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Joint anti-terror drills in Iran

The final stage of the five-day Sahand 2025 counterterrorism exercise has just begun in Iran’s East Azarbaijan Province, with units from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization taking part. In this stage, operational teams from the Ground Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, the Belarusian Army, and the Uzbek Army are practicing scenarios to counter terrorist actions. They are conducting drills on hostage rescue, heliborne operations, electronic warfare, demolition, and the destruction of terrorist groups along border areas. IRGC Air Force helicopters are also tasked with providing combat support and carrying out heliborne missions. These exercises will be concluded on Friday. Meanwhile, the naval force of the IRGC is preparing to launch a separate military exercise in the country’s southern territorial waters of the Persian Gulf. It is scheduled to begin on Thursday. 

Israel crimes in Gaza

Hamas has condemned the Israeli regime’s crimes after a CNN report revealed that Israeli forces bulldozed the bodies of Palestinians killed in Gaza into unmarked graves, or left them exposed to decompose in the open. The Palestinian Resistance Movement says the revelations constitute new documented evidence of Israel’s systematic genocide in Gaza. Hamas said the report is an additional evidence of Israel’s deliberate attempt to turn aid into mass death traps in Gaza. The group blasted the US and certain Western states for colluding with Israel to carry out its war crimes and systematic attacks. It called on the International Criminal Court and other judicial bodies to hold Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu accountable. According to CNN, the report is based on hundreds of videos and photos taken from the vicinity of the Zikim crossing in northern Gaza, along with interviews with eyewitnesses and local aid truck drivers.

US-Venezuela tensions

The United States has expanded its military presence in Puerto Rico as tensions escalate with Venezuela. The US military deployed Osprey aircraft, naval ships, and additional personnel to the island amid broader effort to ratchet up pressure on Venezuela. It comes after the country’s President Nicolas Maduro confirmed a rare phone call with US President Donald Trump. Maduro said he urged the White House to lift sanctions, while Trump has since declared Venezuela’s airspace closed. The military buildup follows weeks of US military aggression in the region, including strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats. The Trump administration has also dispatched the world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean. President Maduro has condemned the deployments, accusing Washington of using the so-called anti-drug operations as a cover to destabilize his government and gain control of Venezuela’s oil resources.

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