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Pakistan says reserves right to import gas from Iran despite US objections

By
IFP Media Wire
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Iran Pakistan Gas Pipeline

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told reporters after a parliament session on Monday that Pakistan has the right to benefit from an economic supply of natural gas from Iran, saying that the US should understand Pakistan’s problems for importing energy at exorbitant prices in international markets.

He added that Iran can supply energy to Pakistan in an easy way and at a fair price.

The minister stated that the US should come up with an alternative solution if it is opposed to the gas transfer project from Iran to Pakistan.

The comments come days after US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu told a Congressional hearing that the US government was working to prevent the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project. He said that Islamabad had not requested a waiver from US sanctions on Iran to conduct gas trade with its western neighbor.

However, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in response that Pakistan does not need a sanctions waiver to build pipelines to import natural gas from Iran.

Pakistan approved earlier this year to start the construction of an 80-kilometer pipeline from its border with Iran to its southwestern port city of Gwadar. That came just as the country was nearing a deadline set by Iran to start pipeline construction under the 2009 agreement or face international legal action.

Based on the Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement signed in June 2009, Iran would supply 750 million to 1 billion cubic feet (up to 28.3 million cubic meters) per day of natural gas to Pakistan.

However, the project has stalled despite the fact that Iran finished building a 900-kilometer pipeline on its side of the border in 2011 as part of the agreement with Pakistan.

Ukraine attacks oil refinery in Tatarstan, deepest inside Russian territory since outbreak of war

By
IFP Media Wire
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Russia Ukraine War

A Ukrainian drone attack hit the primary oil refining unit of a major Russian oil refinery in the Tatarstan region in an attack conducted by the SBU security service and GUR military spy agency, a Kyiv intelligence source told the Reuters news agency.

The source added that the strike caused a fire at the facility and that similar attacks would continue in order to reduce Russia’s oil revenue.

The region is located some 650 km east of Moscow, and had not previously been directly impacted by the Ukraine conflict.

Local authorities in Russia’s Tatarstan, east of Moscow, stated drones had attacked industrial sites and wounded several people.

Tatarstan leader Rustam Mannikhanov said Elabuga and the nearby city of Nizhnekamsk came under drone attacks, adding that no serious damage was inflicted by the kamikaze aircraft.

The primary target appeared to be the industrial zone in Elabuga. Its chief manager Timur Shagivaleev added that two drones were involved, and implied that Ukraine was responsible.

According to TASS, medics do not consider any of the individuals to be seriously injured. Some reportedly did not require hospital treatment.

An industry source told Reuters on condition of anonymity the damage done by a drone attack on Russia’s Taneco oil refinery is not critical,

A fire broke out at the refinery that was extinguished within 20 minutes, the state news agency RIA said, adding that production had not been disrupted.

Ayatollah Khamenei referring to Israel’s raid on Iran consulate in Damascus: We will make them regret committing crime

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Ayatollah Khamenei

Ayatollah Khamenei’s message on Tuesday read, “The evil regime will be punished at the hands of our brave men. We will make them regret this crime and others like that, by God’s will.”

The Israeli missile attack from the occupied Golan Heights targeted the Iranian consulate in Damascus and left seven senior commanders and military advisors with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)’s Quds Force, including senior commander General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, killed.

In his message, Ayatollah Khamenei praised the character of General Zahedi and his comrades for their decades-long struggle and prayed for them.

US responsible for Gaza carnage: Hamas

By
IFP Media Wire
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Gaza War

Hamas issued a statement on Monday after the “terrorist” Israeli occupation army retreated from Gaza’s Al-Shifa Medical Complex and its surroundings after a two-week siege.

It said Israel’s savage acts against the health sector and hospitals are carried out with American weapons and all forms of military and political support.

In a statement on Monday, the Gaza Health Ministry announced Israeli forces have withdrawn tanks and vehicles from Al-Shifa Hospital after a two-week siege of the medical complex.

It emphasized that Israel retreated from the hospital “after burning down the complex buildings and putting it completely out of service”.

It added that Israel’s horrific crime in the Shifa hospital revealed the nature of this rogue fascist entity, which is deviant from the values of civilization and humanity.

Continued Israeli crimes exceed all bounds and aim to execute the most heinous genocidal wars against civilians and civil infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, Hamas said.

It criticized the world bodies and states for remaining silent in the face of Israel’s crimes, which are fully and unlimitedly supported by the Biden administration.

Hamas called on the international community and the United Nations to condemn Israel’s atrocious crime against the Al-Shifa hospital, its surroundings and the citizens therein. It also asked them to immediately enter the Gaza City and witness the scale of the crime it has been subjected to.

The resistance group urged international judicial bodies, particularly the International Criminal Court, to start actual procedures to investigate Israel’s atrocities in the Al-Shifa hospital and its surroundings and in all the regime’s crimes over the last six months.

It added international judicial bodies are required to carry out their mandated mission to hold the Israeli leaders accountable and bring them to justice.

Hamas once again reiterated that Israeli crimes “will not weaken the resolve of our steadfast people and our valiant resistance, which confronts the barbaric aggression with all heroism and sacrifice.”

“We call on the free people of the world and the masses of our Arab and Muslim nation to rise up, intensify their pressing movement against this savage enemy and its supporters, and provide all forms of support and backing to our Palestinian people and their resistance,” the statement read.

On March 18, heavily armed Israeli forces stormed the hospital, using tanks and drones, and fired at people inside the complex.

The Israeli military claimed that the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement is using the facility to “conduct and promote terrorist activity”.

Gaza’s media office announced in a statement that more than 400 Palestinians have lost their lives during the Israeli military’s raid on Al-Shifa hospital during a two-week deadly raid.

The media office of the Resistance Committees in Palestine said on Monday that the United Nations, the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court should begin an immediate and urgent investigation into Israel’s heinous crimes and punish and boycott the regime and its criminal leaders.

In a statement on Monday, it added that the horrific massacres in the Al-Shifa hospital requires the free nations across the world “to go out to the streets of their capitals and besiege the embassies of the Zionist entity and the United States until this holocaust on our people in Gaza stops”.

Israel’s heinous slaughter, the horrific crimes, and the genocide in the hospital and its surroundings reaffirmed the true face of the “Nazi Zionist enemy”, its supporters in the criminal US administration, and their endeavor, the statement emphasized.

President Raisi: Israel’s attack on Iran’s consulate in Damascus ‘won’t go unanswered’

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Ebrahim Raisi

In a message released to the media on Tuesday, President Raisi said “the inhuman aggression was a clear violation of international regulations,” adding the Israeli regime has resorted to “blind assassinations” after it failed to achieve its goals in the fight against the Palestinian resistance movement.

“Having failed to destroy the will of the resistance front, the Zionist regime has put blind assassinations back on its agenda to save itself. It must know that it will never achieve its goals and that this inhumane crime will not go unanswered,” President Raisi said, according to state media.

The Israeli regime leveled Iran’s Consulate General in Damascus to the ground on Monday evening in a missiles strike from the occupied Golan Heights.

The attack left seven Iranian military advisors and commanders affiliated with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)’s Quds Force, including senior commander General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, dead.

Iran says sent “important message” to US following Israel’s deadly attack on Syria mission

By
IFP Media Wire
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Hossein Amirabdollahian

Amirabdollahian made the remarks in a post on X, formerly Twitter, in early Tuesday.

The Monday attack resulted in the martyrdom of Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), his deputy, and five of their accompanying officers. Iran’s Ambassador to Damascus Hossein Akbari confirmed that the attack had resulted in the martyrdom of seven people, but said the exact number of the martyrs was yet to be specified.

The minister said Iran’s Foreign Ministry had summoned the chargé d’affaires of Switzerland, which represents Washington’s interests in Tehran, after the attack.

“During the summoning, the dimensions of the Israeli regime’s terrorist attack and crime were explained, and the American administration’s responsibility underlined,” read the post by the Iranian top diplomat.

“An important message was relayed to the American administration as the Zionist regime’s supporter,” it noted.

“The United States should be answerable.”

The US has historically acted as the regime’s biggest ally, providing it with billions of dollars in terms of military aid on an annual basis and shielding Tel Aviv against condemnatory and punitive measures at the United Nations by vetoing those measures.

Iranian journalist: Iran should strike Israel’s diplomatic missions

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Israeli strike on Iranian consulate in Syria

Hossein Shariatmadari, wrote in an article on Tuesday, “The Zionist regime has launched a military attack on the Iranian consulate in a third country, contrary to the well-known international law. Therefore, based on the principle of “retaliation”, attacking the fake Israeli regime’s embassies and consulates in any other countries is the Islamic Republic of Iran’s absolute right.”

The chief editor of Kayhan newspaper also slammed the United Nations for recognizing the Israeli regime, saying “It should firstly, recognize the Vienna Convention and secondly, respect the well-known principle of retaliation in international law and support Iran’s attack on the fake Israeli regime’s diplomatic centers.”

The Israeli regime fired 6 missiles from the occupied Golan Heights at Iran’s Consulate General in Damascus on Monday evening, killing seven Iranian military advisors and commanders affiliated with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)’s Quds Force.

Senior IRGC commander General Mohammad Reza Zahedi along with his comrades were killed in the strike.

White House claims Israel agreed to take US concerns over Rafah into consideration

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Gaza War

It remains unclear whether the talks on Monday will push Israel to delay or cancel its planned assault on the crowded southern Gaza city, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have taken shelter.

Officials from both countries had a “constructive engagement on Rafa”, the White House said in a statement.

The meeting was attended by government experts and senior representatives, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and his Israeli counterpart Tzachi Hanegbi, according to the statement.

“The US side expressed its concerns with various courses of action in Rafah. The Israeli side agreed to take these concerns into account and to have follow up discussions between experts,” the White House announced, adding that further discussions will be held, including another meeting as early as next week.

The possible invasion of Rafah has been a rare point of public disagreement between the administration of US President Joe Biden and Israel.

The city, which sits at the border with Egypt, is now home to more than 1.5 million people, the overwhelming majority of whom have been displaced from their homes by the Israeli offensive. Rafah is also the main gateway for humanitarian aid reaching the territory.

US officials have warned that a ground operation in Gaza would be a “mistake”, stressing that civilians trapped in the city have nowhere else to go. Washington has also expressed concern over a ground assault’s potential effects on the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

But Israel has emphasised that a major attack on Rafah is needed to defeat the remaining Hamas battalions.

The US has stressed it shares the goal of eliminating Hamas, but there are alternative methods of targeting the Palestinian group without an all-out Rafah invasion.

Israel’s European allies have also voiced opposition to a Rafah assault.

The talks on Monday had originally been set for last month. But they were rescheduled after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled Israel’s delegation to Washington, DC, in protest of a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire, which the Biden administration did not veto.

Earlier on Monday, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre stated the meeting was held virtually because the US wanted to “move very quickly” on the issue.

“If they are going to move forward with a military operation, we have to have this conversation. We have to understand how they’re going to move forward,” Jean-Pierre told reporters.

Despite cautioning against a Rafah invasion, the Biden administration has said repeatedly that there are no red lines in Gaza that would hinder the US aid and weapons transfers to Israel.

The war on Gaza has killed close to 33,000 Palestinians, and Israel’s blockade of the territory has brought it to the verge of famine.

Aid workers including UK, US and Australian citizens killed in Israeli strike in Gaza

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Aid Workers Gaza

The workers from the UK, Australia, Poland, Palestine, as well as a dual citizen of the US and Canada, were travelling in two armoured cars branded with the charity’s logo, according to WCK.

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese named the Australian national killed as Zomi Frankcom, and called her work “extraordinarily important”.

“Despite coordinating movements with the IDF, the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route,” WCK said in its statement.

The charity will now pause its operations in the region and says it will make a decision about the future of its work.

The Israel Defense Forces has announced it is “conducting a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident”.

“The IDF makes extensive efforts to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid, and has been working closely with WCK in their vital efforts to provide food and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza,” the statement added.

Albanese stated on Tuesday the government would call in the Israeli ambassador over an incident that was “beyond any reasonable circumstances”, adding: “Australia expects full accountability for the deaths of aid workers, which is completely unacceptable.”

Footage showed the bodies of five of the dead at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah. Several of them wore protective body armour with the charity’s logo. Hospital staff showed three passports belonging to the dead – British, Australian and Polish.

Chef José Andrés, the founder of WCK, said the charity “lost several of our sisters and brothers in an IDF air strike in Gaza”.

“I am heartbroken and grieving for their families and friends and our whole WCK family. These are people…angels…I served alongside in Ukraine, Gaza, Turkey, Morocco, Bahamas, Indonesia. They are not faceless…they are not nameless.”

He added the Israeli government needed to “stop this indiscriminate killing”.

Medical officials stated the group had been helping to deliver food and other supplies to northern Gaza that had arrived hours early by ship.

Al Jazeera slams Israel decision to close network, accuses Netanyahu of “inflammatory slanders”

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Al Jazeera

The Qatar-based outlet accused Netanyahu of resorting to “inflammatory slanders” that jeopardized not only the reputation of Al Jazeera but also the safety and rights of its employees worldwide.

“Al Jazeera holds the Israeli Prime Minister responsible for the safety of its staff and Network premises around the world, following his incitement and this false accusation in a disgraceful manner,” Al Jazeera announced in a statement.

Israel’s parliament approved a law on Monday that would allow the government to temporarily shut down the Al Jazeera news network in Israel.

The law gives the prime minister and the communications minister the authority to order the closure of foreign networks operating temporarily in Israel that are deemed a threat to national security.

Netanyahu has said he intends “to act immediately in accordance with the new law to stop the channel’s activity”, according to a post on X.

Al-Jazeera said attacks against the network had been carried out in a “disgraceful manner”.

“Netanyahu could not find any justifications to offer the world for his ongoing attacks on Al-Jazeera and press freedom except to present new lies and inflammatory slanders against the network and the rights of its employees,” it added.

The network noted it holds Netanyahu “responsible for the safety of its staff”.

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