Surprise Fighting Erupts In Iran; Several Killed As Iranian Forces Battle Border Attack
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The Print
19 hours ago
- The Print
Pakistan signs $1.5 billion deal to sell lethal combat weapons to Sudan's junta
Islamabad's planned arms sales will draw it into a toxic competition between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as a maze of Western sanctions designed to end the civil war. The deal was signed during a visit to Islamabad by 'Pilot' El Tahir Mohamed El Awad El Amin, the head of the SAF's air force, during which he reportedly held talks with Pakistan's defence minister, air force chief, and other senior military figures. New Delhi: Pakistan has signed an agreement to supply $1.5 billion worth of military equipment to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the internationally sanctioned military junta fighting to control the war-torn north-east African country. The deal, believed to be paid for by a third nation, will give the regime of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan access to light attack aircraft, engines, armoured fighting vehicles and a range of unmanned aerial vehicles. According to Swiss government sanctions, El Amin was responsible for the indiscriminate aerial bombing carried out by the air force of the SAF in densely populated residential areas, notably in Khartoum, Omdurman, Nyala (South Darfur) and North Kordofan, documented by the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan. The indiscriminate air strikes, the sanctions documents reveal, caused the 'destruction of critical infrastructures, including medical facilities such as the East Nile Hospital in Khartoum in May 2023 and the Babiker Nahar Paediatric Hospital in El-Fasher in May 2024'. Earlier this year, the United States Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on the head of the SAF, Al-Burhan, holding that he had command responsibility for 'lethal attacks on civilians, including airstrikes against protected infrastructure including schools, markets, and hospitals'. The SAF is also held responsible for the routine and intentional denial of humanitarian access, using food deprivation as a war tactic. The Treasury Department had also indicted Ahmed Abdalla, a Sudanese-Ukrainian dual national, for routing Iranian-made UAVs through Azerbaijan to the SAF through his Hong Kong based firm, Portex. An arms embargo and asset freeze is also in place against both sides, enforced by the UN Security Council. However, both sides have continued to receive supplies of arms through third countries, while the Rapid Support Forces is alleged to have been using mercenaries recruited on its behalf by the UAE from Colombia. Fuelled by competition between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the conflict in Sudan, which began in 2023, has claimed more than 70,000 lives, and left several hundred thousand people on the edge of starvation. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has backed the SAF, hoping to shut out Iran, and also bring stability to the Red Sea, where instability directly threatens key projects, like the city of Neom, and Yanbu Terminal expansion, which aims to diversify oil export routes away from the Strait of Hormuz, expert Elfadil Ibrahim explains. For its part, the UAE seeks to block jihadist groups, who were overthrown in 2019, from riding on the SAF's back to retake power. The Pakistani supplies—10 K8 Karakorum light attack aircraft, engines for MiG21 aircraft, HQ-9 and HQ-6 air defence systems, armoured fighting vehicles, and hundreds of various kinds of drones—would give a significant edge to the junta. Large numbers of countries, including India and Pakistan, had participated in UN peacekeeping operations in Sudan, which concluded in 2024. There have been inconclusive discussions since then on redeploying international forces to protect civilians. (Edited by Mannat Chugh) Also Read: Can Syria's tiny Druze minority survive West Asia's new storms? There's little hope
Mint
2 days ago
- Mint
‘Tehran' review: Action film addresses the ethical complexities of espionage
In Tehran, director Arun Gopalan adapts the high-stakes geopolitics of 2012 into a tense espionage drama. The film's premise is rooted in a real incident: the February 2012 bomb attack near the Israeli Embassy in Delhi, part of a coordinated series of assaults on Israeli diplomats in Georgia, Thailand, and India. Based on a story written by Bindi Karia, with screenplay and dialogues by Karia and Ritesh Shah, the film uses that flashpoint as the launchpad for a fictional covert mission that spans continents and moral boundaries. At the heart of the narrative is ACP Rajiv Kumar, known as RK (John Abraham), a Delhi police officer described as obsessive by nature and a loose cannon. At the start of the film, RK is focussed on bringing down the Makwana gang, which has threatened his family. But after the bombing of the Israeli diplomat's car, RK is assigned to investigate the attack. The deadly car-bombing sequence—executed with emotional, dramatic and cinematic intensity—sets off RK's vendetta. As the mission stretches from Delhi to Georgia, the UK, Abu Dhabi, and finally to Tehran, it becomes clear that this is not just a spy game—it's about the messy entanglements of global politics, energy deals, and fractured alliances. The screenplay smartly incorporates geopolitics: where Israel provides valuable technology to India, Iran is a key oil supplier. But an imminent oil deal between Iran and India is at risk if RK is not stopped in time. RK is chasing Iranian operative Afshar Hosseini (Hadi Khanjanpour), who is directly tied to the Delhi bombing. The stakes are more than personal, and RK finds himself trapped in the age-old logic of covert warfare. As he says, 'You kill theirs, they kill yours. No one is clean here.' John Abraham lives the part, delivering a performance that balances focus and motivation with sensitivity and thought. When RK defies both departmental and government orders to infiltrate Tehran, the film briefly picks up pace and urgency. Dinker Sharma's Vijay, RK's colleague, deserves special mention. The cast also includes Alyy Khan as DCP Neeraj of the Special Cell and Neeru Bajwa as R&AW officer Sheilaja, Manushi Chhillar is cast as S.I. Divya Rana, an underwritten and underutilised agent, Quashik Mukherjee plays agency head Mr. Himadri and Madhurima Tuli as RK's wife. From a production standpoint, Tehran excels in world-building, aided by Ievgen Gubrebko and Andre Menezes' cinematography and Bishwadeep Dipak Chatterjee's sound design, lending weight to action set-pieces and political exchanges alike. The casting of Iranian and Israeli characters feels authentic, and the film benefits from being shot in the UK and India. However, while the film starts briskly and builds steadily, and the second act expands the moral stakes, the third act—when events should escalate—slackens. A late-film car chase and gunfight is oddly scored with an ill-fitting song, draining tension from what should be a pulse-pounding moment. The reduced urgency means the climax doesn't hit as hard as its setup promises. Tehran is an ambitious political thriller with credible world-building that doesn't simplify geopolitical realities into easy heroes and villains. If one is able to overlook the few flaws, Gopalan's film is occasionally gripping, offering an un-bombastic take on patriotism while acknowledging the complicated, transactional nature of international alliances and the ethical complexities of espionage.
Scroll.in
4 days ago
- Scroll.in
Review: In ‘Tehran', an Indian police officer inserts himself into the Iran-Israel conflict
In the Hindi movie Tehran, a high-ranking Delhi Police officer tries to out-Mossad Mossad. Arun Gopalan's thriller on ZEE5 marries the rule-breaking cop valourised by Indian filmmakers with the espionage dramas that emerge out of Israel with predictable regularity. In 2012, Iranian agents carry out bomb attacks on Israeli diplomats in three cities, including Delhi. Special Cell unit member Rajeev (John Abraham) is pained by the deaths of Indian bystanders, especially a girl who sells flowers. Rajeev vows that he will not allow terrorists to use India as a staging ground for such attacks. Until their very hands are cut off, nobody will take India seriously, he declares. Although described by his superiors as 'insane' and a loose cannon, Rajeev has friends in the right places, including Research and Analysis Wing officer Sheilaja (Neeru Bajwa). Accompanied by Divya (Manushi Chhillar) and Vijay (Dinker Sharma), Rajeev embarks on an unsanctioned covert operation to punish the perpetrators of the blast, much to the horror of his boss Neeraj (Alyy Khan) and RAW chief Himadri (Qaushik Mukherjee). Rajeev's antics could jeopardise a crucial gas deal between India and Iran, so both governments are understandably outraged too. The Israelis, not so much. While the diplomats officially distance themselves from Rajeev, Mossad thinks he might be useful. After Rajeev is disowned by India and hunted by Iran, an Israeli agent helps him on the sly, a mark of admiration for a man who doesn't follow the rules of combat. Tehran is purportedly inspired by actual events. Based on a story by Bindni Karia and a screenplay by Karia and Ritesh Shah, the movie wades into a diplomatic quagmire from which it is unable to extricate itself. The film tries to be wise about and up-to-speed with geopolitics in Asia and the Arab world in the early 2010s. Gritty and fast-paced, with chunks of Farsi dialogue, Tehran attempts to appear authentic but operates in the same realm of fantasy from which emerge tall tales of Indian agents matching the prowess of their Western counterparts. Tehran is out at a time when Israel's relations with Iran are in tatters and Israel's brutal offensive in Gaza has surpassed all limits of morality. Given the deadly serious realities of the moment, it's hard to care for Rajeev's kill-or-be-killed mentality, his bizarre quest to destroy ties with India's allies, his Rambo-like tendencies, or even his anguish at being abandoned by his government. Explicit links are made in the film between the Iranian militant Afsar's support for the Palestinian cause and his murder of a rabbi – a 'Free Palestine' banner hangs in the background as Afsar (Hadi Khanjanpour) brutally slays the rabbi. Mossad's decision to use Rajeev is surely this Indian cop's dream come true. John Abraham plays Rajeev with quiet ferocity – a mien the actor has previously adopted in Batla House and The Diplomat. Among the supporting cast, Alyy Khan and Qaushik Mukherjee are compelling as government officials who do stick to the rules, and with good reason. Play
