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Iranian president visits Azerbaijan as ties warm

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met Monday with his Azerbaijani counterpart in a rare visit to Baku, the latest sign of a thaw in relations between the two neighbours.Tensions between the two have run high for years, largely due to Azerbaijan’s close ties with Iran’s arch-enemy Israel, then further exacerbated by a January 2023 attack on Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tehran.”The two countries can resolve all issues jointly, through negotiations… and strengthen relations, with mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity,” Pezeshkian said at a joint press conference.”Iran will make efforts to ensure that its relations with Azerbaijan are strategic across all spheres,” he added. “We must not allow others to set us against one another.”Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Pezeshkian’s visit “is a reflection of the high level of relations between the two countries”. “Our peoples have lived for centuries in an atmosphere of friendship and brotherhood. Today, our interstate relations are developing on this solid foundation,” he added.Last week, Pezeshkian expressed hopes for a “rapid and serious improvement” in relations and cooperation between the two countries as part of a broader effort to “mend ties”.In a recent sign of rapprochement, Iran and Azerbaijan held two days of joint naval exercises in the Caspian Sea in November, according to Iranian media reports. But Tehran has long expressed concerns that Azerbaijani territory could be used by Israel — a major arms supplier to Baku — to stage a potential attack on Iran. In the embassy attack, a gunman killed an Azerbaijani diplomat and wounded two security guards. Iran condemned the attack but attributed it to “personal” grievances.In the aftermath, Baku shut its embassy in Tehran and both countries then ordered expulsions of the other’s diplomats. Azerbaijan reopened the embassy in mid-2024 after an Iranian court sentenced the attacker to death. Another point of dispute between the two countries has been the so-called Zangezur corridor, a proposed direct land link between Azerbaijan and Tehran’s historic rival Turkey.Tehran strongly opposes the project, which would run along Iran’s border with Armenia. Tehran has historically been wary of separatist sentiment among its ethnic Azerbaijani minority, which makes up around 10 million of Iran’s 83 million citizens.

Palestinian official tells ICJ Israel using aid blockage as ‘weapon of war’

A top Palestinian official told the International Court of Justice Monday that Israel was blocking humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza as a “weapon of war”, at the start of a week of hearings at the UN’s top court.Israel is not participating at the ICJ but hit back immediately, dismissing the hearings as “part of the systematic persecution and delegitimisation” of the country.The ICJ is hearing dozens of nations and organisations to draw up a so-called advisory opinion on Israel’s humanitarian obligations to Palestinians, more than 50 days into its total blockage on aid entering war-ravaged Gaza.Top Palestinian official Ammar Hijazi told judges that “all UN-supported bakeries in Gaza have been forced to shut their doors”.”Nine of every 10 Palestinians have no access to safe drinking water. Storage facilities of the UN and other international agencies are empty,” added Hijazi.”These are the facts. Starvation is here. Humanitarian aid is being used as a weapon of war,” concluded the Palestinian representative.Speaking in Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the case in The Hague was “part of a systematic persecution and delegitimisation of Israel”.”It is not Israel that should be on trial. It is the UN and UNRWA,” he told reporters, referring to the United Nations aid agency for Palestinian refugees.Israel has banned UNRWA from operating on Israeli soil, after accusing some of the agency’s staff of participating in the Hamas October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the conflict.Independent investigations say it has not provided evidence for its headline allegation.UNRWA Secretary-General Philippe Lazzarini urged Israel “as an occupying power” to “provide services or facilitate their delivery — including through UNRWA — to the population it is occupying”.- ‘Utmost urgency’ -In December, the UN’s General Assembly asked the ICJ for an advisory opinion “on a priority basis and with the utmost urgency”.The UN asked judges to clarify Israel’s legal duties towards the UN and its agencies, international organisations or third-party states to “ensure and facilitate the unhindered provision of urgently needed supplies essential to the survival of the Palestinian civilian population”.Israel strictly controls all inflows of international aid vital for the 2.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.It halted aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2, days before the collapse of a ceasefire that had significantly reduced hostilities after 15 months of war.Supplies are dwindling and the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) on Friday said it had sent out its “last remaining food stocks” to kitchens.AFP footage from a community kitchen in Gaza City shows scores of boys and girls crowded outside the facility, pushing their pots and pans forward in a desperate attempt to secure whatever food they can.The UN estimates 500,000 Palestinians have been displaced since the two-month ceasefire ended in mid-March.Israel resumed air bombardment on March 18, followed by renewed ground attacks.This has triggered what the UN has described as “likely the worst” humanitarian crisis the occupied Palestinian territory has faced since the war started after the Hamas October 7, 2023, attack.That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 52,243 people in Gaza since October 2023, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.At least 2,111 Palestinians have been killed since March 18.The UN considers the ministry’s figures reliable.The Israeli government says the assault aims to force Hamas to free the remaining captives, 58 of whom are still being held in Gaza.Hostages’ relatives have said it could “sacrifice” their loved ones.Although the ICJ’s advisory opinions are not legally binding, the court believes they “carry great legal weight and moral authority”.Palestinian envoy to the UN Riyad Mansour told reporters the Palestinians were building an international law case against Israel “block on top of another block”.”We are very confident that after this horrific tragedy of our people, especially in the Gaza Strip, the arc of justice is bending toward Palestine, toward accomplishing our objectives.”

Fires rage 2 days after Iran port blast killed 46

Firefighters in Iran battled raging fires on Monday at the country’s largest commercial port, two days after a massive explosion killed at least 46 people, state TV reported.The blast took place on Saturday at Shahid Rajaee Port in Iran’s south near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which one-fifth of global oil output passes. “The death toll in the Shahid Rajaee Port fire has reached 46,” the official IRNA news agency reported, quoting Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, the crisis management director for Hormozgan province. Officials had said more than 1,000 people were injured but Hassanzadeh said most have now been released after treatment.Only “138 wounded are still in hospital,” he said.Iran’s state TV showed images of firefighters dousing the flames, and said the damage will be assessed after the fire is fully brought under control. Heavy charcoal-black smoke continued to billow over low flames at part of the site, above which a firefighting helicopter flew, pictures from the Iranian Red Crescent showed.It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion but the port’s customs office said it likely resulted from a fire that broke out at the hazardous and chemical materials storage depot. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered a probe into the incident to determine if there was “any negligence or intent”. – Smoke, then a fireball -CCTV images on social media showed the incident began gradually, with a small fire and orange-brown smoke before a fireball erupted.The images appeared to show the small fire starting among a few containers stacked outside across from a warehouse. A small forklift truck drove past the smoking area and men walked nearby.About one minute and eight seconds after the small fire and smoke were visible, a fireball erupted as vehicles passed nearby. Men ran for their lives.President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday visited hospitals treating the wounded in the nearby city of Bandar Abbas. Since the explosion, authorities have ordered all schools and offices in the area closed and urged residents to avoid going outside “until further notice” and to use protective masks.The New York Times quoted a person with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss security matters, as saying that what exploded was sodium perchlorate — a major ingredient in solid fuel for missiles.Defence ministry spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik later told state TV that “there has been no imported or exported cargo for military fuel or military use in the area”.Russia dispatched specialists to help battle the blazes.Authorities have declared Monday a national day of mourning, while three days of mourning began Sunday in Hormozgan province, where the port is located.The blast occurred as Iranian and US delegations met in Oman for high-level talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, with both sides reporting progress.While Iranian authorities so far appear to be treating the blast as an accident, it also comes against the backdrop of years of shadow war with regional foe Israel.According to The Washington Post, Israel launched a cyberattack targeting the Shahid Rajaee Port in 2020

Fires rage 2 days after Iran port blast killed 40

Firefighters in Iran battled raging fires on Monday at the country’s largest commercial port, two days after a massive explosion killed at least 40 people, state TV reported.The blast took place on Saturday at Shahid Rajaee Port in Iran’s south near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which one-fifth of global oil output passes. It killed at least 40 people and injured more than 1,000 others, officials said, after triggering smaller explosions and fires in nearby containers.Iran’s state TV showed images of firefighters dousing the flames, and said the damage will be assessed after the fire is fully brought under control. Thick, swirling plumes of smoke rose over the stacked containers at the site, the TV images showed.It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion but the port’s customs office said it likely resulted from a fire that broke out at the hazardous and chemical materials storage depot. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered a probe into the incident to determine if there were “any negligence or intent”. – Smoke, then a fireball -CCTV images on social media showed the incident began gradually, with a small fire and orange-brown smoke before a fireball erupted.The images appeared to show the small fire starting among a few containers stacked outside across from a warehouse. A small forklift truck drove past the smoking area and men walked nearby.About one minute and eight seconds after the small fire and smoke were visible, a fireball erupted as vehicles passed nearby. Men ran for their lives.President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday visited hospitals treating the wounded in the nearby city of Bandar Abbas. Since the explosion, authorities have ordered all schools and offices in the area closed and urged residents to avoid going outside “until further notice” and to use protective masks.The New York Times quoted a person with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss security matters, as saying that what exploded was sodium perchlorate — a major ingredient in solid fuel for missiles.Defence ministry spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik later told state TV that “there has been no imported or exported cargo for military fuel or military use in the area”.Russia dispatched specialists to help battle the blazes.Authorities have declared Monday a national day of mourning, while three days of mourning began Sunday in Hormozgan province, where the port is located.The blast occurred as Iranian and US delegations met in Oman for high-level talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, with both sides reporting progress.While Iranian authorities so far appear to be treating the blast as an accident, it also comes against the backdrop of years of shadow war with regional foe Israel.According to the Washington Post, Israel launched a cyberattack targeting the Shahid Rajaee Port in 2020