New posts
16:57
Hezbollah Rejects Israel-Lebanon Deal
Israeli military vehicles drive amid damaged buildings in southern Lebanon on June 27.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has rejected a US-brokered security agreement between Lebanon and Israel a day after it was signed, declaring the accord “null and void” and accusing the Lebanese government of surrendering the country’s sovereignty.
The agreement, signed in Washington on June 26 after five rounds of talks, calls for a phased Israeli withdrawal from parts of southern Lebanon alongside the deployment of the Lebanese Army.
It also sets out a process for the verified disarmament of Hezbollah while allowing Israeli forces to remain temporarily in an expanded buffer zone.
The latest conflict erupted in March after Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on Israel following the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes. Israel responded with air strikes and a ground offensive in southern Lebanon, where its forces continue to hold territory.
In a statement on June 27, Qassem described the deal as “humiliating, shameful, and a surrender of sovereignty.” He accused the government of “legitimizing the continuation of the (Israeli) occupation,” saying it had crossed “all red lines.”
Iran-backed Hezbollah, a militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, while the European Union has blacklisted its armed wing but not its political branch.
Also on June 27, Lebanon’s state news agency reported an Israeli drone strike near Nabatieh al-Fawqa in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military said it had targeted an individual posing a threat to its forces.
With reporting by Reuters and AFPShare
Copy link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
LinkedIn
Email
Share
13:31
Oil Tanker Struck In Strait Of Hormuz
An tanker in the Strait of Hormuz was struck by an “unidentified projectile,” British shipping-security monitor United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on June 27, after the first exchange of fire between the United States and Iran since they signed a framework agreement to end the recent Middle East war.
UKMTO said the tanker sustained damage to its bridge, but that “all crew are reported safe.” It also said that there was “No environmental damage reported at present.”
Maritime security firm Vanguard Tech has identified the vessel as the Panama-flaggedoil tanker KIKU.
With reporting by AFPShare
Copy link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
LinkedIn
Email
Share
13:08
Bahrain Reports Iranian Drone Attack After US Strikes
Bahrain says that it had come under an Iranian drone attack hours after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said it had struck US-linked targets in the region.
Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry said on June 27 that several drones targeted at the Persian Gulf country at dawn, describing the attack as a “flagrant violation of the Gulf kingdom’s sovereignty.” The ministry did not identify the target or report any damage.
The ministry said “the Iranian regimes continued attacks” at a time of regional and international efforts to reduce tensions placed “the sole responsibility for undermining peace efforts on Tehran.”
The reported attack came after the US military said it had struck Iranian missile, drone, and radar sites in response to what Washington said was an Iranian drone attack on a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps said it had retaliated by attacking US-linked targets in the region, without identifying them.
Hours before the reported attack on Bahrain, US Vice President JD Vancewrote on Xthat “Iran signed a ceasefire agreement. We have honored it.”
He added that if Tehran had disagreements over how the memorandum of understanding — a framework agreement reached earlier this month to end hostilities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz — was being implemented, “they can pick up the phone,” warning that “violence will be met with violence.”
The latest exchanges marked the first military strikes since Washington and Tehran signed the framework agreement on June 17.
With reporting by dpaShare
Copy link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
LinkedIn
Email
Share
11:37
Iran’s Year-On-Year Inflation Nears 90%
Iran’s year-on-year inflation rate climbed to 88.6 percent in June, while annual inflation rose to 62 percent, according to figures published by the country’s Statistical Center on June 27.
The annual inflation rate was up 4.3 percentage points from May.
Year-on-year inflation compares consumer prices with the same month a year earlier. The Statistics Center said Iranian households paid, on average, 88.6 percent more in June than they did a year previously for the same basket of goods and services.
Inflation was even higher in rural areas, where the year-on-year rate exceeded 108 percent, according to the data.
Nationwide, prices for food, beverages, and tobacco were 134.6 percent higher than a year earlier.
