Pakistan, Afghanistan trade strikes; ‘open war’ warning issued
Afghan and Pakistani forces traded airstrikes and artillery fire along the Durand Line on Thursday night, killing dozens on both sides, as Pakistan’...
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Islamic Republic has closed its security gaps after Israel and U.S. repeatedly bombed the country in June.
Tehran also said it spotted Israel’s security shortcomings during the 12-day war.
In an interview with the Omani presenter Musa al-Far’I reported by IRNA, he said the war had its blessings, “the most important of which was that Iran’s missiles and other weapons were tested for the first time in a real war”.
“The 12-day war undoubtedly inflicted heavy losses and costs on us, but it also had its blessings … we used these to their full potential, and all our strengths and weaknesses were revealed to us.”
He stressed that Iran has a better defence power than it did before the start of war in June both in terms of the quantity and quality.
According to Araghchi, Iran not only recognised its weaknesses and addressed them, but it also identified weaknesses of its enemy based on which Tehran has made upgrades to its security plans.
“We recognised our weaknesses and also the weaknesses of the enemy, and we eliminated many of them. We also revised many of our policies.”
He added that Tel Aviv and Washington waged the war out of misunderstanding and miscalculation because it ultimately cemented the national solidarity of Iranians.
“The recent war has helped us close many security gaps. As I said, the war has given us valuable experiences because it has exposed our weaknesses and we have addressed them.”
Iran and U.S. were in the middle of mediated nuclear negotiations when Israel attacked Iran on June 13. Days later, U.S. President Donald Trump joined Israel, ordering strikes on Iran’s major civilian nuclear site under UN safeguards on June 22.
He also said Israel and the U.S. thought the war would turn the people of Iran against their government, but the opposite happened.
“The people came to the streets to support the government and the country. As a result, our national unity was strengthened.”
Araghchi’s interview with Ma' Musa al-Far'i program took place last month in Muscat, Oman but surfaced recently as the rhetoric between Iranian and Israeli military officials appeared to lean toward the possibility of a second encounter.
“This war that the Zionist regime started was based on misunderstanding and miscalculation, and as I said, repeating this mistake will not result in anything but the same defeat,” warned Iran’s top diplomat.
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The situation in Cuba was heating up and called for restraint following a deadly incident involving a Florida-registered speedboat off the coast of the Caribbean island, the Kremlin said on Thursday (26 February).
Syria’s economy is showing clear signs of recovery, with economic activity accelerating in recent months, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday.
The United States has deployed the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford near Israel as part of a growing military build-up amid tensions with Iran, while governments around the world urge their citizens to leave parts of the region.
Pakistani air strikes hit a weapons depot on the western outskirts of Kabul overnight, triggering hours of secondary explosions that rattled homes across the Afghan capital and left residents fearing further violence.
Pakistani air strikes hit a weapons depot on the western outskirts of Kabul overnight, triggering hours of secondary explosions that rattled homes across the Afghan capital and left residents fearing further violence.
Pakistan’s declaration of an “open war” with Afghanistan must be understood in the context of months of escalating violence, regional analysts have said, describing the latest developments as a significant shift in the nature of the conflict.
Israeli strikes killed five people in Gaza on Thursday (26 February), according to health officials in the territory. The Israeli military said separately that it had killed a militant who posed an imminent threat to its forces in southern Gaza.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to resolve their differences through dialogue, offering Tehran’s assistance to facilitate understanding between its eastern neighbours.
Ankara has rejected media reports claiming it plans to deploy military forces into Iranian territory in the event of a U.S. attack on the Islamic republic.
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