Russia, Syria to hold further talks on Russian military bases in Syria, TASS reports
Updated 29 January 2025
Reuters
DAMASCUS: Russia and Syria will hold further talks regarding Russian military bases in Syria, Russia’s news agencies reported late on Tuesday, citing Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov as telling journalists after his talks with Syrian officials.
“This issue requires additional negotiations,” TASS news agency cited Bogdanov as saying. Bogdanov is heading Russia’s delegation to Damascus for the first time since Moscow’s ally President Bashar Assad was toppled.
He added that so far there have been no changes to the presence of Russian military bases in the country.
US military to create two new border zones, officials say
A new “National Defense Area” will be created covering about 250 miles (402 km) of the Rio Grande river in Texas
Updated 26 June 2025
Reuters
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon will create two new military zones along the border with Mexico, US officials said on Wednesday, a move that allows troops to temporarily detain migrants or trespassers. President Donald Trump’s administration has hailed its actions along the border, including the deployment of active duty troops, as the reason for a sharp decline in crossings by undocumented migrants. Trump made voters’ concerns about immigration a cornerstone of his 2024 re-election bid.
The Pentagon has already created two military zones, but only four people have been temporarily detained on them, a US official said.
A new “National Defense Area” will be created covering about 250 miles (402 km) of the Rio Grande river in Texas and administered as a part of Joint Base San Antonio, according to the Air Force.
The US officials said the other military zone would be administered as a part of Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Arizona.
The zones are intended to allow the Trump administration to use troops to detain migrants without invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act that empowers a president to deploy the US military to suppress events such as civil disorder.
As legal deterrents to border crossers, the zones have had mixed results. Federal magistrate judges in New Mexico and Texas dismissed trespassing charges against dozens of migrants caught in the areas on grounds they did not know they were in a restricted military zone.
However, some 120 migrants pleaded guilty to trespassing in the first Texas zone in May and federal prosecutors obtained their first two trespassing convictions for the New Mexico zone on June 18, according to US Attorneys’ Offices in the two states.
Around 11,900 troops are currently on the border.
Illegal border crossings fell to a record low in March after the Biden administration shut down asylum claims in 2024 and Mexico tightened immigration controls.
Governor of Qassim praises heritage center for preserving region’s culture and history
Prince Faisal bin Mishaal highlights the ways in which the Cultural Heritage Center helps boost national pride in the Kingdom’s historical and cultural identity
He tours exhibits that showcase the region’s various historical eras and feature a wide range of treasures, including prehistoric and pre-Islamic artifacts
Updated 26 June 2025
Arab News
RIYADH: The governor of Qassim, Prince Faisal bin Mishaal, praised a cultural center on Wednesday for the work it is doing to preserve and showcase the region’s rich history and heritage.
During a tour of the Cultural Heritage Center in Qassim he saw displays devoted to various historical eras and learned about the methods used to preserve the region’s historical and cultural assets, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The prince highlighted the important role the facility plays in shining a light on the region’s cultural heritage, and showcasing key historical artifacts dating back as far as ancient times from sites closely linked to the history and evolution of the Saudi state.
The center, which is part of the regional branch of the Saudi Heritage Commission, has displays that showcase the different historical eras of the region and feature a wide range of exhibits, including prehistoric artifacts and pre-Islamic treasures.
One exhibition is dedicated to Islamic-era Qassim, others to historic pilgrimage routes, architectural heritage sites, and the region’s intangible cultural heritage. There is also an interactive room for children, and a handicrafts section.
Prince Faisal praised the work of the Heritage Commission and highlighted the ways in which its efforts contribute to national pride in the Kingdom’s heritage and its historical identity.
He was accompanied during his visit by Ibrahim Al-Mushaikih, director of the commission’s regional branch, and other officials.
Al-Mushaikih said the governor’s visit represented a significant step in the development of the facility. He invited people from all parts of Saudi society to pay a visit and see for themselves the comprehensive information it offers about Qassim’s archaeological and heritage sites through enjoyable experiences and interactive displays.
Borussia Dortmund defeat Ulsan HD 1-0 to win Group F
With the victory, as well as a draw by Fluminense, Dortmund (2-0-1, 7 points) claims the top spot in Group F to earn a July 1 matchup in the Club World Cup’s round of 16 in Atlanta
Updated 26 June 2025
Reuters
A 36th-minute goal from Daniel Svensson was all Borussia Dortmund needed to put away winless Ulsan HD in a 1-0 Group F win in Cincinnati on Wednesday.
With the victory, as well as a draw by Fluminense, Dortmund (2-0-1, 7 points) claims the top spot in Group F to earn a July 1 matchup in the Club World Cup’s round of 16 in Atlanta with an opponent that has yet to be determined. Fluminsense, which could have won the group with a victory over Mamelodi Sundowns, also moves on to the knockouts as the group’s No. 2 seed.
While the score indicates a close match, Dortmund dominated the pitch, putting 11 shots on goal among their 28 overall attempts. Compare that with Ulsan’s three shot attempts, all on goal and all occurring within a 16-minute period in the second half.
Dortmund put the pressure on early and often to open the match, ripping off 20 shots — eight on goal — in the first half. While Ulsan didn’t even get a shot off during the first 45 minutes plus stoppage time, goalkeeper Jo Hyeon- woo continued to deny Dortmund with seven saves.
That included a seven-minute stretch midway through the first half during which BVB put four shots on goal, only for Hyeon-woo to turn away each attempt.
Dortmund did not relent, however, and it paid off in the 36th minute as Svensson collected a touch pass from Jobe Bellingham in the box and put a left-footed shot past the keeper to put BVB in front 1-0.
Both Serhou Guirassy and Bellingham had prime chances to add to that advantage in the closing minutes of the half. Again, though, Hyeon-woo stood his ground to keep Dortmund from extending its lead.
Ulsan strung together their first strong chances at goal early in the second half. In the 48th minute, Kang Sang-Woo’s attempt from the right side of the box was saved by BVB’s Gregor Kobel. The goalkeeper was tested again in the 60th and 64th minutes as Kobel saved left-footed blasts by Lee Jin-Hyun and Ko Seung-Beom, respectively, to maintain the one-goal edge.
That was all that Ulsan (0-3-0, 0 points) could muster, however, as the South Korean side wrapped up Club World Cup play last in Group F. Hyeon-woo finished the day with 10 saves.
Palestinian student sues Michigan school over teacher’s reaction to her refusal to stand for Pledge
Danielle “suffered extensive emotional and social injuries,” including nightmares, stress and strained friendships, the lawsuit says
Updated 26 June 2025
AP
DETROIT: The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of a 14-year-old student who said a teacher humiliated her for refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance in protest of US support of Israel’s war in Gaza.
Danielle Khalaf’s teacher told her, “Since you live in this country and enjoy its freedom, if you don’t like it, you should go back to your country,” according to the lawsuit.
Danielle, whose family is of Palestinian descent, declined to recite the Pledge over three days in January.
“We can only marvel at the conviction and incredible courage it took for her to follow her conscience and her heart,” ACLU attorney Mark Fancher said.
The lawsuit says her teacher admonished her and told her she was being disrespectful.
As a result, Danielle “suffered extensive emotional and social injuries,” including nightmares, stress and strained friendships, the lawsuit says.
The ACLU and the Arab American Civil Rights League said Danielle’s First Amendment rights were violated, and the lawsuit seeks a financial award.
“It was traumatizing, it hurt and I know she could do that to other people,” Danielle said at a news conference in February, referring to the teacher’s treatment.
At that time, the school district said it had taken “appropriate action,” though it didn’t elaborate.
“Discrimination in any form is not tolerated by Plymouth-Canton Community Schools and is taken very seriously,” the district said.
The school district declined Wednesday to comment further, citing the litigation.
Michigan has more than 300,000 residents of Middle Eastern or North African descent, second in the US behind California, according to the Census Bureau.
Can US-Iran nuclear diplomacy still work after strikes?
Trump tells NATO summit US strikes ‘obliterated’ nuclear sites, says ‘we’re going to talk’ with Iran next week, may sign an agreement
Analysts say inconclusive strikes may push parties back to the negotiating table — only this time including regional powers
Updated 9 min 43 sec ago
Jonathan Gornall
LONDON: Speaking at the NATO summit in The Hague on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump indicated that the door is open to diplomacy with Iran, just days after he ordered B-2 bombers to attack Iranian nuclear facilities.
Trump once more hailed what he calls the “massive, precision strike” on three of Iran’s nuclear sites, Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, on June 22, adding that “no other military on Earth could have done it.”
His comments followed claims in a leaked assessment by the US Defense Intelligence Agency suggesting the US strikes had failed to destroy Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium or its centrifuges — succeeding only in setting back the program mere months.
In response to the leaked report, Trump doubled down on earlier statements that Tehran’s nuclear program had been “obliterated.” He went on to say “we’re going to talk” with Iran next week, adding they may sign an agreement.
A map showing the Strait of Hormuz and Iran is seen behind a 3D printed miniature of US President Donald Trump in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. (REUTERS)
Asked if Washington is planning to lift sanctions on Iran, Trump said the Iranians “just had a war” and they “fought it bravely,” adding that China can buy oil from Iran if it wants, as the country will “need money to get back into shape.”
Whether Trump’s comments are a sign that the US intends to draft a new nuclear deal with Iran remains to be seen. What such a deal might look like in the wake of the past fortnight’s events is also anyone’s guess. One thing that is clear is that diplomacy seems the only viable option.
It was almost 10 years ago, on July 14, 2015, that representatives of the US, China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK, EU and Iran gathered in Vienna to finalize the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, better known simply as the Iran nuclear deal.
In exchange for sanctions relief, among other things, Iran agreed to limit enrichment of a reduced stockpile of 300 kg of uranium to 3.7 percent — insufficient to produce a bomb but aligned with its claims that its nuclear program was designed solely for generating electricity.
The architect of the deal, which was several years in the making, was US President Barack Obama, who said “principled diplomacy and … America’s willingness to engage directly with Iran opened the door to talks.”
This photo taken on January 17, 2016, shows US President Barack Obama speaking about US-Iranian relations at the White House after the lifting of international sanctions against Iran as part of a nuclear deal capped by a US-Iranian prisoner exchange. (AFP)
Within three years, the deal was in ruins, undone by Obama’s successor, Donald Trump.
According to inspectors from the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, Iran had been sticking to its side of the bargain. But on May 8, 2018, during his first term as president, Trump unilaterally terminated America’s participation in the JCPOA and reimposed sanctions.
Iran, he said, had “negotiated the JCPOA in bad faith, and the deal gave the Iranian regime too much in exchange for too little.”
This week, in the wake of Israel’s surprise attack targeting the heart of Iran’s nuclear program — and Trump’s equally surprise decision to join in — the prospect of reviving any kind of deal with Tehran might seem distant, at best.
But some analysts believe that a new nuclear rapprochement between the US and Iran could be closer than ever — and not only despite the clashes of the past two weeks, but perhaps because of them.
Ibrahim Al-Marashi, associate professor in the Department of History at California State University San Marcos, said there was no doubt that “among the Iranian public, previously ambivalent about the nuclear issue, the optics of being bombed for programs still under IAEA inspection may rally new domestic support for pursuing a deterrent.”
Combination of satellite images showing the Isfahan nuclear site in Iran before (top) and after it was bombed by US warplanes on June 2, 2025. (Maxar Technologies via AP)
Furthermore, the attacks by Israel and the US have also “degraded the credibility of international institutions such as the IAEA.
“When countries that comply with inspections and international law are attacked anyway, it undermines the incentive structure that sustains the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons regime, NPT, which Iran ratified in 1970, and the Islamic Republic of Iran endorsed in 1996.
“Why sign treaties or allow inspectors in if they do not shield you from military coercion? This is a dangerous message.”
But, he added, “diplomatic alternatives were, and still are, available” and, for all its flaws, the JCPOA model is not a bad one to consider.
“The 2015 deal, although imperfect, successfully rolled back large portions of Iran’s nuclear program and subjected it to the most intrusive inspection regime in the world,” he said.
“Its collapse was not inevitable; it was a political choice, dismantled by unilateral US withdrawal. Efforts to revive the deal have sputtered, and with the bombs falling the path back to diplomacy looked more distant than ever.
“But it is the only path that has worked before — and the only one likely to work again.”
But only with key adjustments.
As Saudi Arabia and other members of the GCC argued at the time, the JCPOA — put together in great secrecy and without consulting the Gulf states — was insufficiently tough and always doomed to fail.
Now experts argue that a return to diplomacy is not only vital for the stability of the region but that any new nuclear deal must be framed with the direct input of those states most exposed to the consequences of diplomatic failure: the Arab Gulf states.
“All that is true,” said Sir John Jenkins, former UK ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Syria.
“The core point is that the JCPOA bought us between 10 and 15 years, depending on the issue and the associated sunset clause. That was designed to provide time for a new regime to be put in place to contain and deter Iran after the JCPOA expired — which would now only be five years away.
“But the Obama administration, followed by the E3 (the security coalition of the UK, Germany and France), seemed to think that once it had been signed it was such a wonderful achievement that they could turn to other things entirely. That was a mistake.
“This time it needs to be different. And there is an opportunity to start constructing a new security order in the region which involves regional states from the moment of creation rather than as some afterthought.”
This infographic released by the White House under President Barack Obama in 2015 explained how the nuclear deal with Iran was supposed to work.
Jim Walsh, senior researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Security Studies Program, is adamant that when Trump pulled the plug in 2018, “the JCPOA was already working.
“Every intelligence agency said that Iran was in compliance with the agreement and I defy you to find one serious entity that was charging that Iran was in violation of the JCPOA in the three years from 2015 to 2018.
“They even hung on to their end of the bargain after Trump pulled out, for a solid year, until it was politically untenable.”
The IAEA had large teams of inspectors on the ground, Iran had agreed to requirements that no country had ever agreed to before, “and this was consistent with what people in my trade would call a capability or latency decision.”
This meant “you have the option so that you can move in that direction if you need to, but you do not cross the line because the costs of crossing it are higher than the benefits.”
And, he says, despite all that has happened since, especially in the past fortnight, Iran is fundamentally in the same place today — ready to deal.
On January, 20, 2014, IAEA inspectors and Iranian technicians cut the connections between the twin cascades for 20 percent uranium production at the nuclear research center of Natanz as Iran halted production of 20 percent enriched uranium, marking the coming into force of an interim deal with world powers on its disputed nuclear program. (AFP/IRNA)
“What is Iran’s leverage here in negotiations with the IAEA or with the Europeans or with the Americans? It’s that they can turn the dial up on enrichment and turn it down, and they can install advanced centrifuges and then take them apart.
“This is part of a political game, because they don’t have a lot of ways to put leverage on their opponents.”
He believes that if Iran really wanted an actual bomb, rather than the threat of one as a bargaining chip, it would have had one by now.
“Producing highly enriched uranium is the technically hardest part of the project, and moving to weaponization is more of an engineering problem.” The fact that Iran has not done so is the real clue to the way ahead.
“I’ve worked for 20 years to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, but it would be hard to argue that they don’t have some justification. Let’s be super clear: the country that’s attacking them, Israel, is a nuclear state.
“But if they wanted to build a bomb, they’ve had 18 years to do so, so someone has to explain to me why that hasn’t happened.
“As far back as 2007 the director of US national intelligence said Iran had the technical wherewithal to build a weapon, and the only remaining obstacle was the political will to do so.”
And, despite Trump’s claim that the US attacks had “obliterated” the Iranian nuclear program, political will may still be all that is preventing Iran becoming a nuclear state.
Dan Sagir, an Israeli researcher and lecturer on the topic of Israel’s own nuclear deterrence and its impact on the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East, says that if the US and Iran do return to the talks that were already underway when Israel launched “Operation Rising Lion” on June 12, “any deal that emerges is not going to be as solid as the previous one.”
“So Trump bombed Fordow,” said Sagir. “But where is the 400 kg of highly enriched uranium? The Iranians, who are very talented in this field, will say, ‘You bombed it. You buried it.’ But do we know that’s correct? We’ll never know.
“If they still have it, they can get the bomb within a year. If they don’t have it, it’s two-and-a-half years. In any case, the game is not over.”
In fact, said Walsh of MIT, there is “every indication” that the uranium, which the IAEA says has been enriched to a near-weapons-grade 60 percent — a claim dismissed by Iran as based on “forged documents provided by the Zionist regime” — is not buried within the Fordow complex.
In this Sept. 27, 2012 file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shows an illustration as he describes his concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions during his address to the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly. (AP Photo/File)
“In May, Iran’s foreign minister warned the IAEA that they would take precautions. On June 13, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization also said they were going to take action, and on that day, according to satellite imagery, a convoy of trucks was outside Fordow, and the next day they were gone.
“So I would guess that they still have a lot of nuclear material somewhere that they could very quickly upgrade to weapons-grade material (which requires 90 percent enrichment).”
Whether or not the current fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran lasts, details emerging of America’s attack on Fordow and the other Iranian nuclear facilities appear only to reinforce the conclusion that a new nuclear deal with Iran is the only way forward.
“You cannot bomb the knowledge of how to build a centrifuge out of the heads of the Iranians,” said Walsh. “You can’t bomb away 18 years of experience.
“This is a big, mature program and dropping a few bombs isn’t going to change that. You can blow up equipment, and kill scientists, but we’re not talking about Robert Oppenheimer (the US physicist who led the team that made the first atomic bomb) in 1945.
“They’ve been at this for 18 years and now we’re at the management phase, not at the invention stage. They’re going to be able to reconstitute that program if they want to. There is no military solution to this problem.”