Russia exploiting Iran war, Zelensky says after fresh bombardment
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of attempting to exploit the war in the Middle East to cause "even greater destruction" in his country, BBC reported.
He said Ukraine needed air-defence systems regardless of what was happening elsewhere. The US-Israeli war with Iran has led to many air-defence missiles being expended fending off retaliatory attacks.
Zelensky's comments came after Russia launched another massive aerial bombardment overnight into Saturday in which at least five people were killed, according to BBC.
Hamas calls on Iran not to target neighboring countries but affirms its right to self-defence
The Palestinian Iran-aligned militant group Hamas has called on Iran to not target neighbouring countries, while still reaffirming Tehran's right to respond to the U.S.-Israeli attacks, Reuters reported.
This is the first time the group has publicly commented on Iranian policies. It has expressed solidarity with Iran during the war but appeared to steer clear from threatening any retaliatory actions so far.
"While the group affirms Iran's right to respond to this aggression by all available means in accordance with international norms and laws, it calls upon our brothers in Iran not to target neighboring countries," it said, according to Reuters.
Iran unleashes oil shock to blunt US firepower
Long before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, the Islamic Republic had devised its own weapon: holding the world’s main oil lifeline hostage to offset its foes' military superiority, three regional sources familiar with Iranian planning said, Reuters reported.
For decades Iran has signalled that if pushed into a confrontation, it would restrict tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint where its adversaries are most exposed because disruptions there reverberate instantly through global energy markets.
With the Gulf’s main export artery in the crosshairs, Tehran has turned the region’s greatest economic asset into its most powerful deterrent, the sources said, according to Reuters.
Trump rejects efforts to launch Iran ceasefire talks, sources say
President Donald Trump's administration has rebuffed efforts by Middle Eastern allies to start diplomatic negotiations aimed at ending the Iran warthat started two weeks ago with a massive U.S.-Israeli air assault, according to three sources familiar with the efforts, Reuters reported.
Iran, for its part, has rejected the possibility of any ceasefire until U.S. and Israeli strikes end, two senior Iranian sources told Reuters, adding that several countries had been trying to mediate an end to the conflict.
The lack of interest from Washington and Tehran suggests both sides are digging in for an extended conflict, even as the widening war inflicts civilian casualties and Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuzsends oil prices soaring, according to Reuters.
