Author: Prima News

Israel launched a large wave of strikes on Tehran on Thursday, ‌targeting what it said was infrastructure belonging to the Iranian authorities, after Iranian missiles sent millions of Israelis rushing into bomb shelters. As the U.S.–Iran war entered its sixth day, the conflict has widened beyond Gulf states and into Asia, convulsing global markets, opens new tab and prompting thousands of stranded tourists and residents to try to flee the Middle East. Iran’s foreign minister called the sinking of an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka on Wednesday, which killed at least 80 people, an “atrocity ​at sea”. REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS SAY IRAN CONTROLS STRAIT OF HORMUZ He said…

Sri Lanka said it was trying to “safeguard lives” on a second Iranian ship off its coast on ‌Thursday, a day after 87 people were killed in a U.S. submarine strike on an Iranian warship in the same region, an attack that Iran said the U.S. would “bitterly regret”. Sri Lanka’s cabinet spokesman told parliament that Colombo was aware that there was another Iranian ship in Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone outside its ​maritime boundary and it was “addressing the situation”. The cabinet spokesman was responding to questions from an opposition leader on whether ​the government was aware that another Iranian ship…

Nearly six months after a wave of unprecedented youth-led protests and the deaths of ​77 people forced Nepal’s then prime minister to quit, people began voting on Thursday in a general election that will choose a ‌new parliament in the Himalayan nation. Perched between China and India, the country of 30 million people has been plagued for decades by political instability, crippling a largely agrarian economy and worsening unemployment – structural issues compounded by rampant corruption. The long-festering malaise erupted into street demonstrations last September, triggered by a social media ban, that brought thousands on the streets, leading to clashes ​and fatalities that forced the resignation of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma…

Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry lodged an official protest with ​the Iranian embassy on Thursday after a pair ‌of Iranian drones flew across the border into Azerbaijan and injured two people at an airport in the Nakhchivan exclave. “This attack ​on the territory of Azerbaijan contradicts the norms ​and principles of international law and contributes to increased ⁠tensions in the region,” the foreign ministry said ​in a statement. “We demand that the Islamic Republic of Iran ​clarify the matter in the shortest possible time, provide an explanation and take the necessary urgent measures to prevent such incidents from ​recurring in the future.”…

In a French Riviera town nestled between the mountains, the Mediterranean and the Italian border, a disgraced former president’s son is hoping to launch his political career with a new, untested brand of conservatism flecked with U.S. ​influence. Louis Sarkozy, 28, son of ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy, spent his teens and early 20s living in the United States, where he said he forged his political identity during ‌an era dominated by President Donald Trump. Now back in France, Sarkozy is using this month’s mayoral election in the small town of Menton as a testing ground for whether his household name and Trump-inflected brand of…

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday that they ​had hit a ​U.S. tanker in the northern ⁠part of the ​Gulf and the vessel ​was on fire. There was no immediate confirmation of the ​incident or of a ​similar attack that Iran claimed ‌earlier ⁠this week. The Guards said in their Thursday statement carried by state ​media that, ​in ⁠time of war, passage through ​the Strait of Hormuz ​will ⁠be under the control of the Islamic ⁠Republic.

Ukraine spoke to the United ​States about the ‌possibility of changing location and ​postponing the next ​round of trilateral ⁠talks with Russia ​due to events ​in the Middle East, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ​said. “The next ​Ukraine–U.S.–Russia trilateral meeting was planned ‌for ⁠the period from March 5 to 9, depending ​on ​developments ⁠around the world. Currently, ​there is ​another ⁠war in the Middle East,” he ⁠said ​on ​X.

A Pakistani man accused of planning to kill President Donald Trump told jurors on Wednesday that he did not willingly work with Iran’s elite ​Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to devise the plot, media said. The Justice ‌Department accused Asif Merchant of trying to recruit people in the United States in the plan targeting Trump and other U.S. politicians in retaliation for Washington’s killing of the ​Corps’ top commander, Qassem Soleimani. The Corps has a central role in Iran, with ​its combination of military and economic power and an intelligence ⁠network. “I was not wanting to do this so willingly,” the New York ​Times quoted Merchant as telling…

The United Arab Emirates has strongly condemned an attempted Iranian ballistic missile launch targeting Türkiye, calling the incident a serious escalation and a violation of state sovereignty. In a statement issued Thursday, the UAE Foreign Ministry said that it considers such hostile acts a “serious escalation, a flagrant violation of state sovereignty, and a direct threat to regional security and stability,” the statement said. It affirmed that “expansion of attacks to additional countries is unacceptable and condemned under all legal and political norms, and constitutes a serious escalation that undermines de-escalation efforts and heightens regional tensions.” On Wednesday, the Turkish…

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) denounced the firing from Iran of a ballistic missile toward Turkish airspace, which was intercepted and neutralized by NATO air and missile defense systems. In a statement Wednesday, the OIC expressed its full solidarity with Türkiye and affirmed its unwavering support in defending the country’s sovereignty, security and stability. The OIC General Secretariat called for an immediate end to any actions that could escalate tensions and destabilize the region. It emphasized that threatening member states and undermining their security violates the principles of international relations, which are founded on good neighborliness and mutual respect.…