Iran condemns EU, UK sanctions on Tehran, denies providing ballistic missiles to Russia

Iran condemns EU, UK sanctions on Tehran, denies providing ballistic missiles to Russia
The European Union agreed to impose sanctions on seven people and seven organizations. (File/AP)
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Updated 53 min 1 sec ago
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Iran condemns EU, UK sanctions on Tehran, denies providing ballistic missiles to Russia

Iran condemns EU, UK sanctions on Tehran, denies providing ballistic missiles to Russia
  • Baghaei condemned the fresh sanctions as against international law

TEHRAN: Iran condemned new EU and British sanctions on Tehran and denied providing ballistic missiles to Russia, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a post on X on Tuesday.
The European Union agreed on Monday to impose sanctions on seven people and seven organizations, including airline Iran Air, for their links to Iranian transfers of ballistic missiles to Russia.
At the same time, Britain added nine new designations under its Iran sanctions regime.
Last month, the United States, citing intelligence it said had been shared with allies, said Russia had received ballistic missiles from Iran for its war in Ukraine.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei denied his country provided ballistic missiles to Russia.
“Some European countries and the UK have unfortunately claimed without evidence that Iran has militarily intervened in this conflict which is totally refuted,” Baghaei said, referring to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Baghaei condemned the fresh sanctions saying that imposing new sanctions by the European Union and the UK on Iranian individuals and entities goes against international law.
The sanctions would halt all flights by Iranian airlines to Europe, the Secretary of the Association of Iranian Airlines, Maqsoud Asadi Samani, told Iran’s ILNA news agency.
The sanctions listings also include Saha Airlines and Mahan Air and Iran’s Deputy Defense Minister Seyed Hamzeh Ghalandari.
Also facing sanctions under the EU move are prominent officials from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard and the managing directors of Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industries and Aerospace Industries Organization.
The sanctions include an asset freeze and a travel ban to the European Union.


Second phase of Gaza polio campaign starts well despite Israeli strikes: WHO

Second phase of Gaza polio campaign starts well despite Israeli strikes: WHO
Updated 34 min 39 sec ago
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Second phase of Gaza polio campaign starts well despite Israeli strikes: WHO

Second phase of Gaza polio campaign starts well despite Israeli strikes: WHO
  • Aid groups carried out a first round of vaccinations last month

GENEVA: The World Health Organization said on Tuesday it had been able to start its polio campaign in central Gaza and vaccinate tens of thousands of children despite Israeli strikes in the designated protected zone hours before.
As part of an agreement between the Israeli military and Palestinian militant group Hamas, humanitarian pauses in the year-long Gaza war had been due to begin early on Monday to reach hundreds of thousands of children.
However, hours before then, the UN humanitarian office said Israeli forces struck tents near al Aqsa hospital, inside in the zone, where it said four people were burned to death.
The UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said one of its schools in the central Gazan city of Nuseirat, intended as a vaccination site, was hit overnight between Sunday and Monday, killing up to 22 people.
WHO spokesperson Tarik Jašarević told a Geneva press briefing that over 92,000 children, or around half of the children targeted for polio vaccines in the central area, had been inoculated on Monday.
“What we have received from colleagues is that the vaccination went without a major issue yesterday, and we hope It will continue the same way,” he said.
Other humanitarian agencies have previously voiced concerns about the viability of the polio campaign in northern Gaza, where an Israeli offensive is under way.
Aid groups carried out an initial round of vaccinations last month, after a baby was partially paralyzed by the type 2 polio virus in August, in the first such case in the territory in 25 years.


Lebanon PM: Beirut airport security tightened to deter Israeli attack

Lebanon PM: Beirut airport security tightened to deter Israeli attack
Updated 4 sec ago
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Lebanon PM: Beirut airport security tightened to deter Israeli attack

Lebanon PM: Beirut airport security tightened to deter Israeli attack
  • Minister Najib: ‘The government is doing everything in its power to remove any pretexts from the Israelis’ hands’
BEIRUT: Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in an interview Tuesday that security had been tightened in the country’s only airport in Beirut, to remove any pretexts for an Israeli attack.
“The government is doing everything in its power to remove any pretexts from the Israelis’ hands,” he said, adding that “tightened security has been in place for a week at the airport,” located near Hezbollah’s south Beirut stronghold that has seen intense Israeli bombardment.

UN agencies urge more funds for ‘increasing’ Lebanon needs

UN agencies urge more funds for ‘increasing’ Lebanon needs
Updated 15 October 2024
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UN agencies urge more funds for ‘increasing’ Lebanon needs

UN agencies urge more funds for ‘increasing’ Lebanon needs

BEIRUT: Two United Nations agencies on Tuesday called for more funding to address "increasing" needs in Lebanon, where the war between Israel and Hezbollah has displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
"We are preparing for the reality that the needs are increasing," said UNICEF deputy executive director Ted Chaiban and World Food Programme deputy executive director Carl Skau in a joint statement, adding: "We need additional funding, without conditionalities".


One killed in shooting in south Israel: hospital

One killed in shooting in south Israel: hospital
Updated 15 October 2024
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One killed in shooting in south Israel: hospital

One killed in shooting in south Israel: hospital
  • Two injured people from the shooting incident were taken to the hospital

JERUSALEM: One person was killed and another wounded in a shooting attack near the southern Israeli city of Ashdod on Tuesday, a hospital said.
“A short time ago, two injured people from the shooting incident on Route 4 were taken to the hospital. One patient died on his way to the hospital,” the Assuta hospital said in a statement.
Police said officers were at the scene of the shooting near the Yavne South interchange, which is about 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of the Israeli commercial hub Tel Aviv.
“The circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation, and the motive has not yet been established,” police said in a statement.
The shooting comes just days after one person was killed and five wounded during a stabbing rampage in four different locations in the central town of Hadera on Wednesday before the assailant was “neutralized.”
Palestinian militant group Hamas later praised the attack, saying it was a “heroic stabbing operation” and calling “for more painful strikes against the occupation.”
And earlier this month, seven people were killed in a shooting and stabbing claimed by Hamas in Tel Aviv.
Palestinian militants have carried out several attacks on Israelis since October 7 last year, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, sparking war in Gaza.


UN troubled by jailing of political opponents in Tunisia

UN troubled by jailing of political opponents in Tunisia
Updated 15 October 2024
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UN troubled by jailing of political opponents in Tunisia

UN troubled by jailing of political opponents in Tunisia
  • Several candidates were arrested or given heavy prison sentences

GENEVA: The United Nations said Tuesday it was troubled by the presidential election campaign in Tunisia, which had been “marred” by a crackdown on the opposition.
Three years after making a sweeping power grab, Kais Saied was re-elected president of Tunisia with 90.69 percent of the votes cast, the ISIE electoral authority announced Monday.
A low turnout reflected widespread discontent in the cradle of the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings.
Saied had been widely expected to win after the ISIE barred 14 candidates from standing, with other figures jailed.
“Such cases are troubling. Their trials indicate a lack of respect for due process and fair trial guarantees,” UN human rights chief Volker Turk said.
His statement recalled that out of 17 prospective candidates only three were accepted, while a number of presidential hopefuls were arrested and served lengthy prison sentences on various charges.
Meanwhile more than 100 prospective candidates, their campaign members and other political figures were arrested on a variety of charges ranging from falsification of electoral paperwork to issues related to national security.
Turk called on the Tunisian authorities to protect the country’s democratic processes and uphold fundamental freedoms.
“Since 2011, Tunisia had been a pioneer in efforts to ensure accountability and redress for past abuses, including through the work of the Truth and Dignity Commission,” Turk said.
“Unfortunately, a number of these gains have been lost, and the recent arrest of the former head of the commission is an example.”
Rights groups fear Saied’s re-election will entrench his grip on the only democracy to emerge from the 2011 Arab Spring protests.
Turk noted the broader context of increasing pressure on civil society over the past year, targeting numerous journalists, human rights defenders and political opponents, as well as judges and lawyers.
“I strongly urge Tunisia to recommit to transitional justice in the interests of victims, and to embark on much needed rule of law reforms, in line with international human rights law, including with regard to freedoms of expression, assembly and association,” said Turk.
“I also call for the release of all those arbitrarily detained.”
Turk said he was also concerned about the elections authority refusing to apply a ruling by the Administrative Court ordering the readmission of three excluded candidates, with the parliament passing a law removing electoral dispute from the court’s jurisdiction just days before the election.
“The rejection of a legally binding court decision is at odds with basic respect for the rule of law,” said Turk.