UK Says Ties with Cyprus Strong as Iran Threat Grows
FILED - 22 May 2025, United Kingdom, London: UK Defense Secretary John Healey listens to questions during a press conference at Strategic Command Headquarters, in Northwood, Greater London. Photo: Thomas Krych/PA Wire/dpa
UK Says Ties with Cyprus Strong as Iran Threat Grows
FILED - 22 May 2025, United Kingdom, London: UK Defense Secretary John Healey listens to questions during a press conference at Strategic Command Headquarters, in Northwood, Greater London. Photo: Thomas Krych/PA Wire/dpa
British defense minister John Healey said on Thursday that the friendship between his country and Cyprus remained strong in the face of Iranian threats.
Healey said in a post on X that he met with his Cypriot counterpart, Vasilis Palmas, earlier on Thursday and discussed how Britain was further reinforcing air defenses to support their shared security.
Healey has headed to Cyprus on Thursday after a drone strike on a UK air base on the Mediterranean island.
The visit comes after the runway of the Royal Air Force (RAF) base at Akrotiri came under attack by an Iranian-made unmanned drone on Monday.
Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said Tuesday the UK was sending "helicopters with counter drone capabilities" and a warship, HMS Dragon, to Cyprus as Britain continued "defensive operations" in the region.
Trump Renews Netanyahu Pardon Call, Saying Only Iran Should be Troubling Himhttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5247977-trump-renews-netanyahu-pardon-call-saying-only-iran-should-be-troubling-him
FILE - President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Trump Renews Netanyahu Pardon Call, Saying Only Iran Should be Troubling Him
FILE - President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
US President Donald Trump on Thursday called again on Israel's president to grant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a pardon for corruption charges, saying the premier should have nothing on his mind but the war with Iran.
Trump, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname, said in an interview with Israel's N12 television news: "President Herzog must give Bibi a pardon today. I don't want there to be anything troubling Bibi other than the war with Iran ... Herzog is a disgrace ... he promised me five times to give Bibi a pardon."
President Isaac Herzog's office said in response that while Israel is at war, he is not dealing with the matter of Netanyahu's pardon request, Reuters reported.
Herzog added that he deeply respects Trump's contribution to Israel's security and his position on Iran but that Israel is a sovereign state that abides by the rule of law.
"The president will examine the request according to the law, the good of the state, his conscience and free of any internal or external pressure," the statement from Herzog's office said.
03 March 2026, Israel, Palmachim Airbase: Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) visits the Palmachim Airbase accompanied by Minister of Defense israel Katz (R) and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (L). Photo: Maayan Toaf/Israel Gpo/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Netanyahu is Israel's first sitting prime minister to be charged with a crime and denies bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges dating back to his 2019 indictment.
Trump has called on Israeli President Isaac Herzog to grant Netanyahu a pardon several times before.
Netanyahu submitted his pardon request in November.
Herzog has in the past disputed Trump's claim that he had promised to grant Netanyahu a pardon.
The United States and Israel on Saturday launched a joint bombing campaign against Iran.
Under Israeli law, the president has the authority to pardon convicts. But there is no precedent for issuing a pardon mid-trial. The legal process of a pardon can be slow.
US Says Attacks on Alleged Drug Boats Have Spooked Traffickershttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5247945-us-says-attacks-alleged-drug-boats-have-spooked-traffickers
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at the inaugural Americas Counter Cartel Conference at US Southern Command in Doral, Fla., Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
US Says Attacks on Alleged Drug Boats Have Spooked Traffickers
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at the inaugural Americas Counter Cartel Conference at US Southern Command in Doral, Fla., Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
The US campaign to hunt down and destroy boats allegedly bringing drugs from South America has been so successful it is now hard to find targets, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said Thursday.
The United States began targeting these alleged smuggling speedboats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific in early September and has since destroyed dozens of them, with at least 150 people killed.
The attacks have drawn criticism that they amount to extrajudicial killings.
Hegseth hailed them as he spoke at a conference on fighting drug cartels that was attended by officials from 18 Latin American countries.
"Last month, we went a few weeks without targeting a single boat. Why? Well, because we couldn't find a whole lot of boats to sink," Hegseth said.
"And that's the whole point, is to establish deterrence from narco-terrorists who have been able to traffic almost unfettered," AFP quoted Hegseth as saying.
President Donald Trump's administration insists it is effectively at war with what it calls "narco-terrorists" operating in Latin America.
But it has provided no definitive evidence that the vessels it targets are involved in drug trafficking, prompting heated debate about the legality of the operations.
International law experts and rights groups say the strikes likely amount to extrajudicial killings as they have apparently targeted civilians who do not pose an immediate threat to the United States.
Washington has deployed a large naval force in the Caribbean, where its forces have in recent months struck alleged drug-smuggling boats, seized oil tankers and carried out a stunning raid in which Venezuelan leftist leader Nicolas Maduro was captured and flown to New York for trial on drug trafficking charges.
Trump Says he Needs to be Involved in Selecting Iran's Next Leaderhttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5247942-trump-says-he-needs-be-involved-selecting-irans-next-leader
Trump Says he Needs to be Involved in Selecting Iran's Next Leader
President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable on in Washington, DC on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. EPA/BONNIE CASH / POOL
US President Donald Trump told Axios on Thursday that he needs to be personally involved in selecting Iran's next leader.
"Khamenei's son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran," Axios quoted Trump as saying in an interview.
"I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy in Venezuela," Trump said.
Rumors have long swirled around the possibility of Mojtaba Khamenei succeeding his father as supreme leader as he’s close with the Revolutionary Guards.
A member of parliament and firebrand cleric, Hamid Rasaee, wrote Thursday that the killed supreme leader’s son was “an outstanding seminarian” as well as a trusted adviser to his father and an “overseer of many of the country’s affairs.”
A reformist-aligned cleric, Rahmatollah Bigdeli, condemned what he called Rasaee’s “ignorance and bias.”
“The constitution does not specify a time limit for the validity of the interim leadership council, and questioning the validity of this council is tantamount to questioning the legitimacy of the decision-making bodies of the regime,” he replied on X.
A former minister also aligned with Iran’s reformists, Abbas Akhoundi, warned against “a diversionary and toxic debate” over the succession.
“The stench of the power struggle in wartime is nauseating,” Akhoundi wrote on X on Wednesday.
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