WASHINGTON: The US on Tuesday imposed sanctions on seven people and four companies in China, Russia and Turkiye who officials allege are connected with the development of Iran’s drone program.
The US accuses Iran of supplying Russia with drones used to bomb Ukrainian civilians as the Kremlin continues its invasion of Ukraine.
The latest development comes after Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi denied his country had sent drones to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine.
“We are against the war in Ukraine,” President Raisi said Monday as he met with media executives on the sidelines of the world’s premier global conference, the high-level leaders’ meeting at the UN General Assembly.
The parties sanctioned Tuesday by Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control include: An Iranian drone company previously sanctioned in 2008, now doing business as Shahin Co., its managing executives, a group of Russian parts manufacturers and two Turkish money exchangers, Mehmet Tokdemir and Alaaddin Aykut.
Treasury said the action builds on a set of sanctions it issued last March, when Treasury sanctioned 39 firms linked to an alleged shadow banking system that helped to obfuscate financial activity between sanctioned Iranian firms and their foreign buyers, namely for petrochemicals produced in Iran.
Brian E. Nelson, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said Iran’s “continued, deliberate proliferation” of its drone program enables Russia “and other destabilizing actors to undermine global stability.”
“The United States will continue to take action” against Iran’s drone program, he said.
Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the State Department, said the US “will continue to use every tool at our disposal to disrupt these efforts and will work with Allies and partners to hold Iran accountable for its actions.”
Among other things, the sanctions deny the people and firms access to any property or financial assets held in the US and prevent US companies and citizens from doing business with them.
Tensions between the US and Iran remain high, despite the release of five American detainees from Iran this week in exchange for the release of nearly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
US issues more sanctions over Iran drone program after nation’s president denies supplying Russia
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US issues more sanctions over Iran drone program after nation’s president denies supplying Russia
- The US accuses Iran of supplying Russia with drones used to bomb Ukrainian civilians as the Kremlin continues its invasion of Ukraine
- The latest development comes after Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi denied his country had sent drones to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine
15 killed in head-on road crash in South Africa
- South Africa has a sophisticated and busy road network
- Road accidents claimed more than 11,800 lives in 2023
JOHANNESBURG: A night-time collision between a packed minibus taxi and a pick-up truck has killed 15 people in rural South Africa, a transport official said on Sunday.
Five people were in hospital with serious injuries after the crash at around midnight on Saturday to Sunday near the Eastern Cape town of Maqoma, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of Johannesburg, provincial transport spokesman Unathi Binqose official told broadcaster Newzroom Afrika.
The drivers of both vehicles were among the dead and an inquest would be opened to determine what happened, Binqose said.
The victims included 13 passengers in the minibus, which was reportedly traveling from the town of Qonce to Cape Town, a journey of nearly 1,000 kilometers.
South Africa has a sophisticated and busy road network. It also has a high rate of road deaths, blamed mostly on speeding, reckless driving and unroadworthy vehicles.
Road accidents claimed more than 11,800 lives in 2023, with pedestrians making up around 45 percent of the victims, according to the latest data from the Road Traffic Management Corporation.
Putin says he hopes there will be no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine
- Fear of nuclear escalation has been a factor in US officials’ thinking since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said in comments broadcast on Sunday said that the need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine had not arisen, and that he hoped it would not arise.
In a fragment of an upcoming interview with Russian state television published on Telegram, Putin said that Russia has the strength and the means to bring the conflict in Ukraine to a “logical conclusion.”
Responding to a question about Ukrainian strikes on Russia from a state television reporter, Putin said: “There has been no need to use those (nuclear) weapons ... and I hope they will not be required.”
He said: “We have enough strength and means to bring what was started in 2022 to a logical conclusion with the outcome Russia requires.”
Putin in February 2022 ordered tens of thousands of Russian troops into Ukraine, in what the Kremlin calls a “special military operation” against its neighbor.
Though Russian troops were repelled from Kyiv, Moscow’s forces currently control around 20 percent of Ukraine, including much of the south and east.
Putin has in recent weeks expressed willingness to negotiate a peace settlement, as US President Donald Trump has said he wants to end the conflict via diplomatic means.
Fear of nuclear escalation has been a factor in US officials’ thinking since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022. Former CIA Director William Burns has said there was a real risk in late 2022 that Russia could use nuclear weapons against Ukraine.
Chinese president to visit Russia on May 7-10
MOSCOW : Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Russia on May 7-10 and join Vladimir Putin at the 80th commemoration of the Allied victory against Nazi Germany, the Kremlin said on Sunday.
The Russian president’s office said Xi would also hold bilateral talks with Putin and the two were expected to sign “a series of bilateral documents.”
Vehicle crashes into entrance at Manila airport, killing 2 people including a 4-year-old girl
- Dozens of emergency personnel could be seen at Ninoy Aquino International Airport surrounding a black SUV that had rammed into a wall by an entrance
MANILA, Philippines: A vehicle crashed into an entrance at Manila’s airport on Sunday morning, leaving two people dead including a 4-year-old girl, according to the Philippine Red Cross.
The other victim was an adult male, the humanitarian group said in a statement.
Other people were injured in the incident and the driver of the vehicle was in police custody, according to the airport’s operator, New NAIA Infra Co, and the Red Cross.
Dozens of emergency personnel could be seen at Ninoy Aquino International Airport surrounding a black SUV that had rammed into a wall by an entrance. The vehicle was later removed from the site.
The airport operator said it is coordinating with the authorities to investigate the incident.
Australia’s reelected government says US-China tussle a top priority
- Government sees US-China trade war, global economy as priorities
- Albanese emphasizes disciplined government, unity after decisive reelection victory
SYDNEY, Australia: Australia’s Labor government will prioritize dealing with the “dark shadow” of the US-China trade war following its resounding re-election victory, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Sunday, after a campaign that highlighted concerns over US trade policy and the global economy.
Labour Party leader Anthony Albanese, Australia’s first prime minister to win a second consecutive term in two decades, promised in remarks on Sunday that he would run a disciplined and orderly government, stressing that Australians had voted for unity.
The center-left Labour Party appeared likely to expand its majority in parliament to at least 86 seats from 77, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. projected, after most polls had suggested it would struggle to keep its slim hold on the 150-seat lower house. About three-quarters of votes have been tallied, with counting to resume on Monday.
Echoing an election in Canada less than a week earlier, Australia’s conservative opposition leader, Peter Dutton, lost his seat as voters, who initially focused on cost-of-living pressures, grew increasingly concerned over US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs and other policies.
“We will be a disciplined, orderly government in our second term, just like we have been in our first,” Albanese told reporters while visiting a coffee shop in his Sydney electorate where he said his late mother took him as a child.
“The Australian people voted for unity rather than division,” Albanese added in brief public comments.
Polls had shown Labor trailing the opposition conservative coalition for nine months until March, amid widespread angst about the government’s handling of inflation.
But the polls flipped when the conservatives unveiled a proposal to slash the federal workforce, which was compared to the Trump administration’s moves to cut back government agencies. A proposal to force federal workers back to the office five days a week was also criticized as unfair to women.
Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement added to voters’ unease as it sent shockwaves through global markets and raised concerns about the impact on their pension funds.
“The immediate focus is on global economic uncertainty, US and China, and what it means for us,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“What’s happening, particularly between the US and China, does cast a dark shadow over the global economy ... We need to have the ability, and we will have the ability, to manage that uncertainty.”
Representatives of the US and China joined leaders from around the world congratulating Albanese and his party.
The US “looks forward to deepening its relationship with Australia to advance our common interests and promote freedom and stability in the Indo-Pacific and globally,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said the country “stands ready to work with the new Australian government (to) continue advancing a more mature, stable, and productive comprehensive strategic partnership.”
Senior figures in Australia’s conservative coalition meanwhile began apportioning blame for the loss as it begins the search for a new leader.
Mark Speakman, leader of the coalition’s main Liberal party for the state of New South Wales, said the party needed to connect its values of “aspiration, innovation and opportunity” to “modern day NSW, including for women and people from non-English speaking backgrounds.”
Simon Birmingham, a former finance minister who quit before the election, said in a LinkedIn post that “there must be a reshaping of the party to connect it with the modern Australian community.”
“Based on who’s not voting Liberal, it must start with women,” Birmingham wrote. “Based on where they’re not voting Liberal, it must focus on metropolitan Australia.”
