Turkey hoping to hold 5G tender in August, minister says
By Can Sezer
ISTANBUL: Turkey's transport and infrastructure minister said the country was hoping to hold a tender for
5G network services
in August, adding that the mobile communication service was expected to start next year.
"I think we will hold this tender in August if there are no issues," Minister
Abdulkadir Uraloglu
told reporters in Istanbul during a briefing.
"Instead of covering the entire country in the first stage, I think we will cover the densely populated provinces (first) and roll out this process gradually within the framework of the programme, this was the case in 4.
5G
as well," he added.
Asked about the impact on aviation of the Iran-Israel conflict, Uraloglu said
Turkish airline companies
had seven civilian aircraft stranded in Iran currently and four others in Iraq due to the closure of airspace in the region.
"We are following this up through our foreign ministry and MIT (intelligence agency). Given that air traffic is very intense in this region, neither us nor the relevant countries could take that risk," Uraloglu said.
"At the first opportunity we will bring them back," he added, referring to the planes, which he said belonged to Turkish Airlines, its subsidiary AJet, Pegasus Airlines and Tailwind Airlines.
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Hindustan Times
35 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
‘Trump pushed US into another war': Putin aide calls strikes on Iran nuclear sites a failure
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has launched a scathing attack on the United States over its airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites, alleging that the strikes failed to inflict any meaningful damage on Iran's nuclear infrastructure. Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev criticised U.S. strikes on Iran, claiming they caused little damage to its nuclear infrastructure.(AP File) He claimed the attacks have instead strengthened the Iranian regime and drawn Washington deeper into a broader Middle East conflict. Follow live updates on the Iran-Israel conflict here In a series of posts on X, Medvedev listed the consequences of the US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites. He said some countries might now be willing to give Iran nuclear weapons. 'Critical infrastructure of the nuclear fuel cycle appears to have been unaffected or sustained only minor damage. The enrichment of nuclear material — and, now we can say it outright, the future production of nuclear weapons — will continue. A number of countries are ready to directly supply Iran with their own nuclear warheads,' wrote Dmitry Medvedev. 'Israel is under attack, explosions are rocking the country, and people are panicking. The US is now entangled in a new conflict, with prospects of a ground operation looming on the horizon,' he added. Read: Bombers flew undetected for 18 hours: How US launched airstrikes on Iran's nuclear sites He criticised Donald Trump for dragging the US into another war, said global opinion is largely against the US and Israel, and mocked Trump's chances of ever winning a Nobel Peace Prize. 'Even stronger now': Medvedev says US strikes failed to weaken Iran regime 'Iran's political regime has survived — and in all likelihood, has come out even stronger. The people are rallying around the country's spiritual leadership, including those who were previously indifferent or opposed to it. Donald Trump, once hailed as 'president of peace,' has now pushed the US into another war,' said Medvedev. Read more: How US military's decoy B-2 Bomber mission helped it achieve stealth before Iran strikes 'The vast majority of countries around the world oppose the actions of Israel and the United States. At this rate, Trump can forget about the Nobel Peace Prize — not even with how rigged it has become. What a way to kick things off, Mr. President. Congratulations!' Dmitry Medvedev mentioned.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Why some key Tehran allies have stayed out of the Israel-Iran conflict
Hezbollah has long been considered Iran's first line of defense in case of a war with Israel. But since Israel launched its massive barrage against Iran, triggering the ongoing Israel-Iran war, the Lebanese militant group has stayed out of the fray - even after the U.S. entered the conflict Sunday with strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. A network of powerful Iran-backed militias in Iraq has also remained mostly quiet. Domestic political concerns, as well as tough losses suffered in nearly two years of regional conflicts and upheavals, appear to have led these Iran allies to take a back seat in the latest round convulsing the region. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Access all TV channels anywhere, anytime Techno Mag Learn More "Despite all the restraining factors, wild cards remain," said Tamer Badawi, an associate fellow with the Germany-based think tank Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient. That's especially true after the U.S. stepped in with strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran. Live Events The ' Axis of Resistance ' Hezbollah was formed with Iranian support in the early 1980s as a guerilla force fighting against Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon at the time. The militant group helped push Israel out of Lebanon and built its arsenal over the ensuing decades, becoming a powerful regional force and the centerpiece of a cluster of Iranian-backed factions and governments known as the " Axis of Resistance." The allies also include Iraqi Shiite militias and Yemen's Houthi rebels, as well as the Palestinian militant group Hamas . At one point, Hezbollah was believed to have some 150,000 rockets and missiles, and the group's former leader, Hassan Nasrallah once boasted of having 100,000 fighters. Seeking to aid its ally Hamas in the aftermath of the Palestinian militants' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel and Israel's offensive in Gaza, Hezbollah began launching rockets across the border. That drew Israeli airstrikes and shelling, and the exchanges escalated into full-scale war last September. Israel inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah, killing Nasrallah and other top leaders and destroying much of its arsenal, before a U.S.-negotiated ceasefire halted that conflict last November. Israel continues to occupy parts of southern Lebanon and to carry out near-daily airstrikes. For their part, the Iraqi militias occasionally struck bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, while Yemen's Houthis fired at vessels in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and began targeting Israel. Keeping an ambiguous stance Hezbollah has condemned Israel's attacks but did not immediately comment on the U.S. strikes on Iran. Just days before the U.S. attack, Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said in a statement that the group "will act as we deem appropriate in the face of this brutal Israeli-American aggression." Lebanese government officials have pressed the group to stay out of the conflict, saying that Lebanon cannot handle another damaging war, and U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, who visited Lebanon last week, said it would be a "very bad decision" for Hezbollah to get involved. Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah militia - a separate group from Hezbollah - had said prior to the U.S. attack that it will directly target U.S. interests and bases spread throughout the region if Washington gets involved. The group has also remained silent since Sunday's strikes. The Houthis last month reached an agreement with Washington to stop attacks on U.S. vessels in the Red Sea in exchange for the U.S. halting its strikes on Yemen, but the group threatened to resume its attacks if Washington entered the Iran-Israel war. In a statement on Sunday, the Houthis' political bureau described the U.S. attack on Iran as a "grave escalation that poses a direct threat to regional and international security and peace." The Houthis did not immediately launch strikes. Reasons to stay on the sidelines Hezbollah was weakened by last year's fighting and after losing a major supply route for Iranian weapons with the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad, a key ally, in a lightning rebel offensive in December. "Hezbollah has been degraded on the strategic level while cut off from supply chains in Syria," said Andreas Krieg, a military analyst and associate professor at King's College London. Still, Qassem Qassir, a Lebanese analyst close to Hezbollah, said a role for the militant group in the Israel-Iran conflict should not be ruled out. "The battle is still in its early stages," he said. "Even Iran hasn't bombed American bases (in response to the U.S. strikes), but rather bombed Israel." He said that both the Houthis and the Iraqi militias "lack the strategic deep strike capability against Israel that Hezbollah once had." Renad Mansour, a senior research fellow at the Chatham House think tank in London, said Iraq's Iran-allied militias have all along tried to avoid pulling their country into a major conflict. Unlike Hezbollah, whose military wing has operated as a non-state actor in Lebanon - although its political wing is part of the government - the main Iraqi militias are members of a coalition of groups that are officially part of the state defense forces. "Things in Iraq are good for them right now, they're connected to the state - they're benefitting politically, economically," Mansour said. "And also they've seen what's happened to Iran, to Hezbollah and they're concerned that Israel will turn on them as well." Badawi said that for now, the armed groups may be lying low because "Iran likely wants these groups to stay intact and operational." "But if Iran suffers insurmountable losses or if the Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) is assassinated, those could act as triggers," he said.
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
With its strikes against Iran, US may be wading into a conflict it cannot manage
In what may prove to be a defining moment for Donald Trump's presidency, in the early hours of June 22, the US directly entered the Israel-Iran war. In a swift operation, US planes targeted three nuclear sites in Iran and retreated. The American media reported that US B-2 Spirit stealth bombers dropped 30,000-pound, GPS-guided, bunker buster bombs — GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) — on the underground site at Fordow, while the other two sites at Natanz and Isfahan were targeted by Tomahawk missiles. Breaking the news on Truth Social, Trump ended his post with 'Now is the time for peace.' The assertion seems to flow from his oft-repeated doctrine of 'Peace through strength'. However, the history of US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, based on the same doctrine, certainly brought no peace to either of these nations or to the US. The bloodshed continued for years and extremist groups like al Qaeda and Daesh/Islamic State emerged from these wars to haunt the world. Could the US get bogged down with yet another war? What would it mean for Trump? Trump has often stated that his objective is to ensure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons. However, over the past few weeks, Trump clearly listed two goals and one aspiration. The first goal was that Iran should negotiate a deal for a peaceful nuclear programme and totally give up enrichment capability, and the second goal was that Iran should surrender in the war with Israel. His aspiration was to see a regime change in Iran; he had even threatened possible action in this regard in the future. Has the targeting of three nuclear sites brought Trump closer to achieving his goals and aspirations? Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has emphasised that Iran will not bring its nuclear programme to 'zero'. A couple of hours after the US airstrikes, Iran restarted air attacks on targets in Tel Aviv and Haifa in Israel. Iranian officials have claimed that Fordow had been 'completely emptied and evacuated' a long time ago and that it did not suffer 'irreversible' damage. It is not hard to imagine Iran taking precautions by taking a cue from the US airstrikes on Houthi targets earlier. Western media reports had indicated that since late-March, the US had deployed six B-2 Spirit stealth bombers at the base in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. These bombers were reportedly used to drop a GBU-57 MOP on underground Houthi targets in Yemen, while the US was engaged in warding off attacks on US vessels in the Red Sea. Initially developed for 'psychological' effect, the 'MOP' was perhaps used to achieve a deal with the Houthis — which happened in May — with both sides pledging not to attack each other. It would be hard to ascertain whether uranium-enriching centrifuges and the stock of enriched uranium remain intact, without having international inspections or invading Iran. Moreover, Russia has clearly warned against the targeting of the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran. Apart from the presence of hundreds of Russians building more nuclear facilities at the site, Russia had warned that an attack on the plant would have consequences comparable to the Chernobyl accident in the former USSR in 1986. The Chernobyl accident led to prolonged release into the atmosphere of large quantities of radioactive substances, including gases, aerosols and finely fragmented nuclear fuel particles. Due to specific conditions such as graphite fires and winds, radioactivity had spread across the northern hemisphere, mainly Europe, and was also recorded in the US, Canada and Japan. The targeting of nuclear sites which are not nuclear power plants, with the objective of destroying centrifuges used for uranium enrichment, remains a dangerous proposition too. These nuclear sites may also be storage sites for radioactive material, including Spent Fuel or High Level Waste (HLW), or even a research reactor. It is a great relief to the global community that the head of the Iranian National Centre for Nuclear Safety System has confirmed that no radioactive contamination or nuclear radiation was detected outside the targeted sites. By mid-morning, the IAEA too informed that no increase in 'off-site radiation levels' had been reported. The Saudi Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Commission independently confirmed the same for all Gulf Cooperation Council States. The Kuwaiti National Guard too stated that the radiation levels in the air and water remained stable across the country. The fallout of targeting nuclear sites is and will remain the key concern for regional and global nations, a fact the US cannot ignore. By naming his successors, the supreme leader of Iran has ensured that the regime remains intact in any eventuality. The US attacks on nuclear sites in a country that takes pride in its scientific prowess are likely to solidify public support for the supreme leader as a rallying point. In the Israel-Iran war, sabotage, miscalculations or accidents could still draw US troops into the theatre. It might be recalled that about 125,000 US and British troops had invaded Iraq in March 2003 to oust Saddam Hussein, trapping the US in a bloody war which, over eight years, killed 4,400 of its soldiers and injured several thousands. The US withdrew fully by December 2011, but the destabilisation of the region saw the emergence of Daesh in Iraq around 2012 and the rise of a Caliphate. The US-led coalition was forced to return to the theatre in 2014. The rest is history. As more questions will be asked about the remaining capability of Iran, will the US continue to indulge in adventurism that could result in nuclear catastrophe for the region and beyond? Trump's economic plans would come to a standstill if he needs to manage the physical, political and legal fallout of such actions. With the airstrikes, the US has lost the power to bring Iran to the negotiating table on its own. It would need help from Russia and Europe, and maybe also China, to pursue nuclear talks with Iran. The world is in a dangerous phase. The writer is a security analyst and former director general of police
