Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister’s senior advisor for special political affairs, Ali Asghar Khaji, stressed his country’s commitment to existing agreements with Syria.

In a statement issued following his meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad in Damascus, Khaji said his visit to Syria on Monday was part of a broader tour to discuss and evaluate regional issues, particularly those related to bilateral relations and their future trajectory.

He added that the talks with Mekdad focused on a joint assessment of bilateral and regional matters and setting objectives to further enhance relations, Xinhua news agency reported.

Khaji reiterated that the new Iranian government is committed to strengthening ties with Syria in all areas and committed to further enhancing ties as scheduled and under existing bilateral agreements.

Khaji also met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to discuss boosting Syrian-Iranian relations.

According to the state news agency SANA, the meeting highlighted the strong relationship between Syria and Iran and emphasised the need to enhance cooperation and coordination in various fields. AGENCIES

 Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani has said that should Europe adopt an independent approach to its foreign policy, its relations with Tehran would improve.

He made the remarks on Monday at a weekly press conference while commenting on the “cold” reaction of Europe and the US to Masoud Pezeshkian’s election as Iran’s ninth President, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Kanaani said that Iran considered Europe an important region in its foreign relations, noting that the “cold atmosphere” pervading bilateral ties was among the consequences of Europe’s “miscalculations” about Iran or bowing to US pressure, Xinhua news agency reported.

Reacting to Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the US presidential race, Kanaani said the change of administrations in the US was not important to Iran, emphasising that what mattered was the US “hostile policy” towards Iran.

Pezeshkian was announced as Iran’s next President on July 6 following his victory in a runoff against Saeed Jalili, a former chief nuclear negotiator. AGENCIES

Moscow will wait for concrete actions, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, while commenting on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s proposal of possible talks with Russia.

Russian representatives should be present at a second peace conference on Ukraine, which is scheduled to be held in November, said Zelensky on Monday.

“What exactly is behind these words? What specific plans are we discussing? What actions are being proposed in this regard?” Peskov asked, noting that it was too early to judge and necessary to wait for specific actions, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the Spokesman said that Washington would likely keep supporting Ukraine, and the financial burden increasingly be placed on its “European subordinates”.

Western aid to Kiev would “not contribute to the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict, but on the contrary, will prolong it,” said Peskov, adding that it would not affect the outcome of Russia’s special military operation in any way. AGENCIES

 Authorities from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states have conducted the “Interaction-2024” joint counter-terrorism exercise in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Ministry of Public Security said on Tuesday.

The exercise marks the first time the relevant agencies from all SCO member states have participated in a joint counter-terrorism live drill, Xinhua news agency reported.

In response to significant terrorist threats, the exercise included specialised operations such as “the eradication of terrorist groups.”

Representatives from SCO member states, the SCO Secretariat, and the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure observed the exercise.

The SCO member states have a long history of effective cooperation in counter-terrorism. The latest exercise has established a new model for joint live drills by relevant agencies and enhanced the joint operational capabilities of the SCO member states’ authorities. AGENCIES

 South Africa will attend the 14th BRICS Trade Ministers Meeting later this week in Moscow, Russia, to seek trade and investment opportunities, a government official said.

“South Africa will continue to identify opportunities for cooperation with BRICS partners, both bilaterally and through the BRICS platform, that would present opportunities for the continent to transition away from its historic role as a commodity exporter toward higher productivity value addition,” said Zuko Godlimpi, South African deputy minister of trade, industry and competition, before departing for the meeting, on Monday.

He added that the BRICS Trade Ministers Meeting will be preceded by a roundtable discussion under the theme “The Place of BRICS in the New Architecture of the International Economic System” as reported by Xinhua news agency.

The meeting will allow South Africa to build mutually beneficial trade and investment relations that promote value-added trade and economic transformation, said Goldimpi, noting that his country wants to facilitate foreign direct investment into the productive sectors with BRICS partners and coordinate positions on global governance.

The BRICS is the acronym for an emerging-market cooperative mechanism that initially included Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

In January, the bloc expanded its membership to include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, and Ethiopia. AGENCIES

 Syrian Culture Minister Lubanah Mshaweh and Russian Ambassador Alexander Yefimov met to discuss the ongoing project to rebuild the war-damaged Arch of Triumph in Palmyra, according to state media.

Mshaweh stressed the project’s importance for both Syria and Russia, urging swift progress and praising the existing scientific and technical cooperation between the two countries, Xinhua news agency reported.

Yefimov echoed the significance of the project, highlighting its cultural and political value.

He emphasised Russia’s commitment to preserving the historical landmark, pledging to utilise the latest methods and scientific approaches for its restoration.

Both officials agreed on a joint meeting with Syrian and Russian archaeological experts to determine the work methodology and timeline for the next phase of the project.

The Arch of Triumph, an ancient Roman structure dating back to the third century A.D., was built to honour Emperor Septimius Severus’ victories. It suffered severe damage during the Islamic State’s seizure of Palmyra in 2015. AGENCIES

 Japan’s Defence Ministry has announced that the two Maritime Self-Defence Force (MSDF) helicopters that crashed over the Pacific Ocean in April were found on the seabed.

MSDF officials announced on Monday that they had located the two SH-60K patrol helicopters in the Pacific and confirmed their identity based on registration numbers and their appearance on the seabed below the accident site, Xinhua news agency reported.

With the cooperation of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, the defence ministry has carried out its probe using an unmanned deep-sea vehicle capable of searching to a depth of 6,000 meters since July 15.

The waters around the site are about 5,500 meters deep, the MSDF said, adding it will consider the possibility of salvaging the helicopter wreckage to further the investigation.

On April 20, the two choppers, each carrying four MSDF members, collided during training off the shores of Torishima Island in the Izu Islands, south of Tokyo. One of the eight crew members was confirmed dead shortly after the accident.

In June, the MSDF declared the seven missing crewmen dead, while continuing its search efforts for their bodies. AGENCIES

 UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for reform of the international financial system which he described as “outdated, dysfunctional and unfair”.

In a video message to the first meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, which started in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday, Guterres said the upcoming conference provides a unique opportunity to tackle financing challenges “head-on” as reported by Xinhua news agency.

The conference, scheduled to take place in Spain from June 30 to July 3, 2025, “opens the door for world leaders to adopt ambitious reforms to deliver affordable long-term financing at scale, and deliver the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Stimulus,” said the UN Chief.

“It presents a unique opportunity to reform an international financial system that is outdated, dysfunctional and unfair — from the tax and debt architecture to the system of public development banks, to trade and investment rules, to the financial safety net and global governance,” he added.

Since world leaders met in Addis Ababa nine years ago and agreed on a transformative agenda committing public and private actors to align investment and policies with sustainable development, progress has been made, but many commitments remain unfulfilled, Guterres said.

The world is facing “seismic shocks” that make financing challenges harder to solve, and geopolitical divisions that undermine collective action, he stressed.

“Faced with sky-high debt burdens and costs of capital, developing countries have limited prospects of financing the Sustainable Development Goals.”

“I count on all of you to move forward with a determination to rescue the 2030 Agenda. And together, we can deliver not only a financial system, but a world, that is more just, equitable and sustainable,” Guterres concluded. AGENCIES

 The United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said that it will reduce its workforce in Lebanon by eliminating some jobs due to budget constraints, the media reported.

“These changes will be implemented as of April 2025 as a result of the decrease in funding, which has been affecting the commission’s work since 2016 and is expected to continue at a time when Lebanon’s needs are still high,” said the UNHCR on Monday.

The announcement followed an article released by the Elnashra news website earlier on Monday stating that the UNHCR last year decided to reduce the number of its employees in Lebanon by 10 per cent.

The UNHCR said it only received 24 per cent of the total necessary funding by June, noting that UN agencies and NGOs in Lebanon also face funding challenges, Xinhua news agency reported.

It added that in line with its global mandate, it is committed to supporting host governments in their response to refugee crises. AGENCIES

 Two people on board a plane were killed after their aircraft crashed in a farm field near the site of an air show in the US state of Wisconsin, authorities said.

Sheriff’s deputies and firefighters responded to the crash in the eastern Wisconsin town of Nekimi on Monday afternoon, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office.

The names of the people who were killed were not released pending notification of relatives.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

The plane crashed about 2 miles (3 kilometres) south of the site of the EAA AirVenture air show at Oshkosh’s Wittman Regional Airport.

Monday was the first day of the weeklong event, the Oshkosh Northwestern reported. AGENCIES