Latest news with #Israeli-Iranian
Canada News.Net
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Canada News.Net
Vucic Halts Ammunition Exports, Says Supplies Will Go To Serbian Army
Serbia is halting all ammunition exports following a decision by President Aleksandar Vucic as the Balkan country faces challenges over exports to Israel and Moscow's suspicions that ammunition made in Serbia has made its way to Ukraine. We've halted literally everything, and we are supplying our army, Vucic said on June 23 after reporters asked whether Serbia had chosen a side in the Israeli-Iranian conflict by exporting ammunition to Israel. Vucictold reportersafter attending a meeting with the Armed Forces Chief of General Staff that Serbia's arms exports to Israel following the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas was one thing, and that today we have a different situation. Several hours after Vucic's comments, the Serbian Ministry of Defense said that any future exports of arms manufactured in Serbia would require the consent of the country's National Security Council and permission from other relevant authorities. Serbia also has faced pressure from Moscow, which recently criticized Serbia's position on arms exports. Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) accused Serbia of exporting arms to Ukraine via third countries. Ammunition produced at Serbian defense enterprises, primarily for heavy long-range systems, is sent to NATO countries in the interests of Ukraine in the form of complete sets of parts for assembly, the SVR claimed in astatementon June 23. This allows Kyiv to formally receive military products that are no longer Serbian, but assembled at weapons factories in Western countries. SEE ALSO: Western Balkan Countries Reaffirm Support For Ukraine At Summit In Tirana Serbia's Ministry of Defense didn't respond to RFE/RL's requests to confirm or deny the SVR's allegations, which have not been addressed by Vucic or other Serbian officials. According to the SVR, Serbia's ammunition exports to Ukraine have strained ties between Belgrade and Moscow. It is regrettable that now these traditions of friendship and mutual assistance are crossed out by the thirst for profit and cowardly multi-vectorism, the SVR said in the statement. It claimed that the assembly and loading of ammunition produced in Serbia is carried out primarily in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. Neither the Czech nor the Bulgarian foreign ministry was available to comment on the Russian allegations following inquiries by RFE/RL. The Bulgarian military company EMCO Ltd., designated by the Russian SVR as one of the companies to which Serbia delivers ammunition for further shipment to Ukraine, strongly denied these allegations in comments to RFE/RL, calling them unfounded. We declare that this is not true. EMCO has not exported any material for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for about 10 years, the company said. For more than three years, Vucic has endured pressure from both Brussels and Washington to impose sanctions on Russia after its unprecedented full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In May he made his first visit to Moscow since its invasion of Ukraine and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, raising concern in Brussels. Moscow, Russia--Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, May 9 2025 The European Commission on May 8advisedVucic to refrain from giving legitimacy to Putin's aggression against Ukraine. Vucic earlier this month received praise for Serbia's support from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Odesa, wherethe two meton the margins of the Ukraine-South East Europe Summit. Serbia's official stance is that it fully respects Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty. However, it has not joined Western sanctions against Moscow despite being a candidate country for the EU membership. Media reports on Serbia's ammunition exports to Ukraine, which Vucic and other top Serbian officials have denied, have been mounting over the years. In June 2024, the Financial Times reported that Serbias ammunition exports arriving in Ukraine via third parties totaled around 800 million euros since 2022. Commenting on these estimates at the time, Vucic said that export was a part of [Serbia's] economic revival and important for us. "Yes, we do export our ammunition," he said in an interview with theFinancial Times. "We cannot export to Ukraine or to Russia but we have had many contracts with Americans, Spaniards, Czechs, others. What they do with that in the end is their job." Precise data on what weapons and military equipment and in what quantities Serbia exports to Ukraine, Israel, and other countries is not publicly available, as in recent years the relevant ministry has not published annual reports on issued export permits on its website.
DW
a day ago
- Business
- DW
Has Israel-Iran conflict changed the Middle East? – DW – 06/27/2025
The ceasefire between Israel and Iran seems to be holding. Other countries in the region maintain ambiguous attitudes towards the 12-day war and would prefer stability to regime change, or even picking sides. It seems that the most dangerous phase of the current Israeli-Iranian conflict has passed. The ceasefire agreed to on Monday, under US President Donald Trump, has so far remained stable despite some ruptures. With this, Middle Eastern states are utilizing the pause to consider the conflict and its consequences. It seems that many of the countries in the region had one objective in common with regard to the fighting between Israel and Iran: Maintaining ambiguity. For example, Jordan expressed its condemnation of Israeli attacks on Iran along with 20 other Arab and Muslim-majority countries in a public statement. But at the same time, its air force prevented Iranian rockets and drones from flying over Jordanian airspace towards Israel. The Jordanians say they did this to protect their own citizens. Saudi Arabia also signed this statement, but is thought to have allowed Israeli planes into its airspace to shoot down Iranian projectiles. Stefan Lukas, founder of the Germany-based consultancy, Middle East Minds, previously told DW he believes that the Saudis also shot down Iranian missiles themselves, over their country, although there have been no verified reports about this. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Both Jordan and Saudi Arabia have a complex relationship with Israel, involving public criticism but behind-the-scenes cooperation. Both also rely on military cooperation with the US for their defense and Jordan also receives financial aid from the US, to the tune of $1.45 billion (€1.25 billion) in annual bilateral foreign assistance. This makes Jordan one of the countries receiving the most in US foreign aid in the world. Ukraine, Israel and Ethiopia are other major recipients of US aid money. At the same time, though, both countries are interested in maintaining stability in their own region — and that means maintaining a balanced relationship with Iran. That balancing act will continue to shape regional foreign policy, especially in the Gulf states, says Simon Wolfgang Fuchs, an associate professor of Islam at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The Gulf states have seen how Iran has lost its potential to threaten them as much, Fuchs told DW, as they've seen how Iranian proxies — including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria, and pro-Iranian militias in Iraq — have been weakened. The Syrian state under dictator Bashar Assad, which formerly supported Iran, is under new leadership and also no longer an Iranian ally. "Against this background, naturally it seems sensible from the Gulf states' perspective to make an approach to this weakened — but still very important actor — in the region," Fuchs argues. "They have no interest in the regime there being weakened, let alone its overthrow and the chaos that would result. Jordan takes a similar position to that," he explained. In fact, some of Iran's neighbors seem more interested in preventing the fall of the current Iranian regime. "The question remains: Who would rule the Islamic Republic of Iran next?" Marcus Schneider, who's based in Lebanon and heads the Friedrich Ebert Foundation's regional project for peace and security in the Middle East, wrote for Berlin-based political magazine, International Politics and Society. "In the country, there isn't really any organized opposition, for understandable reasons — neither political nor armed [opposition]. In exile, there are two groups who are ready — the monarchists and the People's Mujahedin of Iran." But for both groups, their effectiveness and potential popularity with the Iranian public would be questionable, Schneider said. Egypt's position is just as ambiguous. Egypt's government welcomed the ceasefire between Iran and Israel and announced it would continue to make diplomatic efforts with the goal of finding a long-term, lasting solution to regional crises. Egypt must also find a careful balance, Fuchs explains, because it too is so dependent on US military aid. This balancing act came out into the open again due to recent events. Cairo has regularly rejected any plans that mean accepting expelled Palestinains. "On the other hand, the Egyptian government has also done everything possible not to anger the Israelis and the US," Fuchs noted. "For example, by thoroughly halting the Gaza solidarity march that came from Tunisia on June 14, including attacking international activists, and not allowing them anywhere near Sinai." Egypt's Sinai region borders Gaza, and on June 10, a land convoy of around 1,500 pro-Palestinian activists and more than 100 vehicles crossed into Libya from Tunisia on their way to Gaza. Other marchers in Egypt, who planned to join the procession, were attacked by Egyptian security forces on June 14 near a checkpoint in the north-eastern city of Ismailia. Many were then deported. Egypt obviously wants to avoid any complications in its relationship with the US. The two nations have agreed to cooperate on fighting terrorism and to securing Egypt's borders against unrest in Libya, Sudan or the Gaza Strip. Egypt also gets a huge amount of military aid and receives around $1.3 billion annually from the US. That seems unlikely to change as the US, under President Donald Trump, has yet to comment on Egypt's disastrous human rights situation under autocratic leader, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. All the countries in Iran's neighborhood are aware of the importance of maintaining a balance between their partners. "A weakened Iran could be contained and tamed," Schneider wrote. "On the other hand, a country that's cornered, severely battered and fighting for survival is unpredictable." Fuchs adds that another thing has also become clear: The current US administration's course is irritating large parts of the Middle East. "President Trump, with his foreign policy and the use of social media, is throwing all certainties out the window," Fuchs argued. "I really doubt the US will focus attention on the Middle East in coming years. Israel and Iran are exceptions. There's very little interest in further interventions and the US' focus will inevitably shift to east Asia."
American Military News
2 days ago
- Politics
- American Military News
Vucic halts ammunition exports, says supplies will go to Serbian army
This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission. Serbia is halting all ammunition exports following a decision by President Aleksandar Vucic as the Balkan country faces challenges over exports to Israel and Moscow's suspicions that ammunition made in Serbia has made its way to Ukraine. 'We've halted literally everything, and we are supplying our army,' Vucic said on June 23 after reporters asked whether Serbia had chosen a side in the Israeli-Iranian conflict by exporting ammunition to Israel. Vucic told reporters after attending a meeting with the Armed Forces Chief of General Staff that Serbia's arms exports to Israel following the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas was 'one thing,' and that today 'we have a different situation.' Several hours after Vucic's comments, the Serbian Ministry of Defense said that any future exports of arms manufactured in Serbia would require the consent of the country's National Security Council and permission from other relevant authorities. Serbia also has faced pressure from Moscow, which recently criticized Serbia's position on arms exports. Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) accused Serbia of exporting arms to Ukraine via third countries. 'Ammunition produced at Serbian defense enterprises, primarily for heavy long-range systems, is sent to NATO countries in the interests of Ukraine in the form of complete sets of parts for assembly,' the SVR claimed in a statement on June 23. 'This allows Kyiv to formally receive military products that are no longer Serbian but assembled at weapons factories in Western countries.' Serbia's Ministry of Defense didn't respond to RFE/RL's requests to confirm or deny the SVR's allegations, which have not been addressed by Vucic or other Serbian officials. According to the SVR, Serbia's ammunition exports to Ukraine have strained ties between Belgrade and Moscow. 'It is regrettable that now these traditions of friendship and mutual assistance are crossed out by the thirst for profit and cowardly multi-vectorism,' the SVR said in the statement. It claimed that the assembly and loading of ammunition produced in Serbia 'is carried out primarily in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.' Neither the Czech nor the Bulgarian foreign ministry was available to comment on the Russian allegations following inquiries by RFE/RL. The Bulgarian military company EMCO Ltd., designated by the Russian SVR as one of the companies to which Serbia delivers ammunition for further shipment to Ukraine, strongly denied these allegations in comments to RFE/RL, calling them 'unfounded.' 'We declare that this is not true. EMCO has not exported any material for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for about 10 years,' the company said. For more than three years, Vucic has endured pressure from both Brussels and Washington to impose sanctions on Russia after its unprecedented full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In May he made his first visit to Moscow since its invasion of Ukraine and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, raising concern in Brussels. The European Commission on May 8 advised Vucic to 'refrain from giving legitimacy to Putin's aggression against Ukraine.' Vucic earlier this month received praise for Serbia's support from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Odesa, where the two met on the margins of the Ukraine-South East Europe Summit. Serbia's official stance is that it 'fully respects' Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty. However, it has not joined Western sanctions against Moscow despite being a candidate country for the EU membership. Media reports on Serbia's ammunition exports to Ukraine, which Vucic and other top Serbian officials have denied, have been mounting over the years. In June 2024, the Financial Times reported that Serbia's ammunition exports arriving in Ukraine via third parties totaled around 800 million euros since 2022. Commenting on these estimates at the time, Vucic said that export was 'a part of [Serbia's] economic revival and important for us.' 'Yes, we do export our ammunition,' he said in an interview with the Financial Times. 'We cannot export to Ukraine or to Russia … but we have had many contracts with Americans, Spaniards, Czechs, others. What they do with that in the end is their job.' Precise data on what weapons and military equipment and in what quantities Serbia exports to Ukraine, Israel, and other countries is not publicly available, as in recent years the relevant ministry has not published annual reports on issued export permits on its website.
Business Standard
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Dollar index holds losses as safe haven demand dampens
The dollar index continued to stay under 98 mark on Wednesday on reduced safe haven demand amid seemingly easing tensions in the Middle East as the Israeli-Iranian truce has held since yesterday morning. Meanwhile, Feds Powell reiterated the message that Fed need not rush to cut, he did suggest that the Fed may cut rates sooner rather than later if inflation pressures remain contained in his semiannual monetary policy report to the Congress. Yesterday, Governor Bowman expressed support for a potential rate cut if inflation remains subdued, while Goolsbee suggested that Fed should cut rates if tariff dirt clears. Dovish comments from Fed officials are also keeping the dollar index unsupported although the index is seen paring some of its previous day sharp decline. The dollar index that measures the greenback against a basket of currencies is quoting at 97.69, up 0.25% on the day following a 0.57% decline yesterday.
Jordan News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Jordan News
Hassan: Life Will Not Stop Due to Crises and Reckless Acts Destabilizing the Region - Jordan News
Prime Minister Jaafar Hassan affirmed on Wednesday that "we remain strong through our leadership, our people, our army, and our security institutions, despite the difficult conditions and crises sweeping the region." اضافة اعلان During a Cabinet session held in Balqa Governorate, Hassan stated, 'We are accustomed to building this nation and forging ahead through the fiercest storms with confidence, guided by the wisdom of our Hashemite leadership and the determination of our honorable people.' He stressed that crises will never be an excuse for the government to halt its responsibilities or fall short in delivering all possible services to the citizens. 'The wheel of life will not stop because of crises and reckless adventures that threaten the security and stability of the region,' Hassan said. 'We are not part of these conflicts or the tragedies they produce—and we will not be.' Hassan reaffirmed that the security of Jordan and Jordanians, and the protection of the country's stability and prosperity, remain above all else. He noted that Jordan has faced exceptional and unprecedented strategic and security challenges for decades—yet these crises have never halted the country's progress. 'They have made us stronger and more united, deepening our commitment to protecting our homeland through the wisdom of our Hashemite leadership, the strength of our internal front, and our ability to avoid the chaos and conflicts that have cost the lives of innocents and led to the collapse of nations and societies.' The Prime Minister remarked, 'The world seems to have forgotten Gaza amid current global developments, despite the fact that the number of innocent civilian casualties there in recent weeks has exceeded those of the Israeli-Iranian conflict and its dangerous regional implications.' He added that 'Israeli brutality and extremism continue against our Palestinian brothers and sisters—in the West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem, and its holy sites. This brutality must come to an end.' Hassan emphasized that safeguarding the Palestinian people and supporting their resilience on their land remains the central issue in the upcoming phase. He also pointed out that no one has played a greater role in urging the international community to act than His Majesty King Abdullah II has over the past 25 years. The Prime Minister concluded by stating that the only path to resolving the region's crises lies in a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian cause. Without such a resolution, the region will remain vulnerable to unending conflicts and instability.
