Countries around the world voiced fears of a Middle East conflagration after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran Saturday, and Iran targeted US bases in the region in retaliation.- Iran Guards vow ‘severe’ punishment -Iran’s Revolutionary Guards vowed to punish the “murderers” of supreme leader Ali Khamenei, after his death was confirmed by state television.”The hand of revenge of the Iranian nation for a severe, decisive and regrettable punishment for the murderers of the Imam of the Ummah will not let go of them,” the Guards said in a statement.- UN condemns escalation -United Nations chief Antonio Guterres condemned the latest developments.”I call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation,” he said in a statement, adding that the attacks on both sides undermined international peace and security.UN rights chief Volker Turk said further attacks would “only result in death, destruction and human misery”.- EU condemns Iran -EU chief Ursula von der Leyen condemned Iran’s “unjustifiable attacks” on the United Arab Emirates.”These attacks constitute a blatant violation of the UAE’s sovereignty and a clear breach of international law,” the European Commission President wrote on X.EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers for Sunday.- Russia: Nuclear ‘catastrophe’ -Russia condemned the US and Israeli strikes on Iran, warning they were “bringing the region to the brink of a humanitarian, economic, and — this cannot be ruled out — radiological catastrophe”. – UN nuclear watchdog: ‘monitoring’-The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in a statement calling for restraint added that so far, there was “no evidence of any radiological impact”.- China: ‘Immediate halt’ -China urged “an immediate halt to military actions”, with Beijing’s foreign ministry insisting that “Iran’s national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity should be respected”.- Qatar: ‘Right to respond’ -Qatar, which hosts a US military base, condemned an Iranian missile attack on its territory and warned it “reserves its full right to respond to this attack”.- Australia: Khamenei not mourned -Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “will not be mourned” after Iranian state media confirmed his death.- Norway: Israel broke international law -Norway’s foreign minister said Israel’s strikes on Iran broke international law, noting that “a pre-emptive attack would require the existence of an imminent threat”.- SAfrica: Israel, US broke international law -The US and Israeli strikes on Iran violated international law, said South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa.”Anticipatory self-defence is not permitted under international law and self-defence cannot be based on assumption or anticipation,” he said in a statement, calling for “maximum restraint”.- India: ‘Dialogue and diplomacy’ -India’s foreign ministry insisted that “dialogue and diplomacy should be pursued” while the “sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states must be respected”.- UK-France-Germany slam Iran – Britain, France and Germany jointly condemned Iran’s retaliatory strikes, each saying they had played no part in the US-Israeli operation.London expressed fears the situation could escalate “into a wider regional conflict”.French President Emmanuel Macron, urging a halt to the “dangerous” escalation, called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.- Lebanon: Won’t be dragged into war -Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam vowed his country would not be dragged into war, after Israel announced it was carrying out strikes targeting Iran proxy Hezbollah in south Lebanon amid the Iran operation. – Shah’s son: ‘Final victory’ near -Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah and a leading critic of Tehran, claimed “final victory” was near following the strikes. “Together we can take back and rebuild Iran,” said Pahlavi — who lives in exile in the US.- Egypt: ‘Grave risks’ -Egypt’s foreign ministry said it “strongly condemns Iran’s targeting of the unity and territorial integrity of brotherly Arab states”, warning of “the grave risks this poses to the security and stability of Arab states”.- Turkey condemns both sides -“We are deeply disturbed over the US-Israel attacks on our neighbour Iran,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised address.He also denounced Iran’s drone and missile attacks against the Gulf as “unacceptable, regardless of the reason”.”In order to prevent our region from experiencing greater suffering, all actors, especially the Islamic world, must take action,” he added.- Jordan: Defend itself -Jordan’s government urged de-escalation while warning it would defend the kingdom’s interests “with all its might”. A government spokesman said the country was not part of the conflict.- Hamas: US-Israel ‘aggression’ -Palestinian militant group and Iran ally Hamas condemned the US and Israel’s “aggression” towards Tehran, calling it “a direct assault on the entire region”.- Palestinian Authority: condemns Iran -The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) “strongly condemned” Iran’s attacks on Arab countries, including several Gulf nations.It rejected “any infringement on their sovereignty or aggression against them by any party”, without mentioning the earlier US-Israeli strikes on Iran.- Ukraine: Oust ‘terrorist regime’ -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky argued the strikes on Iran created an opportunity for the Iranian people to oust the “terrorist regime” in Tehran.- Red Cross: ‘Dangerous chain reaction’ -International Committee of the Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric warned that the “military escalation in the Middle East is igniting a dangerous chain reaction across the region, with potentially devastating consequences for civilians”.- African Union: Stability at risk -The African Union called “for restraint, urgent de-escalation and sustained dialogue” after the strikes, warning that conflict could risk harming people on the continent. – New Zealand: new talks needed -New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called for “a resumption of negotiations” and respect for international law to bring an end to the crisis, urging “the Iranian leadership to seek a negotiated solution”.burs-jj/cc/jfx/hmn

Jubilant Iranian Americans on Saturday took to the streets from Boston to Los Angeles to cheer the death of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and voice hope for a brighter future for their homeland.In Los Angeles, home to a massive Iranian diaspora, singing and ululating marchers carried flags of shah-era Iran and posters bearing US President Donald Trump’s image, with some wearing shirts that said “Free Iran.”Trump announced Saturday that the strikes had killed Khamenei — and Iranian state television confirmed the news hours later — though some marches started earlier in the day.”It’s mixed feelings,” Fartach Razmjoo told AFP at a gathering in Canada’s largest city Toronto.”It seems this brutal regime is going to be gone, but at the same time I am very concerned about the people in Iran.”Razmjoo said he hoped the “people in Iran now get the courage to get in the street and try to overthrow” the government.Trump made similar calls, urging Iranians to rise up and “take over your government.”But at an anti-war protest in New York, people expressed skepticism about the strikes, which Trump has vowed to continue “as long as necessary.”Layan Fuleihan, a 36 year-old activist, told AFP: “Bombing people does not help them free themselves.””If Trump cared about democracy or if he cared about the well-being of Iranian people, he would have lifted the brutal sanctions on the Iranian economy that have made it impossible for everyday working Iranians to find enough to put food on their table,” she said.Brent Gray, a 27-year-old engineer in the US capital Washington, said Trump was “taking military action without any congressional approval.”Anti-war activist group ANSWER called for nationwide demonstrations Monday, denouncing “an unprovoked, illegal war.”- ‘Very complicated feelings’ -The scene couldn’t have been more different in Boston, where people sang and stomped on an Iranian flag in the street, while waving American flags and at least one Israeli flag.”Iranians can finally get to live the free life that they want,” Navid Aghasadeghi told AFP.”We don’t call it a war. We call it the Iran Rescue Operation,” said Sherry Yadegari, a 42-year-old artist in the southern city of Atlanta.Azi Adibi, 45, also in Atlanta, said she was worried about family in Iran, having been unable to reach her brother since “the internet got cut off.”Roozbeh Farahanipour, a restaurant owner in Los Angeles’s Westwood neighborhood — sometimes known as “Tehrangeles” or Little Persia — told AFP he has “very complicated feelings.””I saw the footage of people dancing in the streets,” the 54-year-old said. “That reminded me of the first days of the war in Iraq. At the time, the people of Iraq were also dancing in the streets.””I hope the scenario will be different this time,” he said.burs-nro/sst

If there’s one thing the 21st century has in spades, it’s conspiracy theorists — many of them angry, unhinged people hacking at their keyboards about grievances real and imagined.But when screenwriter Will Tracy sat down to pen his Oscar-nominated script for “Bugonia,” he wanted to create a protagonist with a little more nuance.”The main thing I wanted was the sense of empathy you felt for Teddy,” he said of the lead character, played with characteristic bravura by the always-watchable Jesse Plemons.”It’s quite easy to make a version of that story where he’s a sort of toxic incel male conspiracy theorist nut who you don’t really sympathize with,” he told AFP.”I wanted to do my best to make him be a guy who’s… been properly abused by the system.”- Aliens -“Bugonia” tells the story of Teddy Gatz (Plemons), who — accompanied by his slow-witted cousin Don — kidnaps big pharma CEO Michelle Fuller (best actress nominee Emma Stone) because he believes… she is an alien.In Teddy’s mind, Michelle has assumed a powerful position on Earth, which her alien race is exploiting for its own ends.Over several disturbing but darkly comic scenes, they torture her as she tries to convince them she is human and they are making a big mistake.But all is not what it seems, and both Stone’s character and the organization she works for have questions to answer, including over the death of Teddy’s beloved mother.Director Yorgos Lanthimos skillfully brings viewers along for the ride, stretching and then rewarding their sympathy with Teddy, even as his behavior becomes ever more outlandish.That is a deliberate choice, says Tracy, because Teddy is not — or at least not just — a lunatic.”He’s got a point, and actually, he ends up being right about quite a bit,” said Tracy.”I think he has some legitimate grievances.”- ‘Trust’ -The script, which is competing in the best adapted screenplay category, is a reworking of “Save the Green Planet,” a 2003 film by Korean writer Jang Joon-hwan.Tracy said he wanted to respect the source material, but without feeling constricted by it.”I think I tried not to be too faithful. I didn’t want the film sort of in my head, kind of hanging over me,” he said. “So I tried to take a pretty free hand with it and kind of plow my own furrow.”That approach produced a screenplay that attracted the attention of six-time Oscar nominee Lanthimos, whose 2023 fantasy “Poor Things” scooped four statuettes, including best actress for Stone.Tracy said he was thrilled that the Greek director took up the project, which he wrote about 18 months before Lanthimos was attached.”When he came on board… he didn’t really monkey with the script too much,” Tracy said.”I think what I discovered is that I sort of inadvertently wrote a very Lanthimosian screenplay, because I think our sensibilities were just really aligned.”That includes the need to maintain the ambiguities and the nuance of the film as Tracy wrote it.”He, I think, wanted to preserve the mystery and also make the kind of film that when you leave the theater, you can go to dinner with the people you saw the movie with, and people could have wildly different opinions about what the ending means,” Tracy explained.Jerskin Fendrix, who is nominated for best original score for the film, said Lanthimos produces extraordinary work because of the trust he places in his collaborators.”He gives you all the information he thinks you need. It might be very little information — in my case, it was three words — and then he lets you run with it,” he told AFP.The Oscars will be handed out in Hollywood on March 15.

A cargo ship teems with workers in hard hats at the Port of Houston, the latest US vessel headed to Venezuela after President Donald Trump lifted restrictions to boost oil production in the crisis-hit country.US sanctions have crippled Venezuela for years, but Trump’s administration has been working with interim president Delcy Rodriguez after toppling autocratic leader Nicolas Maduro.Washington has used a carrot-and-stick approach with Rodriguez, praising her for welcoming US oil companies but at the same time threatening Venezuela with punishment if she does not cooperate.At the Port of Houston this past week, a crane loaded trucks, generators and machinery onto the Roibeira as it prepared to set sail to Venezuela, the second vessel from the shipping company International Frontier Forwarders to head to the South American nation.Greg Diaz, the company’s Venezuelan-American owner, said there were more than 8,500 cubic meters of goods onboard, equivalent to around 120 containers.”Before, it took us six to eight months to accumulate enough cargo to go to Venezuela,” he told AFP.”And now, in 20 days, we’re able to complete the orders to fill our ship to max capacity and go to Venezuela and complete the orders right away.”That demand, he said, comes from private companies in Venezuela that are investing massively — something that was impossible under Maduro.- ‘Venezuelan dream’ -Venezuela was once a major crude supplier to the United States, and has the world’s largest proven reserves with more than 303 billion barrels, according to global oil cartel OPEC.This amounts to about a fifth of the world’s oil reserves.But in 2024, Venezuela produced only about one percent of global crude, its industry left haggard by years of underinvestment, mismanagement and US sanctions.That all changed when US forces captured Venezuela’s socialist leader Maduro in a deadly raid on the capital Caracas on January 3.Rodriguez, who was vice president under Maduro, was accepted by Trump as Maduro’s replacement on condition she submit to Washington demands for access to Venezuelan oil.The US Treasury has since eased a seven-year-old oil embargo on Venezuela and issued licenses allowing a handful of multinationals to operate in the country under certain conditions.In his recent State of the Union address, Trump said the United States had received more than 80 million barrels of oil from Venezuela, describing the nation as “our new friend and partner.”But despite American enthusiasm, major companies remain cautious.”I think the politics of it is moving a little bit too fast,” Jorge Pinon, a researcher at the Energy Institute at the University of Texas, told AFP.”Everybody was willing to sign” at the White House meeting with oil company executives in January, “except for Exxon, which was the only one that had the courage to say ‘we need assurances.'”Pinon said there was no sense of urgency from the Americans to revive Venezuela’s oil industry, though, as the United States is the world’s largest producer of crude oil with secure supplies.For now, the industry is more interested in Guyana, Brazil, and even the Gulf of Mexico.Oil companies first “have to see what’s the state of the infrastructure” in Venezuela, Pinon added.Political instability is another concern.”What about if in two years, three years from now, Venezuela has free elections and a new government suddenly changes the rules?” he said.Back at Houston’s port, Greg Diaz remained optimistic.”It’s amazing because we’re not only helping the American drilling companies, but also the Venezuelan private companies in the oil and gas sector to buy quality US-made drill rigs,” he said.”But also, we help the mid-size to small companies and entrepreneurs that now can buy, whether it’s one piece of machinery or a large order, and make possible the Venezuelan dream.”