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Insurgents take over Yamgan district in Badakshan

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At the onset of campaigning for the upcoming second round of elections, Yamgan district of Badakhshan has been occupied by armed opposition forces.

Fazludin Ayar, Badakhshan security commander said, “Due to inclement weather conditions in the area, security forces have been unable to regain the territory and have temporarily halted the assault.”

Operations to free the district from the clutches of the insurgents would again commence once the heavy rains have abated, added Ayar.

He also mentioned that 17 insurgents had been killed during the first 3 days of armed conflict that ensued.

Yamgan district is considered an insecure area in Badakhshan, which could negatively impact other areas of the province.

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Israeli military says body released by Hamas is not of a hostage

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The Israeli military said on Friday that one of the bodies released by Hamas did not belong to any of the hostages held in Gaza, accusing Hamas of violating an already shaking ceasefire.

Two of the bodies were identified as infant Kfir Bibas and his four-year-old brother Ariel, while a third body that was supposed to be their mother, Shiri, was found not to match with any hostage and remained unidentified, the military said, Reuters reported.

The family of hostage Oded Lifshitz, said in a statement that his body had been formally identified.

There was no immediate reaction from Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier vowed revenge on Hamas after the group released the remains of what it said were four hostages, including that of Kfir and Ariel, the youngest of those abducted during the October 7, 2023, attack.

Palestinian militants handed over four black coffins in a carefully orchestrated public display as a crowd of Palestinians and dozens of armed Hamas militants watched, creating a spectacle which was condemned by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The purported remains of the boys, their mother and Lifshitz, were handed over under the Gaza ceasefire agreement reached last month with the backing of the United States and the mediation of Qatar and Egypt.

 

 

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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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