World Echo

Turkey's long-term contract for importing natural gas from Iran is due to expire in the coming months, and the two countries could hold talks on a possible extension, though no negotiations are underway yet, Turkey's energy minister said on Saturday. The agreement, due to expire in July, provides for the delivery of 9.6 billion cubic metres of gas a year, but actual flows have often fallen short. Turkey imported 7.6 bcm from Iran last year, accounting for 13% of total gas imports. Regulator data show the pipeline last hit the contracted volume in 2022. "According to our forecast, we might need this gas pipeline or the gas flow from Iran for the security of supply of Turkey. There is no ongoing negotiation right now. I think they are busy with so many other things. But we might sit and discuss a potential extension," Alparslan Bayraktar told reporters on the sidelines of a diplomacy forum in the southern Turkish province of Antalya. Read: Strait of Hormuz closed again ...

Ukrainian forces overnight struck two oil refineries in Russia's Samara region and Vysotsk port, which houses a Lukoil terminal, as well as an oil depot in Russia-occupied Crimea, Kyiv's drone forces commander said. The Syzran and Novokuibyshevsk refineries came under the strikes, Robert Brovdi said on the Telegram app. Russia unleashed its deadliest attack so far this year on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other cities Wednesday night, killing at least 17 ‌people, including a 12-year-old child, and wounding scores, in drone and missile strikes, officials said on Thursday. Read: Germany's Merz hosts Ukraine's Zelenskiy for talks in Berlin In Russia, a major Ukrainian drone attack on the Black Sea port of Tuapse killed two people, including a 14-year-old girl, injured seven, and sparked a large fire, Russian officials and media reported. The port is home to a major oil refinery as well as an export hub for oil, coal and fertiliser. Overnight in Kyiv, fires in ​several di...

The Trump administration on Friday renewed a waiver allowing countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil at sea for about a month, even as lawmakers accused the government of going easy on Moscow as its war on Ukraine grinds on. The Treasury Department's waiver lets countries purchase Russian oil and petroleum products loaded on vessels as of Friday through May 16. It replaces a 30-day waiver that expired on April 11 and excludes transactions involving Iran, Cuba and North Korea. The move is part of the administration's effort to control global energy prices that have shot higher during the US-Israeli war with Iran. It came after countries in Asia, suffering from the global energy shock, pressed Washington to allow alternative supplies to reach markets. Reversal by treasury "As negotiations (with Iran) accelerate, Treasury wants to ensure oil is available to those who need it," a Treasury Department spokesperson said. Just two days earlier, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen...

Nearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal in 2025, making it the deadliest year on record for the route, the United Nations refugee agency said on Friday. More than one in seven of the estimated 6,500 Rohingya refugees who attempted the sea crossing last year were reported missing or dead, the highest mortality rate worldwide for refugee and migrant sea journeys, UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva. The dangerous sea crossings have continued into 2026, with more than 2,800 Rohingya embarking on such journeys up until April 13 this year, Baloch said. "This sad and tragic trend continues, this sense of desperation among the Rohingya population," he said. Read: UN looks to boost food security for Rohingya in Bangladesh Deadly maritime journeys have become a recurring feature of a long-running humanitarian crisis resulting from conflict in Myanmar, as members of the Rohingya Muslim minority continue to ris...

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said Tehran rejects any temporary ceasefire and is seeking a comprehensive end to the war across the region. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, Khatibzadeh said any ceasefire must include all conflict zones “from Lebanon to the Red Sea,” describing it as a “red line” for Iran. “We are not accepting any temporary ceasefire,” he said, adding that the cycle of conflict “should end here once and for all.” Khatibzadeh said Pakistan’s mediation aims to achieve that goal. On the Strait of Hormuz, he said the waterway has historically remained open, noting that it lies within Iran’s territorial waters but has long been accessible. Also Read: Trump says Iran war should end 'soon', says Hezbollah should support truce He accused the US and Israel of triggering instability in the region, saying their actions have negatively affected global trade and the wider economy. Khatibzadeh said Iran remains committe...

Iran's ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeed Iravani criticised the draft resolution put forth by Bahrain in close coordination with the Gulf Cooperation Council at a UN General Assembly meeting on April 16 to discuss the vetoing of said draft. The resolution was tabled at the UN Security Council initially on April 7 and was vetoed by China and Russia, which had put forward an alternative, balanced draft resolution to facilitate a negotiated solution. As per Iran's Tasnim News report, Iravani argued that it ignored the root cause of the crisis: the “illegal and savage” war imposed by the United States and Israel against Iran on February 28, assassinating the former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He said in his statement, "During the Council meeting, my delegation made clear that the text was one-sided and ignored the root cause of the crisis: the illegal and savage war of aggression by the United States and Israel against Iran on 28 February 2026." ...