live U.S. confirms troop deaths: All the latest news on Middle East conflict
The widening war between Iran, U.S. and Israel is leaving civilians and soldiers caught in its wake. Thousands are stranded across the Gulf, flight...
Senior diplomats from Iran, Russia and China convened in Tehran to coordinate their positions on Iran’s nuclear programme and Western sanctions ahead of upcoming negotiations in Istanbul.
According to Iran’s official news agency IRNA, the meeting focused on the current state of nuclear negotiations involving Iran, the United States and European powers. The delegations agreed to hold follow-up consultations in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, Iranian state television announced that nuclear talks with the United Kingdom, France and Germany would resume this Friday in Istanbul, at the request of the European signatories to the 2015 nuclear agreement.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed in 2015, was agreed between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – the United States, United Kingdom, France, China and Russia – plus Germany. However, on 8 May 2018, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the deal and reimposed sweeping economic sanctions on Iran.
Tensions escalated recently when Israel launched a 12-day military campaign against Iran on 13 June, involving reciprocal strikes and resulting in hundreds of casualties. A ceasefire was brokered by Washington and announced on 24 June, with both sides claiming victory.
Prior to the Israeli offensive, Tehran and Washington had held multiple rounds of indirect negotiations regarding Iran’s nuclear programme.
Iran has always denied haveing a nuclear weapons programme.
The Kremlin is utilising the recent United States and Israeli military strikes on Iran to validate its ongoing war in Ukraine. Russian officials are pointing to the escalation in the Middle East as evidence that Western nations do not adhere to international rules.
Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant Saudi Aramco closed its Ras Tanura refinery on Monday following an Iranian drone strike, an industry source told Reuters as Tehran retaliated across the Gulf after a U.S.-Israeli attack on Iranian targets over the weekend.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. military has enough stockpiled weapons to fight wars "forever"; in a social media post late on Monday. The remarks came hours before conflict in Iran and the Middle East entered its fourth day.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov following recent military strikes carried out by the United States and Israel on targets in Iran, as tensions in the Middle East continue to rise.
China expressed serious concern over the escalating conflict in Iran, confirming that one Chinese national was killed in Tehran. Beijing called for an immediate halt to military operations and a return to diplomatic talks, while other Asian countries have also voiced their positions on the crisis.
Strikes across the Middle East are intensifying, fuelling travel disruption, driving up global energy prices and forcing diplomatic missions to shut their doors.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said the United States has a “virtually unlimited supply” of munitions and is capable of sustaining military action indefinitely, as the conflict with Iran entered its fourth day.
The United Nations has called for an investigation into a deadly attack on a girls’ primary school in Iran, which Iranian officials say has killed more than 100 children. The U.S. has said its forces “would not” deliberately target a school.
U.S. first lady, Melania Trump chaired a UN Security Council meeting on children and education in conflict on Monday (2 March), a move criticised by Iran as hypocritical following U.S. and Israeli strikes that triggered a UN warning about risks to children.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 3rd of February, covering the latest developments you need to know.
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