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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Four more US logistics convoys targeted by roadside bombs in Iraq Press TV 23 May 2021 -- Four logistics convoys belonging to the US-led coalition in Iraq have been targeted in separate roadside bomb attacks in the country's south and center, according to local media sources.
• Taliban Attack Threatens Afghan Provincial Capital VOA 23 May 2021 -- Authorities in Afghanistan said Sunday that national security forces were locked in fierce battles with Taliban insurgents to keep them from overrunning an eastern provincial center as U.S.-led foreign troops continue to withdraw from the country.
• Pakistani Soldier Killed In Cross-Border Attack By Afghan Militants RFE/RL Gandhara 23 May 2021 -- A Pakistani soldier has been killed in a cross-border attack by Afghan militants in northwestern Pakistan, the Pakistani military said on May 23.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Largest US naval war game in decades to include 25,000 forces across 17 time zones Press TV 23 May 2021 -- Tens of thousands of American sailors and Marines will participate in the largest US naval war game in a generation to prepare for potential conflicts with China or Russia across vast distances.
• Russia begins mass production of autonomous war robots Press TV 23 May 2021 -- Russia says its military will soon be equipped with autonomous war robots capable of acting independently on the battlefield, as the country has launched mass production of the weapons.
• Accusation of China rebuffing military talks with US 'aims to shift blame' Global Times 23 May 2021 -- Some US officials recently accused China of rebuffing the US Defense Department's requests for high-level military talks amid tensions in the Taiwan Straits and the South China Sea, but it is the US that violated diplomatic etiquette - first by asking for unequal talks, and now by attempting to shift the blame to China, Chinese experts said on Sunday.
• New-type self-propelled mortars join PLA Xinjiang Military Command service in plateau region Global Times 23 May 2021 -- The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Xinjiang Military Command recently held a live-fire exercise with its newly commissioned self-propelled mortars. Analysts said on Sunday that it can provide many tactical advantages in rapid fire support since it's more flexible than larger artillery pieces.
• Strengthening defense, offence power on Iranian agenda: Top commander IRNA 23 May 2021 -- Iran's Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Major-General Mohammad Baqeri said in a statement on Sunday on the anniversary of Liberation of Khorramshahr that the permanent component of Iran's armed forces agenda is strengthening defensive, offensive and deterrent power.
• Iran among top countries in the world in terms of drone power: Defense Minister ISNA 23 May 2021 -- Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier-General Amir Hatami stressed that Iran is undoubtedly among the top countries in the world in terms of drone power.
• Iran's armed forces ready to face decisively any threat with its thorough knowledge, knowhow ISNA 23 May 2021 -- Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Bagheri stressed that armed forces of the country is ready to face decisively any threat with its thorough knowledge and knowhow.
• Defense minister: Iran among world's effective missile powers Press TV 23 May 2021 -- Iran's defense minister says the Islamic Republic has greatly developed its missile capability in the past years and is now among the world's topmost missile powers.

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• Yemeni forces shoot down Saudi reconnaissance drone in Jawf skies Press TV 23 May 2021 -- Yemeni army forces have shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle belonging to the Saudi-led military coalition over Yemen's northern province of al-Jawf.
• Israel-Hamas Cease-fire Holds for Third Day VOA 23 May 2021 -- The Israeli-Hamas cease-fire held for a third day on Sunday even as authorities in Gaza and international health agencies rushed to treat 1,900 people wounded by the Israeli airstrikes.
• UN Security Council welcomes announcement of ceasefire in Gaza People's Daily 23 May 2021 -- United Nations Security Council on Saturday welcomed the announcement of a ceasefire in Gaza.
• UN says Israeli aggression exasperated already dire situation in besieged Gaza Strip Press TV 23 May 2021 -- The United Nations says the new Israeli aggression against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip has deteriorated an already dire humanitarian situation in the impoverished enclave generated by nearly 14 years of an all-out blockade and recurrent hostilities.
• Blinken: Two-State Solution is Only Way to Resolve Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Sputnik 23 May 2021 -- On Friday, as the ceasefire mediated by Egypt between Israel and Hamas continued to hold, US President Joe Biden said there has been no shift in his commitment to Israel's security, while insisting a two-state solution that presupposes a state for Palestinians remains "the only answer" to the conflict.
• Fighters of Chin State Are No Strangers to Hardship, Repression in Myanmar Radio Free Asia 23 May 2021 -- In Myanmar -- where opposition to the military junta that overthrew the elected government has raged from the Himalayan foothills to the tropical Andaman Sea coast – people in the poor landlocked state of Chin stand out for the fierceness of their fight against regime troops.
• After Seven Years Of Conflict, Ukraine's Frontline City Of Mariupol Is 'Just Tired' Of The Fighting RFE/RL 23 May 2021 -- Inside a small community center on the outskirts of this city in eastern Ukraine, just 20 kilometers from the front lines of Kyiv's simmering conflict with Moscow-backed separatists, residents gather to learn the basics of first aid and prepare for the possibility of full-scale war with Russia.
• French army chief dismisses UN report into deadly Mali wedding airstrike as 'biased' Press TV 23 May 2021 -- The top French military officer has dismissed as "biased" a United Nations report into an airstrike that killed at least 19 civilians in Mali early this year, alleging that it sought to turn the local people in the Sahel region against France.
• United States' Actions To Press for the Resolution of the Crisis in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia US Dept. of State 23 May 2021 -- "The United States has deepening concerns about the ongoing crisis in Ethiopia's Tigray region as well as other threats to the sovereignty, national unity, and territorial integrity of Ethiopia."

News Reports

• Kremlin: Putin-Biden Meeting Important for US-Russian Ties Sputnik 23 May 2021 -- A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden is important for the US-Russian relationship, while the choice of the location is a technical detail, the spokesman for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, said Sunday.
• In Fast-Aging China, Elder Care Costs Loom Large VOA 23 May 2021 -- China's latest census shows that the country's population is quickly growing older, creating a policy challenge familiar to many governments: how to cover elder care costs while ensuring continued prosperity for everyone else.
• IAEA has no right to access cameras footages of AEOI ISNA 23 May 2021 -- Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stressed that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has no right to access the cameras footages of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
• Iran may conditionally extend monitoring deal with IAEA by one month: SNSC source Press TV 23 May 2021 -- Iran is likely to extend by one month an agreement it had signed with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on inspection of its nuclear sites for a period of three months, an informed source with Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) says.
• Qalibaf: IAEA no longer to access images of Iran nuclear sites Press TV 23 May 2021 -- Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf says the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will no longer be able to access images of the Iranian nuclear sites because a monitoring deal with the UN nuclear body has expired.
• Iran Says Deal Ends Allowing UN Inspectors Access To Nuclear Site Images RFE/RL 23 May 2021 -- The speaker of the Iranian parliament said on May 23 that a three-month monitoring deal between Tehran and the UN's nuclear monitoring agency has expired, escalating tensions amid diplomatic efforts to save the Iranian nuclear deal with world powers.
• UN Nuclear Watchdog to 'Lose Access' to Images of Iran's Nuclear Sites as Tehran-IAEA Deal Expires Sputnik 23 May 2021 -- Iran struck a deal with the UN nuclear watchdog in February to temporarily salvage part of the extra inspection activities introduced by its 2015 nuclear accord with major powers, which Tehran scaled back in retaliation for reimposed US sanctions after Washington unilaterally pulled out of that agreement in 2018.
• Blinken: Unclear Whether Iran Will Comply with Nuclear Commitments VOA 23 May 2021 -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday it is not clear whether Iran will comply with restrictions on its nuclear development program in order to have U.S. economic sanctions removed.
• Iran continues Vienna talks until final agreement: President IRNA 23 May 2021 -- President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that Iran would move on with the talks in Vienna until a final agreement is reached, noting that US maximum pressure proved to be ineffective given Iran's production growth in different industrial sectors.
• Iranian security forces dismantle three terrorist teams in southeastern province Press TV 23 May 2021 -- Iranian intelligence forces have dismantled three foreign-backed terrorist teams, including culprits of a bomb blast in the city of Saravan, in the southeastern and northwestern provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan and West Azarbaijan.
• Anti-coup fighters seize police post, kill over dozen security forces in Myanmar Press TV 23 May 2021 -- In the latest flare-up of violence since the Myanmar junta seized power in a coup on February 1, anti-coup fighters from armed ethnic groups claimed to have killed more than a dozen members of the security forces in an eastern town in the Southeast Asian country.
• Gunfire erupts between Myanmar junta, ethnic armed groups in border town Press TV 23 May 2021 -- Myanmar's military forces have engaged in a gun battle with armed ethnic groups at a border town amid continued opposition to the junta's coup.
• Communiqué of European Council President Charles Michel on the incident involving a forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk, Belarus, on 23 May EC/CEU 23 May 2021
• Diversion of Ryanair Flight to Belarus and Arrest of Journalist US Dept. of State 23 May 2021 -- "The United States strongly condemns the forced diversion of a flight between two EU member states and the subsequent removal and arrest of journalist Raman Pratasevich in Minsk."
• EU Assails Belarus over Diversion of Plane, Detention of Journalist VOA 23 May 2021 -- European governments accused Belarus on Sunday of engaging in an act of state terrorism after it forced a commercial jetliner to make an emergency landing in Minsk after a purported bomb threat and then arrested an opposition blogger critical of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.
• EU, NATO Demand Belarus Explain 'Forcible' Diversion Of Passenger Plane, Detention Of Journalist RFE/RL 23 May 2021 -- The head of NATO has joined the leaders of several EU countries in demanding an investigation into the diversion on May 23 of a Lithuanian-bound flight to Minsk, where authorities arrested one of its passengers, opposition activist and journalist Raman Pratasevich.
• Syria censures France's interventionist remarks on presidential vote Press TV 23 May 2021 -- The Syrian government has lambasted the French foreign ministry's interventionist remarks about the presidential vote in the Arab country, stressing that only Syrians have the final word in the matter and no foreign party is allowed to meddle in Syria's affairs.