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Releasing Iran funds

Iran’s foreign minister says a recent deal reached to release Iran’s frozen funds in South Korea is another test for the United States. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian described the release and transfer of Iranian funds from South Korea as a sign of the success of Iran’s dignified diplomacy. He was referring to a deal between Iran and the US under which the two sides also agreed to swap several prisoners. Amir-Abdollahian said Iran will keep up efforts to have the sanctions imposed on the country removed and get all parties to abide by their international commitments to the country. The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced the deal in a statement last week, adding that the necessary assurances have been obtained from Washington to commit to its obligations.

Israeli settlement plan 

An Israeli far-right minister has proposed a plan for the allocation of over 180 million dollars to building new settlements on Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank. The regime’s extremist finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, is set to put forward his plan during the regime’s upcoming cabinet meeting. Israeli media say the plan will be funded through the reduction of other ministries’ budgets. Smotrich’s plan comes after he suspended millions of dollars in funding to Arab towns and Palestinian education programs in the occupied East al-Quds. Palestinians have called for a general strike to denounce the plan and protest against the regime’s withholding of funds. The Hamas resistance movement has strongly condemned Israel’s plan to allocate more money to West Bank settlements. The movement said the plan is part of Israel’s open war on Palestinian people and a flagrant violation of international law. Hamas added that Israel’s settlement expansion does not confer legitimacy on the occupying regime.

Russia-Ukraine war 

Ukraine says it will not be able to receive and use US-built F-16 fighter jets in its war with Russia during the current year. Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said Ukraine had big hopes to use the warplanes as part of the country’s air defenses against Russian missiles and drones. Ukraine has repeatedly called on its Western allies to supply it with F-16 fighter jets. US President Joe Biden endorsed training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16s in May, but no timing for the supply of warplanes has been declared yet. Russia has repeatedly warned that the influx of Western weapons and military equipment only prolongs the conflict and increases the risk of military confrontation with NATO.

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