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military · geopolitical

Iran-backed armed group gives US troops deadline to withdraw from Iraq Akram al-Kaabi, head of the Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, an Iranian-backed paramilitary group in Iraq, has threatened US troops stationed in the country, giving them a deadline until the end of September to withdraw. “If an American soldier remains in Iraq after 30 September, we will not allow them to return home safely, and only their bodies will be taken out of Iraq,” al-Kaabi said in a statement, according to Iran’s IRIB news on Wednesday.

military · geopolitical

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Tuesday that his country's drones would make Russia's airspace "completely unsafe" for the duration of the war, drawing accusations of "state terrorism" from Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Speaking with FRANCE 24's Mark Owen, Former British Military Intelligence Officer Philip Ingram explains that Zelensky's warning is addressed to "those international airlines from the Middle East, from South East Asia, China included that are still operating into Moscow" adding that "it's all part of the information war and bringing the overall conflict to the Russian people".

military · geopolitical

Appeals panel says only military tribunals may assess court-martial convictions in blow to former Afghan war prisoner.

military · geopolitical

Netanyahu: 'We are not retreating' in Gaza Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday visited troops in the Gaza Strip, where he vowed not to withdraw forces from their positions. "We control the area. We are not retreating. We are staying on this line," Netanyahu said near the so-called Yellow Line which demarcates the areas under Hamas and Israeli military control. Reporting by AFP

military · geopolitical

Ukraine has officially notified ICAO that Russian airspace is becoming dangerous for civil aviation amid increased military activity and Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.

military · geopolitical

Israeli settlers 'hike' through my West Bank village. Next is the violent land grab Submitted by Fareed Taamallah on Mon, 08/31/2026 - 22:33 Organised groups now roam through Qira armed with rifles, renaming our shrines and surveying our fields as part of a process that ends in Palestinian dispossession Israeli settlers walk towards a Palestinian home under construction in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, on 29 August 2026 (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP) On For decades, my hometown of Qira was a sanctuary of quiet endurance. One of the smallest villages in the occupied West Bank, nestled in the Salfit governorate and tucked away from covetous eyes, it remained relatively shielded from major land confiscations and aggressive incursions throughout the long years of occupation . That protective obscurity is ending. In recent weeks, organised groups of armed Israeli settlers have begun making regular, unauthorised "exploratory hikes" through our village, wandering past our homes, inspecting our ancient Roman water pool and descending into the valley to survey local shrines, assigning them Hebrew names and claiming biblical connections. What may appear to an outside observer as harmless recreational outings is, in fact, a precursor to territorial expansion - a scouting campaign signalling that no Palestinian space is safe. The settlers themselves have said as much: "Wherever the hiker's foot treads," the founder of one hiking group has declared , "there the border will pass." We need look no further than the village of Tell, near Nablus, to see where this trajectory leads. In July, four Palestinians were killed there after a confrontation sparked by one such armed settler "hike", and rampaging settlers then burned homes in nearby villages. In the West Bank, "civilian" scouting is the vanguard of lethal violence. From tent to settlement Settlers have succeeded remarkably in embedding themselves in the collective Palestinian consciousness as a constant threat, encroaching upon and seizing ever more of what Palestinians own. Their expansion is no longer limited to open areas, state lands or communal grounds. When settlers walk through my village, set our melodies to Hebrew prayers and claim our ancient Roman pool as their own, they assert ownership over what is ours The strategy follows a methodical blueprint: first, settlers arrive to "explore" and scout the land, assigning Hebrew names to Palestinian sites to manufacture historical entitlement. Next, they pitch a single tent, which soon becomes a caravan with additional structures; then come an animal pen and a truck unloading a herd. Gradually, this temporary post evolves into a permanent home for a family or a group of young men, who unleash their livestock to overrun local pastures, driving out Palestinian herds and claiming the land as their own. The architects of this "pastoral settlement" model have equipped these outposts with four-wheel-drive vehicles, camera drones, automatic rifles, night-vision goggles and all the logistical support needed to sustain their presence. Their reach is now expanding at an alarming pace , with organised tours to familiarise themselves with the surrounding geography: historic sites, religious shrines, water cisterns and springs deep within Palestinian cities, villages and communities. A narrative trap The psychological dimension of these incursions is as deliberate as the physical presence. Settlers record their tours and broadcast them across social media in polished videos set to music. Most unsettling of all is the sonic theft: the videos feature traditional Palestinian folk melodies, rhythms tied to our countryside and our ancestors, re-recorded with Hebrew lyrics invoking religious themes. By superimposing Hebrew lyrics on native Palestinian melodies while walking through our fields, the settlers attempt a double erasure, relabelling ancient Palestinian landmarks with biblical toponymy while appropriating the very soundscapes of rural Palestinian life. These incursions also set a dangerous trap for residents. It is no longer surprising for a Palestinian to open their window and see settlers wandering through the village streets, potentially entering their courtyard, inspecting their shop or taking their property. Yet when Palestinians attempt to defend themselves, their homes or their belongings, they are immediately portrayed by Israeli authorities and media as having attacked "Jewish hikers" out of nationalist motives. This inverted narrative effectively grants settlers licence to abuse or kill Palestinians under the guise of self-defence. For the Palestinian, the cost of resistance is absolute. Defending one's property can mean being killed on the spot, seeing one's family home slated for punitive demolition and watching the entire village subjected to collective punishment and lockdown. There have been no clashes or property destruction in Qira yet, but the quiet brings no relief: surveying of this kind rarely stays passive for long. When settlers walk through my village, set our melodies to Hebrew prayers and claim our ancient Roman pool as their own, they assert ownership over what is ours, transforming our sanctuary into an active frontier. No one can predict how, when or where this unbearable tension will erupt. Remaining with dignity Despite this relentless strangulation, our attachment to our land, our history and our country remains unwavering. Sumud, our steadfastness, is the daily act of waking up in Qira, tending our olive trees and refusing to be erased. We do not want to be forced off our land only to become unwanted, undocumented migrants in Europe or the US , where politicians like Donald Trump paint refugees as threats through a racist lens and accuse them of diluting western culture. Tell killings: Does the right of self-defence apply only to Jews? Read More » We have no desire to leave, and we have no other home. What we want is to remain with dignity on our own soil. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has called the settlers attacking Palestinian communities "terrorists", but insists they are a "very small minority" of "unsettlers", framing the overwhelming majority as peaceful neighbours. Yet the settlement enterprise itself is an unlawful, aggressive takeover of our land. When armed groups enter our villages, expropriate our water and dismantle our communities with state backing and military protection, they function collectively as an apparatus of terror against civilian life. The pressure on us is mounting to an unprecedented degree, especially for a younger generation who sees every path to a normal life blocked. To stay, we need genuine support from the international community, and above all meaningful pressure on the occupying state to halt unchecked settler terrorism across the West Bank. We promise that we will not leave. All we ask is to be left in peace to live, build and flourish in our homeland. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye. Occupation Opinion Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:29 Update Date Override 0

military · geopolitical

Israeli settlers 'hike' through my West Bank village. Next is the violent land grab Submitted by Fareed Taamallah on Mon, 08/31/2026 - 22:33 Organised groups now roam through Qira armed with rifles, renaming our shrines and surveying our fields as part of a process that ends in Palestinian dispossession Israeli settlers walk towards a Palestinian home under construction in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, on 29 August 2026 (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP) On For decades, my hometown of Qira was a sanctuary of quiet endurance. One of the smallest villages in the occupied West Bank, nestled in the Salfit governorate and tucked away from covetous eyes, it remained relatively shielded from major land confiscations and aggressive incursions throughout the long years of occupation . That protective obscurity is ending. In recent weeks, organised groups of armed Israeli settlers have begun making regular, unauthorised "exploratory hikes" through our village, wandering past our homes, inspecting our ancient Roman water pool and descending into the valley to survey local shrines, assigning them Hebrew names and claiming biblical connections. What may appear to an outside observer as harmless recreational outings is, in fact, a precursor to territorial expansion - a scouting campaign signalling that no Palestinian space is safe. The settlers themselves have said as much: "Wherever the hiker's foot treads," the founder of one hiking group has declared , "there the border will pass." We need look no further than the village of Tell, near Nablus, to see where this trajectory leads. In July, four Palestinians were killed there after a confrontation sparked by one such armed settler "hike", and rampaging settlers then burned homes in nearby villages. In the West Bank, "civilian" scouting is the vanguard of lethal violence. From tent to settlement Settlers have succeeded remarkably in embedding themselves in the collective Palestinian consciousness as a constant threat, encroaching upon and seizing ever more of what Palestinians own. Their expansion is no longer limited to open areas, state lands or communal grounds. When settlers walk through my village, set our melodies to Hebrew prayers and claim our ancient Roman pool as their own, they assert ownership over what is ours The strategy follows a methodical blueprint: first, settlers arrive to "explore" and scout the land, assigning Hebrew names to Palestinian sites to manufacture historical entitlement. Next, they pitch a single tent, which soon becomes a caravan with additional structures; then come an animal pen and a truck unloading a herd. Gradually, this temporary post evolves into a permanent home for a family or a group of young men, who unleash their livestock to overrun local pastures, driving out Palestinian herds and claiming the land as their own. The architects of this "pastoral settlement" model have equipped these outposts with four-wheel-drive vehicles, camera drones, automatic rifles, night-vision goggles and all the logistical support needed to sustain their presence. Their reach is now expanding at an alarming pace , with organised tours to familiarise themselves with the surrounding geography: historic sites, religious shrines, water cisterns and springs deep within Palestinian cities, villages and communities. A narrative trap The psychological dimension of these incursions is as deliberate as the physical presence. Settlers record their tours and broadcast them across social media in polished videos set to music. Most unsettling of all is the sonic theft: the videos feature traditional Palestinian folk melodies, rhythms tied to our countryside and our ancestors, re-recorded with Hebrew lyrics invoking religious themes. By superimposing Hebrew lyrics on native Palestinian melodies while walking through our fields, the settlers attempt a double erasure, relabelling ancient Palestinian landmarks with biblical toponymy while appropriating the very soundscapes of rural Palestinian life. These incursions also set a dangerous trap for residents. It is no longer surprising for a Palestinian to open their window and see settlers wandering through the village streets, potentially entering their courtyard, inspecting their shop or taking their property. Yet when Palestinians attempt to defend themselves, their homes or their belongings, they are immediately portrayed by Israeli authorities and media as having attacked "Jewish hikers" out of nationalist motives. This inverted narrative effectively grants settlers licence to abuse or kill Palestinians under the guise of self-defence. For the Palestinian, the cost of resistance is absolute. Defending one's property can mean being killed on the spot, seeing one's family home slated for punitive demolition and watching the entire village subjected to collective punishment and lockdown. There have been no clashes or property destruction in Qira yet, but the quiet brings no relief: surveying of this kind rarely stays passive for long. When settlers walk through my village, set our melodies to Hebrew prayers and claim our ancient Roman pool as their own, they assert ownership over what is ours, transforming our sanctuary into an active frontier. No one can predict how, when or where this unbearable tension will erupt. Remaining with dignity Despite this relentless strangulation, our attachment to our land, our history and our country remains unwavering. Sumud, our steadfastness, is the daily act of waking up in Qira, tending our olive trees and refusing to be erased. We do not want to be forced off our land only to become unwanted, undocumented migrants in Europe or the US , where politicians like Donald Trump paint refugees as threats through a racist lens and accuse them of diluting western culture. Tell killings: Does the right of self-defence apply only to Jews? Read More » We have no desire to leave, and we have no other home. What we want is to remain with dignity on our own soil. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has called the settlers attacking Palestinian communities "terrorists", but insists they are a "very small minority" of "unsettlers", framing the overwhelming majority as peaceful neighbours. Yet the settlement enterprise itself is an unlawful, aggressive takeover of our land. When armed groups enter our villages, expropriate our water and dismantle our communities with state backing and military protection, they function collectively as an apparatus of terror against civilian life. The pressure on us is mounting to an unprecedented degree, especially for a younger generation who sees every path to a normal life blocked. To stay, we need genuine support from the international community, and above all meaningful pressure on the occupying state to halt unchecked settler terrorism across the West Bank. We promise that we will not leave. All we ask is to be left in peace to live, build and flourish in our homeland. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye. Occupation Opinion Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:29 Update Date Override 0

military · geopolitical

Exclusive: Blair asked PA to remove 'Palestine' from textbooks, former UK envoy says Submitted by David Hearst on Wed, 09/02/2026 - 10:30 In a wide ranging interview with MEE, Jeremy Greenstock questioned Blair's ability to act as a neutral intermediary and said he was facing 'difficulties' in his role overseeing postwar Gaza On Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair was recently sent by Donald Trump's Board of Peace to ask the Palestinian Authority (PA) to replace any mention of the word " Palestine " in schoolbooks with the Jewish designation of "Samaria", Middle East Eye has heard. Jeremy Greenstock, who was Britain's ambassador to the UN between 1998 and 2003, told MEE that Blair attempted to exert pressure on the PA and said that if it was serious about being seen by the Board of Peace as capable of reaching an agreement with Israel to end the war on Gaza , then the word "Palestine" should be erased from textbooks. In a wide-ranging interview on the David Hearst Podcast, Greenstock said the demand was rejected by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Greenstock also said that his former boss was experiencing "difficulties" in his new role overseeing the postwar management of Gaza for the board. "He recently, I understand, was asked by the Board of Peace to go to Ramallah and ask to remove from the Palestinian curriculum any mention of the word Palestine if they were to be treated by the Board of Peace as capable of coming to an agreement with Israel to end the current conflict that had stemmed from 7 October onwards," Greenstock said, adding that he received this information from a ministerial level source. "President Mahmoud Abbas said he would do no such thing," he said. "But the very fact that the Board of Peace could ask for that to be done in the Palestinian educational curriculum makes me wonder what principles the Board of Peace is working on, and what understanding they have of justice, of the sense of fairness, of the history of all of this," he added. Blair's Institute for Global Change (TBI) denied that the former UK prime minister made the request. Blair is known to have travelled to Israel in mid-August with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and high representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov. The trio held crunch talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has rejected the roadmap for Gaza, and then travelled to Cairo where they held meetings with a Palestinian technocratic group which is supposed to assume control of Gaza, as well as members of Hamas. During the interview, Greenstock defended Blair's role in the Iraq War and credited him with persuading then-US President George W Bush to seek a mandate from the UN before the invasion, but was trenchant about Blair's current role in the Board of Peace, the body established by the US president to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza. 'I don't think the Board of Peace is a strong enough construct to bear the weight of the difficult decisions that are going to have to be made about the future of the Palestinian territories' - Jeremy Greenstock, Former UK ambassador to the UN Greenstock said he didn't believe Blair was in a position to negotiate with both sides with equal respect. "Because of his record on Iraq and on Palestine since he left government, he will be seen as prejudiced. So I think he will have, and is having, difficulties." Greenstock, who left government service in March 2004, called the Board of Peace an "abstract and arbitrary committee" whose composition would not have any real effect on the ground with either Israel or the Arab side to the question of Palestine. "I don't think the Board of Peace is a strong enough construct to bear the weight of the difficult decisions that are going to have to be made about the future of the Palestinian territories." The so-called Board of Peace was established by US President Donald Trump after Washington brokered a ceasefire in October last year to end Israel’s war on Gaza. Hamas and other Palestinian factions agreed to a plan for their disarmament, but Israel has refused to withdraw until the process is complete. Since the ceasefire went into effect, Israel has repeatedly carried out air strikes and drone attacks across the enclave, with at least 1,300 Palestinians killed and more than 4,000 others wounded. On Tuesday, at least seven air strikes hit an area west of Gaza City within a 10-minute period before quadcopter drones surrounded the area and opened fire and dropped explosives at anyone moving. Erasing Palestine As part of a global campaign, Israel and its supporters have been intensifying efforts to erase the word Palestine from history books and museums. On Tuesday, Israeli authorities began imposing their curriculum on more than 45,000 Palestinian students in state-run schools in East Jerusalem, as part of a wider crackdown on education in the occupied area of the city. MEE understands that a revised curriculum is said to be in private circulation for consultation in the occupied Palestinian territories. Earlier this year, UNRWA Lebanon, which has been banned by Israel, also faced a concerted campaign over its curriculum. UNRWA Lebanon replaced the word "Palestine" with "West Bank" and the "Gaza Strip" on certain maps in its sixth-grade regional geography materials, a move that sparked strikes and protests. This came despite an Independent Review Group led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna finding no evidence to back Israeli accusations that UNRWA staff participated in terrorist organisations, although it did issue 50 recommendations "to strengthen the UN organisation's neutrality." Meanwhile, in Britain, a cross-party group of MPs has demanded an investigation into the British Museum's erasure of the words "Palestine", "Palestinian" and "Israelite occupation" from displays. Israel imposes curriculum on 45,000 Palestinian students in East Jerusalem Read More » A MEE investigation revealed that the museum's decisions to remove the terms came in direct response to lobbying by pro-Israel activists between October and December 2024. In the interview, Greenstock, who was among a group of ambassadors calling for a ban on all goods from illegal Israeli settlements, gave a clear warning to the new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham about the need to stand up to Israel. "Unless the Burnham government stands up for principles of a basic kind, how can it act on principles anywhere else?" Greenstock said. "How can Andy Burnham go to Kyiv and support President Zelensky because the Russians invaded Ukraine illegally against United Nations principles, to be condemned around the world for going against the United Nations Charter, and not stand up for justice in the Middle East in the Arab-Israel question?" Greenstock said that the UK needed to look "very carefully" at the weapons it was supplying Israel, and said that if Netanyahu or former defence minister Yoav Gallant arrived in Britain, they should be arrested. Both of them are the subject of arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court. "We're under an obligation through our treaty position in the UN and through our support for the statute of the ICC. I think as far as the ICC is concerned, and if anybody who had been indicted by the judges of the ICC, they should be arrested." Greenstock said he was convinced that Netanyahu's ambition was to deliver the promise he made to his father, Benzion Netanyahu, a scholar of Judaic history, to return the West Bank to Israeli sovereignty. "I'm convinced personally there needs to be final evidence of this, perhaps because it's not yet totally clear, but I'm convinced personally that Netanyahu has the ambition to deliver for his father the return of Judea and Samaria to Israeli sovereignty, and that he saw an opportunity in the 7 October attacks in 2023." He said that while the UK may be a huge admirer of what Israel had achieved as a democracy and technocratic society, he went on to add: "But if what it's doing in Palestine and in its region is against international law, is unacceptable to the majority of the public opinion in the UK, and is going much further than we ever thought Israel would go to try and kill every enemy they've got through assassination or military action rather than looking for a political settlement for all these problems, is this an Israel we can continue to trade with?" A warning Greenstock also had this warning for Israeli citizens. "If I was an Israeli citizen, I would worry that my country was losing soft power appeal around the world. It matters in the long term, and it matters for peace and security in the Middle East that there should be some sense of compromise, some compromise agreement on security with the Arab nations, with Iran when this fighting is over. "There's got to be a settlement somewhere. We can't invade Iran on the ground with soldiers and replace the regime, and then leave and expect Iran to be a totally different nation. That will not happen. "And to invade a country of 90 million-plus people with a few hundred thousand soldiers, it's just not realistic." Greenstock noted that neither Britain nor the US had won a war since Kosovo. He said the fundamental reason for serial failure in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Syria and now Iran was America’s overreliance on hard power, and that the legitimacy of using weapons to force your will had become much diminished. 'If I was an Israeli citizen, I would worry that my country was losing soft power appeal around the world' - Jeremy Greenstock, Former UK ambassador to the UN "We are in a world now where power has been diffused in all sorts of ways. And soft power has become more important. The capacity to persuade rather than compel has become extremely important as the world has got freer, as there have become many more decision-makers than just the governments out there. The legitimacy of using weaponry to force your will has become diminished in world opinion." Greenstock had first-hand experience of dealing with the Bush administration over the Iraq War and serving with Paul Bremer as viceroy in Iraq, as leader of the Coalition Provisional Authority. Reflecting on this, he said: "I think the UK did have an influence. Tony Blair persuaded, the British team persuaded the American team, and Colin Powell here was quite influential, to go through the UN in the autumn of 2002. That was the Brits at work. "But when it came to the timing of the military operation in Iraq in March 2003, Tony Blair's wish to postpone that and wait for longer until the evidence for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was clear, was dismissed as being too much of a foot-dragging exercise." He said that as far as Iraq was concerned, Britain's influence on America when it came to the hard decisions was "second class, not first class". "George W Bush's two principal advisers were his Vice President Dick Cheney and the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. And the wisdom from the State Department expressed through Secretary Colin Powell never really entered the argument about all the nuances of what they were getting into. They were relying on hard power, and when those discussions take place and the British are involved, their influence on the hardest decisions is second class, not first class." Iran war and the Mecca Agreement Greenstock said Trump misunderstood the nature of Iran from the very start of this war. "I didn't see any evidence that Washington game-played the possibilities that might result from an attack on Iran. "The capacity of Iran to strike the other side of the Gulf, the capacity of Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz, which they perhaps looked at as a matter of mining and then demining. "They hadn't calculated the asymmetric force of drone warfare, not only as a physical attack on various attributes of your hard power, but also as a deterrent to commercial shipping, to oil traffic, to normal trade at sea, of the possibility that ships might be struck by drones on top of the seeding of mines in the Strait. None of that seemed to me to have been game-played in Washington before that decision was taken." He said the timing of the war was not conditioned by Israeli intelligence alone. Greenstock said it was not coincidental that the strikes on Iran were launched when speculation about the Jeffrey Epstein files and legal cases against the Trump administration were at their height. Why the Mecca Agreement is a necessary show of force Read More » "It's not an accident that the timing of that attack on Iran might have been affected by things that were happening domestically." Greenstock said the Mecca Agreement signed between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in Riyadh recently was a reaction to a loss of confidence in US power. "The Mecca Agreement is a very clear statement of interest in self-sufficiency, but it doesn't provide in that Mecca Agreement every aspect of self-sufficiency. More has got to be done and more will be done." Greenstock said there were two fundamental reasons for the loss of faith in the US in the Middle East. "One is that the hard power superiority of the United States is clearly not going to be translated into a reformation of Middle East politics as the Arab countries wanted, or what they would even compromise over and settle on. So American hard power is not doing what it claims to be able to do. "And at the same time, America is transparently, both rhetorically and in practice, putting its own Make America Great Again interests before any allied interests or compromise over those interests. "So both the tone and the substance in real life of what America stands for in the eyes of its Arab allies has been diminished by the trend of events." Greenstock said we were in a different era today. "We've moved into an era where moral principles in foreign policy are being gradually displaced. These are the norms and principles of the United Nations Charter and all the conventions under the United Nations family of organisations. We are moving into much more deliberate and to some extent destructive pursuit of national interest. "This is a different picture from the one when I left government service in 2003. In 23 years now, the world has changed very markedly, and nowhere has that been affected, has that had an effect on regional politics, than in the Middle East. "There isn't a set of principles to follow in the Middle East. The Arab nations, who are by far the more numerous peoples in the Middle East, have not got together to set down perhaps some kind of formula that we constructed in Europe under the Committee for Security and Cooperation in Europe." Occupation News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

military · geopolitical

Japan’s plans to transfer ageing warships to the Philippines and Indonesia could turn older military hardware into geopolitical leverage, deepening regional security ties while helping Tokyo counterbalance Beijing’s growing influence, observers say. Such transfers, they said, fit into Tokyo’s broader security assistance toolkit to strengthen partners’ capabilities and forge longer-term defence relationships through equipment, training, maintenance and interoperability – expanding Japan’s...

military · geopolitical

Iran strikes US bases across region after American attack kills 18, including children Submitted by Elis Gjevori on Wed, 09/02/2026 - 10:15 After 200 days at sea, US aircraft carrier crew heads to Thailand's sex tourism hub as tankers hit mines in Strait of Hormuz A woman walks past a billboard displaying Iran’s national flag at Enghelab Square in Tehran on June 14, 2026 (AFP) Off Iran has launched missiles and drones at US military facilities across the region in retaliation for American attacks that killed at least 18 people in the country on Tuesday. Among the dead were at least four people, including two children, killed when US forces struck a wedding in Kuhestak, near the coastal city of Sirik. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it struck US sites in Erbil, in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, using missiles and drones. The IRGC said it “carried out a coordinated missile and drone attack” that destroyed a maintenance centre, warehouses and the “guidance system of a US surveillance aerostat”, Iranian news agency IRNA reported. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf condemned Washington over the killing of children and described US forces as “Satan”. “If a power acts like Satan, picks targets like Satan, and kills like Satan, it’s Satan,” Ghalibaf wrote on X. Iran also attacked US military facilities at the Al Dhafra and Al Minhad bases in the UAE . “In response to the targeting of innocent civilians since dawn today, dozens of army kamikaze drones have targeted the radar systems and locations of US forces at the al-Dhafra and al-Minhad bases in the UAE,” the IRGC said. It described Al Dhafra as a major operational centre for “criminal America in the region and is used for air operations, reconnaissance, surveillance, and support”. An F/A-18 Super Hornet readies for take-off on the flight deck of aircraft carrier USS George Washington on 29 August 2026 (US Navy/AFP) In Kuwait , Iranian forces also struck the headquarters and residence of the US commander at Ali Al Salem Airbase. The attack set fire to a drone hangar and a launch area used in attacks on Iran, while also destroying several US drones, according to the IRGC. Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said in a report carried by the official IRIB broadcaster that the retaliatory strikes caused heavy damage to US infrastructure, weapons and equipment. He said they also killed or wounded a “significant number” of American commanders and soldiers, though this could not be verified. “These offensive operations against the Americans will continue until they regret their crimes,” he said. Zolfaghari warned that further US attacks would trigger “heavier, broader and more destructive” Iranian responses. He added that countries assisting the US military would bear the consequences. 'Expel the Americans from your countries' IRGC political deputy General Yadollah Javani urged regional governments to remove US forces from their territory. “It is better to expel the Americans from your countries and take back the bases,” Javani said. He specifically warned Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan that Iran would strike any location used to launch attacks against it. Iran attacked US military targets in the Middle East on 31 August in retaliation for American strikes on an island in the Strait of Hormuz, the first exchange of fire for a month in a war that has engulfed the region (Atta Kenare/AFP) Bahrain said its air defence systems intercepted Iranian drones after the Interior Ministry instructed residents to seek shelter. Meanwhile, two oil tankers struck sea mines and became disabled while attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz, the IRGC said. Their crews abandoned the vessels after US operatives directed them towards what Tehran described as an “illegal route”. “The IRGC Navy had previously warned about the dangers of passing through the mined passage, and in addition, double punishments have been foreseen for shipping companies that, instead of following the legal path, fall for the deception of the United States and leave their vessels at the disposal of the enemy, which will be implemented soon,” the IRGC said. Araghchi blames ‘serpent’ Netanyahu for luring Washington into war on Iran Read More » Oil prices rose as the exchange of attacks deepened fears of further supply disruption and the resumption of more direct conflict. Brent crude reached more than $95 a barrel. US President Donald Trump rejected reports that Washington wanted to force Iran back into negotiations. “I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He said Iran was “playing out the inevitable” before asking: “When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?” Separately, the USS Abraham Lincoln arrived in Thailand after spending more than 200 consecutive days at sea. Reports of worsening conditions and concerns over sailors’ mental health have plagued the aircraft carrier during its prolonged deployment. Thousands of US personnel will spend five days near Pattaya, a resort city known for its nightlife and sex tourism . War on Iran News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

military · geopolitical

As the US resumes strikes on Iran to force an end to the six-month-old war, Tehran is turning to multilateral groupings like the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and Brics for political and diplomatic cover. At the SCO summit in Bishkek on Tuesday, world leaders made veiled references to the instability in the Middle East, without naming the United States directly, in apparent tacit backing for Iran. The Bishkek Declaration closing the summit, meanwhile, explicitly condemned the military...

military · geopolitical

Alexander Grushko pointed out that the West had declared the Arctic a zone of geopolitical competition and is determined to secure military superiority there

military · geopolitical

The Russian senior official also described Vladimir Zelensky’s threats against civil aviation in Russian airspace as an attempt by the "Banderite regime" to engage in state terrorism

military · geopolitical

Iran war: Trump can continue the same failed policies - or shape a historic legacy Submitted by Seyed Hossein Mousavian on Tue, 09/01/2026 - 15:57 Bombing and sanctions have not worked. The US president must seize this moment to establish a comprehensive regional security framework US President Donald Trump is pictured in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on 17 August 2026 (Jim Watson/AFP) On In recent days, several high-level regional diplomatic initiatives have signalled an effort to revive US - Iran negotiations. Pakistan ’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, travelled to Tehran last month, followed by the foreign ministers of Oman and Qatar , each seeking to preserve the Islamabad memorandum of understanding signed by US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, in June. According to Iranian officials, Tehran delivered a consistent message to all three mediators: Washington should return to the Islamabad memorandum and work towards ending the wars across all regional fronts as the basis for renewed negotiations. Yet while Iran and Oman have reached an agreement to open a temporary new shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, Washington rejected Tehran’s proposal to return to the Islamabad agreement, and resumed military escalation by striking rocket launchers on Larak Island. Iran responded with missile attacks on US bases in Jordan , reinforcing the cycle of confrontation, and signalling that the US remains more committed to coercion than diplomacy. Eight years ago, Trump abandoned the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, widely regarded as former President Barack Obama’s signature diplomatic legacy. But the Islamabad memorandum is Trump’s own diplomatic legacy. If Washington is now prepared to walk away from an agreement that bears the signature of its own president, it sends a far broader message: the US is no longer merely abandoning the legacy of previous administrations - it is also abandoning its own. That is a strong indication that Washington has reached the end of its Iran playbook. Conflicting calculations Trump’s decision to launch “Economic D-Day” against Iran thus marks a final, decisive economic offensive, which aims to achieve through financial coercion what diplomacy, sanctions, covert action and military force have all failed to accomplish. The current impasse is sustained not only by conflicting interests, but also by conflicting strategic calculations. Washington appears to believe that, after several rounds of military confrontation and the extensive damage inflicted on Iran’s nuclear, missile, military and economic infrastructure, the imposition of the most comprehensive financial and commercial embargo in the history of US-Iran relations will ultimately compel Tehran to accept American terms. Tehran appears determined to withstand the current economic offensive and, if necessary, escalate militarily rather than accept another temporary arrangement This assumption was reflected in recent remarks by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who declared : “We are going to collapse this regime. It is time for our allies and the rest of the world to make a decision. You are either with us or against us.” Tehran’s strategic assessment is markedly different. Based on an analysis I recently heard from an Iranian strategist, Iran’s leadership now views the confrontation with the US as an “existential war” that will shape not only Iran’s future, but also the regional order. In this assessment, the Iran war has weakened US military readiness, depleted critical weapons stockpiles, exposed the vulnerability of the global energy system through the Strait of Hormuz , and imposed growing political costs on both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Consequently, Tehran appears determined to withstand the current economic offensive and, if necessary, escalate militarily rather than accept another temporary arrangement. Washington might be underestimating the most significant shift in Tehran’s strategic thinking. Many within Iran’s current leadership appear to have reached what Persians describe as “death once, moan once” - a mindset best captured by the English proverb: “A man can die but once.” They increasingly believe it is better to resolve the fundamental confrontation with the US once and for all, rather than endure another generation of sanctions, military threats and recurring crises. Strategic outlook The Islamabad memorandum was widely seen in Tehran as a potential turning point , but renewed US military operations, followed by an unprecedented campaign of economic warfare and public calls for regime change , have reinforced the conviction that Washington remains committed to overthrowing the Islamic Republic, regardless of diplomacy. This mindset is also reflected in the composition of Iran’s current leadership. The new supreme leader belongs to the generation forged by the Iran- Iraq War, having served as a young soldier on the frontlines. He also carries a legacy of the recent conflict, in which his father, wife and son were killed in US-Israeli military operations. Meanwhile, influential figures shaping Iran’s postwar strategy - including parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei - are veteran commanders of the Iran-Iraq War, whose wartime experiences continue to shape Tehran’s strategic outlook. The critical issue is that Washington may now be confronting an Iranian leadership that calculates risk very differently than in years past. The current crisis has reached what military strategists would describe as a strategic deadlock . Neither Washington nor Tehran possesses a politically acceptable pathway to victory. Although the US can sustain economic warfare far longer than Iran may withstand it economically, such coercion alone is unlikely to achieve Washington’s political objectives or compel Tehran’s surrender. Iran, meanwhile, retains the ability to impose disproportionate costs on regional stability through maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz, regional military escalation, and disruptions to global energy markets. In short, both sides retain the capacity to inflict pain, but neither possesses the ability to impose a durable political settlement by force. Defining choice Trump now faces a defining strategic choice. Across his two presidencies, he has left three distinct legacies in US-Iran relations: “ maximum pressure ”, several military confrontations , and the Islamabad memorandum of understanding. He cannot preserve all three. A train cannot run on three different tracks at the same time. If Trump wants history to remember him as the American president who achieved peace with Iran rather than prolonged conflict, he should choose his own diplomatic legacy - the Islamabad memorandum - and transform it into a comprehensive settlement capable of ending nearly five decades of hostility. Such a grand bargain should concentrate initially on the two issues driving today’s confrontation. The first is the Strait of Hormuz. Rather than allowing the waterway to remain a recurring flashpoint, Washington, Tehran, Muscat and the Arab states in the Gulf should negotiate a permanent maritime security arrangement guaranteeing freedom of navigation, ending maritime confrontation, and recognising the responsibilities of the littoral states under international law . Are Iran and the US fighting a war neither side can win? Read More » The second is the nuclear issue. Instead of another temporary political understanding vulnerable to changing administrations, both governments should negotiate a bilateral treaty under which Iran would permanently renounce nuclear weapons while preserving its legal and internationally recognised rights to peaceful nuclear technology under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the US would permanently remove nuclear-related sanctions. Ratification by both the US Congress and the Iranian parliament would provide a degree of political durability that previous agreements lacked. Trump has a rare opportunity to shape a historic legacy. He could help to establish a comprehensive regional security and cooperation framework between Iran and the Arab states of the Gulf, transforming one of the world’s most volatile regions into a more stable foundation for global energy security. He also has a unique opportunity to facilitate a strategic understanding between Iran and Israel - not necessarily diplomatic normalisation, but a durable arrangement under which both sides would end their mutual military, security and existential threats, replacing “permanent deterrence by crisis” with “stable deterrence by agreement”. Such achievements would constitute not merely a diplomatic breakthrough, but a fundamental restructuring of the Middle East’s security architecture - one with lasting benefits for regional stability, global commerce and American strategic interests. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye. War on Iran Has Washington reached the end of its Iran playbook? Opinion Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:29 Update Date Override 0

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Vladimir Putin refused to rule out Russian strikes on UK defence facilities over UK support for Ukraine, calling the possibility a “military secret”.

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The world banned landmines and cluster munitions. Can it stop killer AI before it is too late? Submitted by Gergana Krasteva on Wed, 09/02/2026 - 08:13 Campaigners race to rein in systems ‘designed to kill’, as autonomous weapons lower the threshold for war and increase civilian harm A plume of smoke rises after a strike on the Iranian capital Tehran, on 3 March 2026 (Atta Kenare/AFP) Off Throughout the history of war, the machinery of killing has always left room for a human to intervene. A soldier could see the person in front of them and choose to maim rather than kill; a pilot could identify the target, question the intelligence and decide not to strike. Technology has been steadily changing that. Autonomous weapons systems now threaten to remove any meaningful human control over the use of force in conflict. AI-assisted targeting was first deployed by Israel in its genocidal war on Gaza and then in Iran , with strikes happening at unprecedented speed - over 1,000 hits in the first 24 hours of the US -Israeli war , suggesting the use of automated systems. For more than 13 years, the global coalition Stop Killer Robots has been fighting to prevent that future, pushing governments towards a ban on machines capable of selecting and engaging targets without oversight. “The systems are designed to kill, so there are no checks and balances anymore,” executive director Nicole van Rooijen told Middle East Eye. “If a system is designed to kill, it will kill, right? And that in itself is problematic as it is very much contingent on the type of information that is fed into the machine.” Van Rooijen pointed to the US air strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in the Iranian city of Minab on 28 February, in which 156 people, including 120 children, were killed, as an example. Evidence indicates that US forces hit the building, located next to an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) compound. To this day, that attack is the deadliest throughout the US-Israeli war on Iran. Inaccuracy that kills “Preliminary information is that it is a US strike, but also that it is due to outdated intelligence fed into the machine,” Van Roijen said. “If the information is not completely accurate or is outdated, it has devastating consequences on the ground, most likely for innocent civilians. ‘It is false promises of being more accurate, more precise, yet the results are worse, not for their militaries but for civilians on the ground. They pay the brunt of it’ - Nicole van Roijen, executive director of Stop Killer Robots “This is especially true in a volatile environment when you are conducting hostilities but you do not have boots on the ground to confirm what the machine wants to target.” Another major issue is accuracy. Specialists working on AI and integration into the military kill chain have estimated reliability at between 25 and 50 percent, Van Rooijen explained. “And that is the best-case scenario,” she added. “The analogy is carpet bombing.” Stop Killer Robots have also sounded the alarm that autonomous weapons systems “drastically” lower the threshold for going to war as it does not require deploying a military force. “No one wants to see their soldiers die on foreign land, so that calls for some restraint. You think twice about sending your own people,” Van Rooijen. “If it is all automated, you can just send machines. Israel and the US have been threatening Iran for decades, but never actually went through with it, and I do not think it is a coincidence… it gives you a false sense that you can do it quickly… and come back a winner. “But it is false promises of being more accurate, more precise, yet the results are worse, not for their militaries but for civilians on the ground. They pay the brunt of it.” No guardrail Currently, there is no common, agreed upon definition of what an autonomous system is. There is no treaty that regulates how they are being developed, tested, sold or deployed, setting up the conditions for a “free for all” arms race for tech giants to make a fortune “out of the misery of people”, Van Roijen said. She finds the absence of protections particularly difficult to reconcile. ‘An autonomous weapon system is a machine and a machine cannot truly understand the value of a human life’ - Bonnie Docherty, senior arms advisor at HRW “There are more guardrails in place if you test a new airplane, or a new car, than integrating AI into the kill chain,” she noted. Looking back in history, there is a precedent for stopping a weapon before governments can no longer imagine warfare without it. Among those campaigning for a treaty governing autonomous weapons systems is senior arms advisor at Human Rights Watch (HRW), Bonnie Docherty, who had a central role in the negotiations that eventually led to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibited their use. She told Middle East Eye that the fight over autonomous weapons systems follows the same principles of humanitarian disarmament, striving to prevent arms-inflicted human sufferings. For Docherty, boiling down individuals to numbers, and “delegating life and death decisions” to machines, is a “great concern”. “An autonomous weapon system is a machine and a machine cannot truly understand the value of a human life,” she explained. “To give that machine the power to kill… is ethically inappropriate. Whoever is taking a life should be able to understand the significance of it.” Deja vu Evidence gathered by HRW additionally shows that systems can reproduce or amplify algorithm biases, which can be lethal. “We looked at the discrimination front and particularly at race, gender and disability,” she said. “For example, on the disability front, artificial intelligence may have trouble distinguishing a cane from a gun.” Israel using AI weapons system co-produced with Indian firm in war on Gaza Read More » Yet states like the US, Israel, Russia and China are reluctant to surrender weapons that could give them an advantage, a hackneyed argument that Docherty knows too well. Behind them is also a tech industry peddling its own commercial incentives. She has heard it before, in the negotiations over the cluster munitions treaty. Governments were greedy to retain technologies they were developing, arguing that existing international humanitarian law is sufficient. What broke the camel’s back at the time, as Doherty put it, was Israel's blanket deployment of cluster munition strikes in southern Lebanon in 2006. Many submunitions remain scattered across the territory to this day, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries. “I feel like I am having a deja vu,” Docherty said. “A lot of these arguments, you could just plug in the same weapons system.” Last week, the United Nations secretary-general and the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) renewed their call for a treaty governing autonomous weapons systems. Three years earlier, they had urged states to establish rules by 2026. Now that the deadline has become “untenable”, they warned that the world is fast approaching a “moral red line”. The renewed appeal also comes as the ICRC suspects that increasingly sophisticated forms of autonomy are being integrated into weapons systems across a range of conflicts, not only into defensive but also offensive operations, including in populated areas. Legal adviser with the ICRC, Georgia Hinds, told Middle East Eye: “While it is very hard for us to verify… we are seeing this increasing integration of autonomy into weapons in many conflicts, from sophisticated military capabilities down to more commercial off-the-shelf systems that are being adapted.” ‘A big risk’ What the organisation is insistent about is that there is still hope in the form of a diplomatic route to negotiate the rules around the systems. In November, states will gather in Geneva for the Seventh Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), which takes place every five years. ‘It is also likely to be used by non-state actors who fall outside of those more regulated investigation mechanisms’ - Georgia Hinds, legal adviser at the ICRC It could be a watershed moment for the campaign as the Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, the primary UN intergovernmental forum addressing emerging technologies related to autonomous weapons, has been developing a draft text, which includes prohibitions on some systems and restrictions on others. The final session of the group takes place this week, and its work will then feed into the upcoming conference. Campaigners are hoping that it could be turned into formal negotiations for a legally binding treaty - at last. “It really would not take much now to convert that into a binding instrument,” Hinds said. “In November, the decision needs to be taken to move to formal negotiations. Rights groups call for a halt of AI tech use in the military Read More » “Rolling over discussions that have now been ongoing for nearly 13 years in the group of governmental experts is not acceptable. There is really only one option in November for us.” If states do agree, a treaty could be only months away. The preferred - and shortest - route would be to masterfully negotiate an additional protocol under the CCW. However, experts like Hinds are doubtful as to how realistic this is. She said that the conference does not offer a simple yes-or-no ending, and that there are several ways to progress with the campaign. The overall goal is to get ahead of the technology, she added, warning that as autonomous weapons spread, it becomes easier for anyone - even armed groups outside any legal oversight - to turn cheap commercial tech into deadly autonomous weapons. “The [more] opportunity for these systems to proliferate, the easier it becomes to adapt a commercially available system… it is also likely to be used by non-state actors who fall outside of those more regulated investigation mechanisms,” Hinds said. “All of these things again increase accountability concerns for me. So yes, I think it's a big risk.” Technology News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

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Kuwait says fire 'under control' after Iranian attacks, as IRGC claims strikes on US facilities Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it attacked several bases across the region, including the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, where it claimed it "killed a number of enemy elements". In the statement, the IRGC said it carried out a combined missile and drone attack on the military base in Kuwait hosting US forces, adding that it targeted the headquarters and residence of the American commander of the base. It added that the attack destroyed several US drones and set fire to a drone hangar and a ramp through which UAVs participated in strikes on Iran. "What is painful and worrying for us is the occupation of Islamic lands by the child-killing and terrorist army of America," the IRGC said. "These attacks are to help you cleanse the pure land and homeland of the righteous, Kuwait, from the filth of the American infidels." Meanwhile, Kuwait's official KUNA news agency said that an Iranian drone attack caused a fire in a residential complex. "A fire that broke out in a residential complex in the Capital Governorate has been brought under control. The complex had been targeted by a hostile drone launched as part of the nefarious Iranian aggression," a fire department spokesperson was quoted as saying, adding there were no casualties.

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Israeli army says earlier interception likely 'false target' The Israeli military said that its interception of a "suspicious aerial target" was "apparently launched at a false target". Earlier, the army announced that "interceptors were launched toward a suspicious aerial target," alleging that it crossed from Lebanese territory into northern Israel.

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Morning update Good morning Middle East Eye readers, Here are the latest developments: The US military announced on Tuesday that it has completed fresh attacks on Iran, with local reports indicating that civilians attending a wedding were amongst the latest victims. In response, Tehran carried out strikes across the region on US facilities and its troops, including in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Iraq's northern Kurdish province of Erbil. The spokesperson of Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters warned that operations against the US will "continue as a lesson to them until they regret their crime". He warned that the continuation of "American evil in the region will be met with heavier, broader, and more devastating responses, and any country that cooperates with the aggressive American army must accept its dangerous consequences". US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said that 17 million barrels of oil transited the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. Wright's statement shows a discrepancy with preliminary ship-tracking data from Kpler, which recorded only five commodity vessels transiting the waterway that day, with no liquid tankers recorded. US president Donald Trump has denied reports alleging that he is trying to bring Iran back into peace discussions. "I’m not trying to force Iran to the bargaining table, as ABC Fake News reported. I couldn’t care less if they sign a worthless, to them, agreement," he said in a post on his platform Truth Social. He added that the US has "almost total control" over the Hormuz Strait. Two Israeli air strikes targeted the vicinity of the southern Lebanese towns of Kfar Rumman and Arab Salim in southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera reported. A short while before, the Israeli army announced that "interceptors were launched toward a suspicious aerial target," that it alleged crossed from Lebanese territory into northern Israel.

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The actor criticised Paramount-Warner Bros merger, linking it to Oracle's ties with Israeli military amid Gaza genocide.

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Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin has described drones as the main threat to the Russian military, saying they pose a serious challenge across the air, land and maritime domains.

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FT investigation uncovers programme behind one of the most significant known transfers of military technology from Moscow to Tehran

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Iranian state media has reported that US strikes have killed 11 people in two separate attacks, including four at a wedding in the south of the country. This comes after the United States struck what it says were Iranian military targets Tuesday, as Tehran fired missiles and drones at sites across the Middle East, further escalating hostilities after a month-long lull. Follow our liveblog for the latest developments.

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The latest US strikes against Iran and Iran's reported retaliation have further escalated tensions in and around the Strait of Hormuz, with Washington and Tehran trading accusations and threats of further military action.

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Sirens heard in northern Israel over suspected 'hostile aircraft infiltration' Sirens sounded off in the area of Kfar Yuval in northern Israel warning of a "hostile aircraft infiltration", according to the military.

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Army secretary’s exit leaves ‘serious leadership gaps’ as US military grapples with protracted Iran conflict

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US army attacked two Iranian tankers on Tuesday: Report The US military on Tuesday attacked two Iranian government tankers, according to Axios citing American officials, One of the officials told the website that the move was part of a new "tanker for tanker" policy approved by president Donald Trump to further deter Iranian attacks on tankers that travel through the Strait of Hormuz.

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US military says completed latest wave of strikes on Iran The US military announced on Tuesday that it has completed its latest round of attacks on Iran. "US forces struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets including air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine laying capabilities, and communications sites," US Central Command said in a post to X, adding that the strikes were in retaliation for "attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members." https://t.co/3MCmRHk7mi — U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) September 1, 2026

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Iran says it launched drone attacks on US base in Bahrain The Iranian military said that it targeted a US base in Bahrain with a large-scale drone attack, according to a statement carried by Tasnim news agency on Tuesday. The army said the strikes were carried out on radar installations and areas where it says US forces are stationed at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain, a key base in the Gulf used to house reconnaissance aircraft, and as a maintenance centre for helicopters and drone components.

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Taiwan’s defence ministry has warned that the People’s Liberation Army is stepping up its preparations for a blockade of the island, adding that it is sharpening its plans to break such a cordon in response. The assessment was made in the ministry’s “2026 China Military Power Report”, which was submitted to the legislature this week along with its five-year force development plan and next year’s proposed defence budget. The report said recent PLA exercises were increasingly focused on the “joint...