Latest news with #Iraq-Iran
Time of India
10-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
2 victims lose over Rs 15 lakh in online trading scams
Mangaluru: A Facebook video falsely linked to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman became the gateway to a sophisticated online scam that cost a man Rs 10.6 lakh. On May 7, the complainant was scrolling through Facebook when he stumbled upon a video that appeared to feature the finance minister promoting an online trading platform. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Believing it to be legitimate, he clicked on the embedded link and registered the details. Within hours, he received a call from a man who introduced himself as Manish M, offering "free registration" and convincing him to send Rs 23,326 via Google Pay. Claiming to be a Senior Account Manager at a trading firm, Manish guided the complainant through a series of further transactions with promises of high returns. On May 9, he transferred Rs 93,930 in two instalments. The fraud deepened when emails, seemingly from the trading firm, claimed that his investments were lost due to "market fluctuations" and urged him to reinvest to recover losses. He complied, transferring Rs 4.5 lakh on May 14, followed by another Rs 2 lakh on May 16, this time labelled as "AI charges." The complainant continued to invest, even sending Rs 2.5 lakh more in early June, lured by claims that the Iraq-Iran war would spike gold prices. In between, he received Rs 8,546 and Rs 16,551 credited back as "profits" . By the time reality hit, he allegedly lost a total of Rs 10.6 lakh. He filed a complaint via the 1930 helpline and later Kankanady Town police station In a second case, another resident lost nearly Rs 5 lakh in a similar trap. On Jan 8, the victim clicked a Facebook link on online trading and received a call from a person named Aditya, who claimed to be with the same trading platform. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now An initial payment of Rs 23,193 was followed by more as another person named Hasan contacted the complainant through email, offering even greater profits. By Jan 28, the complainant transferred amounts in phases totalling Rs 5 lakh. A credit of Rs 23,193 was made in March to maintain the illusion of profit. But when no further returns materialised, the complainant reported the scam to the 1930 Cybercrime helpline and filed a police complaint. The case has been registered at the Kankanady Town police station.
Rudaw Net
09-07-2025
- Business
- Rudaw Net
President Barzani, Iraq security advisor discuss PKK disarmament, Iran border pact
Also in Iraq Iraqi ministerial committee on Erbil-Baghdad budget issues holds first meeting US urges resolution as Erbil, Baghdad draft proposals to end salary, oil disputes Iraqi cabinet stalls on KRG salaries, forms committee to address Erbil-Baghdad issues Erbil-Baghdad oil, salary deal excluded from Iraqi cabinet agenda A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Wednesday met with Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji in Erbil to discuss key security developments, including the anticipated disarmament of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters and broader regional developments. A statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency said the two officials discussed the 'latest developments in Iraq's security situation and emphasized the importance of continuing coordination and cooperation' between Iraqi and Kurdish security forces. Discussions also included 'the latest efforts and steps' in the peace process between the PKK and the Turkish state, the statement added. The meeting comes just days before the first batch of PKK fighters - estimated at 30 to 40 individuals - is set to disarm in the Kurdistan Region's eastern Sulaimani province on Friday. The move marks a major milestone in the months-long peace initiative aimed at ending the four-decade conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state that has claimed more than 40,000 lives - mainly PKK fighters. The ceremony also comes as the PKK responded to a February appeal from their imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan to abandon armed struggle in favor of a political solution. In a pivotal video message, recorded on June 19 and released Wednesday, Ocalan reaffirmed the end of the military campaign. Importantly, a key question now centers on the future of disarmed PKK fighters - how they will be integrated or relocated, and under what legal or political framework. In a separate statement issued Wednesday, Araji's office confirmed that discussions with President Barzani also focused on 'coordinating positions' on the PKK's dissolution, as well as implementing the Iraq-Iran border security agreement. Signed in March 2023 between Iraq and Iran, the agreement primarily targets Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in the Kurdistan Region. Under the deal, these groups - including the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), Komala, Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), and the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) - were required to disarm and relocate from border areas by a September 19, 2023 deadline. Iran has accused these groups of links to the anti-government protests that erupted across the country in 2022 and warned of renewed military action if the agreement's terms were not upheld. Importantly, Tehran swiftly welcomed the PKK's May decision to disarm, with the Iranian foreign ministry describing it as 'an important step toward renouncing violence and strengthening security,' adding that it would contribute to 'enhanced stability and peace in Turkey and the region.' Iran's reaction is closely tied to concerns over perceived connections between the PKK and PJAK, which is widely believed to be its Iranian offshoot. In addition to his meeting with President Barzani, the Iraqi national security advisor on Wednesday also met with Kurdistan Region Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed. In a Facebook post following the meeting, Araji noted that he had been dispatched by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani to hold 'a series of political and security meetings with the leaders in the Kurdistan Region.' The Araji-Ahmed meeting also follows rising tensions between Erbil and Baghdad over drone activity in the Region. On Saturday, the Kurdistan Region's interior ministry accused the federal government of failing to address repeated drone incursions. Several explosive-laden drones have either crashed or been intercepted in the Region in recent weeks, following the June 24 ceasefire brokered by the United States between Iran and Israel, which ended their 12-day confrontation. The Region's interior ministry on Friday specifically accused the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) of involvement in the drone incidents. Baghdad promptly rejected the allegations the next day, calling the accusations against the PMF - a sovereign security force - 'unacceptable.'
Economic Times
25-06-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Overall situation rosier than expected; we are getting into peace, not war & India is in a sweet spot: Swaminathan Aiyar
Live Events You Might Also Like: Consensus not confident on India's cyclical revival for next 2 years: Jigar Mistry (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel , Consulting Editor,, says geopolitical tensions are easing across several regions. There is de-escalation between Russia and Kyiv, and positive developments in Israel. India-Pakistan and Iraq-Iran relations are also showing signs of improvement. India's economic performance is exceptional. Optimism surrounds India's ability to exceed expectations this year. The overall outlook is surprisingly positive at this moment.I would say that what is happening is astonishingly positive. Just as we thought we are getting into a war, we are actually getting into a peace, and getting out of the war. We have an unusual situation now where there is in effect a ceasefire in Ukraine, Kyiv; a ceasefire is foreseen over Israel and Iran. The Americans have finished off the regime in Iran which seeks no immediate revenge. It wants to survive right now. We had an almost laughable situation where Iran said they will send some missiles to bomb American facilities in Qatar, but informed them in advance, so that everything would be safe and there would be no damage and no at this particular point, when people were worrying about World War III or a nuclear war, the attitude of the Iranian government was 'I just want to survive, I want to de-escalate at this point.' So, we have a situation which is very positive in terms of both Kyiv and what is happening in Israel. Peace is breaking out, in a sense, in both ways. So, a lot of the things that we are worrying about are giving way to pretty positive things as far as geopolitics is concerned. Far from being worst case scenarios, we are moving towards some pretty good case scenarios as far as the hostilities are concerned. And shall we say India-Pakistan also? So, India-Pakistan, Iraq-Iran, Russia- Kyiv, everything is settling down at this particular point. It is a very surprisingly positive outlook right is in a sweet spot. It is more than that. If you look at the actual performance of the last two financial years, 2023-24 growth has been revised up to 9.2%. When that happened, a lot of people sneered and said this is because of an extremely extraordinarily low GDP deflator. But if that was the case, then we should have had just the other way around in 24-25 and therefore, 24-25 should have come the proper thing is to take the average of the two. If you take the average of those two years, it is 7.8%. It is nowhere near the 6.5% that Mr Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Adviser, is aiming at. It is far above at a time when the overall global situation has been very tough. So, I can only say that it is not just India's prospects, India's actual performance in the last two years on the basis of the latest data, looks so exceptional that there is a case for optimism that this year too, we will exceed the kind of targets being put the other hand, the chance of a recession in the USA remains. The other thing that is happening is Mr Trump has persuaded or shall we say forced a new attitude in Europe. The European Union instead of saying we will spend 3% of GDP on defence, will have to aim at 5%. So, the cold war dividend is now gone and all these countries will be spending more on armament. There may be correspondingly less available for consumer demand to that extent and that could be a negative. These are the two medium-term negatives still out overall, India has the capacity to look forward with some confidence that we have overcome extremely difficult situations. Will we be able to overcome the challenges of the coming short recession? Possibly. Will we be able to overcome this gradual fall in consumer demand that we are seeing? Yes. What will happen about Mr Trump's tariffs remains a question. The 90 days deadline for Trump tariffs is coming up. What happens after 90 days? Will the reciprocal tariffs come back? Will they go up? Will they go down?We have a new situation in the USA where some courts are beginning to take note of does Mr Trump have the right as president to declare that on the basis of national emergency, he is going to raise these tariffs across the board? One American court has ruled that while you can do specific things like raise tariffs on priority items like aluminium or steel, but to impose a 10% tariff across the board is not an emergency action. So, let us see what happens. The courts also may be able to stop some of the worst actions that Mr Trump has threatened on the tariff side. We are getting close to that 90-day deadline. Let us see. But as I said, the overall situation is looking much rosier than I would have said one month ago.
Time of India
25-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Overall situation rosier than expected; we are getting into peace, not war & India is in a sweet spot: Swaminathan Aiyar
Swaminathan Aiyar , Consulting Editor, ET Now , says geopolitical tensions are easing across several regions. There is de-escalation between Russia and Kyiv, and positive developments in Israel. India-Pakistan and Iraq-Iran relations are also showing signs of improvement. India's economic performance is exceptional. Optimism surrounds India's ability to exceed expectations this year. The overall outlook is surprisingly positive at this moment. Could it be long peace for the Middle East finally or is what we have seen in the last 24 hours is just posturing, nothing more and nothing less? Swaminathan Aiyar: I would say that what is happening is astonishingly positive. Just as we thought we are getting into a war, we are actually getting into a peace, and getting out of the war. We have an unusual situation now where there is in effect a ceasefire in Ukraine, Kyiv; a ceasefire is foreseen over Israel and Iran. The Americans have finished off the regime in Iran which seeks no immediate revenge. It wants to survive right now. We had an almost laughable situation where Iran said they will send some missiles to bomb American facilities in Qatar, but informed them in advance, so that everything would be safe and there would be no damage and no escalation. So, at this particular point, when people were worrying about World War III or a nuclear war, the attitude of the Iranian government was 'I just want to survive, I want to de-escalate at this point.' So, we have a situation which is very positive in terms of both Kyiv and what is happening in Israel. Peace is breaking out, in a sense, in both ways. So, a lot of the things that we are worrying about are giving way to pretty positive things as far as geopolitics is concerned. Far from being worst case scenarios, we are moving towards some pretty good case scenarios as far as the hostilities are concerned. And shall we say India-Pakistan also? So, India-Pakistan, Iraq-Iran, Russia- Kyiv, everything is settling down at this particular point. It is a very surprisingly positive outlook right now. Who will be the eventual winner of this entire so-called geopolitical adjustment? It looks like India is going to be the disproportionate beneficiary. We have stayed out of taking sides. We have had a huge victory when it comes to the India-Pakistan conflict. In terms of geopolitical tensions, it is the US versus China and Russia. India is neutral and the biggest beneficiary? Swaminathan Aiyar: India is in a sweet spot. It is more than that. If you look at the actual performance of the last two financial years, 2023-24 growth has been revised up to 9.2%. When that happened, a lot of people sneered and said this is because of an extremely extraordinarily low GDP deflator. But if that was the case, then we should have had just the other way around in 24-25 and therefore, 24-25 should have come down. So, the proper thing is to take the average of the two. If you take the average of those two years, it is 7.8%. It is nowhere near the 6.5% that Mr Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Adviser, is aiming at. It is far above at a time when the overall global situation has been very tough. So, I can only say that it is not just India's prospects, India's actual performance in the last two years on the basis of the latest data, looks so exceptional that there is a case for optimism that this year too, we will exceed the kind of targets being put out. Live Events You Might Also Like: Consensus not confident on India's cyclical revival for next 2 years: Jigar Mistry On the other hand, the chance of a recession in the USA remains. The other thing that is happening is Mr Trump has persuaded or shall we say forced a new attitude in Europe. The European Union instead of saying we will spend 3% of GDP on defence, will have to aim at 5%. So, the cold war dividend is now gone and all these countries will be spending more on armament. There may be correspondingly less available for consumer demand to that extent and that could be a negative. These are the two medium-term negatives still out there. But overall, India has the capacity to look forward with some confidence that we have overcome extremely difficult situations. Will we be able to overcome the challenges of the coming short recession? Possibly. Will we be able to overcome this gradual fall in consumer demand that we are seeing? Yes. What will happen about Mr Trump's tariffs remains a question. The 90 days deadline for Trump tariffs is coming up. What happens after 90 days? Will the reciprocal tariffs come back? Will they go up? Will they go down? We have a new situation in the USA where some courts are beginning to take note of does Mr Trump have the right as president to declare that on the basis of national emergency, he is going to raise these tariffs across the board? One American court has ruled that while you can do specific things like raise tariffs on priority items like aluminium or steel, but to impose a 10% tariff across the board is not an emergency action. So, let us see what happens. The courts also may be able to stop some of the worst actions that Mr Trump has threatened on the tariff side. We are getting close to that 90-day deadline. Let us see. But as I said, the overall situation is looking much rosier than I would have said one month ago.
Shafaq News
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Iraq caught between US-Iran axis: Experts debate Baghdad's fate
Shafaq News/ Iraq is no longer a top priority for US foreign policy, according to former Assistant Secretary of State Denise Natali. Speaking Monday at a Chatham House panel in London—attended by Shafaq News—Natali, now a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, stressed that Washington views Baghdad as increasingly aligned with Tehran and is closely watching whether Iraqi authorities will comply with sanctions on Iran. Although the US has not completely disengaged, Natali explained that American involvement in Iraq's state-building and civil society development is steadily diminishing, marked by sharp reductions in institutional support. UK MENA Director Stephen Hickey acknowledged, during the panel, Iraq's efforts to stay neutral amid rising regional tensions but cautioned that its stability remains precarious, urging Baghdad to advance governance reforms, crackdown on corruption, and restructure its security forces to avoid being pulled into a wider conflict. He also recommended deeper ties with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar as a path to regional stability, calling them increasingly constructive actors. Another Speaker, Hamidreza Azizi of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs argued that Tehran still clings to its foothold in Iraq, despite growing resistance, warning that Iran perceives Iraq's economic recovery and closer Arab ties as threats to its dominance. 'Iran doesn't want a strong Iraq; it wants a Shiite-led Iraq,' Azizi remarked, adding that Tehran now favors Oman over Baghdad as a diplomatic channel, despite their formal alliance. In addition, Political analyst Sajad Jiyad of Century International urged a recalibration of Iraq-Iran relations, framing the moment as a strategic opening for Baghdad. 'Iran knows the region has changed. It can't keep managing Iraq through the IRGC,' Jiyad observed, referencing Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's recent visit to Lebanon as evidence of Tehran's shifting approach. Jiyad recalled that the last major shift in Iraq-Iran ties came in 2011, following the US troop withdrawal, when Iran's focus turned to countering American presence. Today, he argued, regional realignments give Iraq's current or future leadership a chance to renegotiate the relationship based on the realities of a transformed geopolitical landscape.
