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Russia’s Putin and Iran’s Pezeshkian to sign strategic partnership pact on Jan. 17, Kremlin says

Putin and Pezeshkian will also talk about regional and international issues, it added.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will hold talks in Russia on Jan. 17 after which they will sign a long-awaited comprehensive strategic partnership pact, the Kremlin said on Monday.

The two leaders will discuss options for further expanding ties between Moscow and Tehran, including in the trade and investment, transport and logistics, and humanitarian spheres, the Kremlin said.

Putin and Pezeshkian will also talk about regional and international issues, it added.

Russia has cultivated closer ties with Iran and other countries hostile towards the U.S., such as North Korea, since the start of the Ukraine war, Reuters reported.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in October that Moscow and Tehran intended to sign the strategic partnership pact which would include closer defence cooperation.

The United States accused Tehran in September of delivering close-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine, and imposed sanctions on ships and companies it said were involved in delivering Iranian weapons. Tehran denies providing Moscow with the missiles.

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Pakistani journalists rally against law regulating social media

Parliament passed the amendments to the law known as Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act last week.

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Hundreds of Pakistani journalists rallied on Tuesday against a proposed law to regulate social media content that they say is aimed at curbing press freedom and controlling the digital landscape, Reuters reported.

The law would establish a regulatory authority that would have its own investigation agency and tribunals. Those found to have disseminated false or fake information face prison sentences of up to three years and fines of 2 million rupees ($7,200).

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists led rallies in cities including Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore, to demand the government withdraws the bill, which has been passed by parliament but has yet to be signed into law by the president, read the report.

"It is a direct attack on press freedom," PFUJ President Afzal Butt said at the rally in Islamabad, before police blocked him and other protesters from marching toward the Red Zone, which houses the prime minister's secretariat, parliament and diplomatic offices.

"Our movement will continue until the law is revoked."

Digital media in Pakistan has already been muffled with measures by telecom authorities to slow down internet speeds, and social media platform X has been blocked for more than a year.

Reporters Without Borders, an organisation that defends press freedom, ranked Pakistan at number 152 out of 180 on its 2024 world Press Freedom Index. The group also says Pakistan is one of the most dangerous places for journalists to work, Reuters reported.

Parliament passed the amendments to the law known as Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act last week.

The government has defended the new regulations, saying the law is being introduced to block fake and false news. ($1 = 278.6000 Pakistani rupees)

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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards commander says Iran purchased Russian-made Sukhoi 35 fighter jets

In November 2023, Iran’s Tasnim news agency said Tehran had finalised arrangements to buy Russian fighter jets.

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Iran has purchased Russian-made Sukhoi-35 fighter jets, a senior Revolutionary Guards commander said on Monday, amid Western concerns about Tehran and Moscow's growing military cooperation, Reuters reported.

This is the first time an Iranian official has confirmed the purchase of Su-35 jets. However, Ali Shadmani, who was quoted by the Student News Network, did not clarify how many jets were purchased and whether they had already been delivered to Iran.

"Whenever necessary, we make military purchases to strengthen our air, land, and naval forces. ... The production of military equipment has also accelerated," the deputy Coordinator of the Khatam-ol-Anbia Central Headquarters said.

"If the enemy acts foolishly, it will taste the bitter taste of being hit by our missiles, and none of its interests in the occupied territories will remain safe," Shadmani warned referring to Iran's arch-rival in the region, Israel.

In November 2023, Iran's Tasnim news agency said Tehran had finalised arrangements to buy Russian fighter jets.

Earlier this month, Iran and Russia signed a comprehensive strategic partnership which did not mention arms transfers but said the two will develop their "military-technical cooperation."

Iran's air force has only a few dozen strike aircraft, including Russian jets as well as ageing U.S. models acquired before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, read the report.

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Iran’s weakening will not harm Iraq, deputy parliament speaker says

Iraq, a rare ally of both Washington and Tehran, is trying to avoid upsetting its fragile stability and focus on rebuilding after years of war.

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Iraq will not be negatively affected by the weakening of Iran's influence in the Middle East, Iraq's deputy parliament speaker said, with Baghdad looking to chart its own diplomatic path in the region and limit the power of armed groups.

Mohsen al-Mandalawi spoke to Reuters in a recent interview after seismic shifts in the Middle East that have seen Iran's armed allies in Gaza and Lebanon heavily degraded and Syria's President Bashar al-Assad overthrown by rebels.

U.S. President Donald Trump's new administration has promised to pile more pressure on Tehran, which has long backed a number of parties and an array of armed factions in Iraq.

Iraq, a rare ally of both Washington and Tehran, is trying to avoid upsetting its fragile stability and focus on rebuilding after years of war.

"Today, we have stability. Foreign companies are coming to Iraq," said Mandalawi, himself a businessman with interests in Iraqi hotels, hospitals and cash transfer services.

"Iraq has started to take on its natural role among Arab states. Iran is a neighbour with whom we have historical ties. Our geographical position and our relations with Arab states are separate matters," he said, speaking at his office in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, home to government institutions and foreign embassies.

"I don't think that the weakening of Iran will negatively impact Iraq."

Mandalawi is a member of Iraq's ruling Shi'ite Coordination Framework, a grouping of top politicians seen as having close ties with Iran, and heads the Asas coalition of lawmakers in parliament.

Iraq's balancing act between Tehran and Washington has been tested by Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups' attacks on Israel and on U.S. troops in the country after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023.

That has led to several rounds of tit-for-tat strikes that have since been contained.

During Trump's first 2017-2021 presidency, ties were tense after the U.S. assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and top Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad in 2020, leading to an Iranian ballistic missile attack on U.S. forces in Iraq.

In recent months, ahead of Trump taking office again, there have been growing calls in Iraq to limit the role of Iran-backed armed factions.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told Reuters in an interview earlier this month that Iraq was trying to persuade armed factions allied with Iran to lay down their arms.

Mandalawi said he believed such a move would take time but it was possible given a shift in focus on growing political and economic interests.

"Limiting arms to the state is important and I hope that it will be implemented," he said.

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