According to media, USA is moving aircraft carriers to the Middle East
According to media reports, the USA is increasing its military presence in the Middle East following US President Donald Trump’s threats against Iran. The aircraft carrier “USS Abraham Lincoln” and accompanying ships are on their way from the South China Sea to the region, reported the “New York Times” and the “Axios” portal, among others.
The aircraft carrier, powered by a nuclear reactor, normally carries several thousand soldiers and dozens of fighter jets and is accompanied by Navy destroyers. The USS Abraham Lincoln is scheduled to arrive in the Middle East in about a week. Additional weapons and defense equipment would also be brought there, the New York Times reported. Other fighter jets could also follow. There was initially no official confirmation of the relocation from the Pentagon.
Since mass protests against the Islamic Republic’s authoritarian system of rule began at the end of December, Trump has repeatedly threatened Iran with US intervention. The protests were triggered, among other things, by a dramatic economic crisis, a very high inflation rate and great dissatisfaction with the leadership in Tehran. Iran’s security apparatus brutally suppressed the protests. Human rights activists speak of thousands of deaths. (dpa)
Won in November 2024 Donald J. Trump for the second time a presidential election in the USA and has been in office as the 47th president since January 2025. He is driving forward the restructuring of public institutions and a change of course in foreign policy.
US Ambassador to UN on Iran: “All options on the table”
The USA has again threatened the Iranian government with military intervention because of the brutal suppression of mass protests. US President Donald Trump is “a man of action, not of endless words like we see at the UN,” said US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz at a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York. “He has made it clear that all options are on the table to end the slaughter.”
Iran does not want confrontation or escalation, said Iran’s deputy UN ambassador Gholamhossein Darzi. “But every act of aggression – direct or indirect – will be responded to decisively, proportionately and lawfully. This is not a threat, but a statement of legal reality.”
Since the beginning of the mass protests against the authoritarian system of rule in the Islamic Republic a good two weeks ago, US President Trump has threatened Iran several times with US intervention. The protests were triggered, among other things, by a dramatic economic crisis, a very high inflation rate and great dissatisfaction with the leadership in Tehran. Iran’s security apparatus has brutally suppressed the protests, and there are reports of thousands of deaths.
The Security Council meeting was scheduled at the request of the USA. The body is one of the most important organs of the United Nations. Its mission is to maintain international peace and security. (dpa)
Russia accuses the US of open aggression and interference in Iran
Russia expressed solidarity with Iran and accused the United States of interfering at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council in New York. Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said Moscow supported Tehran’s view that “hostile external forces are trying to exploit the current situation to overthrow a government they oppose and destroy the Islamic Republic of Iran as a sovereign and independent state.”
Russia called on the US to “stop acting as a global judge and put an end to its escalating actions,” Nebenzya said. Moscow also called on the 193 member states of the United Nations to “prevent a new large-scale escalation.”
Nebensja explained that the US’s actions risked “plunging the region into even bloodier chaos – chaos that could easily spread beyond national borders.” (ap)
Iran accuses US of causing trouble
Iran’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Gholamhossein Darzi, sharply criticized the United States at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. He accused the US government of being “directly involved in steering the unrest in Iran towards violence”. “Under the hollow pretense of concern for the Iranian people and alleged support for human rights, the United States is trying to present itself as a friend of the Iranian people – while at the same time preparing the ground for political destabilization and military intervention under the guise of a so-called “humanitarian” narrative,” Darzi explained.
The Iranian diplomat also criticized the United States for its own human rights violations in its dealings with demonstrators, citing the recent killing of Renee Good in Minnesota by an ICE immigration officer. (ap)
UN calls for a halt to planned executions
At a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York, the US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, again threatened Iran with military escalation. US President Donald Trump is “a man of action, not of endless words like we see at the UN,” he said. “He has made it clear that all options are on the table to end the slaughter.”
The Security Council meeting was scheduled at the request of the USA. The body is the most powerful body in the United Nations. Its mission is to maintain international peace and security. However, the major powers USA, Russia and China often block each other there.
The United Nations called on Iran to any planned executions of protesters to stop and investigate all deaths independently and transparently. UN Secretary-General António Guterres is calling on everyone involved to exercise the greatest possible restraint, it said. (dpa)
USA: 800 scheduled executions canceled
According to the White House, 800 planned executions were canceled due to US pressure. Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt did not provide any information about the source of this information, which Trump is said to have received. The president had already said the day before that he had been assured “by very important sources on the other side” that killings in Iran would stop. Trump had warned Tehran not to execute participants in the protests.
However, the number of 800 executions called off by the White House seems unusually high. According to Amnesty International, 972 people were executed in Iran in the whole of 2024.
On Wednesday, a closure of Iranian airspace sparked speculation about a possible US air strike. “Only President Trump knows what he’s going to do” — and a very small group of advisers are familiar with his approaches, Leavitt said.
The Axios website reported that Trump was delaying a decision on a possible attack on Iran while the White House was discussing it with allies, among others. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Trump to give the country more time to prepare for a possible Iranian retaliation. The New York Times also wrote that Netanyahu had asked for a US attack to be postponed. Leavitt only confirmed a conversation between Netanyahu and Trump. (dpa)
New Zealand is temporarily closing its embassy in Iran
Amid tensions in Iran, New Zealand has temporarily closed its embassy in Tehran. As a spokesman for the New Zealand Foreign Ministry said on Friday, the embassy employees were flown out due to the deteriorating security situation in Iran. The diplomatic staff left Iran safely overnight on commercial flights. The embassy operations have been relocated to Ankara, Turkey.
The ministry “continues to advise against all travel to Iran.” All New Zealanders currently in the country should “leave Iran immediately,” the spokesman said. Due to significant communication problems, it is difficult for people to get in touch with their families and friends in Iran.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters expressed “horror” at Tehran’s violent response to the massive anti-government protests. “We condemn the brutal actions of the Iranian security forces, including the killing of demonstrators,” Peters said on Thursday. He emphasized the right of Iranians “to peaceful protest, freedom of expression and access to information.” This right is currently being “brutally suppressed”.
After the brutal crackdown by the Iranian security forces against demonstrators, the situation in Iran remains uncertain. Last week, authorities across the country cut off people’s access to the Internet. According to the organization Netblocks, the internet shutdown has now been going on for more than a week. According to human rights organizations, the internet blockage serves to obscure the true extent of the repression. (afp)
Switzerland summons Iranian ambassador
Meanwhile, Switzerland summoned the Iranian ambassador to Bern. The country expressed to him its “greatest concern” about the violence of the Iranian security forces and emphasized its resolute rejection of any death penalty, the SDA news agency reported.
Meanwhile, Switzerland also wants to mediate the tensions between the USA and Iran. The head of the International Security Department at the Foreign Ministry, Gabriel Lüchinger, telephoned the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, the office confirmed. Switzerland represents the interests of the USA in Iran because the USA has not had a diplomatic representation there since 1980. Among other things, it maintains a section in Tehran that provides consular assistance to US citizens. (dpa)
Celebrities and politicians call for isolation of Iran
Numerous celebrities, politicians and organizations are calling on the federal government leads to political, economic and diplomatic isolation of Iran. In a petition, the signatories demand the immediate expulsion of the Iranian ambassador from Germany and the recall of the German ambassador from Tehran, an immediate national ban on the activities of the Revolutionary Guards in Germany and the start of political talks with democratic, secular Iranian human rights organizations and opposition figures.
With the appeal “Every hour counts: support protesters in Iran, isolate the regime!” the petition is titled. “The regime in Iran is waging a systematic war against its own people,” it says. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) publicly declared that the regime was at an end. Now these words must be followed by actions. “Germany must now visibly stand on the side of the protesters.”
The actors Uschi Glas, Andrea Sawatzki, Benno Fürmann and Oliver Masucci were among the first to sign the petition. Politicians from the governing parties CDU and SPD, including the chairman of the Junge Union, Johannes Winkel, CDU foreign policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter and the chairwoman of the Mittelstands- und Wirtschaftsunion (MIT), Gitta Connemann, as well as the SPD MPs Jakob Blankenburg and Helge Lindh are also there. From the opposition, the Green Party leader Franziska Brantner, the Green Party politician Lisa Badum and the Left-wing Bundestag member Michael Arndt are among the signatories. The FDP chairman Christian Dürr and 18 organizations such as the Memorial Foundation for the Murdered Jews of Europe and the German-Israeli Society have also joined. (dpa)