Germany summons China's ambassador after a military plane is lasered over Red Sea
The maritime surveillance aircraft was part of the EU mission Aspides, which is intended to better defend civilian ships against attacks by Houthi rebels based in Yemen. It was lasered earlier this month 'without any reason or prior contact' by a Chinese warship that had been encountered several times in the area, the German Defense Ministry said.
'By using the laser, the warship accepted the risk of endangering people and material,' a spokesperson for the Defense Ministry said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government policy.
The ministry said that as a precaution, the aircraft's mission was aborted. It landed safely at the base in Djibouti and the crew is in good health, it said. The aircraft has since resumed its operations with the EU mission in the Red Sea.
The German Foreign Office said in a post on X that 'endangering German personnel and disrupting the operation is entirely unacceptable.'
China's spokespeople did not comment immediately Tuesday.
The EU mission only defends civilian vessels and does not take part in any military strikes. The southern part of the Red Sea is deemed a high-risk zone.
On Tuesday, Yemen's Houthi rebels continued an hourslong attack targeting a Liberian-flagged cargo ship in the Red Sea, authorities said, after the group claimed to have sunk another vessel in an assault that threatens to renew combat across the vital waterway.
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CNN
4 hours ago
- CNN
‘Nothing has changed': Iran tries to rearm proxy groups as US talks stall
Iran's armed proxies are ramping up pressure on key points in the Middle East as Tehran attempts to rebuild its regional influence, eroded by almost two years of a destructive Israeli military campaign. Tehran's Houthi allies in Yemen ended months of calm in the Red Sea last week with strikes on two commercial ships travelling in the critical waterway. Proxies in Iraq are suspected of disrupting oil production in the Kurdish region, and shipments of hundreds of rockets bound for Hezbollah in Lebanon have been intercepted by Syrian forces over the past months. The increasing activity by the proxies reflects Iran's determination to continue supporting a network of disruptive armed groups – long seen as essential to Tehran's deterrence strategy, despite their failure to deter recent Israeli and American attacks on Iranian soil – ahead of possible talks with Washington to reach a new nuclear deal. But so far, neither the United States nor Iran appears to be willing to make major compromises. 'Iran was never going to stop resupplying their groups,' said Michael Knights, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute specializing in the military and security affairs of Iraq, Iran and the Gulf states. 'They might not be able to send this much or regularly – more stuff might get intercepted – but if you're the (Iranian) Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force right now, what you're trying to show is 'we still exist, we're intact, nothing has changed.'' Israel launched an unprecedented attack on Iran last month, targeting and killing key military figures, including the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Hossein Salami, critical to sustaining and expanding the Islamic Republic's regional proxy network, and Behnam Shahriyari, who Israel says was responsible for weapons transfers to Tehran's proxies. But even as Iran reels from the loss of key military figures, it has persisted in arming those proxies, signaling that it still views them as a strategic asset to expand its regional leverage. Just three days after a ceasefire was declared between Iran and Israel, a vessel carrying 750 tons of Iranian missiles and military equipment, including missiles, drone engines and radar systems, was intercepted in the Red Sea by forces loyal to Yemen's exiled government, the United States Central Command said Wednesday. It added that the 'massive Iranian weapons shipment' was destined for the Houthis. The interception, according to the US military, marked the 'largest weapons seizure' in the history of the Yemeni National Resistance Forces (NRF) – a pro-US, anti-Houthi group led by Tariq Saleh, the nephew of Yemen's late leader Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Iranian foreign ministry denied that it had sent weapons and called it a 'deceitful attempt' by the US to 'divert public opinion.' The Houthis in Yemen have used Iranian weaponry to launch attacks on both Israel and commercial vessels in the Red Sea. An attack on a Greek-owned ship last week killed four crew members, injured others and left 11 people missing, the European Union naval operation Aspides told CNN. Six of those on board were captured by the Houthis, a UK-based maritime risk management company, Vanguard Tech, told CNN. Days before that, the Houthis targeted a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier, the Magic Seas, using unmanned boats, missiles and drones. The attacks, which sank the two vessels, appear to show an escalation of force and were the first recorded this year after months of calm in the busy waterway. Over the past few months, suspected Iran-backed groups have also increased their attacks on Western allies in Iraq, destabilizing oil output in the Kurdish-controlled region of the country. Five oil fields, including two operated by US companies, were hit after a 'spate of drone attacks' by 'criminal militias,' Aziz Ahmad, an official in the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), said on Wednesday. 'The KRG welcomed U.S. investment and companies. Now, those same investors are being pushed out in a calculated campaign to economically strangle us,' Ahmad said on X. The spokesperson for the KRG Peshawa Hawramani told CNN that the drone attacks are 'intended to destroy the energy infrastructure' and to ensure that the KRG 'has no capacity to produce oil and gas, so it cannot use this as leverage in agreements or rely on it as a source of income.' The KRG's interior ministry blamed attacks earlier this month on the Popular Mobilization Units, a predominantly Shiite Iranian-backed paramilitary force based in Iraq. 'These attacks are being carried out… with the aim of creating chaos,' the interior ministry said after a bomb-laden drone landed near the KRG capital Erbil earlier this month. Iran's regional influence has been substantially weakened since Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and Israel's subsequent campaign to root out Tehran's proxies from the region. Iran's key ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah, sought to support Hamas after October 7 by firing cross-border rockets and opening a second front against Israel. Since then, the group has been severely weakened, losing its once-dominant influence in Lebanon and facing growing internal and Western demands to disarm, as its fighters are targeted by near-daily Israeli strikes. The group's revered leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli strike last year and its key supply route in Syria was lost after the fall in December of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a crucial ally to Tehran. 'Hezbollah are losing sway, they've lost credibility with their own base. Of course, the Iranians are trying to reinforce some of their proxies to reinforce their negotiating hand, but they're not making much headway,' a regional official told CNN. Still, another regional source told CNN that Hezbollah could begin 'regrouping itself over the coming weeks' fearing an escalation from Israel. Hezbollah feels it is in an 'existential situation' because of the loss of Syria and the growing internal Lebanese pressure, the source added. Iran's attempts to rearm Hezbollah have continued over the past year. The new Syrian government, which staunchly opposes Iran, has seized several shipments of weapons bound for Lebanon, according to the Syrian Interior Ministry. Last month, the Syrian interior ministry said in a statement that it had foiled an attempt to smuggle anti-tank Kornet missiles, the same type used by Hezbollah to target Israeli tanks in southern Lebanon. The Syrian police said the weapons were hidden in a truck carrying vegetables in the Homs countryside, which borders Lebanon. The first regional source who spoke to CNN questioned Tehran's purpose in arming proxy groups who had proven ineffective in protecting Iran, or achieving their stated mission of 'liberating Jerusalem.' 'Why are Hezbollah still arming? What have their arms given them? It has not given them protection, it has not brought them an inch closer to Jerusalem? What are these arms doing except causing misery to a civilian population?' the source said. Asked if Damascus was seeing Iranian attempts to arm Hezbollah, one senior Syrian government official told CNN, 'We're intercepting Iranian shipments quite often. Mostly seems to be collected locally and put together in small shipments to be smuggled to Lebanon.' 'We're also seeing clear activities to send money to networks in Syria through Iraq,' he added. Iran's rearming of groups across the Middle East comes as US President Donald Trump signals his waning interest in negotiations with Tehran. 'They want to negotiate badly. We're in no rush… we bombed the hell out of their various places, if they want to negotiate, we are here,' Trump said Wednesday. Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, dismissed the idea that talks were imminent and downplayed their importance. 'Right now is not the time for talks. Negotiations are a tactic… we wait and see if the Supreme Leader finds it useful or not,' Larijani said in a televised statement on Friday. A sixth round of negotiations was scheduled June 15, but Israel's surprise attack the day prior disrupted the plans. Experts say rebuilding regional armed groups and showcasing their disruptive capabilities could serve as leverage for Iran, as it looks to negotiate from a position of strength despite its recent losses. 'It will strengthen their hand, in theory, to show that they are not just rolling over and subservient… they want to appear defiant but not enough that the US hits them,' Knights said.
CBS News
9 hours ago
- CBS News
Senior Hegseth adviser out at Pentagon, sources say
Justin Fulcher, a senior staffer at the Pentagon and adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has been ousted, three sources familiar with the matter told CBS News Saturday. Fulcher started at the Defense Department as a member of billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. He was then later promoted to a post as senior adviser to Hegseth. In April, a Pentagon spokesperson announced Fulcher's role as a part of a new Defense Department leadership team, along with Marine Col. Ricky Buria and Patrick Weaver -- both Hegseth aides -- and chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell. It was created after sensitive military plans regarding an attack on the Houthis in Yemen were shared in a chat on the Signal messaging app in March between Hegseth and other top Trump administration officials. "The Department of Defense is grateful to Justin Fulcher for his work on behalf of President Trump and Secretary Hegseth. We wish him well in his future endeavors," Parnell in a statement to CBS News Saturday. Hegseth's office has seen a staffing shakeup in the wake of the Signal scandal. In March, Hegseth senior adviser Dan Caldwell and deputy chief of staff Dan Selnick were fired amid a leak probe, while his chief of staff Joe Kasper, was transitioned to a new role as a special government employee handling "special projects." The Defense Department also released a statement on behalf of Fulcher that read: "As planned, I've completed 6 months of service in government to my country. Working alongside the dedicated men and women of the Department of Defense has been incredibly inspiring. "Revitalizing the warrior ethos, rebuilding the military, and reestablishing deterrence are just some of the historic accomplishments I'm proud to have witnessed. Still, this is just the beginning. "None of this could have happened without Secretary Hegseth's decisive leadership or President Trump's continued confidence in our team. "I'm grateful to both, and to the extraordinary civilians and service members who turn vision into action every day. "I will continue to champion American warfighters in all future endeavors and remain impressed by the work of the Department of Defense."
CBS News
10 hours ago
- CBS News
Senior Hegseth adviser fired, sources say
Justin Fulcher, a senior staffer at the Pentagon and adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has been ousted, three sources familiar with the matter told CBS News Saturday. Fulcher started at the Defense Department as a member of billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. He was then later promoted to a post as senior adviser to Hegseth. In April, a Pentagon spokesperson announced Fulcher's role as a part of a new Defense Department leadership team, along with Marine Col. Ricky Buria and Patrick Weaver -- both Hegseth aides -- and chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell. It was created after sensitive military plans regarding an attack on the Houthis in Yemen were shared in a chat on the Signal messaging app in March between Hegseth and other top Trump administration officials. "The Department of Defense is grateful to Justin Fulcher for his work on behalf of President Trump and Secretary Hegseth. We wish him well in his future endeavors," Parnell in a statement to CBS News Saturday. Hegseth's office has seen a staffing shakeup in the wake of the Signal scandal. In March, Hegseth senior adviser Dan Caldwell and deputy chief of staff Dan Selnick were fired amid a leak probe, while his chief of staff Joe Kasper, was transitioned to a new role as a special government employee handling "special projects."
