Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani has expressed Tehran's readiness to expand joint military drills with China as part of a bid to further develop bilateral strategic ties and counter the West’s persisting unilateralism.
Underlining that the United States is currently engaged in fomenting crisis and tension in Eastern Europe and West Asia, Ashtiani insisted during a Saturday meeting with his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in India's capital of New Delhi that “American policies are a common threat to Iran and China; we are against a unipolar world.”
Stressing that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has turned into an influential organization in global developments, Ashtiani said the expansion and consolidation of the SCO is an effective step towards promoting multilateralism in the international arena.
The Iranian defense chief further pointed to significant changes in the regional and international issues, and added that the two countries have invariably collaborated to thwart the implementation of “unilateralist and totalitarian approaches” pursued by the West in independent countries.
The defense minister referred to last month’s joint naval drills between Iran, China and Russia, dubbed Maritime Security Belt exercise 2023, saying, “This showed that the three countries are against the hegemonic views of the West and the United States, and we are ready to expand joint drills and exercises in the fields of sea, land, and air defense quantitatively and qualitatively.”
Ashtiani further state, “It will be very useful and productive for both sides to continue the dialogue and engage in exchanges of military defense and intelligence delegations at different levels.”
Ashtiani also lauded shared cultural and historical relations between Iran and China, saying the political will of the leaders of the two countries as well as the understanding and adoption of common positions towards international developments are of strategic value.......more below
US President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday the upcoming start of ground strikes against drug cartel targets in Latin America.
He made the remarks during Christmas greetings to the military.
Trump said the United States was "now going after the land" in its fight against drug cartel targets, noting that drug trafficking by sea was down 96 percent.
The U.S. president also extended special congratulations to the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, currently deployed in the Caribbean.
BEIJING (Sputnik) - China has begun operating the world's first intelligent ultra-large oil tanker powered by methanol, the China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Monday.
The tanker, designed to transport crude oil, was successfully put into operation in the city of Dalian in China's northeastern coastal province of Liaoning, the report said. State-owned company Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd independently designed and built the vessel, it added.
The tanker is approximately 333 meters (1,092 feet) long and can carry around 2.1 million barrels of crude oil, the CCTV reported. Designed to produce low emissions and having intelligent control capabilities, the tanker will serve the route to the Middle East, among others, according to the report.
The vessel is powered by a dual-fuel methanol engine, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 92% compared to conventional fuel, the CCTV reported. It is equipped with an intelligent ship platform, an intelligent liquid cargo ...
A car bomb has killed a senior General Staff member, officials have confirmed
Source: The Investigative Committee
A Russian general has been killed in a car bomb blast in Moscow, the Investigative Committee has reported.
Officials identified the victim as Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of operational training at the General Staff. According to the statement, an explosive device had been planted beneath the vehicle he was traveling in, and detonated on Monday morning in the southern part of the Russian capital.
The blast also damaged several other vehicles and seriously injured Sarvarov’s driver, media reports stated.
Russian officials said one line of investigation is an assassination carried out by Ukrainian intelligence services, noting that Kiev has previously used explosive devices in targeted killings of officials and public figures.
Last December, a bomb hidden in an e-scooter killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, commander of Russia’s Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense ...
