US Says It Issued Sanctions to Disrupt Iran’s Weapon Procurement

The American flag flies over the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. (Reuters)

17:55-15 July 2026 AD ـ 30 Muharram 1448 AH

The American flag flies over the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. (Reuters)

The US government issued sanctions on Wednesday targeting individuals and entities that it said were a part of an international network helping Iran procure weapons.

The sanction targets include Iranian and Russian nationals, as well as entities bases ‌in Iran, ‌Russia and Nigeria, the ‌US Treasury ⁠Department said in ⁠a statement.

The move comes amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran, including recent hostilities over control of the Strait of Hormuz, and as the Trump administration ⁠ramps up pressure on Iran ‌through a ‌series of sanctions measures.

Wednesday's sanctions targets "exemplify ‌Iran's use of foreign aviation and ‌transport firms, financial conduits, and travel coordinators to obscure the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) role in illicit procurement and to move material ‌and personnel globally," the Treasury said in a statement.

They ⁠add ⁠to US actions in May against individuals and companies, including several in China and Hong Kong, over accusations of aiding Iran's weapons sector.

In June, the US imposed sanctions against 11 people and entities for helping weapons procurement by the IRGC and the Iranian military.

At Least 15 Infants Killed in Islamabad Hospital Fire

Police officers move past an ambulance outside an intensive care unit after a fire broke out at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, August 26, 2026. (Reuters)

07:07-26 August 2026 AD ـ 13 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

At Least 15 Infants Killed in Islamabad Hospital Fire

At least 15 infants were killed when a fire broke out at a state-run hospital in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, triggered by a fault in air conditioning systems, local broadcaster Geo TV reported on Wednesday.

The blaze started around 7 a.m. (0200 GMT) at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), ‌on the ‌third floor of the hospital's ‌mother ⁠and child health ward, ⁠the broadcaster said.

The incident is among the deadliest hospital fires in recent years in the country, where government healthcare is subsidized but facilities are under-resourced and overburdened while watchdogs ⁠have frequently criticized state-run facilities ‌as mismanaged.

There were ‌16 newborns in the ward when the ‌fire broke out, one of whom ‌was rescued, Geo reported.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed authorities to conduct an immediate investigation, his office said.

"Those responsible should ‌be identified, and the strictest action should be taken," Sharif's ⁠office ⁠said in a statement.

The ward was cordoned off and ambulances were seen outside the hospital building, according to a Reuters witness.

PIMS, centrally located in Islamabad where former Prime Minister Imran Khan was briefly treated last week, is one of the main public hospitals of the city.

World

Six Chinese Nationals Among Seven Killed in Russian Gas Plant Fire

Trucks race on the frozen Amur River during the Russia-China winter sports festival ZimFestAmur, with the Chinese city of Heihe seen in the background, in the far eastern town of Blagoveshchensk, in Amur region, Russia, February 28, 2026. (Reuters)

06:57-26 August 2026 AD ـ 13 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

Six Chinese Nationals Among Seven Killed in Russian Gas Plant Fire

Six Chinese nationals were killed and nine more are missing after a fire broke out at a gas chemical complex in Russia's far eastern Amur ‌region, the ‌plant said on Wednesday.

A total of ‌seven ⁠people died and ⁠152 people were treated for injures, including 36 who were rushed to hospitals, the plant said on the Telegram messaging app on Wednesday.

The fire, which broke out on Tuesday, was extinguished, it added.

An ⁠emergency services plane had arrived to ‌transport the injured ‌to other hospitals in Russia.

The complex, which bills ‌itself as one of the world's largest ‌polyethylene and polypropylene producers, is a joint project of Russian company Sibur and Chinese oil and gas company Sinopec. It has yet to ‌begin operations and was preparing for production start.

Russia frequently relies on ⁠foreign ⁠labor, including workers from China, for the construction of large industrial and infrastructure projects.

Russia's Investigative Committee said it was investigating the incident as a potential breach of industrial safety regulations and was working to establish the cause of the fire.

The Amur Gas Chemical Complex is expected to produce 2.3 million metric tons of polyethylene and 400,000 tons of polypropylene per year.

World

Trump Scores Double Primary Victory in South Carolina, Oklahoma

US Senator Darline Graham (R-SC) speaks with supporters after winning her Republican primary runoff against US Representative Ralph Norman (R-SC) for her current US Senate seat, in Columbia, South Carolina, US, August 25, 2026. (Reuters)

06:53-26 August 2026 AD ـ 13 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

Trump Scores Double Primary Victory in South Carolina, Oklahoma

President Donald Trump scored a pair of badly needed victories Tuesday as his preferred candidates won Republican runoffs in South Carolina and Oklahoma, US media projected, bolstering his claim that he retains a powerful hold over the party's voters.

In South Carolina, Senator Darline Graham defeated veteran congressman Ralph Norman, according to projections from CNN and NBC. Trump had thrown himself into the race, campaigning for Graham in the state and urging supporters to vote as though his own name were on the ballot.

Trump-backed Mike Mazzei won Oklahoma's Republican gubernatorial runoff against state attorney general Gentner Drummond, whom the president had attacked as a "fake Republican."

The sweep interrupts a bruising run for Trump, whose endorsed candidates had lost 10 Republican contests this cycle, including six in the previous two weeks, as his own approval ratings fell sharply.

The results are also a personal vindication for Trump, who had insisted days earlier that his endorsements were "stronger than ever" and dismissed recent losses as acts of loyalty to candidates he knew faced difficult races.

- 'I'm on the ballot' -

Trump traveled to South Carolina to campaign for Graham and held a telephone rally on the eve of the vote.

"So what I really want you to do is pretend, please, that I'm on the ballot," Trump told supporters at a rally Friday.

The Trump-supporting MAGA Inc. political organization also spent more than $827,000 on voter calls and text messages -- a rare deployment of its reserves in this year's primaries.

In Oklahoma, more than $9 million has been spent on the runoff since Drummond narrowly finished ahead of Mazzei in the first round of voting in June, US media reported.

Trump has repeatedly attacked Drummond in part because he opposed a proposed $4 billion aluminum smelter backed by the president, arguing that the project could damage local land and communities.

Mazzei, a wealthy former state senator, publicly embraced the project shortly before Trump endorsed him.

US Says It Issued Sanctions to Disrupt Iran’s Weapon Procurement

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