policy priority in recent years, sending thousands of troops and large weapons shipments to support its war against Ukraine, he has also been cozying up to China, the North’s traditional main ally and economic lifeline.

Kim joined Russian President Vladimir Putin at a World War II ceremony in Beijing in September and held his first summit with Xi Jinping in six years, moves that supported his efforts to portray North Korea as part of a united front against Washington.

North Korea and China last month resumed direct flight and passenger train services, which had been suspended since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Wang arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday in his first visit to North Korea in seven years. He earlier met with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Sun Hui and discussed ways to facilitate further cooperation and exchanges and holding “in-depth” talks on international issues, state media from both countries said.

The state media outlets did not mention whether Wang and North Korean officials discussed issues related to the US or the ongoing war in the Middle East.

Wang’s trip to North Korea came before US President Donald Trump travels to Beijing for a rescheduled summit with Xi Jinping in May. Some South Korean officials have expressed hope the Trump-Xi meeting could provide a diplomatic opening with Pyongyang.

Kim has suspended all meaningful dialogue with the US and South Korea since the collapse of his diplomacy with Trump in 2019 during the American president’s first term. Kim has since taken a hard-line stance toward South Korea, which he now defines as his “most hostile” adversary, and rejected US offers to resume talks, calling on Washington to drop its demand for North Korea’s denuclearization as a precondition.

World

Taiwan Spotted Chinese Warplanes as Xi Met Opposition Leader in Beijing

A man uses his smartphone as a giant screen broadcasts news showing Chinese President Xi Jinping shaking hands with Cheng Li-wun, chairperson of the Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan's largest opposition party at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, April 10, 2026. (Reuters)
A man uses his smartphone as a giant screen broadcasts news showing Chinese President Xi Jinping shaking hands with Cheng Li-wun, chairperson of the Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan's largest opposition party at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, April 10, 2026. (Reuters)
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Taiwan Spotted Chinese Warplanes as Xi Met Opposition Leader in Beijing

A man uses his smartphone as a giant screen broadcasts news showing Chinese President Xi Jinping shaking hands with Cheng Li-wun, chairperson of the Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan's largest opposition party at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, April 10, 2026. (Reuters)
A man uses his smartphone as a giant screen broadcasts news showing Chinese President Xi Jinping shaking hands with Cheng Li-wun, chairperson of the Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan's largest opposition party at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, April 10, 2026. (Reuters)

Taiwan's defense ministry said on ‌Saturday that it spotted 16 Chinese warplanes operating near the island the previous day, around the same time China's president was meeting the Taiwanese opposition leader.

Late on Friday morning, Chinese President Xi Jinping met Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of Taiwan's largest opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT) in Beijing, where Xi said he "absolutely would not tolerate" independence for Taiwan, which China views as its own territory.

Cheng has portrayed her visit as a reconciliation mission to lessen tensions, and told Xi ‌she looked forward ‌to the KMT and Communist Party advancing ‌the "institutionalization" ⁠of peace across the ⁠Taiwan Strait.

Taiwan's defense ministry, in its daily report on Chinese military activity in the previous 24 hours, said that 16 Chinese warplanes flew near the island from mid-morning to mid-afternoon on Friday. Xi and Cheng met at 11 am (0300GMT).

Shen Yu-chung, a deputy minister at Taiwan's China-policy-making Mainland Affairs ⁠Council, told reporters in Taipei on Saturday that ‌using military coercion against Taiwan as ‌a means of applying pressure for political negotiations has always ‌been China's "go-to tactic".

"So on one hand we see them ‌sending out messages of peace, while on the other hand they continue to use military force to pressure Taiwan without letup," he added.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a ‌request for comment.

In Beijing, KMT Vice Chairman Chang Jung-kung said that the key to promoting peace ⁠lies ⁠in offering Taiwan's people a choice between peace and reconciliation, or war.

Engaging with China and promoting cross-strait peace yields "peace with dignity," not the bowing of one's head to "shake hands" like Taiwan President Lai Ching-te has said, Chang added, according to a KMT statement.

Lai's office said on Friday night that what the Xi-Cheng meeting sought to highlight was that "Taiwan is part of the People's Republic of China" and to advance "the annexation of Taiwan".

"Taiwan's future can only be decided by the Taiwanese people themselves," Lai's spokesperson Karen Kuo said in a statement.

World

CNN: US Intelligence Indicates China Preparing Weapons Shipment to Iran

Chinese and Iranian flags raised in Tiananmen Square, Beijing - February 14, 2023 (File - Reuters)
Chinese and Iranian flags raised in Tiananmen Square, Beijing - February 14, 2023 (File - Reuters)
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CNN: US Intelligence Indicates China Preparing Weapons Shipment to Iran

Chinese and Iranian flags raised in Tiananmen Square, Beijing - February 14, 2023 (File - Reuters)
Chinese and Iranian flags raised in Tiananmen Square, Beijing - February 14, 2023 (File - Reuters)

US intelligence indicates China is  preparing to deliver new air defense systems to ‌Iran  within the ‌next few weeks, CNN ‌reported ⁠late on Friday, ⁠citing three  people familiar with recent intelligence assessments.

The network said there are indications that Beijing is working to route  ⁠the shipments  through third ‌countries ‌to  mask their origin.

The US ‌State Department, White House ‌and the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for ‌comment.

Beijing is preparing to transfer shoulder-fired anti-air missile ⁠systems ⁠known as MANPADs, CNN said, citing sources it did not name.

The US and Iran are set to hold high-level negotiations on Saturday in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, seeking ways to end their six-week-old war.