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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards commander says Iran purchased Russian-made Sukhoi 35 fighter jets

In November 2023, Iran’s Tasnim news agency said Tehran had finalised arrangements to buy Russian fighter jets.

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Iran has purchased Russian-made Sukhoi-35 fighter jets, a senior Revolutionary Guards commander said on Monday, amid Western concerns about Tehran and Moscow's growing military cooperation, Reuters reported.

This is the first time an Iranian official has confirmed the purchase of Su-35 jets. However, Ali Shadmani, who was quoted by the Student News Network, did not clarify how many jets were purchased and whether they had already been delivered to Iran.

"Whenever necessary, we make military purchases to strengthen our air, land, and naval forces. ... The production of military equipment has also accelerated," the deputy Coordinator of the Khatam-ol-Anbia Central Headquarters said.

"If the enemy acts foolishly, it will taste the bitter taste of being hit by our missiles, and none of its interests in the occupied territories will remain safe," Shadmani warned referring to Iran's arch-rival in the region, Israel.

In November 2023, Iran's Tasnim news agency said Tehran had finalised arrangements to buy Russian fighter jets.

Earlier this month, Iran and Russia signed a comprehensive strategic partnership which did not mention arms transfers but said the two will develop their "military-technical cooperation."

Iran's air force has only a few dozen strike aircraft, including Russian jets as well as ageing U.S. models acquired before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, read the report.

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China urges Panama to ‘make right decision’ after announcing Belt and Road exit

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China expressed regret on Saturday over Panama's intention to leave Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, urging the Latin American nation to "make the right decision".

Assistant Foreign Minister Zhao Zhuyuan met Panama's ambassador to China and lodged solemn representations, the foreign ministry said in a statement, Reuters reported.

Zhao said Beijing deeply regrets Panama's decision and that the move was "not in the vital interests of Panama", it said.

"It is hoped that Panama will eliminate external interference and make the right decision based on the overall situation of bilateral relations and the long-term interests of the two peoples," the statement said.

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Iran’s Khamenei says experience proves talks with US ‘not smart’

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Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday experience had proven that talks with the United States are "not smart, wise or honorable", the official IRNA news agency reported.

This week U.S. President Donald Trump said he would like to start working on a "verified nuclear peace agreement" with Iran after restoring his maximum pressure campaign on the country, Reuters reported.

During his previous term in office in 2018, Trump pulled the United States out of Tehran's 2015 nuclear pact with world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy.

The harsh measures prompted Tehran to violate the pact's nuclear limitations.

"Negotiating with America is neither smart, wise, or honorable. It will not solve any of our problems. The reason? Experience!" Khamenei was quoted as saying.

Iran had reached its agreement with the U.S. and other countries after two years of talks, he said, but the Americans did not adhere to it despite Iran's many concessions. "The person in charge tore it up," said Khamenei, referring to Trump.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday that Iran was ready to give the United States a chance to resolve disputes.

Khamenei said Iran would retaliate in kind if the Americans attacked Iran. "If they threaten our security, we will threaten theirs. If they act on their threats, we will do the same."

Referring to Trump's proposal to forcibly move Palestinian inhabitants from Gaza to neighboring Arab countries, Khamenei said:

"On paper, Americans are changing the world map. Of course it's only on paper because it's devoid of reality."

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Trump says Israel would hand over Gaza after fighting is over, no US troops needed

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U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday Israel would hand over Gaza to the United States after fighting was over and the enclave's population was already resettled elsewhere, which he said meant no U.S. troops would be needed on the ground.

A day after worldwide condemnation of Trump's announcement that he aimed to take over and develop the Gaza Strip into the "Riviera of the Middle East", Israel ordered its army to prepare to allow the "voluntary departure" of Gaza Palestinians, Reuters reported.

Trump, who had previously declined to rule out deploying U.S. troops to the small coastal territory, clarified his idea in comments on his Truth Social web platform.

"The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting," he said. Palestinians "would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region." He added: "No soldiers by the U.S. would be needed!"

Earlier, amid a tide of support in Israel for what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Trump's "remarkable" proposal, Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the army to prepare a plan to allow Gaza residents who wished to leave to exit the enclave voluntarily.

"I welcome President Trump's bold plan. Gaza residents should be allowed the freedom to leave and emigrate, as is the norm around the world," Katz said on X.

He said his plan would include exit options via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air.

Trump, a real-estate-developer-turned-politician, sparked anger around the Middle East with his unexpected announcement on Tuesday, just as Israel and Hamas were expected to begin talks in Doha on the second stage of a ceasefire deal for Gaza, intended to open the way for a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, a further release of hostages and an end to a nearly 16-month-old war.

Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia rebuffed the proposal outright and Jordan's King Abdullah, who will meet Trump at the White House next week, said on Wednesday he rejected any attempts to annex land and displace Palestinians.

Egypt also weighed in, saying it would not be part of any proposal to displace Palestinians from neighbouring Gaza, where residents reacted with fury to the suggestion.

"We will not sell our land for you, real estate developer. We are hungry, homeless, and desperate but we are not collaborators," said Abdel Ghani, a father of four living with his family in the ruins of their Gaza City home. "If (Trump) wants to help, let him come and rebuild for us here."

It was unclear whether Trump would go ahead with his proposal or, in keeping with his self-image as a shrewd dealmaker, has simply laid out an extreme position as a bargaining tactic. His first term in 2017-21 was replete with what critics said were over-the-top foreign policy pronouncements, many of which were never implemented.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Thursday that people would have to live elsewhere while Gaza was rebuilt. He did not say whether they would be able to return under Trump's plan to develop the enclave, home to more than 2 million Palestinians.

Axios reported Rubio planned to visit the Middle East in mid-February with an itinerary that includes Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

DISPLACEMENT

What effect Trump's shock proposal may have on the ceasefire talks remains unclear. Only 13 of a group of 33 Israeli hostages due for release in the first phase have so far been returned, with three more due to come out on Saturday. Five Thai hostages have also been released.

Hamas official Basem Naim accused Israel's defence minister of trying to cover up "for a state that has failed to achieve any of its objectives in the war on Gaza", and said Palestinians are too attached to their land to ever leave.

Displacement of Palestinians has been one of the most sensitive issues in the Middle East for decades. Forced or coerced displacement of a population under military occupation is a war crime, banned under the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

Details of how any such plan might work have been vague. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said different thinking was needed on Gaza's future but that any departures would have to be voluntary and states would have to be willing to take them.

"We don't have details yet, but we can talk about principles," Saar told a press conference with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani. "Everything must be based on the free will of (the) individual and, on the other hand, of a will of a state that is ready to absorb," he said.

A number of far-right Israeli politicians have openly called for Palestinians to be moved from Gaza and there was strong support for Trump's push among both security hawks and the Jewish settler movement, which wants to reclaim land in Gaza used for Jewish settlements until 2005.

Giora Eiland, an Israeli former general who attracted wide attention in an earlier stage of the war with his "Generals' Plan" for a forced displacement of people from northern Gaza, said Trump's plan was logical and aid should not be allowed to reach displaced people returning to northern Gaza.

Israel's military campaign has killed tens of thousands of people since Hamas' October 7, 2023, cross-border attack on Israel touched off the war, and has forced Palestinians to repeatedly move around within Gaza in search of safety.

But many say they will never leave the enclave because they fear permanent displacement, like the "Nakba", or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands were dispossessed from homes in the war at the birth of the state of Israel in 1948.

Katz said countries that have opposed Israel's military operations in Gaza should take in the Palestinians.

"Countries like Spain, Ireland, Norway, and others, which have levelled accusations and false claims against Israel over its actions in Gaza, are legally obligated to allow any Gaza resident to enter their territories," he said.

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