MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Taiwanese Defense Ministry said on Friday that the island’s armed forces registered 31 aircraft and four ships of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) approaching the island during the day.
"31 PLA aircraft and 4 PLAN [People's Liberation Army Navy] vessels around Taiwan were detected by 6 a.m.(UTC+8) today," the ministry said on Twitter.
The ministry added that 12 Chinese aircraft, including six J-11 fighters, three J-16s, two J-10s, and one BZK-007 drone, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait.
In turn, Taiwan sent air and sea patrols to monitor the situation and deployed ground-based missile systems, the ministry noted.
The situation around Taiwan escalated after then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island in early August. Beijing condemned Pelosi's trip, which it regarded as a gesture of support for separatism, and launched large-scale military exercises in the vicinity of the island. Despite this fact, several countries, including France, the US, Japan and others, have since sent their delegations to the island, further increasing tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949.
Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan — a territory with its own elected government — maintains that it is an autonomous country but stops short of declaring independence. Beijing opposes any official contacts of foreign states with Taipei and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island indisputable.
https://sputniknews.com/20230120/china-sends-31-aircraft-4-ships-to-taiwan-strait-taiwanese-defense-ministry-1106511473.html
Mohsen Rezaee, a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, has said preconditions include reparations and security guarantees
For the ongoing conflict between Iran and the US to conclude, the latter must withdraw its military forces from the Persian Gulf, according to a member of the advisory board of Iran’s supreme leader.
Mohsen Rezaee, a retired major general and former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), added that Tehran would also seek full restitution for the damage done and ironclad security guarantees from Washington.
In an interview with Iran’s SNN TV broadcaster published on Saturday, the member of the Expediency Discernment Council said that the “presence of the US in the Persian Gulf has been the main cause of insecurity over the past 50 years.”
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The spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters has accused the United States and Israel of deploying a rebranded copy of Iran’s Shahed-136 drone, designated “Lucas,” to carry out attacks on civilian infrastructure in regional countries as part of a deliberate false-flag operation aimed at framing the Islamic Republic.
In an official statement released today, the spokesman explained that after suffering military setbacks on the battlefield and failing to build political coalitions against Iran, the enemy has resorted to deception.
The statement specifically warned that the objective of these operations is to “create doubt and accuse the Islamic Republic of Iran” while sowing discord between Tehran and its neighbors, thereby undermining the legitimacy of Iran’s defensive actions.
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The IRGC announced the latest wave was carried out using a combination of liquid-fuel and solid-fuel missiles against US terrorist army forces at the Al Kharj Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
According to the IRGC statement, Al Kharj base served as the "origin of aggressions against the Islamic homeland," functioning as the staging ground for US F-35 and F-16 fighter jets involved in attacks on Iran.
The base also houses fuel supply aircraft and serves as the main hub for American AWACS surveillance planes.
Concurrently, the spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters confirmed that the fiftieth wave of the operation struck multiple US terrorist army bases.
They include the Al Dhafra Air Base and Fujairah in the UAE, Jufair in ...