Al-Nassr captain Cristiano Ronaldo received a warm reception in Iran on Monday, in the first visit of a Saudi team to Iran since 2016.
Islamabad also summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires here and issued a strongly worded condemnation of Iran's "violation of its airspace", the Foreign Office said.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday alleged that over 5,000 social media accounts, mostly operated from Islamic countries, have become active in favour of the Assam Congress.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has confirmed that President Vladimir Putin has accepted an invitation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit India. The visit is currently being prepared, though the dates have not yet been revealed. This visit follows Prime Minister Modi's trip to Russia in July 2024, his first since 2019. The two leaders have maintained regular contact and have emphasized the strength of the Russian-Indian strategic partnership.
Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies after talks in Beijing between officials from the two rival Middle East powers, Iranian state media reported on Friday.
Pakistan on Thursday said that the country's air force struck terrorist hideouts in Iran's Siestan-Balochistan province, a day after Islamabad recalled its ambassador from Tehran in the wake of Iranian missile and drone strikes in Balochistan.
'I said, fellas, come on, let's make a deal, let's do some trading, let's not trade nuclear missiles, let's trade the things that you make so beautifully, and they both have very powerful leaders, very strong leaders, smart leaders, and it all stopped.'
"We have made it quite clear both to Iran and the US that our relationship does not depend on the relationship or closeness with USA, or it will be affected because of relationship with Iran. These are totally independent stands," said Pranab.
"Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength," Netanyahu's office said.
'Today, I am taking new actions to restrict Iran's nuclear, ballistic missile, and conventional weapons pursuits. My Administration will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, nor will we allow Iran to endanger the rest of the world with a fresh supply of ballistic missiles and conventional arms,' Trump said in a statement.
The reality is that far from being friendless, India is better positioned in the world than at any point post-Cold War, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Seven fishermen from Kerala, three from Tamil Nadu, and a citizen of an Arab nation who went fishing from Ajman, UAE, were detained by the Iranian Navy a few days ago after they unintentionally crossed over the waters of the Middle East nation.
Iran's winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh said on Thursday that the focus of the team will be on the World Cup, not political issues related to the country's nationwide protests.
While one is not anticipating a sea change in Iranian politics, in Hassan Rowhani, Iran may have found a President who will, at the very least, be less verbally aggressive than the outgoing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. There is a strong possibility that he will work towards changing Iran's relations with the world, says Arfa Khanum Sherwani.
Iran's win over Wales and the U.S. team's goalless stalemate against England set up a tantalising final round of Group B matches.
The United States stormed into the World Cup last 16 on Tuesday by beating Iran 1-0 at a cacophonous Al Thumama Stadium after Christian Pulisic bundled the ball home in a Group B showdown shrouded by decades of enmity between the two nations.
Christian Pulisic has had a season to forget for Chelsea but in the blue shirt of his beloved United States he scored the goal that gave them their first win at the 2022 World Cup and a spot in the last-16.
India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will travel to Beijing for a two-day trip beginning Sunday, marking the second high-profile visit from India to China in less than one-and-a-half months. The visit comes amidst ongoing border tensions and follows a recent disengagement pact between the two countries in eastern Ladakh. The Foreign Secretary-Vice Minister mechanism meeting will focus on the next steps for India-China relations, including in the political, economic, and people-to-people domains. The decision to revive this bilateral mechanism was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan in October.
Oil prices rose following Biden's suggestion that United States and Israeli officials were considering a possible Israeli strike on Iranian oil facilities, as reported by the Washington Post.
The 'mediation' by the United States from behind the scene on the diplomatic track appears to be once again working, which calls on both Delhi and Islamabad to show restraint and pull back from a military confrontation, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Modi's intention was to create goodwill that will allow India to be seen by Trump as more than just a bad tariff problem.' 'He succeeded brilliantly on that count but none of these wins are unfortunately permanent.' 'Modi will have to do this again and again if Trump's grievances are to be durably assuaged.'
The United States and Iran severed formal relations in 1980 after the Revolution and ties were hostile when their soccer teams clashed in the 1998 World Cup.
'No military offensive by Pakistan will end the insurgency in Balochistan without simultaneous, concerted efforts toward political dialogue to de-escalate tensions.'
'It is typical of China's strategic deception of making virtue out of necessity,' observes Rup Narayan Das.
The government is looking to give Bharat Global Ports a certain amount of domestic exposure after it set up the state-owned consortium to increase India's global maritime heft, officials aware of the development said. The intended domestic exposure is meant to give the consortium experience and build its credentials for international projects.
'Of course, our thoughts are with the Iran people, the players and the whole country, but our focus is on this match.'
The United States Soccer Federation temporarily displayed Iran's national flag on social media without the emblem of the Islamic Republic as a show of solidarity with protesters in Iran ahead of the two teams' World Cup clash on Tuesday.
The reimposition of sanctions on Iran will have major impact on countries like India, with which it has traditional and historic trade relationship.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has accused Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi of raising questions on sensitive defence matters in Parliament after his marriage to a British citizen. Sarma alleged that Gogoi's wife, Elizabeth Colburn, has links with the Pakistani establishment, including working for an organisation allegedly a front for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Gogoi has rejected the allegations as "baseless" and said the BJP is trying to divert attention from its own failures.
'I am worried that Pakistan will still feel compelled to take substantive military action beyond this apparent drone activity.' 'If so, the crisis could persist for a while more and dangerous days are still ahead.'
'When one air force (India's) hits the other's airbases with impunity and that air force (Pakistan's) is not able to respond, then the air force, which has put the other's airbases out of commission, has won.'
'Netanyahu lured Trump into a trap by enticing him with a seductive scenario of massive lucrative business in Gaza's reconstruction.' 'Trump's imagination is running riot, completely disconnected from ground realities,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The work of a film-maker is going out and making films.' 'And if you are in prison for 15 years, you can't make films.'
The source also said Khadem's relatives and parents, who are in Iran, had also received threats, without giving further details.
The Galwan clash occurred six months after the Doklam disengagement and two high-profile meetings. India should not be caught by surprise once again, asserts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
A year after a Hamas attack against Israel on October 7 and the ensuing Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, India's trade with most West Asian countries has largely escaped any major disruption, except with countries like Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan. However, repeated flare-ups of geopolitical tensions in the region continue to drive up shipping and logistics costs.
'By his words, actions, and body language during their joint press appearance wanted to convey his personal respect and, more broadly, his desire to work closely with India.'
Lisa Curtis, who served as deputy assistant to President Trump and as National Security Council senior director for South and Central Asia from 2017 to 2021, said she expected the same bumps for India and the US, as in Trump's first term, including tariff, dependence on Russia over arms supply and oil purchase from Iran. Curtis, however, said both countries could never enter an alliance but develop a partnership that is "short of an alliance". She hoped them to achieve a cooperation that deters China, but also prepares both countries in case of a crisis or conflict, be it in the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, or another flare-up on the India-China border.
'When compared to many of America's treaty allies in Asia, Modi 3.0 is on a much stronger footing.'
Abdollahian, who is on his first visit to India since he assumed office last year, raised the issue of the controversial remarks, made by two former Bharatiya Janata Party spokespersons, in his meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in the national capital on Wednesday.
