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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says he was reassured in a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha that Ukraine’s attack on an Iranian ship “was unintentional and Ukraine seeks no escalation”. In a post on X, Araghchi wrote that “Iran does not seek escalation either, but made clear any attack on our citizens or interests is unacceptable”. “There must be restitution for losses,” he said. Sybiha earlier described the call as “frank” and “direct”.

A Ukrainian strike last weekend on an Iranian cargo ship in the Caspian Sea has underscored the links between the wars that the two countries are fighting, raising tensions between them as well as the risk of more direct confrontation. Ukraine said the ship was carrying military equipment between Iran and Russia. Iranian officials said it was a commercial vessel, and it accused Ukraine of killing a sailor in the attack. ................ Iran and Russia have had a close military relationship for decades. The most visible recent example of this is the long-range attack drones that Tehran has supplied to...

Iran summoned a Ukrainian diplomat in Tehran on Sunday to protest an attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, as the war in the Middle East threatened to overlap with the Ukraine conflict. Iran said the attack left one sailor dead and injured several others. The country’s foreign ministry complained to Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in Tehran early on Sunday and “conveyed Iran’s strong protest over the ‘hostile and criminal act.’” Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency reported. In a post on X highlighting Ukraine’s attacks on distant Russian targets, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that his country’s...

Instead of fighting over a 21-mile-wide bottleneck forever, we cut a new channel through friendly territory. A dozen thermonuclear detonations and you’ve got a waterway wider than the Panama Canal, deeper than the Suez, and safe from Iranian attacks. ...

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has told Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi in a call that violation of Turkiye’s airspace by Iranian ballistic missiles was unacceptable, Reuters reports, citing a Turkish Foreign Ministry source. The source said Araqchi told Fidan that Tehran had conducted a wide investigation into the missiles, adding Fidan reiterated Turkey’s demand for all sides to refrain from steps that could put civilians at risk and told Araqchi that Ankara would take measures against missiles targeting it.

The potential for a military clash between Turkey and Israel is growing. There are several colliding points, and each one of them has the potential to become a full-scale war, despite mechanisms designed to avoid conflict. The most obvious is the Syrian front. Reports indicate that Turkey plans to help Syria’s transitional government develop a military force of approximately 200,000 personnel (approximately 10–15 divisions). Turkey has assumed the role of protector of Syria’s president, Ahmed al-Sharaa (al-Jolani, his nom de guerre). Israel, for its part, has assumed the role of protector of the Druze minority in southwestern Syria, an area...

When President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan arrived in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, it was not merely another state visit - it was a statement of purpose. Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, two key pillars of the Turkic world, reaffirmed their shared vision for a future built on unity, connectivity, and strength. The visit symbolized the natural deepening of economic and cultural integration among Turkic nations, while sending a clear message that regional cooperation can serve as the foundation of global influence.As the strategic ties between Baku and Astana strengthen, Israel naturally perceives new opportunities for economic and security engagement across Central...

I’m old enough to remember when Barack Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize for — I give up. I can’t think of anything that Obama did to earn it just eight months into his presidency. For what it’s worth, the Nobel Peace Prize website says that the committee gave him the prize for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”In his second term, President Donald Trump has gotten real results in his efforts to bring peace to areas of the globe that desperately need it. And he’s done it in less time than it took for...

'If it were not for the Trump administration, Azerbaijan would have attacked, and we would have had severe instability in the region.'When President Donald Trump sat between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan last week, few people realized the significance of the meeting and the months of negotiations that took place beforehand to get two hostile nations to come together at the White House. Just weeks before the president and his team stepped in to maintain stability in the South Caucasus earlier this year, a full-scale invasion of Armenia’s southernmost province, Syunik, appeared imminent, according to Dr. Nerses Kopalyan, an...

Russian state propaganda has sharply intensified its bellicose rhetoric toward Azerbaijan amid reports of a possible lifting of Baku’s arms supply moratorium to Ukraine. A new “special military operation” could begin in the South Caucasus, propagandist Vladimir Solovyov stated on the program “Evening with Vladimir Solovyov” on the Russia-1 channel. According to him, NATO bases could appear in the Caspian Sea region, which he called “a very big problem.” With this, he was unmistakably alluding to Azerbaijan, which is close to Türkiye, a member of the North Atlantic Alliance. “And this is so dangerous that, from a geopolitical perspective, the...

Since returning to office in January 2025, President Donald Trump has shown a marked shift in his approach to South Asian geopolitics, displaying what analysts describe as a more favorable stance toward Pakistan while simultaneously straining relations with India. This represents a significant departure from decades of U.S. foreign policy that had increasingly favored New Delhi as a strategic counterweight to China. The most striking aspect of this policy shift appears to be intertwined with the Trump family’s business ventures. World Liberty Financial (WLF), founded in 2024, is no ordinary fintech startup. The company is 60% owned by Donald Trump’s...

United States President Donald Trump has hosted his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the White House for the signing of a peace treaty between the two longtime rivals. The US president said during a ceremony on Friday that he believed the two men would have a “great relationship” and that the agreement would bring peace and new economic opportunities to the region. list “I want to congratulate these two great people, Prime Minister Pashinyan and President Aliyev, for coming to Washington to sign this momentous joint declaration,” Trump said. “The countries of Armenia and...

Donald Trump recently announced that the United States would help Pakistan develop its "massive oil reserves," suggesting it could export oil to India in the future. In response, Baloch leader Mir Yar Baloch has written an open letter to the US president, highlighting how encouraging the exploitation of Balochistan's oil reserves would make the US complicit in enabling ISI to enhance its global terror networks. In his letter, the Baloch leader warned against allowing Pakistan's radicalised military and rogue ISI, long accused of sponsoring Al-Qaeda and various proxy groups responsible for the deaths of thousands of US soldiers in Afghanistan,...

Donald Trump is hosting the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington this week for a summit which could advance a much-anticipated peace agreement between the two. The meeting would send a strong signal to Moscow regarding the two countries' commitment to finding a solution without Russia. The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia are set to meet US President Donald Trump for a peace summit in Washington on Thursday and Friday, which could advance a much-anticipated peace deal between the two countries. After almost four decades of bitter conflict, Baku and Yerevan might finally settle for peace in the region...

Azerbaijani government sources have exclusively confirmed to Euronews on Thursday that a Russian surface-to-air missile caused the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in Aktau on Wednesday. According to the sources, the missile was fired at Flight 8432 during drone air activity above Grozny, and the shrapnel hit the passengers and cabin crew as it exploded next to the aircraft mid-flight. Government sources have told Euronews that the damaged aircraft was not allowed to land at any Russian airports despite the pilots’ requests for an emergency landing, and it was ordered to fly across the Caspian Sea towards Aktau in Kazakhstan. According...

The upcoming summit in Samarkand will bring together for the first time the leaders of the five Central Asian countries and the European Union. Following years of reform and European assistance, the five Central Asian countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - are embarking on a strategic pivot towards Europe. The EU is seeking reliable partners in the current rapidly changing geopolitical reality. This is for political and also economic reasons, such as trade, investment and energy. On Thursday and Friday, the Uzbek city of Samarkand will host the first-ever high level meeting between the EU and the...

An Iranian cargo ship sank in the Caspian Sea near Azerbaijan's Lankaran port on Friday, according to Iran's state-run news agency IRNA.

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologizes to Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, for what the Kremlin said was a “tragic incident” in Russian airspace involving the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on December 25. Putin tells Aliyev that Russian air defense was active when an Azerbaijani Airlines plane tried to land in Grozny before it crashed in a phone call, the Kremlin says. “During this time, Grozny, (the town of) Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian combat drones and Russian air defense was repelling these attacks,” the Kremlin says Putin told Aliyev, without explicitly acknowledging that...

Location of Kaylu archeological site (a no 1), Jebel (a no 2), and Dam-Dam-Cheshme 1 and 2 (a no 3); view of the rockshelter (b1); location of the two burials (b2 and b3); Caspian Sea view from the site (c); human remains state of preservation (d and e); lithic industry from layer 7 of Kaylu (f) – point (1), lunates (2, 3), end-scraper (4), splinted pieces (5, 6), cores (7, 8). Credit: Open Archaeology (2023). DOI: 10.1515/opar-2022-0289 Stone Age humans may have made extended maritime voyages on the Caspian Sea, according to a new study published in the journal Open...

A huge explosion has been seen off the coast of Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea, sending plumes of black smoke and flames into the sky. The blast, which erupted in an area full of oil and gas fields on Sunday, was caused by a mud volcano. None of the energy stations were damaged and no-one was hurt, it added. The blast took place about 10km (6 miles) from the Umid gas field, which is 75km (45 miles) off the coast of Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, state oil company Socar spokesperson Ibrahim Ahmadoc said. The fire continued to smoulder into Monday, but...