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Egypt’s Sisi makes first presidential visit to Turkey in 12 years

Erdogan met Sisi at Ankara airport on Wednesday and the two then travelled in the same car to the presidential palace for around two hours of talks.

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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi discussed the Gaza war and ways to further repair the long-frozen ties between the regional powers during talks in Ankara, in the first such presidential visit in 12 years.

Relations between Ankara and Cairo collapsed in 2013 after Egypt’s then-army chief Sisi led the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi, a Turkish ally who had become Egypt’s first democratically elected president the year before, Reuters reported.

Ties between the two countries began thawing in 2020 when Ankara launched a diplomatic drive to ease tensions with its estranged regional rivals, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Last year, Ankara and Cairo mutually reappointed ambassadors and Turkey said it would also provide Cairo with armed drones. Erdogan travelled to Cairo in February for his first trip to Egypt since 2012.

He met Sisi at Ankara airport on Wednesday and the two then travelled in the same car to the presidential palace for around two hours of talks.

“With a win-win mindset, we will carry our multi-dimensional ties forward,” Erdogan said, adding Ankara particularly wanted to deepen ties with Egypt on natural gas and nuclear energy.

Ministers from the two countries signed 18 memorandum of understanding on cooperation in energy, defence, tourism, health, agriculture, finance, culture, education, and transport.

Speaking at a joint press conference, Erdogan reiterated that Turkey and Egypt wanted to boost annual trade by $5 billion to $15 billion in the next five years.

He added that Ankara and Cairo shared a “common stance” on the Palestinian cause, while Sisi said they were both calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to violence in the West Bank.

Turkey, which has condemned Israel for its war against Hamas militants in Gaza, has sent thousands of tonnes of aid to Egypt for Palestinians and praised Cairo’s humanitarian efforts and role as negotiator in the talks on a ceasefire and hostage deal.

Sisi said they also discussed the situation in Libya, over which the two countries have long been at odds and backed opposing factions in an unresolved conflict.

“We stress that it is important to turn the page on the ongoing crisis through holding presidential and parliamentary elections simultaneously with the exit of illegal foreign forces and mercenaries from the country, and put an end to the presence of armed militias to end the division,” he said.

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Qatar’s emir arrives in Iran on state visit

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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has officially welcomed Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani who arrived in Tehran on a state visit on Wednesday.

The welcoming ceremony was held at the Saadabad Palace in Tehran where Pezeshkian received Al Thani.

Earlier, Al Thani was received by Iran’s Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi upon his arrival at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport.

The Emir of Qatar and his accompanying delegation will meet with top Iranian officials and are expected to sign documents to boost collaboration in economy, culture, education, and sports.

The trip follows Pezeshkian’s visit to Doha in October, where he attended the Asia Cooperation Dialogue Forum and held talks with Al Thani over boosting bilateral ties.

Qatar has played a key mediating role in ceasefire negotiations in Gaza and maintains strong and pragmatic relations with Iran amid intense regional tensions.

Iran’s Ambassador to Doha, Ali Salehabadi, meanwhile told IRNA news agency that the Emir’s visit to Tehran aligns with the deep-rooted ties of the two countries and aims to serve their common interests.

Salehabadi said that meetings between high-ranking officials from Iran and Qatar will facilitate deeper cooperation in political, security, and economic sectors, as well as enhance coordination in addressing regional issues through constructive diplomacy.

The envoy also described Pezeshkian’s recent visit to Qatar as a big step in the bilateral relationship, highlighting that the two countries signed significant agreements in cultural, economic, and political fields, IRNA reported.

According to the ambassador, Pezeshkian’s administration prioritizes good neighborliness in its regional policies, with both Iran and Qatar striving to play a constructive role in maintaining peace, security and stability in the region.

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Iran says Israel, US ‘cannot do a damn thing’ against Tehran

In 2018, Trump pulled the U.S. out of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear pact with world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.

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Iran said on Monday that U.S. and Israeli threats against it were a blatant violation of international law and that they could not “do a damn thing” to hurt Tehran, Reuters reported.

The comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Jerusalem on Sunday and said their countries were determined to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its influence in the Middle East.

Netanyahu said Israel had dealt a “mighty blow” to Iran since the start of the war in Gaza and that with the support of U.S. President Donald Trump “I have no doubt we can and will finish the job”.

Speaking at a weekly press conference on Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei responded: “When it comes to a country like Iran, they cannot do a damn thing”.

“You cannot threaten Iran on one hand and claim to support dialogue on the other hand,” Baghaei said, state media reported.

Trump has expressed an openness to a deal with Tehran while also reinstating the “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that was applied during his first term to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, read the report.

While stopping short of renewing a ban on direct talks with Washington decreed in 2018, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has criticised Trump’s previous administration for not honouring its promises.

In 2018, Trump pulled the U.S. out of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear pact with world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.

A year later, Iran reacted by breaching the pact’s nuclear curbs, accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% of weapons grade. It says its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes

Despite spokesman Baghaei’s defiant words, Tehran’s influence throughout the region has weakened severely with its regional allies – known as the “Axis of Resistance” – either dismantled or badly hurt since the start of the Hamas-Israel conflict in Gaza and the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria in December, Reuters reported.

The Axis includes not only Hamas but also Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and various Shi’ite armed groups in Iraq and Syria.

Over the 16 months since the Gaza war erupted, Israel has assassinated leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, and Israel and Iran have carried out limited attacks against each other.

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At least 15 dead in stampede at New Delhi railway station

The incident occurred around 8pm local time on two platforms as passengers waited to board trains to Prayagraj city, where the Hindu Maha Kumbh festival is being hosted

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At least 15 people died and another 15 were injured in a stampede at the main railway station in India’s capital New Delhi on Saturday night, the chief minister of the capital territory told reporters early on Sunday.

The incident occurred around 8pm local time on two platforms as passengers waited to board trains to Prayagraj city, where the Hindu Maha Kumbh festival is being hosted, media reports said.

The death toll included 10 women and three children, local media said. 

Media showed images and videos of crowds pouring over each other at the station, following the incident, as police and relief teams toiled to ease the congestion, Reuters reported.

Delhi’s chief minister Atishi, who only uses one name, said on X that many of the victims were pilgrims who were going to attend the Maha Kumbh.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and some other federal ministers confirmed the stampede incident in posts on X without disclosing the death toll.

“Distressed by the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones,” Modi said on X.

India’s Interior Minister Amit Shah said in a post on X that he had spoken to the railway minister and taken stock of the situation.

An enquiry was ordered into the incident and four special trains were dispatched to evacuate the rush caused at the railway station, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on X, adding that the situation is now under control.

“The entire team is working to assist all those who have been affected by this tragic incident,” he said.

Dozens of people were killed in a pre-dawn stampede at the Maha Kumbh in northern India last month as tens of millions of Hindus gathered to take a dip in sacred river waters on the most auspicious day of a six-week festival.

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