Israel-Iran conflict escalates with strikes, arrests, and blackout
JERUSALEM: Israel and Iran exchanged fire again on Friday, a week into the war between the longtime enemies.
Here are the latest developments:
Iran meetings
European top diplomats are meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Friday to discuss Iran's nuclear programme.
'I've received several phone calls reassuring me that the Zionist regime would not target' Araghchi en route to Geneva, his adviser Mohammad Reza Ranjbaran said on X.
Foreign ministers from France, Germany, Britain and the EU are urging de-escalation, with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy saying the next two weeks are 'a window... to achieve a diplomatic solution'.
Separately, the UN Security Council is also due to convene on Friday for a second session on the conflict, at Iran's request with support from Russia, China and Pakistan, a diplomat told AFP on Wednesday.
Overnight strikes
Israel's military said Friday it struck dozens of targets in Tehran overnight, including what it called a centre for the 'research and development of Iran's nuclear weapons project.'
In an upscale neighbourhood of Tehran, some residents were looking out at the night sky from their rooftops, with red blasts lighting up the darkness, AFP journalists saw.
In another area, an Iranian cried out through a loudspeaker, with music blasting in the background: 'Death to Israel, death to America!'
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said more than 100 'combat and suicide' drones were launched at Israel on Thursday.
Trump waiting to decide
US President Donald Trump said Thursday he will decide whether to join Israel's strikes on Iran within the next two weeks as there is still a 'substantial' chance of negotiations to end the conflict.
The Wall Street Journal reported Trump told aides he approved attack plans but is holding off to see if Iran will give up its nuclear programme.
Tehran ally Moscow said any US military action 'would be an extremely dangerous step', while pro-Iran groups in Iraq threatened retaliatory attacks.
Dozens of US military aircraft were no longer visible at a US base in Qatar on Thursday, satellite images showed -- a possible move to shield them from potential Iranian strikes.
Iran's new intelligence chief
Iran appointed a new chief of intelligence at its Revolutionary Guards on Thursday, the official IRNA news agency said, after his predecessor was killed in an Israeli strike last week.
Major General Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, appointed Brigadier General Majid Khadami as the new head of its intelligence division, IRNA said.
He replaces Mohammed Kazemi, who was killed on Sunday alongside two other Revolutionary Guards officers -- Hassan Mohaghegh and Mohsen Bagheri -- in an Israeli strike.
Ali Shamkhani, adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was in stable condition, state TV reported on Friday, after he was seriously injured last week.
Death toll
The body of a woman was recovered on Thursday from a building struck by an Iranian missile four days earlier, taking the overall death toll in Israel to 25 since the war began, according to Israeli authorities.
Iran said Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. Authorities have not issued an updated toll since.
Arrests and blackout
Iranian police announced the arrest on Thursday of 24 people accused of spying for Israel.
Authorities in both Israel and Iran have announced arrests for espionage and other charges since the war began on Friday.
Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights said at least 223 people have been arrested nationwide on charges related to collaboration with Israel, cautioning that the actual figure was likely higher.
Iran imposed a 'nationwide internet shutdown' on Thursday -- the most extensive blackout since widespread anti-government protests in 2019 -- internet watchdog NetBlocks said.
The shutdown 'impacts the public's ability to stay connected at a time when communications are vital', NetBlocks wrote on X.
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Malaysiakini
19 minutes ago
- Malaysiakini
What the Iran-Israel escalation really revealed
LETTER | From the outside, the latest Iran–Israel escalation looked like a tightly controlled spectacle, one more episode in the long tradition of geopolitical theatre. Symbolic strikes. Calibrated optics. Narratives exchanged more than missiles. However, something disrupted the performance. Someone, somewhere inside Iran, broke the script. All signs point to the conflict being originally designed as a limited, performative escalation, meant to simulate confrontation while avoiding real strategic consequences. Israel's opening salvo was telling: a high-visibility strike on Iran's state broadcaster (Irib), carried out during a live news segment but without catastrophic loss of life. A communication centre, yes, but also a deeply symbolic, civilian-facing target. Iran's initial response also bore the hallmarks of restraint. The state narrative emphasised successful interception, dismissed damage as minimal, and sought to contain the emotional temperature. There was no immediate mobilisation. No red-line rhetoric. No retaliatory frenzy. On both sides, a choreography of ambiguity seemed to be in play. One cannot help but recall the February 2025 skirmish between India and Pakistan - another flashpoint marked by cries of 'nuclear escalation', which briefly dominated headlines, diverted attention from Ukraine, then dissolved quietly. Iran retaliates The Israel - Iran episode seemed to follow a similar script: controlled, symbolic, narratively contained. But this time, something went off-script. Instead of a symbolic missile volley and a return to messaging, Iran escalated. Precisely. Deliberately. Repeatedly. Multiple waves of drones and missiles penetrated Israel's multi-layered defence system. Strategic infrastructure was hit. Regional allies, like the Houthis, entered the fray. The US ambassador in Tel Aviv reportedly had to seek shelter five times in a single night - a detail that says less about the danger than it does about the surprise. If the strikes were meant to be symbolic, someone forgot to send the memo. The missiles kept coming. Iranian officials later clarified: they were using only older missile stockpiles. In other words, this wasn't even their real answer. It was a demonstration of capacity, not desperation. If the original script called for symbolic retaliation, this wasn't it. This shift suggests something profound: that the escalation was not fully controlled from the top, or at least not uniformly. Within Iran's complex power structure, factions exist that vary in loyalty, alignment, and ideology. Some lean toward diplomatic preservation. Others are fiercely nationalistic. Still others are, quietly, compromised. It is entirely plausible that the original limited response was shaped by internal actors influenced, directly or structurally, by foreign interlocutors. Agreements may have been made. Visibility exchanged for restraint. Missile arcs are calculated for narrative rather than damage. But it seems that within Iran's strategic apparatus, a patriot faction intercepted the script. Whether it was the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a missile command directorate, or a leadership cell with a longer memory and shorter patience that chose to halt the performance. To let Israel strike symbolic targets unchallenged would have been to accept ritual humiliation. Instead, they answered with precision, message, and method. Real deterrence, not managed optics, became the reply. No appetite for nukes For decades, Iranian leaders has been assassinated, sanctioned, bombed, and blamed, often with little or no international recourse. Its alleged nuclear weaponisation programme has been banned internally by fatwa, repeatedly affirmed in official United Nations and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) submissions and embedded in domestic law. In a revealing turn, a senior Iranian official recently called for the fatwa to be revoked only to be swiftly overruled by the top command. Although largely ignored in the West, the episode is telling. You do not attempt to revoke what does not exist. Still, Israel, backed by Western powers, continues to invoke the so-called Iranian nuclear threat as a pretext for assassinations, sabotage, and strikes. Scientists have been assassinated, nuclear infrastructure bombed, and broader infrastructure damaged through cyberattacks, and the West calls it self-defence. Obviously, when such aggression is met only with narrative containment, credibility dies. Internally and externally. Iran's patriotic factions may have concluded that survival now requires reimposing real fear into deterrence - not just words, but capabilities demonstrated under fire. And that is exactly what they did. The escalation has now created a paradox. Those who designed the conflict to be seen but not felt - whether in Tel Aviv, Washington, or even segments of Tehran - now find themselves cornered by consequences they never intended. Israel's might challenged Israel, long buffered by US-backed impunity, has now absorbed real strategic damage. Its famed Iron Dome has revealed critical gaps. Key infrastructure has been shaken. Even its domestic media, typically used to project victimhood to international audiences, has gone curiously quiet. Meanwhile, the Western narrative, still stuck in Cold War templates, tries to reassert control: nuclear threat, rogue state, axis of evil. But the public is growing resistant. Especially when Iran has shown, again and again, a legal, religious, and strategic rejection of nuclear arms, while operating with more restraint than its adversaries. Much like with Ukraine, the US administration has tried to walk both sides of the line, claiming non-involvement while orchestrating logistics. Refuelling Israeli jets, sharing satellite intel, and shooting down Iranian drones. But just as in Kyiv, control is slipping. Behind the scenes, indirect talks between the US and Iran have already collapsed - not over uranium levels or inspection terms, but over a deeper structural fault line. Tehran rightfully demanded that any talks be on equal grounds and that any agreement remain binding across US administrations. But Washington, fractured by partisanship and strategic inconsistency, simply cannot guarantee continuity. The collapse revealed a deeper asymmetry: Iran acts with institutional memory and policy coherence, while the US lurches between administrations and abandons commitments. This wasn't a technical failure. It was systemic. And Iran refuses to anchor its future to a partner built on shifting ground. US President Donald Trump, now in open conflict with the military-industrial establishment, has attempted to disentangle the US from these open-ended entanglements. But he is boxed in. The war machine continues with or without presidential blessing. And Israel is its most entrenched proxy. US President Donald Trump Ironically, Israel's collapse may have been triggered not by its enemies but by the very system that built it (refer to 'Zionism at the Edge: The Terminal Overreach of a Fading Project'). What this moment reveals is not just a rift between Iran and Israel but a schism within narrative power itself. M'sia asserting its stand Malaysia has positioned itself not on the battlefield but in the domain of narrative sovereignty. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has voiced strong support for Iran, not through military alignment, but through moral and political solidarity. In truth, Iran does not need boots on the ground. It has already demonstrated its military precision. What it needs now are narrative allies - states like Malaysia that are willing to challenge Western propaganda and defend the principles of lawful multipolarity. In today's conflict, the real front line is discursive, not kinetic and Malaysia is holding it. A war that was meant to be managed became real because someone inside refused to betray their country's dignity for another photo op. In doing so, they exposed: the weakness of Israeli defences, the limits of US orchestration, the fragility of Western narrative monopoly. And perhaps most importantly, they reminded the world that true deterrence is not choreographed. It is earned in silence, in precision, and in refusal to be cast in someone else's script. Dr Rais Hussin is the Founder of EMIR Research, a think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research. The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
Malay Mail
an hour ago
- Malay Mail
Africa pioneers low-cost, non-dollar payment systems, defying Trump's de-dollarisation threats
PAPSS payment system allows trade settlement in local currencies Experts says move aims of lowering trade costs South Africa using G20 presidency to advance local payments US President Trump warns against de-dollarisation efforts NAIROBI, June 20 — Africa's push for local currency payments systems — once little more than an aspiration — is finally making concrete gains, bringing the promise of less costly trade to a continent long hobbled by resource-sapping dollar transactions. But efforts to move away from the dollar face strong opposition and the threat of retaliation from US President Donald Trump, who is determined to preserve it as the dominant currency for global trade. The move by Africa to create payments systems that do not rely on the greenback mirrors a push by China to develop financial systems independent of Western institutions. Countries like Russia, which face economic sanctions, are also keen for an alternative to the dollar. But while that movement has gained a sense of urgency due to shifting trade patterns and geopolitical realignments following President Trump's return to the White House, African advocates for payment alternatives are making their case based on costs. 'Our goal, contrary to what people might think, is not de-dollarisation,' said Mike Ogbalu, chief executive of the Pan-African Payments and Settlements System, which allows parties to transact directly in local currencies, bypassing the dollar. 'If you look at African economies, you'll find that they struggle with availability for third-party global currencies to settle transactions,' he said. Africa's commercial banks typically rely on overseas counterparts, through so-called correspondent banking relationships, to facilitate settlements of international payments. That includes payments between African neighbours. 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A man counts Nigerian naira notes in a market place as people struggle with the economic hardship and cashflow problems ahead of Nigeria's Presidential elections, in Yola, Nigeria, February 22, 2023. — Reuters pic Homegrown systems According to data compiled by PAPSS, under the existing system of correspondent banks, a US$200 million (RM851 million) trade between two parties in different African countries is estimated to cost 10 per cent to 30 per cent of the value of the deal. The shift to homegrown payments systems could cut the cost of that transaction to just 1 per cent. Systems like PAPSS allow a business in one country, Zambia for example, to pay for goods from another like Kenya, with both buyer and seller receiving payment in their respective currencies rather than converting them into dollars to complete the transaction. Using currencies like the Nigerian naira, Ghanaian cedi or South Africa's rand for intra-Africa trade payments could save the continent US$5 billion a year in hard currency, Ogbalu told Reuters. Launched in January 2022 with just 10 participating commercial banks, PAPSS is today operational in 15 countries including Zambia, Malawi, Kenya and Tunisia, and now has 150 commercial banks in its network. 'We have also seen very significant growth in our transactions,' Ogbalu said, without providing usage data. The International Finance Corporation, the World Bank's private sector lending arm, has, meanwhile, started issuing loans to African businesses in local currencies. It views the switch as imperative for their growth, relieving them from the currency risks of borrowing in dollars, said Ethiopis Tafara, IFC's vice-president for Africa. 'If they are not generating hard currency, a hard-currency loan imposes a burden that makes it difficult for them to succeed,' he said. Africa's push for local currency payments systems is finally making concrete gains, bringing the promise of less costly trade to a continent long hobbled by resource-sapping dollar transactions. — Picture By Choo Choy May Geopolitics and the Trump factor Africa's campaign to boost regional payments systems has found a platform at the Group of 20 major economies, with South Africa leading the charge as holder of the G20's rotating presidency. It held at least one session on boosting regional payments systems when South Africa hosted a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors. And South Africa wants it to follow up the talk with concrete actions. The next meeting of G20 finance officials is scheduled for mid-July. 'Some of the most expensive corridors for cross-border payments are actually found on the African continent,' Lesetja Kganyago, South Africa's central bank governor, told Reuters during a G20 meeting in Cape Town in February. 'For us to function as a continent, it's important that we start trading and settling in our own currencies.' Talk of moving away from the dollar — either for trade or as a reserve currency — has drawn aggressive reactions from President Trump, however. After Brics — a grouping of nations including Russia, China, India and Brazil along with Africans like South Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia — weighed reducing dollar dependence and creating a common currency, Trump responded with threats of 100 per cent tariffs. 'There is no chance that Brics will replace the US Dollar in International Trade, or anywhere else, and any Country that tries should say hello to Tariffs, and goodbye to America!,' he wrote on Truth Social in January. In the months since, Trump has demonstrated his willingness to use tariffs to pressure and punish allies and foes alike, a strategy that has upended global trade and geopolitics. No matter its intentions in moving to more local currency transactions, Syracuse University's McDowell said Africa will struggle to distance itself from more politically motivated de-dollarisation efforts, like those led by China and Russia. 'The perception is likely to be that this is about geopolitics,' he said. — Reuters
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Romanian president nominates Liberal Party leader Ilie Bolojan as PM
FILE PHOTO: Romania's Ilie Bolojan walks to attend a European Union summit in Brussels, Belgium March 20, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman/ File Photo BUCHAREST (Reuters) -Centrist President Nicusor Dan nominated Liberal Party leader Ilie Bolojan as Romania's prime minister on Friday after weeks of negotiations on forming a coalition government to tackle the largest budget deficit in the European Union. Bolojan will continue talks with four pro-European parties over cabinet appointments and fiscal measures and he is expected to ask parliament to give his government its vote of confidence next week. The incoming government must lower the fiscal deficit from last year's 9.3% of economic output to avoid a ratings downgrade from the last rung of investment grade and unblock billions of euros worth of EU funds. It will likely include the centre-left Social Democrats, the country's biggest party, as well as Bolojan's Liberals, centre-right Save Romania Union and the ethnic Hungarian party UDMR. "It is in Romania's interest that the government is supported by a solid majority, and the parties understand this," Dan said. The four parties and the president spent weeks wrangling over ways to lower the deficit, hesitating over unpopular tax hikes Brussels, ratings agencies and analysts say are inevitable but which are likely to further bolster the rising far-right. The fiscal package will likely save around 30 billion lei ($6.9 billion) and entail an equal mix of spending cuts, postponed investments and tax hikes. (Reporting by Luiza Ilie; editing by Alan Charlish and Toby Chopra)
