03-28 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Russia has long exchanged weapons with Iran and is likely offering satellite support, but lacks the will to do much more
“A bit” is what United States President Donald Trump thinks about the scale of Russia’s military aid to Iran.
Moscow “might be helping them a bit”, he told Fox News on March 13.
A day later, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated laconically that Moscow’s military cooperation with Tehran was “good”.
His words seemed to confirm earlier media reports that Russia is providing Iran with satellite and intelligence data on the locations of US warships and aircraft.
It may not sound like much, given the superiority of Western military satellites and Russia’s battlefield losses and communication problems after Elon Musk’s SpaceX company switched off smuggled Starlink satellite Internet terminals.
But data on US military assets Iran is receiving most likely comes from Liana, Moscow’s only fully functional system of spy satellites, according to an expert on Russia’s space programme and military.
“The [Liana] system has been created to spy on US carrier strike groups and other navy forces and for identifying them as targets,” Pavel Luzin, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, a US think tank, told Al Jazeera.
Eyes in the sky
Russia also played a key role in the development of Iran’s space programme and its key satellite, the Khayyam.
Launched in 2022 from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome, the 650kg (1,430 pound) satellite orbits the Earth at 500 kilometres (310 miles) and has a resolution of one metre (3.3 feet).
Moscow “can, in theory, receive and process data from Iran’s optical imaging satellite and share data from its own several satellites”, Luzin said.
On Wednesday, Tehran claimed to have struck the Abraham Lincoln carrier with multiple cruise and ballistic missiles, but the Pentagon called the claim “pure fiction”.
On Sunday, Iranian media claimed that a “massive blaze” was caused by a strike on a US destroyer refuelling in the Indian Ocean.
Washington did not comment on that strike.
Russia has, for decades, supplied weaponry to Iran, including advanced air defence systems, trainer and fighter jets, helicopters, armoured vehicles and sniper rifles, worth billions of dollars.
Since Washington and Tel Aviv began their strikes on February 28, Russia has continued aiding Iran with “intelligence, data, experts and components” for weaponry, Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, former deputy chief of Ukraine’s general staff of armed forces, told Al Jazeera.
While Moscow and Tehran loudly proclaim their strategic partnership, they do not have a mutual defence clause, and Moscow has not intervened in the conflict directly.
But the arms supplies have been mutual. Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Tehran has provided Moscow with ammunition and artillery shells, firearms and short-range ballistic missiles, helmets and flak jackets.
Drones with ‘comets’
And then there are the Shahed kamikaze drones – slow, noisy, yet cheap to manufacture – which have been launched on Ukrainian cities in swarms of dozens and then hundreds. Ukraine became so adept at bringing these down – now mass-producing cheap interceptor systems specifically to target Shaheds – that it is now providing its own know-how to Gulf states where US military assets have come under fire from Iran in recent weeks.
In the course of its war with Ukraine, Moscow has manufactured and modernised Shaheds, making them faster and deadlier, and equipping them with cameras, navigators and, occasionally, artificial intelligence modules.
And now, some of the upgrades have made their way back to Iran.
A Shahed drone with a pivotal Russian component launched by Iran-backed Hezbollah from southern Lebanon was able to hit a British airbase on Cyprus on March 1, the UK’s Times newspaper reported on March 7.
It reportedly contained Kometa-B (Comet B), a Russian-made satellite navigation module that also acts as an anti-jamming shield, making drones more resistant to interference.
Russia has also perfected the tactic of sending waves of real and decoy drones to exhaust and overwhelm Western-supplied air defence systems in Ukraine.
These days, the scheme helps Iran hit targets in the Gulf, Western officials say.
“I think no one will be surprised to believe that Putin’s hidden hand is behind some of the Iranian tactics and potentially some of their capabilities as well,” British Defence Secretary John Healey said on March 12 after Iranian drones struck a base used by Western forces in Erbil, northern Iraq.
However, if Iran is suffering a shortage of drones – as some analysts believe it is – that would render the use of Russian tactics, as well as Russia-supplied satellite data useless, experts say.
“Russia does supply data, it’s obvious, the data helps Iran, but not much,” Nikita Smagin, a Russian expert who has written extensively on ties between Moscow and Tehran, told Al Jazeera.
After four days of intensive strikes using up to 250 drones a day in early March, Iran has been launching only up to 50 drones a day, according to Nikolay Mitrokhin, a researcher with German
▸ 展开全文
03-28 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Uranium facility, steel plants and heavy water complex among targets hit as IRGC warns of escalation.
Israel has struck a uranium processing facility in the central Iranian city of Yazd, the Israeli military confirmed, in an escalatory move that comes as regional diplomats have been attempting to broker an agreement to halt the joint US-Israeli war on Iran.
The Israeli Air Force said it hit a plant used to extract raw materials essential to the uranium enrichment process, describing it as a “unique facility” in Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization confirmed the strike, but said there were no casualties or radiation leaks.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 items- list 1 of 3How close is the US to a quagmire in Iran?
- list 2 of 3FBI director Kash Patel’s emails, photos hacked by Iran-linked group
- list 3 of 3Iran’s football team honours children killed in Minab school airstrike
A projectile also hit near the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation said. The attack caused “no casualties, financial, or technical damage,” the organisation said.
Friday marked day 28 of the conflict, and the assault by the Israeli army was part of a broad wave of attacks on sites across the country.
The Khondab Heavy Water Complex in central Iran was hit, as well as two major steel plants: the Khuzestan Steel facility and the Mobarakeh Steel complex in Isfahan.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran will “exact heavy price” for Israeli attacks on several important infrastructure sites. “Israel has hit 2 of Iran’s largest steel factories, a power plant and civilian nuclear sites among other infrastructure,” said Araghchi in a post on X.
Strikes also hit areas in and around Tehran, the city of Kashan and Ahwaz, while 18 people were killed in Qom.
More than 1,900 people have been killed in US-Israeli attacks on Iran since the war began on February 28.
Iranian officials said US-Israeli strikes have damaged at least 120 museums and historical sites across the country since hostilities began.
Negar Mortazavi, a senior non-resident fellow at the Center for International Policy, told Al Jazeera that even Iranians who had been critical of their own government increasingly view the war as an assault on the Iranian people rather than its leadership, saying the targeting of water, electricity, gas, cultural heritage, schools and hospitals was “unacceptable.”
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel would “intensify” its campaign and expand the range of sites it targets, accusing Tehran of deliberately directing missiles at Israeli civilians.
IRGC Aerospace Commander Seyed Majid Moosavi warned that the conflict was entering new territory, saying “the equation will no longer be an eye for an eye.” He urged employees of US and Israeli-linked industrial companies across the region to immediately vacate their workplaces.
Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Tehran, noted that the strikes on two major Iranian nuclear facilities could prompt the IRGC to target Dimona again, Israel’s nuclear site, as it did last week.
Prior to Friday’s strikes, US President Donald Trump said Thursday he had pushed back planned attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure by 10 days, to April 6, saying negotiations to end the war were “going very well”.
Iranian officials flatly rejected that characterisation, describing Washington’s proposal to end the war as “one-sided and unfair” and outlining their own list of conditions, which include war reparations and the recognition of Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz.
On Friday, an Iranian official said the ongoing strikes, while simultaneously discussing talks, were “intolerable”.
Meanwhile, Pakistan said it is actively relaying messages between the two sides, with Turkiye and Egypt also supporting mediation.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking after G7 talks in France, said he expected the operation to be wrapped up in “weeks, not months”.
Strait of Hormuz tolls
Rubio also warned that Iran’s plans to impose tolls on vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz were “illegal, unacceptable and dangerous to the world,” saying he had found broad support among G7 allies for confronting the move.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Friday said it had turned back three ships attempting to use the strait, declaring it closed to vessels heading to or from ports linked to its enemies.
The United Nations announced the creation of a task force to establish a new mechanism to keep fertiliser and related raw materials moving through the waterway.
France said a tanker escort system would be needed once the worst of the fighting subsides.
In a joint statement, G7 foreign ministers called for the permanent restoration of “safe and toll-free freedom of navigation” through the strait in line with international law.
Later on Friday, the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations said Tehran has agreed to facilitate and expedite humanitarian aid shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
The World Food Programme warned on Friday that the conflict could push the number of food-insecur
▸ 展开全文
03-28 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
A senior IRGC official in Tehran told state television that children over 12 can join armed patrols and checkpoints.
Tehran, Iran – Heavily armed state forces continue to control Iran’s streets, despite the United States and Israel launching more strikes and preparing for a potential ground attack, as the nearly one-month war proceeds with no clear end point on the horizon
Checkpoints, roadblocks and patrols, some manned by masked forces wielding assault rifles and machine guns mounted on pick-up trucks, have become a common sight in Tehran.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 items- list 1 of 4FBI director Kash Patel’s emails, photos hacked by Iran-linked group
- list 2 of 4Iran’s football team honours children killed in Minab school airstrike
- list 3 of 4Rubio: US expects Iran war to end in ‘weeks, not months’
- list 4 of 4Israel attacks major industrial and nuclear sites in Iran
Many of the checkpoints, operated by the paramilitary Basij force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), police or plainclothes forces, have been targeted by deadly drone strikes over the past two weeks. They are, therefore, often on the move, or positioned on highways, in tunnels, and under bridges.
“I counted 40 cars moving through my neighbourhood late last night while honking, flashing their blinkers, waving flags and escorting a pick-up truck that had massive speakers fitted at the back and somebody shouting religious slogans from inside,” a resident of western Tehran told Al Jazeera on Friday, asking to remain anonymous for security reasons.
He said local residents have been invited from the loudspeakers on multiple occasions to join gatherings at the neighbourhood’s mosque to denounce the US and Israel and express support for the theocratic establishment that has been in power since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.
Such state-backed gatherings are taking place in numerous mosques, as well as city squares and streets. But they come as the US and Israel urge Iranians to stay in their homes and wait for a “clear signal” to take to the streets and overthrow the Islamic Republic.
For their part, Iranian state television and other state-affiliated media outlets have encouraged supporters to maintain control on the streets, and have been increasingly releasing footage of armed pro-state people, including women, carrying guns.
Rahim Nadali, the IRGC’s deputy for cultural affairs in Tehran, claimed on state television on Wednesday night that people of all ages have expressed readiness to join intelligence and security patrols and checkpoints.
“We have brought the age limit [down] to over 12 years. So now, children aged 12 or 13 years are going to participate in this space,” he said.
‘Sinking feeling in your gut’
A series of new air raids landed across Iran on Friday afternoon, hitting a civilian nuclear site, as well as power posts and production lines for steel and other industrial factories, according to Iranian authorities.
Washington has also deployed thousands more soldiers to the region while signalling that an attempt to occupy one or more islands on Iran’s southern shores may be imminent.
Iranian officials have promised to retaliate strongly if that happens, including by striking critical infrastructure across the region.
Javad Mogoei, a prominent IRGC-linked media personality, released a video from the island of Qeshm earlier this week, suggesting that the IRGC could launch missiles and drones at Iranian islands if they were occupied by the US.
Despite that potential for even further escalation, and while numerous areas in Tehran have been struck by bombs dropped from Israeli and US warplanes, the city continues to function as people try to practise a semblance of a normal life.
Some people visit friends and loved ones indoors, while others go on daytime walks to hold a routine or work out at gyms that are open for limited hours.
“It looks like the war will last for weeks, if not months, so we can’t afford to get drowned in all the anxieties and fears that come with it,” said another resident of the capital, who had sought safety in one of Iran’s northern provinces earlier in the war, but returned last week.
“But you still can’t help but get that sinking feeling in your gut for a moment, not knowing whether you will be next when you hear the jets flying over,” he said.
Another resident, a woman who lives in the more affluent northern areas of Tehran where multiple senior officials have been assassinated in residential buildings since the start of the war, said she finds herself worried.
“My mind sometimes automatically goes back to the concern that some official might be living in an adjacent alley or a nearby home, and my family could become collateral,” she said, adding that she has only been outside her home three times over the past month to buy essentials or visit immediate family.
Iranian authorities have said nearly 2,000 people have been killed since February 28 by US and Israeli attacks, and a large number of residential units, hospitals, schools and civilian vehicles have been affected.
Economy under strain
More businesses
▸ 展开全文
03-28 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Rubio reiterated President Donald Trump’s call for other countries to participate in securing the Strait of Hormuz.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has offered wide-ranging remarks upon his departure from the latest Group of Seven (G7) ministers’ meeting in France, denouncing Iran’s continued chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz as well as settler violence in the occupied West Bank.
Standing on an airport tarmac on Friday, Rubio fielded questions from journalists about reports that Iran plans to implement a tolling system in the strait, a vital waterway for the world’s oil supply.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 items- list 1 of 3How close is the US to a quagmire in Iran?
- list 2 of 3Qatari PM and US officials discuss strategic ties amid Iran war
- list 3 of 3The Take: How close is the US to a quagmire in Iran?
Rubio used the topic to double down on pressure for countries to participate in securing the Strait of Hormuz, a demand US President Donald Trump has repeatedly made.
“One of the immediate challenges we’re going to face is in Iran, when they decide that they want to set up a tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz,” Rubio said.
“Not only is this illegal, it’s unacceptable. It’s dangerous for the world, and it’s important that the world have a plan to confront it. The United States is prepared to be a part of that plan. We don’t have to lead that plan, but we are happy to be a part of it.”
He called on the G7 members — among them, Japan, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and the European Union — as well as countries in Asia to “contribute greatly to that effort”.
Rubio calls toll plan ‘unacceptable’
The Strait of Hormuz is a key artery for the global transport of oil and natural gas, and prior to the start of the US and Israel’s war against Iran on February 28, an average of 20 million barrels of oil per day passed through the waterway.
That amounted to roughly 20 percent of the world’s liquid petroleum supply.
But since the outbreak of war, Iran has pledged to close the Strait of Hormuz, which borders its shores. The threat of attacks has ground most of the local tanker traffic to a standstill, though a few vessels, some linked to Iran or China, have been allowed to pass through.
Media reports suggest that Iran is setting up a “tollbooth system” that would require passing ships to put in a request through Iran’s armed forces, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). There would also be a fee to secure passage.
“ They want to make it permanent. That’s unacceptable. The whole world should be outraged by it,” Rubio said on Friday.
He added that he conveyed a warning about the polling scheme to his colleagues at the G7.
“All we’ve said is, ‘You guys need to do something about it. We’ll help you, but you guys are going to need to be ready to do something about it,'” Rubio said.
“Because when this conflict and when this operation ends, if the Iranians decide, ‘Well, now we control the Strait of Hormuz and you can only go through here if you pay us and if we allow you to, that’s not only is it illegal under international law and maritime law. It’s unacceptable, and that can’t be allowed to exist.”
The Trump administration, however, has struggled to rally allies and world powers to join the US in its offensive against Iran.
Legal experts have criticised the initial strikes against Iran as an unprovoked act of aggression, though the Trump administration has cited a range of rationales for launching the attack, including the prospect that Iran may develop a nuclear weapon.
Many of the US allies in Europe have maintained that they would limit their involvement to defensive actions. Trump, meanwhile, has accused members of the NATO alliance of being “cowards”, adding in a social media post, “We will REMEMBER.”
In a statement following the G7 meeting, member countries reiterated their stance that there should be an “immediate cessation of attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure”.
They also underscored the “absolute necessity to permanently restore safe and toll-free freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz”. But the statement fell short of pledging any resources or aid to the US and Israeli war effort.
Achieving goals ‘without any ground troops’?
It is unclear when the war might end. On Saturday, it reaches its one-month anniversary, having stretched for four weeks.
Rubio on Friday echoed Trump’s assessment that the war was going as planned and that the US was achieving its objectives, including to destroy Iran’s navy, missile stockpiles and uranium enrichment programme.
“ We are ahead of schedule on most of them, and we can achieve them without any ground troops, without any,” he said, addressing an oft-raised concern about the prospect of US troops being deployed to Iran.
Rubio also briefly addressed the increasing levels of Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Footage has shown settlers this month torching Palestinian homes and vehicles, as well as assaulting residents.
On March 19, the United Nations estimated that more than 1,000 Palestin
▸ 展开全文
03-28 00:00 · 中东,局势,BBC,中东
The price of a wide range of goods - from food, to smartphones, to medicines - could be affected by the US-Israel war with Iran.
How the Hormuz closure could affect food, medicines and smartphones
The interruption of oil and gas supplied through the Strait of Hormuz due to the US-Israel war with Iran has dramatically pushed up global energy prices.
Petrol has gone up already and UK domestic heating bills are almost certain to follow.
But it's not just fuel that's been impacted by the conflict. A host of other vitally important chemicals, gases and other products normally enter international supply chains via the Hormuz Strait.
BBC Verify has found that the price of a host of goods - ranging from food, to smartphones, to medicines - could be affected, as the number of ships passing through the Hormuz Strait has dropped from well over 100 a day before the war to just a handful.
Here is what could be impacted.
Fertilisers (Food)
Petrochemicals are derived from oil and gas and they are produced in great quantities for export by countries in the Gulf region.
And one of the most important is fertiliser, vital for global agricultural production.
Analysts have warned that a shortage of these ferilisers is likely to be particularly damaging to agricultural production now because March and April are the northern hemisphere's planting season and less fertiliser use now by farmers will impact yields for later in the year.
"A relatively brief closure could disrupt an entire growing season, with food security consequences that persist long after the strait reopens," according to researchers at the Kiel Institute.
The Institute's work suggests a full closure of the Strait of Hormuz could push up global wheat prices by 4.2% and fruit and vegetable prices by 5.2%.
Helium (Microchips)
It's a byproduct of the production of natural gas and is used in the manufacture of semiconductor wafers, which are then processed into the microchips used in computers, vehicles and household appliances.
Helium is also used to cool the magnets in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners used in hospitals.
Qatar's giant Ras Laffan plant, which produces the gas, has shut down production after Iranian missile and drone strikes.
And the Qatar government has warned it will take three to five years to repair the damage, raising fears about supplies.
"MRI machines require somewhere between 1,500 to 2,000 liters helium to cool the magnets. Every time you do a scan, a little bit of that boils off or evaporates.
"People like to think helium's predominant use is in data centers, semiconductors and cooling for the AI and data industry. But we can't forget that helium is quite important for MRIs and for other medical users," he told BBC Verify.
Petrochemical derivatives (Medicines)
Derivatives from petrochemicals - such as methanol and ethylene - are vital materials in the global production of pharmaceuticals, including painkillers, antibiotics and vaccines.
The countries of the Gulf Co-operation Council - Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain - are estimated to account for around 6% of global petrochemical production capacity.
These nations primarily use the Strait of Hormuz to export these chemicals to the wider world, with around half going to Asia.
Sulphur (Metals/Batteries)
Its main use is as an agricultural fertiliser, but it is also vital for metal processing.
Sulphur is used to make sulphuric acid, which is used for processing copper, cobalt and nickel and also for the extraction of lithium.
All of those metals are needed for the production of batteries, which are used in everything from domestic appliances to electric vehicles to military hardware like drones.
Analysts warn that if sulphur supplies remain interrupted, the result will likely be higher prices for consumers of products containing batteries.
Additional reporting by Tom Edgington and Joshua Cheetham
Graphics by Phil Leake
▸ 展开全文
03-28 00:00 · 中东,局势,BBC,中东
One month since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, Tehran residents tell the BBC their lives have been devastated.
'My daughter is under the rubble': Inside Tehran as civilian toll of strikes rises
A mother stands by the rubble, crying out for her daughter.
For days she has been waiting for rescue workers to dig through the flattened remains of what was once her daughter's flat in Resalat, a residential district in eastern Tehran.
"They don't have the manpower to get her out," the woman says.
"My daughter is under the rubble... she's afraid of the dark."
For a month, Iran has been at war with the US and Israel, which have been carrying out strikes across the country at targets linked to the regime.
But these attacks are also having a devastating impact on civilians living nearby.
They are now being caught between bombardment from the skies and a repressive regime that responded to anti-establishment protests with a deadly crackdown in January.
Since the start of the war, BBC Eye has gathered exclusive footage from independent journalists inside Tehran.
The BBC is rarely allowed into Iran and has not been given access since the war began.
We've gathered eyewitness testimony, filmed the aftermath of strikes and analysed footage from social media and satellite imagery.
Our analysis shows there has been a series of attacks on state-linked targets that are embedded in civilian neighbourhoods in Tehran, with deadly consequences for those living around them.
Dozens of families had lived in the multi-storey apartment building in Resalat before it was destroyed by an Israeli air strike on 9 March.
The daughter trapped in the rubble had been living in the complex with her husband and own young daughter.
Days after the strike, she and her daughter were found dead under the rubble. The husband survived.
Another apartment building, across the road, was also destroyed in the air strike.
A man, 55, living in an apartment there, said the strike was "so sudden" and he was "thrown across the room".
He says everything he owns is now buried beneath the debris.
"I don't have anything now… All my documents, everything, it's gone."
Local authorities and residents say between 40 and 50 people were killed in this single attack.
Those made homeless are currently staying at a hotel nearby.
"This was our life," the man adds.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told the BBC in a statement that it "directs its strikes exclusively against lawful military objectives" in accordance with international law.
It also said it "can confirm the casualties are substantially lower than stated".
The IDF says it targeted a military building used by the Iranian Basij, a paramilitary force linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
But analysis of the aftermath suggests the impact extended far beyond that single site.
Satellite imagery taken in the days after the strike shows at least four buildings destroyed in quick succession.
While one was well known to be associated with the Basij, surrounding structures appear to have been residential.
Footage from the scene, verified by BBC Eye, shows widespread destruction across the neighbourhood. Our analysis indicates that buildings up to 65m away were heavily damaged by the blast.
Residents also describe multiple explosions within seconds of each other.
"They hit three times," one survivor says.
"Maybe three or five seconds between them… I tried to stand up, but the rubble came down on my head."
Military experts told BBC Eye that the Israeli air force is likely using particularly large bombs across Tehran from the Mark 80 series, which are often fitted with precision guidance systems.
They added that the scale and spread of the damage observed in Resalat is consistent with the use of the Mark 84, the largest of the series, weighing 2,000lb (907kg).
Unexploded bombs matching these types have been photographed in the city.
The UN has previously urged countries and armed groups at war to avoid using powerful bombs in highly populated areas because of the danger to civilian lives.
BBC Eye has spoken to two international humanitarian law experts, who believe that the use of such a heavy bomb in a densely populated area would be disproportionate, considering the potential harm to civilians, and possibly unlawful.
Resalat is not an isolated case.
Since the start of the conflict, the IDF said it had dropped more than 12,000 bombs across Iran and 3,600 bombs on Tehran alone.
US Central Command says it has struck more than 9,000 targets across Iran.
Many of these US and Israeli strikes have targeted police stations, Basij militia buildings, police headquarters, military and police universities, safe houses, IRGC homes, as well as potential ammunition stores and checkpoints.
Often, these targets are located within busy civilian neighbourhoods.
On 1 March, an Israeli strike hit the Abbasabad police station near Niloufar Square, where families had gathered after breaking their Ramadan fast.
Eyewitnesses describe seeing at least 20 people killed, though the BBC has not verified this number.
Witnesses described a "terrifyi
▸ 展开全文
03-28 00:00 · 中东,局势,BBC,中东
Attendees at the annual CPAC conference in Texas are conflicted about Operation Epic Fury, which was launched by the US and Israel on 28 February.
One month in, what do American conservatives make of the war in Iran?
Attendees at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Texas were conflicted when asked about the US and Israel's war with Iran, which launched one month ago under the name 'Operation Epic Fury'.
Some younger conservatives noted how Trump had reneged on his election year promise of 'no new wars', while other attendees lauded the president for having 'the willingness and power to do what he's doing'.
Video by Meiying Wu
▸ 展开全文
03-28 00:00 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
The late-night vote was a step towards bringing the 40-day partial shutdown - and long security lines at US airports - to an end.
US House to vote on DHS funding as travel chaos deepens
The US House of Representatives has been called back to the Capitol to vote on a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as airport travel delays sweep the country.
The vote, which would fund DHS including its immigration agencies through to 22 May, comes hours after Republicans rejected a deal passed by the Senate to fund the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
TSA agents, who manage security in US airports, have not been paid in more than a month due to the congressional impasse. Many airports have seen long delays.
The House bill is unlikely to be signed into law, as Democrats have pushed to halt funding to immigration agencies covered under DHS without reforms.
The House is planning to vote on the measure late on Friday. If approved, it would then head to the Senate for approval, though Democrats there have already signalled they will not support it.
With Congress about to take a two-week break, funding for the DHS - which includes TSA agents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency - appears unlikely to pass any time soon.
As the impasse continued, President Donald Trump signed an order directing his administration to pay hundreds of airport security agents, many of whom have been working without pay, calling in sick or quitting.
The move, though, may be met with legal and political challenges, as the US Constitution tasks Congress with authorising spending for the federal government.
Democrats have refused to agree to a funding deal without reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but the Senate reached unanimous agreement to pass a bill early on Friday after stripping ICE and parts of border protection from the measure.
House Republicans have indicated they will not support legislation without funding for immigration enforcement and voter ID requirements.
"Republicans are not going to be any part of any effort to reopen our borders or to stop immigration enforcement," Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said.
But Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Friday that the House measure funding the department temporarily would be "dead on arrival".
"We've been clear from day one: Democrats will fund critical Homeland Security functions - but we will not give a blank check to Trump's lawless and deadly immigration militia without reforms," Schumer said.
Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House, told reporters that Democrats were "working to maximise our attendance" for the expected vote on Friday evening, the BBC's US media partner CBS News reported.
Both Republicans and Democrats had attendance issues during a vote on Friday morning: Republicans had 11 absences, while Democrats had 9.
It was hoped that the fresh package the Senate passed could bring an end to widespread disruption at airports across the US, where travellers have faced hours-long queues due to a shortage of TSA officers at security checkpoints.
Around 50,000 agents with the TSA have been working without pay since mid-February due to the shutdown. This has reduced the number turning up to work each day and led to hundreds quitting.
A BBC reporter at Houston airport reported on Thursday night that, after waiting about two hours in a winding queue across one floor, frazzled travellers had gone up an escalator thinking they had reached the end - only to find another long line stretching towards security.
Currently, only a third to 50% of its TSA checkpoints are operating, according to Jim Szczesniak, director of aviation for the Houston Airport System.
A few hours before the Senate vote, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he would sign an executive order "to immediately pay out TSA Agents".
"Trump should never have had to step in to rescue TSA workers and US air travel," said the Republican Senate Majority Leader, John Thune, addressing the chamber after the vote.
"We're here because, thanks to Democrats' determined refusal to reach an agreement, there will be no Homeland Security funding bill this year," he said. "Instead... Republicans funded the Department of Homeland Security piecemeal. That is not the way to fund the department."
Schumer said the package included funding for the TSA, US Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency.
He told the chamber that "in the wake of the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Senate democrats were clear: no blank cheque for a lawless ICE and border patrol".
There has been mounting controversy over the actions of ICE agents, particularly in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where US citizens Good and Pretti were shot by federal agents during operations there earlier this year.
Democrats want any deal on DHS funding to include measures like an end to ICE agents wearing masks, a ban on racial profiling and a requirement for judicial warrants to be issued before agents can enter private property.
▸ 展开全文
03-28 00:00 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
Mexico's navy launches a rescue mission for ships delivering aid to Cuba, strained by food and fuel shortages amid a US embargo.
Two Cuba-bound aid ships missing after leaving Mexico
A search and rescue operation for two missing sailboats filled with humanitarian supplies travelling from Mexico to Cuba is under way in the Caribbean.
Mexico has deployed naval search teams and military aircraft to locate the Friendship and Tigger Moth, which were carrying at least nine crew members, the Mexican navy said.
The vessels had been expected to arrive in the Cuban capital, Havana, on Tuesday or Wednesday, but there had been no communication from them and no confirmation of their arrival, the navy said.
They are among several vessels that have sought to carry supplies to the island nation since the US imposed an oil blockade in January, prompting a chronic fuel shortage.
The Mexican navy said it was committed to using all resources at its disposal to locate the boats and ensure the safety of the crews.
The two missing ships departed Isla Mujeres, in Mexico's easternmost state of Quintana Roo, on 20 March.
The nine crew members are from Poland, France, Cuba and the US. Mexico said it has established contact with maritime rescue co-ordination centres from each country along with their diplomatic representatives.
"The captains and crews are experienced sailors, and both vessels are equipped with appropriate safety systems and signalling equipment," the convoy's spokesperson told Reuters in a statement.
"We are co-operating fully with the authorities and remain confident in the crews' ability to reach Havana safely."
The captain of the Friendship, Adnaan Stumo, told the BBC they were "taking a whole bunch of aid, [a] bunch of solidarity activists, and we're sailing directly" in video messages as they were setting off.
"We are saying that we are not standing for the continued siege and destruction of the ability of the Cuban people to live a dignified life and have self-determination," he said.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel expressed concern over the missing vessels in a social media post, writing: "From our country, we are doing everything possible in the search and rescue of these brothers in struggle."
Earlier in the week, the Cuban government widely celebrated and warmly received another boat that had carried 14 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the island.
The vessel, dubbed "Granma 2.0" after the boat in which Fidel Castro returned to Cuba to launch its 1950s revolution, delivered solar panels, medicines, baby formula, bicycles and food.
Volunteers and NGOs have largely spearheaded efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Cuba since US President Donald Trump's oil embargo on the communist-run country began.
The United Nation has warned Cuba faced "dire" supply shortages, with more than 50,000 surgeries cancelled in Cuba as fuel supply constraints and aging infrastructure have caused multiple nationwide blackouts.
Coupled with shortages of food and medicine, the situation has triggered rare public dissent in the form of street protests.
Since the US seized former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January and cut off the supply of oil from Cuba's regional ally, Trump has turned his attention to the Caribbean island.
He has threatened tariffs on any country supplying oil to Cuba, mulled a "friendly takeover" of the nation and has urged it to "make a deal" or face unspecified consequences.
The Cuban government has since confirmed it was in talks with the US to resolve their differences, but its deputy foreign minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio has insisted that "the political system of Cuba is not up for negotiation".
▸ 展开全文
03-28 00:00 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
Marco Rubio said US allies were open to helping escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has closed and threatened to charge fees for.
Rubio says US expects to finish Iran war 'in next couple of weeks'
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the US expects to finish its operations in Iran "in the next couple of weeks".
The objectives were being achieved and were ahead of schedule, he said at the end of a meeting in France of foreign ministers from the group of major Western economies, known the G7.
Referring to peace talks that President Donald Trump says Iran wants - which Tehran denies - Rubio said there had been messages, but it was unclear who was left to represent the country.
Several top Iranian leaders have been killed since the US and Israel began the war on 28 February. In the meantime, the US is sending troops to the area to give the president options, Rubio said.
Trump and his top officials have consistently said their operations in Iran would last four-to-seven weeks.
As the fourth week is about to end, Rubio's time frame would fit with those predictions - although he also mentioned that it was a question of "weeks, not months" when he answered a series of questions from reporters.
Trump is widely reported to have passed on to the Iranians - via Pakistan - an outline of a 15-point plan to end the war.
However, when asked by reporters if the Iranians were going to give their response on Friday, the US secretary of state said: "We haven't gotten it yet. Look, we've got messages. We've had an exchange of messages and indications from the Iranian system, whatever's left of it, about a willingness to talk about certain things.
"We're waiting for further clarification about who was it that we would be talking to, what we would talking about, and when will we be talking."
Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff later said he was "hopeful" there would be meetings "this week".
"We have a 15-point deal on the table that the Iranians have had for a bit of time. We expect an answer from them and it would solve it all," Witkoff said.
Trump told reporters on Friday that he had paused a threatened attack on Iran's power plants to give talks a chance.
"Iran is being decimated," he said, adding: "We are talking now. They want to make a deal."
On Friday, Iran said that Israel had carried out attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities as well as two of the country's largest steel plants - prompting Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to threaten to exact a "heavy price".
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the country's powerful military force that underpins the regime, said it would retaliate by targeting industrial infrastructure connected to the US or Israel.
In their statement after the talks, the G7 foreign ministers called for "the absolute necessity to permanently restore safe and toll free freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz", which Iran has closed in retaliation.
It was a reference to Iran's threat to charge a fee, Rubio said.
There have been reports that IRGC has already been charging some vessels a fee in return for secure passage. Iranian MPs are also drafting a bill, although it is in its early stages.
About 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes through the Strait of Hormuz.
Its closure has caused the price of oil to skyrocket and has raised concerns that a prolonged blockage could raise energy prices - and even lead to a severe contraction in the economies of many countries.
Most of the G7 countries, except Japan, are members of the Nato transatlantic alliance, which have so far refused to answer a call by Trump to send ships to escort vessels through the strait, angering the US leader.
Instead, they have said ending the conflict was the best way to ensure freedom of passage.
After the talks in France, Rubio said the UK was leading the work to build a coalition to ensure the strait remained free. Such a coalition, he said, would be needed for the period after the war.
He added that US allies would be more affected than the US if the Iranian threat became a reality.
Referring to the war more generally, the G7 communique called for "an immediate cessation of attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure".
"There can be no justification for the deliberate targeting of civilians in situations of armed conflict as well as attacks on diplomatic facilities," it said.
The statement did not mention the warring parties by name, but its message appeared to be more targeted at Iran which, in addition to closing the strait, has also attacked civilian targets in Gulf countries allied to the US.
Tehran has sent drones and missiles towards Israel, but also most of the Arab Gulf countries where the US has military bases and other alliances.
In addition to targeting them, Iran has also hit airports, residential apartments, US embassies and energy sites in a region where most countries are world players in oil and gas production.
▸ 展开全文