Iran Counts its Human, Material Losses in 5 Weeks of War

A worker moves a pallet of medical cardboard boxes as Turkish Health Ministry plans to send medical supplies in Iran in Van, north-eastern Türkiye, on April 8, 2026. (AFP) 
A worker moves a pallet of medical cardboard boxes as Turkish Health Ministry plans to send medical supplies in Iran in Van, north-eastern Türkiye, on April 8, 2026. (AFP) 
TT

Iran Counts its Human, Material Losses in 5 Weeks of War

A worker moves a pallet of medical cardboard boxes as Turkish Health Ministry plans to send medical supplies in Iran in Van, north-eastern Türkiye, on April 8, 2026. (AFP) 
A worker moves a pallet of medical cardboard boxes as Turkish Health Ministry plans to send medical supplies in Iran in Van, north-eastern Türkiye, on April 8, 2026. (AFP) 

More than 125,000 civilian facilities have been damaged or destroyed in the US-Israeli attacks across Iran, the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) said on Friday.

Pir-Hossein Kolivand told Iranian state television that around 100,000 homes and at least 23,500 shops were hit during the five-week conflict.

A two-week ceasefire is currently in force, although there are fears the truce could break down over Israel's ongoing attacks in Lebanon.

In addition to residential and commercial areas, numerous other civilian facilities were also hit during the conflict, Kolivand said.

Around 339 medical facilities such as hospitals, pharmacies, emergency centers and laboratories were damaged in the airstrikes, he said.

Furthermore, 32 universities were hit while 857 buildings belonging to schools and other educational institutions were specifically targeted, Kolivand stated.

Thousands of people have been killed across the Middle East in the Iran war, which began when the US and Israel struck Iran on February 28.

Those strikes triggered Iranian attacks on Israel, US bases in the Gulf states, while opening a new front in Lebanon.

More than 3,000 people were killed throughout Iran during the war, Iran's forensic chief ‌told state media on Thursday.

US-based rights group HRANA said 3,636 people have been killed since the war erupted. It said 1,701 of those were civilians, including at least 254 children.

The group said it will stop publishing daily reports on attacks and casualties amid the “change in the situation on the ground and the uncertainty surrounding whether the ceasefire will hold or collapse.”

The Iranian military said at least 104 people were killed in a US attack on an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka on March 4.

In return, missiles launched from Iran and Lebanon have killed 23 people in Israel, according to Israel's ambulance service. The Israeli army said 12 of ‌its soldiers have also been killed in southern Lebanon.

Separately, Israeli forces misfired and killed an Israeli farmer near the border with Lebanon on March 22.

Earlier, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that 13 US service members have been killed and over 300 wounded since the start of the conflict with Iran on February 28.

It also classified six Air Force deaths as “non-hostile,” the crew of a KC-135 refueling aircraft who died in Iraq while supporting air operations.

Turkish Aid Convoy

Meanwhile, the Red Cross and Türkiye’s Red Crescent on Friday dispatched an emergency humanitarian aid convoy from Türkiye to Iran, as the organization warned of a “desperate” humanitarian situation in the country.

“Humanitarian needs in Iran are extremely high,” International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) spokesperson Scott Craig told AFP shortly before the convoy departed from the outskirts of Ankara.

“The humanitarian situation in Iran is desperate,” Craig said. “Needs will change according to how the situation evolves. But the needs will remain critical for a very long time. The health system in the country has been destroyed.”

He added that large-scale damage to infrastructure had compounded the crisis, with severe psychological and mental health impacts on the population.

The convoy includes around 200 trauma kits containing emergency medical supplies for bombing casualties.

The Turkish Red Crescent has also sent four trucks carrying 48 tons of aid, including emergency shelters for displaced families, hygiene kits and first-aid supplies.

The vehicles bear the message “Humanitarian aid from the Turkish people to the brotherly people of Iran,” an AFP journalist observed at the scene.

Craig said the shipment represents “one of the first international humanitarian aid deliveries into Iran since the conflict began,” adding that global supply chain disruptions, especially to maritime routes, have complicated procurement and transport efforts.

“Sending them overland from Türkiye is a really innovative way of being able to move assistance into the country,” he said.

According to Turkish Red Crescent president Fatma Meric Yilmaz, roughly 3.6 percent of Iran’s 90 million people have been displaced, while 62,000 homes and more than 20,000 businesses have been destroyed.

She said the Iranian Red Crescent had also suffered “severe” losses, with 17 of its centers and nearly 100 ambulances damaged.

The convoy is expected to reach Tehran within 48 hours, after which supplies will be distributed to centers hosting displaced people, Turkish

Red Crescent official Alper Kucuk told AFP.

Iran-Linked Sips Cross Hormuz

Also, most vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz in the past day are linked to Iran, according to ship tracking data.

The majority of ships that have sailed through the Strait of Hormuz in the past day were linked to Iran, ship tracking data showed on Friday, with other vessels putting off making voyages despite a two-week ceasefire agreed this week between Tehran and Washington, according to data and shipping sources.

Three tankers – a crude supertanker that can carry 2 million barrels of oil, a bunkering tanker and smaller oil ship – all left Iranian waters in the past 24 hours, based on separate data analysis from Kpler and Lloyd’s List Intelligence platforms.

 

 

 



'We are Standing Firm,' Maduro Says in Photo Posts from Detention

(FILES) A motorcyclist rides past a mural of ousted Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro flashing the V sign, in Caracas, on May 14, 2026. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP)
(FILES) A motorcyclist rides past a mural of ousted Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro flashing the V sign, in Caracas, on May 14, 2026. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP)
TT

'We are Standing Firm,' Maduro Says in Photo Posts from Detention

(FILES) A motorcyclist rides past a mural of ousted Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro flashing the V sign, in Caracas, on May 14, 2026. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP)
(FILES) A motorcyclist rides past a mural of ousted Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro flashing the V sign, in Caracas, on May 14, 2026. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP)

Venezuela's deposed leader Nicolas Maduro said on social media Sunday that he was "standing firm" with photographs that appear to show him in the detention center where he has been held since his capture by US forces.

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were seized in Caracas during a US military operation in January. They are being detained in a facility in Brooklyn, New York, on drug trafficking and firearms possession charges, which they deny, said AFP.

"I am sending these photos as a small gift to all my grandchildren, to the boys and girls, and to all the good people who love us," he wrote on the Telegram messaging service.

"I want you to know that we are standing firm, with our hearts full of your love," he added.

In the two photographs, Maduro is wearing a gray tracksuit and making peace signs with his hands. He appears to have lost considerable weight since his capture.

Although the photographs emerged Sunday, camera data indicates they were taken on June 25, a day after twin deadly earthquakes killed more than 6,500 people and caused widespread destruction in northern Venezuela.

"We will remain strong, calm and confident: God is with us. God will provide. Venezuela will rise again," he concluded.

The authenticity of the photos could not be verified by AFP.

AFP attempted to contact the detention center to find out if the photos were authentic and had been authorized, but did not receive a response immediately.

The message was posted two days after his successor, interim President Delcy Rodriguez, announced a "historic" oil agreement allowing the United States to operate oil fields in Venezuela.

Rodriguez is governing under intense pressure from Washington and says she has "chosen the path of diplomacy" with the United States because she wants Venezuela to become an "energy powerhouse."

Maduro does not have access to newspapers or the internet in prison, but he is allowed to speak by telephone with his family and lawyers for approximately 300 minutes a month, with a maximum of 15 minutes per call, according to a source close to the former leader.

His son, Nicolas Maduro Guerra, says his father is in good shape and spends his time studying the Bible.

Maduro and his wife's trial in the United States will begin on June 1, 2027, a federal court in New York announced in late July.


Spanish PM Says Disinformation on Ceuta Crisis Was Spread by Russia, Israel

Migrants wait outside the Loma Colmenar temporary migrant shelter in Ceuta, Spain, 31 August 2026. (EPA)
Migrants wait outside the Loma Colmenar temporary migrant shelter in Ceuta, Spain, 31 August 2026. (EPA)
TT

Spanish PM Says Disinformation on Ceuta Crisis Was Spread by Russia, Israel

Migrants wait outside the Loma Colmenar temporary migrant shelter in Ceuta, Spain, 31 August 2026. (EPA)
Migrants wait outside the Loma Colmenar temporary migrant shelter in Ceuta, Spain, 31 August 2026. (EPA)

Russia and Israel both spread and amplified disinformation related to the mass entry of migrants into Spain's North ‌African ‌enclave of ‌Ceuta ⁠last month, Prime Minister ⁠Pedro Sanchez said on Monday, citing research by the European ⁠Union's foreign service ‌EEAS.

Sanchez ‌said it ‌was "evident" that the ‌two countries had used the crisis to criticize ‌the Spanish government, as they were at ⁠odds ⁠with Madrid over its position on the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

He ruled out any responsibility on the part of the Moroccan authorities in the incident.

"No intelligence service with which the Spanish government normally cooperates sheds any doubt, or rather, suggests any doubt, about the involvement in one way or another of the Moroccan authorities," he told Cadena Ser radio.


Leaders of China, Russia and India are Among Heads of State Meeting to Counter US Influence

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, gestures while speaking to Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Sept. 16, 2022. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, gestures while speaking to Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Sept. 16, 2022. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
TT

Leaders of China, Russia and India are Among Heads of State Meeting to Counter US Influence

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, gestures while speaking to Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Sept. 16, 2022. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, gestures while speaking to Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Sept. 16, 2022. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

The leaders of China, Russia and India are among the heads of state gathering in Kyrgyzstan this week for the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a group billed as a counterweight to US global influence.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are scheduled to attend the events in Bishkek, the capital of the Central Asian nation, The Associated Press said.

Multiple one-on-one meetings are scheduled on the sidelines, including one between Putin and Xi on Monday, as well as talks between the Russian leader and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday, the day of the official SCO sessions.

Russia, now 4½ years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Iran, six months into a war with the United States and Israel, see the summit as an important platform to strengthen their relations with non-Western partners.

The SCO was founded in 2001 by China, Russia and four Central Asian states as a security forum. Over the past quarter-century, it has grown in size and influence, although its goals and programs remain vague and its brand recognition low.

It now includes 10 nations: Russia, China, India, Iran, Pakistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Many other countries have the status of “dialogue partners."

Along with Russia, China has presented the SCO as an alternative to Western-aligned organizations like the G7, and in recent years has wanted to expand the scope and influence of the organization, pledging development and financial assistance.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said last week that the organization has successfully “explored a new path for regional cooperation.” Beijing has consistently promoted the idea of an alternative world order with Russia’s support.

Summit attendees have significant disagreements

For many SCO members, the summit will be an opportunity to show that they maintain strong ties on the global stage despite souring relations with the West.

The organization is not a unified political or military bloc, however, and analysts note that its members have significant disagreements and their own distinct interests.

For countries such as India, however, experts say the summit is likely to be more about optics and strategic signaling than substantive outcomes.

The forum is heavily influenced by China and includes Pakistan as a member — both of which are rivals for India.

Dinakar Peri, a fellow in security studies at Carnegie India, said the SCO gives India a seat at the table in a region increasingly shaped by competition among the larger powers, allowing it to protect its interests, track shifting geopolitical currents and project itself as a reliable stakeholder.

“While it may not entirely shape the agenda, it gives New Delhi a first-hand view of the region and allows it to hedge its position with others,” Peri said.

Türkiye, which holds partner status within the SCO, also seeks to use the platform to strengthen its position in the region.

It views SCO membership as part of a balanced foreign policy that seeks to maintain its traditional ties with the West as a part of NATO, while strengthening its influence in Eurasia.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who brought his country into the SCO as a “dialogue partner” in 2012, has repeatedly stated that he wants Türkiye to become a permanent member. While Türkiye has close trade ties with the European Union under a 1995 trade deal, its EU membership bid has stalled for more than 25 years.