World Echo

Saudi Arabia has denied allegations that it lobbied US President Donald Trump to carry out military strikes against Iran, dismissing recent media reports as false, the Saudi Gazette reported on Monday. Fahad Nazer, spokesperson for the Saudi Embassy in Washington, said the kingdom has consistently backed diplomatic efforts aimed at securing a credible agreement with Tehran. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been consistent in supporting diplomatic efforts to reach a credible deal with Iran,” Nazer said in a statement posted on social media. “At no point in all our communication with the Trump administration did we lobby the president to adopt a different policy.” Read: Pakistan stands in full solidarity with Saudi Arabia, Gulf countries: PM Nazer’s comments came in response to a report by The Washington Post, which cited four people familiar with the matter as saying President Trump authorised strikes on Iran following weeks of lobbying by Israel and Saudi Arabia. The report added that ...

US and Israeli military strikes on Iran will reinforce the nuclear ambitions of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, say experts and former officials, as attention focuses on whether he might return to negotiations with President Donald Trump. Talks to tackle Pyongyang's arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, subject to heavy international sanctions, broke down despite summits between Kim and Trump in 2018 and 2019, but the attacks on Iran could spur it to reconsider. The Iran strikes, which killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, came two months after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, another leader without a nuclear deterrent, was captured in a raid by US special forces ordered by Trump. "Kim must have thought Iran was attacked like that because it didn't have nuclear weapons," said Song Seong-jong, a professor at Daejeon University and a former official of South Korea's Defence Ministry. The military operation was inevitable, given the "he...

The assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a joint US-Israeli strike has plunged the Islamic Republic into one of the most consequential political transitions since the 1979 revolution, triggering a swift constitutional process to select a new leader while the country grapples with regional escalation and internal uncertainty. Khamenei, who dominated Iran’s political and religious landscape for nearly three decades, was assassinated early Saturday when his high-security residential compound in central Tehran was targeted. Several family members — including his daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law and a grandchild — were also killed in the strike. The attack came as Israel and the US launched coordinated strikes across multiple Iranian cities, including Tehran, reportedly killing more than 200 people, according to health officials. The escalation followed three rounds of indirect nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington — most recently in Geneva on Thursday...

The US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was targeted with four ballistic missiles on Sunday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp said in a statement reported by state media. The USS Lincoln is one of two aircraft carriers deployed to the region in recent weeks and the only one relatively close to Iranian shores. The IRGC in its 4th statement regarding Operation True Promise 4, announced: Following the Iran’s Armed Forces’ actions and the attack on the targets of the US-Israeli enemies, the US military's aircraft carrier, the Abraham Lincoln, was struck by four ballistic missiles. — IRNA News Agency ☫ (@IrnaEnglish) March 1, 2026 Meanwhile, the US military said on Sunday it has sunk an Iranian warship and called on Iranian forces to lay down their arms and leave their posts, Reuters reported. The US Central Command, which is overseeing ongoing US attacks on Iran, said it sunk an Iranian Jamaran-class corvette in the Gulf of Oman at a Chah Bahar pier. "As the Preside...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family was a "cynical" murder that violated all the norms of human morality and international law. "Please accept my deep condolences in connection with the murder of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyed Ali Khamenei, and members of his family, committed in cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law," Putin said in a note to Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian released by the Kremlin. Read: At least 10 killed in Karachi clashes during march towards US Consulate after Khamenei strike "In our country, Ayatollah Khamenei will be remembered as an outstanding statesman who made a huge personal contribution to the development of friendly Russian-Iranian relations and bringing them to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership," Putin said. "I ask you to convey my most ...

Global air travel remained heavily disrupted on Sunday as continued air strikes kept major Middle Eastern airports, including Dubai, the world's busiest international hub, closed in one of the sharpest aviation shocks in recent years. Key transit airports, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE and Doha in Qatar, were shut or severely restricted as much of the region’s airspace remained closed after U.S. and Israeli strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday. Israel said it launched another wave of strikes on Iran on Sunday while loud blasts were heard for a second day near Dubai and over Doha after Iran launched retaliatory air attacks on the neighbouring Gulf states. Dubai International Airport sustained damage during Iran's attacks while airports in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait were also hit. Thousands of flights have been affected across the Middle East, according to data on flight-tracking platform FlightAware. Airspace over Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Isra...