Israel, Ukraine announce ‘dialogue' on countering Iran
Both see Iran, a close ally of Russia, as a malign actor on the world stage.
Israel has long accused Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, an allegation Tehran denies, while Ukraine is regularly attacked from Russia by Iranian-designed drones.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described Iran as an 'existential threat' to global security during a joint press conference in Kyiv with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar – the most senior Israeli official to visit Ukraine since 2023.
'Our countries face common security challenges. Today we have decided to launch a separate dialogue on the Iranian threat,' Sybiha said.
Saar said any effort to curb Tehran's access to weapons and technology contributed to the security of Europe and Ukraine.
'I thank President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian government for its position that Iran must not have nuclear weapons,' he said.
Ukraine has expressed frustration at Israel's neutral stance on the Russian invasion, but the two share common interests.
Kyiv has long accused Tehran of supplying military hardware to Moscow.
Last month, Israel launched a surprise bombing campaign against Iran with the stated aim of destroying military and nuclear sites, an action that Kyiv supported.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asharq Al-Awsat
an hour ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Iraqi Police Clash with PMF Fighters Who Stormed Government Building
A gun battle erupted in Iraq's capital on Sunday between police and fighters from the state-sanctioned Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), killing at least one police officer and leading to the arrest of 14 fighters, authorities said. The clash broke out in Baghdad's Karkh district after a group of fighters from the P PMF stormed an Agriculture Ministry building as a new director was being sworn in, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. The PMF is an umbrella group of mostly Shiite paramilitary factions that was formally integrated into Iraq's state security forces and includes several groups aligned with Iran. According to the Interior Ministry, the PMF fighters burst into the building during an administrative meeting, causing panic among staff who alerted police. Security sources and three employees at the scene said the fighters had wanted to stop the office's former director from being replaced. A statement from the Joint Operations Command, which reports directly to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, confirmed that the detainees were PMF members and had been referred to the judiciary. At least one police officer was killed and nine others were wounded, police and hospital sources said. Sudani ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the incident, the command said. The arrested fighters belong to "PMF brigades 45 and 46", the statement added. Both brigades are affiliated with Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, according to Iraqi security officials and sources within the PMF.
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Russia's overnight attack on Ukraine wounds eight, including child
A Russian overnight air attack on Kyiv wounded eight residents of an apartment building, including a three-year-old child, authorities in the Ukrainian capital said on Monday. Four of those injured in the attack, which took place soon after midnight on Monday, have been hospitalized, with one person in serious condition, the head of Kyiv's military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said on the Telegram messaging app. Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that all of the people were residents of a multi-story apartment building in the city's Darnytskyi district on the left bank of the Dnipro River. 'The blast wave damaged windows from the 6th to the 11th floor,' Klitschko said in a post on Telegram. The capital and most of Ukraine were under air raid alerts for several hours overnight following Ukrainian Air Force warnings of Russian missile and drone attacks. With the threat of missile strikes on western parts of Ukraine that border Poland - a NATO member - Polish armed forces scrambled aircraft to ensure the safety of Polish airspace. The central Ukrainian city of Kropyvnytskyi came under an attack, regional Governor Andriy Raikovych said, adding that emergency services were working on the site and information about potential damage will be released later on Monday. The full scale of the Russian attack on Ukraine was not immediately known. Reuters' witnesses heard loud blasts shaking the city of Kyiv overnight in what sounded like air defense units in operation. There was no comment from Russia on the attack. Both sides deny targeting civilians in their strikes in the war that Russia started in February 2022. But thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Poland scrambles aircraft after Russia launches missiles attack on Ukraine
Polish and allied aircraft were activated on Monday to ensure the safety of Polish airspace after Russia launched missiles strikes targeting western Ukraine, near the border with the Poland, the Operational Command of the Polish armed forces said. At 0130 GMT, most of Ukraine was under air raid alerts following Ukrainian Air Force warnings of Russian missile and drone attacks.
