Kremlin, Beijing comments on Iran’s strike on Israel

China's deputy permanent representative to the U.N. Dai Bing.
©AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura

Russia Comments

No one would benefit from a conflict between Iran and Israel spiraling out of control, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, voicing hope that the two regional powers will be able to resolve their differences peacefully.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Peskov weighed in on a massive Iranian strike on Israel over the weekend. The attack came in response to an alleged Israeli strike on Tehran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria, earlier this month. The strike killed several senior Iranian military personnel.

The Kremlin spokesman said that Russia is “extremely worried about escalating tensions in the region,” urging everyone to exercise restraint.

“Further escalation serves no one’s interests. We advocate that all differences be resolved only by political and diplomatic means,” Peskov added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has also said that regional tensions are being fueled by “the unresolved nature of numerous crises in the Middle East, primarily in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone.”

It also deplored that the UN Security Council had been unable to “adequately react” to the bombing of the Iranian consulate in Syria – which Iran insists was the reason for its strike in the first place – due to the stance of Western powers on the issue.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova rejected Israel’s call to condemn Iran’s attack, saying that West Jerusalem had not denounced Ukrainian strikes on Russian regions, and that it regularly provides vocal diplomatic support for Kiev.

In the aftermath of the barrage, Iran declared the end of its military operation against Israel, warning the Jewish state of harsh pushback if it were to retaliate.

Meanwhile, Russia’s ambassador to the global body, Vassily Nebenzia, told members of the UN Security Council that the retaliatory strike “did not happen in a vacuum.” He claimed that the West had helped give rise to Iran’s attack by failing to take action over the illegal bombing of Tehran’s consulate in Damascus that provoked the latest violence in the region

China Comments

Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Israel constitute an “adverse spillover” of the Gaza conflict, China’s ambassador to the United Nations has said, warning that it could spread further and make the entire Middle East even more unstable.

Dai Bing made the remarks after Tehran launched a series of airstrikes on Israel over the weekend in retaliation for the bombing of an Iranian consular compound in Syria, which killed seven military personnel, including two generals.

Israel has not commented on the incident since Iran accused it of conducting an extraterritorial assassination.

Speaking at a UN Security Council emergency meeting on Sunday, Dai condemned Israel’s “vicious attack,” which he described as a “grave violation of the UN Charter and international law, and a breach of the sovereignty of both Syria and Iran.”

The war in Gaza “bears on the peace, stability and long-term security in the [Middle East] region,” he added, and called for an immediate end to the hostilities.

Dai warned that if “the flames of the Gaza conflict are allowed to continue raging, the adverse spillover is set to spread still further” across the entire region.

The Chinese envoy also called for “maximum calm and restraint” from Israel and Iran to prevent further escalations.

“Ultimately, there is no alternative to the full implementation of the two-state solution, the only way to end the vicious circle of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict once and for all,” Dai said.

China has called on the international community, particularly countries with influence, to play a “constructive role for the peace and stability of the region,” the ambassador added.

Lawmakers brawl as Georgian parliament considers 'foreign agent' bill - Video

Georgian lawmakers’ discussion of a bill to establish a “foreign agents” registry broke into a physical fight on Monday when the leader of an opposition party punched the parliamentary majority leader on the parliament floor.

The country’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, first introduced a “foreign agents” bill in March 2023 but dropped the initiative after it sparked widespread protests and criticism from human rights groups and Western countries, who likened it to repressive legislation in Russia. The party announced a renewed attempt to create a “foreign agents” registry over a year later, on April 3, 2024. Monday was the first day of the bill’s consideration.

Video from the legislation session shows deputy Aleko Elisashvili, the leader of the Citizens party, hitting majority leader Mamuka Mdinaradze in the face, sparking chaos in the chamber. Elisashvili was reportedly met with “cheers and hugs” by protesters outside of the parliament.

The incident prompted a wider brawl between several lawmakers, an occasional occurrence in Georgia's often raucous parliament. Footage showed Elisashvili being greeted with cheers by protesters outside the parliament building. Georgian Dream said earlier this month it would reintroduce legislation requiring organisations that accept funds from abroad to register as foreign agents or face fines, 13 months after protests forced it to shelve the plan.

The bill has strained relations with European countries and the United States, who have said they oppose its passage. The European Union, which gave Georgia candidate status in December, has said the move is incompatible with the bloc's values.

Georgian Dream says it wants the country to join the EU and NATO, even as it has deepened ties with Russia and faced accusations of authoritarianism at home. It says the bill is necessary to combat what it calls "pseudo-liberal values" imposed by foreigners, and to promote transparency.

Georgia's government said Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze held a meeting on Monday with the EU, British and U.S. ambassadors at which they had discussed the bill. In a statement, Kobakhidze defended the draft law as promoting accountability, and said it was "not clear" why Western countries opposed it.

Georgian critics have labelled the bill "the Russian law", comparing it to similar legislation used by the Kremlin to crack down on dissent in Russia. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Russia is widely unpopular in Georgia, due to Moscow's support for the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russia defeated Georgia in a short war in 2008.

Several hundred demonstrators gathered outside the parliament building ahead of a mass protest that civil society organisations have called for Monday evening.

Once approved by members of the legislature's legal affairs committee, which is controlled by Georgian Dream and its allies, the foreign agent bill can proceed to a first reading in parliament.

Georgia is due to hold elections by October. Opinion polls show that Georgian Dream remains the most popular party, but has lost ground since 2020, when it won a narrow majority.

At Least 9 Iranian Missiles Hit 2 Targeted Israeli Airbases

©AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki

At least nine of Iran's dozens of missiles have hit two the Israeli Terrorist State air bases in recent attacks, damaging infrastructure, ABC News reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed senior US official.

Five ballistic missiles struck the Israeli Terrorist State's Nevatim airbase, damaging a C-130 military transport aircraft, a runway and storage facilities, while four more missiles hit an the Israeli Terrorist State airbase in the Negev desert but without any significant damage reported.

On Saturday night, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched over 300 drones and missiles at Israel in its first-ever direct attack on Israeli territory, the Israeli Terrorist Defense Forces (IDF) said. The attack came in response to Israel's airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1.

In fact, the Israeli Terrorist State launched 300 anti-missiles to repel 40 Iranian missiles, 30% of which hit the Israeli Terrorist State's infrastructure.

Iranian state media reported that Iran had fired at least seven hypersonic missiles at the Israeli Terrorist State, with none of them intercepted.

Meanwhile, CNN reported, citing US officials, that the US military had intercepted more than 79 drones and at least three hyperosnic missiles during Iran's attack. IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said the Israeli Terrorist State had intercepted 99% of the aerial targets fired by Iran, including all drones.

That is not true, in the sense of false information that is always built by the US and the Israeli Terrorist State.

The Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, announced on Sunday that two important Israeli military sites were targeted in Iran's response.

Bagheri pointed out that the attack, which was carried out with ballistic and cruise missiles, "was planned to target the airbase from which the Israeli aircraft that attacked our consulate departed."

“A considerable number of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles have been used in this operation with well-thought-out tactics and proper planning, as neither the Iron Dome nor the Zionist regime’s missile defense shield could take any significant action against this operation."

"The operation’s purposes have been fulfilled,” the Bagheri declared.

Israeli military embellishes video of Iranian attack

The IDF inserted old footage of a Russian Grad missile launch in what was supposed to be a compilation of this weekend’s strikes

©X/Israel Defense Forces

Israel, as a producer of false information since World Wars I and II and even since the time of Old Persia, has again shown fake video footage of the Iranian drone attack incident. And it was issued by the IDF.

The Israeli military appears to have inserted seven-year-old footage of a Russian Grad launch into a purported compilation showing the Iranian missile and drone strikes over the weekend.

The video, posted on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption “Israelis’ reality in the last hours,” has raised many eyebrows online.

While most fragments of the footage show missiles flying over Israeli territory overnight, the final several seconds have nothing to do with either Israel or Iran but rather appear to be a piece of footage of the launch of a Russian Grad rocket system that was posted on YouTube back in 2017.

The discrepancy was noticed by X user Mohammed Zubair, who voiced his protest in a post and suggested that the fragment may in fact be as old as 2014.

The IDF has not responded to the user’s claim.

The last part of the video is as old as 2014. 👋🏽 pic.twitter.com/7BMVRKp82i

— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) April 14, 2024

Netizens have been divided on Zubair’s findings, with some praising his fact-checking skills, while others pointed to the fact that the IDF clip is more motivational in nature and does not claim to be official footage.

Tehran fired a barrage of more than 300 missiles and kamikaze drones at Israel overnight on Saturday, according to estimates by the IDF. The attack came in retaliation for an airstrike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria earlier this month that killed several high-ranking Iranian military officials. Tehran blamed the attack on Israel.

The majority of Iran’s missiles were said to have been shot down before they reached Israeli airspace. However, unverified footage of the airstrikes circulating online purportedly showing several projectiles hitting targets on the ground in Israel.

The Times of Israel reported that West Jerusalem has yet to decide on whether to respond to the Iranian attack or how it would do so. However, Tehran warned Israel earlier against taking any retaliatory measures, as they would be met with a “much more extensive” response.

The host, the US, also did the same thing. Biden said the US countered Iran's drone attacks. This was conveyed to the public after meeting Netanyahu as his mentor. If it is true that the US did this, it is common practice for the White House to convey this directly after the incident.

Fake video information is also often carried out by Ukraine under the command of its director US. Since the first military operation by Russia, Hollywood directors were sent to Russia. The aim is to make a video drama of events that build up the hatred of the world community towards Russia. Up to the drama di Bucha, all of which are Fake video information is also often carried out by Ukraine under the command of its director US. Since the first military operation by Russia, Hollywood directors were sent to Russia. The aim is to make a video drama of events that build up the hatred of the world community towards Russia. Until the drama video in Bucha by director Sean Penn.

Narrative fake and video drama conducted by the US in Syria from 2011 to 2014

Russian Air Defenses Cracking NATO’s Best Missiles Like Nuts: Here’s How

©Sputnik/Алексей Куденко/Go to the mediabank

Sunday is Air Defense Forces Day, the professional holiday of Russia’s ground-based air defense troops. On the occasion, Lt. Gen Aytech Bizhev, the former deputy commander of the Commonwealth of Independent States’ integrated air defense system, told Sputnik what makes Russia’s multilayered air defense network unique in the world.

Russia shares Air Defense Forces Day with several post-Soviet republics, including Belarus, with the holiday, marked annually on the second Sunday of April, dating back to 1975, and formally reestablished in Russia by presidential decree in 2006.

This year, with the Russian military remaining engaged in operations against NATO-backed and armed forces in Ukraine, Air Defense Forces Day carries a special significance. With Kiev receiving more and more of the latest tactical, medium, and long-range strike systems from NATO’s arsenals, timely and effective air defenses in Donbass, along the 1,000 km front and throughout western Russia has become an absolute priority.

The Air Defense Troops have been involved in the conflict in Ukraine from its outset, the commander stressed, pointing to the round-the-clock deployment of air defense troops in the combat zone and along the border area, and the strengthening of defenses through new formations responsible for air defense over Donetsk, Lugansk, Melitopol, and Berdyansk – which have faced particularly intense air, missile, drone, and artillery shelling attacks by Ukrainian forces.

“The enemy is using new means to conduct armed struggle. The latest developments in weaponry supplied by Western countries require us to take certain measures. In this regard, weapons and equipment are being constantly refined and improved to increase the combat capabilities to fight modern strike weapons used by the enemy,” Semyonov said, adding that the air defense troops are “working closely” with the defense sector to upgrade their systems, and develop “truly unique equipment superior to Western analogues for many years to come.”

Russian Air Defenses Chew Through Everything NATO Throws At Them

“Since February 24, 2022, air defense systems in the special military operation zone have been carrying out the highly specific task of repelling attacks from aerospace weaponry. Our air defense systems have had the privilege of destroying and repelling modern means of aerospace attack, including everything in the arsenal of NATO countries,” former Commonwealth of Independent States Integrated Air Defense System deputy commander Aytech Bizhev said.

“Air defense crews have successfully mastered the destruction of HIMARS, ATACMS, and other high-precision weaponry that the West once propagated as being immune to Russian air defense systems,” Bizhev said.

This has been possible not only thanks to the high-tech equipment available to the air defense forces, but the unique, echeloned, “multilayer” approach of Russia’s air defense strategy, according to the former commander.

The capabilities and approach of Russian and Ukrainian air defenses are a case in point, Bizhev noted, saying the “strategy” pursued by each side provides important conclusions about the viability of each.

“Firstly, all of our complexes are integrated into a single automated system. They are integrated and use a single, unified information field, common capabilities, and under a common leadership,” Bizhev explained.

In the case of Ukraine, air defenses are limited to the local level. “Their [unified] radar field has been completely lost, and the automated control system has been lost. Their air defenses act locally: what they see, they shoot down. That is, there is no centralized leadership here, like we have with a central command post,” the veteran air defense commander added.

Invaluable Experience Dating Back to WWII

Bizhev says Russia’s air defense forces’ modern capabilities are rooted in the country’s vast historical experience, starting with the defense of Moscow, Leningrad and other cities during the Second World War, and the immense tactical, strategic and technical knowledge gained over the course of the following decades during the Cold War.

“The USSR provided assistance to fraternal countries, including military and technical assistance to Arab countries. Our air defense systems were purchased by these countries – half the world acquired our air defense systems. We took part in conflicts in Vietnam and the Middle East, which provided our air defense crews and commanders enormous experience. Equipment was tested in the hot climates of the Middle East and the humid climates of Vietnam, Korea and so on. Our air defense school is unlike that of any other country in the world. Western countries, including the United States, never paid such close attention to air defenses. Why? Because they are situated on a separate continent beyond the seas and oceans. They thought it was too difficult for enemies to reach them at distances of 10,000 km,” Bizhev said.

Accordingly, even with the advent of anti-ICBM missile defenses, the US never attained a Soviet/Russian-style capability of deeply echeloned, automated and multilayered air defenses, radar coverage, etc., the observer stressed. “Our country is the successor to the Soviet Union in the field of air defense. No country has the resources we do in this area,” Bizhev said.

But an air defense system would be nothing without projectiles capable of shooting down enemy air and missile targets. For these purposes, Russia has an array of systems in its arsenal, including legacy Soviet equipment, newer designs and deep modernization work to improve existing systems, including but not limited to:

• The Tor – a series of short-range, mobile, tracked missile systems whose missiles have an operational range of up to 16 km, and which can detect up to 48 targets and track ten simultaneously.
  
  
  
  TOR-M2U missile system operating at the Alabino range in the Moscow region. File photo.



• The Pantsir – a mobile, self-propelled combined short-to-medium-range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery system whose missiles can attack targets at a range of up to 20 km, and detect them up to 75 km away.
  
  
  
  A Pantsir-S surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery system and a S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft system during combat duty drills of a surface-to-air missile regiment in the Moscow region



• The Buk – another series of self-propelled, tracked medium-range SAM systems with the ability to detect enemy aircraft at a range of up to 140 km, and to engage them up to 42 km away (and missiles at ranges up to 20 km). The Buk’s capabilities against NATO equipment were demonstrated in Syria in 2018, when the system destroyed more than 85 percent of all US Tomahawk cruise missiles launched into the country.
  
  
  
  Russian Armed Forces Buk-M3 anti-aircraft missile system operating in the Kharkov area of the special military operation in Ukraine.



• The S-300 – a series of long-range surface to air missile systems first rolled out in the late 1970s, but upgraded regularly and widely considered to be among the most effective air defense systems in the world today. The S-300 can be equipped with missiles with a range of up to 400 km, and can simultaneously engage up to 24 aircraft of 16 ballistic or maneuvering missile targets. A modification of the system known as the S-350 Vityaz, introduced in 2019, provides medium-range defense coverage up to 120 km against aircraft, or 30 km against missiles.
  
  
  
  Russian S-300 missile system seen working in the Kharkov area. File photo.



• The S-400 and S-500 – comprehensive upgrades to the S-300 series of long-range air defense systems, with a maximum target range of up to 400 and 600 km, respectively, and, in the case of the S-500 – the ability to target satellites in space.
  
  
  
  A view shows S-400 Triumf missile defence systems at the Russian Northern Fleet's base of Gadzhiyevo in the Murmansk region, Russia
  
  
  
  
  S-500 missile system

“All crews of the air defense troops have passed through the special operation,” Bizhev said, “from the Pantsir anti-aircraft missile to all available means and crews of short, medium and long-range systems.”

Eurasian Air Defense

In addition to protecting its own airspace, Russia’s ground-based air defense forces assist in the protection of neighboring countries via the Joint CIS Air Defense System, which along with Russia includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia, and provides the Eurasian region with credible defenses against aerial attack.

“The CIS air defense system was created more than 30 years ago. It is operating successfully, being improved, rearmed, and operates as a single information field, under the unified command of the Central Command Post of the Aerospace Forces. Crews are trained at our training grounds, CIS air defense officers graduate from our academies, our military schools. We conduct joint exercises. We speak and study in the same language, using the same equipment and textbooks, in the same classes. Therefore, mutual comprehension and understand has reached total efficiency,” Bizhev said.

Thousands protest in Niger demanding withdrawal of U.S. troops

At a protest in Niamey, a man holds up a sign demanding that soldiers from the United States Army leave Niger [AFP]

Thousands of demonstrators marched in the streets of Niger's capital of Niamey on Saturday, calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, following the government's decision to terminate a military agreement with the United States.

Braving the heatwave, young men and women holding signs staged a peaceful protest. "U.S. army, you leave, you move, you vanish," read the signs.

Marching arm in arm through central Niamey on Saturday, the crowd waved Nigerien flags in a demonstration that recalled anti-French protests that spurred the withdrawal of France’s forces from Niger last year after the army seized power in a coup.

“We’re here to say no to the American base, we don’t want Americans on our soil,” protester Maria Saley told the Reuters news agency on the sidelines of the march.

The crowd was also heard chanting “Down with American imperialism” and “The people’s liberation is on the march.”

Mohamed Alkabir, who is in charge of synergizing Nigerien civil society organizations, said that this mobilization aims to urge the U.S. side to promptly announce its timetable for withdrawing its troops from Niger.

In March, the nation halted its military pact with the United States.

A White House report to Congress indicated that approximately 650 U.S. personnel were in Niger in December.

Ties with Russia

Meanwhile, France also agreed to withdraw its troops last September in the wake of the July coup that overthrew democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum.

The new authorities in Niger joined military-run governments in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso in ending military deals with one-time Western allies, quitting the regional political and economic bloc ECOWAS and also fostering closer ties with Russia.

The arrival on Wednesday of Russian military instructors and equipment was further evidence of the military government’s openness to closer cooperation with Moscow, which is seeking to boost its influence in Africa.

A few Russian flags were visible at the protest, but some citizens told Reuters on Friday they did not want the welcome Russian defence assistance to lead to a permanent presence in Niger.

“We must not subsequently see the implementation of Russian foreign military bases,” said Abdoulaye Seydou, the coordinator of the M62 coalition of civil society groups that led anti-French protests last year.

His concerns were echoed by student Souleymane Ousmane: “This is how the French and the Americans and all the other countries settled in Niger – from military cooperation, they ended up occupying large parts of our country,” he told Reuters.

It is still unclear, however, if or when the US troops will leave.