Regional
Iran’s main gas pipeline hit by sabotage, oil minister says
Two explosions along Iran’s main south-north gas pipeline network on Wednesday were caused by sabotage, the Iranian oil minister told state TV, without naming any suspects.
Authorities also denied reports that the incident caused gas cuts to industries and offices in some provinces, state media reported.
“This terrorist act of sabotage occurred at 1 am on Wednesday morning in the network of national gas transmission pipelines in two regions of the country,” Minister Javad Owji said.
Only villages near the damaged pipeline were experiencing gas outages, which will be fixed later today, Owji said. Temporary restrictions had been planned ahead for maintenance, state media reported.
Owji pointed to a similar incident which took place in 2011, which he said was an act of sabotage that caused temporary gas outages in four different regions in the country.
While such attacks are rare in Iran, Arab separatist militants in Iran claimed in 2017 that they had blown up two oil pipelines in coordinated attacks in the country’s western Khuzestan province.
In December, Iran executed five people whom it accused of being saboteurs with links to Israel’s Mossad intelligence service in a decades-long shadow war that has seen Tehran accuse Israel of attacks on its nuclear and missile efforts, charges the latter has never confirmed or denied.
United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrived in Islamabad on Friday on his first official visit to Pakistan, at the invitation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Geo News reported.
He was received by Prime Minister Sharif and senior officials, with his aircraft escorted by Pakistan Air Force jets upon entering Pakistani airspace. The UAE president is accompanied by a high-level delegation.
According to Pakistan’s Foreign Office, the visit aims to review bilateral relations and discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has signaled that the country will continue developing missiles over the next five years, following visits to major munitions enterprises in the last quarter of 2025, state media KCNA reported on Friday.
Kim said the country’s missile and shell production sector is “of paramount importance in bolstering war deterrence,” according to KCNA.
The report said Kim ratified draft documents on the modernization of key munitions enterprises, which will be submitted to a major ruling party congress expected to be held in early 2026. The congress is set to outline North Korea’s development plan for the next five years.
KCNA’s report follows Thursday’s disclosure that Kim oversaw the construction of an 8,700-ton nuclear-powered submarine alongside his daughter, widely seen as a potential successor, as well as the test-firing of long-range surface-to-air missiles.
Turkish authorities have detained 115 suspected Daesh members they said were planning to carry out attacks on Christmas and New Year celebrations in the country, the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said on Thursday.
Istanbul Police obtained information that Daesh members had planned attacks in Turkey, against non-Muslims in particular, during Christmas and New Year celebrations, the prosecutor’s office posted on X, Reuters reported.
The police raided 124 places in Istanbul, capturing 115 of the 137 suspects they were seeking, the statement said. Several pistols and ammunition were seized, it said.
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