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Europe
European Commission
17.06.2025 Addressing the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, the EU foreign policy chief today warned of the ’extremely dangerous’ situation marked by civilian casualties and the risk of radioactive fallout amid ongoing escalation between Israel and Iran. She reiterated the EU's position that Iran must never acquire nuclear weapons, emphasizing diplomacy as the preferred path forward. ’Europe stands ready to play its part in brokering a deal regarding the immediate fallout of the conflicts,’ Kallas added. Touching upon Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza, she said Israel's use of force in Gaza, Tel Aviv’s military campaign ’the continuing deaths of civilians and the targeting of civilian infrastructure’ go beyond self-defense, cannot be justified under humanitarian and international law. She highlighted the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza, noting that while aid warehouses have opened, ’only one remains operational to accept new deliveries amid relentless military aggression’. At the last Foreign Affairs Council meeting last month, Kallas noted that the majority of member states supported opening a review of Israel's compliance with Article Two of the Association Agreement, which requires all parties to uphold binding human rights obligations. She confirmed that this review is currently underway and announced that she will present its findings to the foreign ministers on June 23. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
Asia
Strait of Hormuz
June 17, 2025 6:01 PM GMT+2 Two oil tankers collided and caught fire today near the Strait of Hormuz. There were no injuries to crew or spillage reported. With Iran and Israel firing missiles at each other,’ electronic interference has disrupted navigation systems’ near the waterway between Iran and Oman which handles about a fifth of the world's seaborne oil. The Strait of Hormuz links the Gulf to the northwest with the Gulf of Oman to the southeast and the Arabian Sea beyond. Between the start of 2022 and last month, roughly 17.8 million to 20.8 million barrels of crude, condensate and fuels flowed through daily, according to data from Vortexa. The multinational, U.S.-led Combined Maritime Force's JMIC information centre said in an advisory this week that it had received reports of electronic interference stemming from the vicinity of the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, on the north shore of the strait, and other areas in the Gulf region. The United Arab Emirates coast guard said it had evacuated 24 people from one of the ships, Adalynn, to the port of Khor Fakkan after the crash 24 nautical miles off its eastern coast. The Adalynn, a Suezmax-class tanker owned by India-based Global Shipping Holding Ltd, had no cargo and was sailing towards the Suez Canal in Egypt, according to monitoring service TankerTrackers.com. Personnel on the second tanker, the Front Eagle, were reported safe with no pollution seen after a fire on its deck, according to its owner, the Oslo-listed company Frontline (FRO.OL), which later told there was no suggestion of outside interference. The Front Eagle was loaded with 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude oil and was en route to Zhoushan in China, the monitoring service said. TankerTrackers.com said on X that the Front Eagle was moving southbound at a speed of 13.1 knots when it "executed a starboard (right) turn, resulting in a collision with the port quarter (aft port side)" of the Adalynn, which was proceeding southeast at 4.8 knots. Iran has in the past threatened to close the strait to traffic in retaliation for Western pressure. Trump has veered from proposing a swift diplomatic end to the war to suggesting the United States ’might join it’. Dozens of tankers have dropped anchor in major port hubs in the Gulf close to the Strait of Hormuz around Fujairah and Khor Fakkan and Sharjah on the Emirati side, today. Some shipping companies have decided to pause their voyages due to the heightened tensions. Others were awaiting charter hires due to uncertainty. War risk insurance costs for ships heading to Israeli ports have soared in recent days, the costs so far remain stable for voyages through the Gulf, insurance industry sources said today. Rates, for the time being, remain stable with no noticeable increases since the latest hostilities between Israel and Iran. This position could change dramatically depending on any further escalation or general conflagration in the area. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)
North America
United States
June 17, 2025 Chief Israel planner at Pentagon, Col. McCormack, the Levant and Egypt branch chief at the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s J5 planning directorate, has referred publicly to Netanyahu ’and his Judeo-supremacist cronies,’ to Washington having ’overwhelmingly’ enabled Israel’s ’bad behavior’ and pro-Israel activists in the United States prioritizing support for Israel over „our actual foreign interests.” The Army’s social-media guide bars “showing contempt for public officials, releasing sensitive information or posting unprofessional material that is prejudicial to good order and discipline under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.” The Pentagon’s social-media guide also tells soldiers to “avoid use of Department of Defense titles, insignia, uniforms or symbols in a way that could imply DoD sanction or endorsement of content on your personal page.” “Also avoid misrepresenting yourself as an official DoD spokesperson on your personal account,” it adds. On Monday afternoon, McCormack wrote about himself as part of the official defense community to endorse the casualty numbers put forward by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry. “Along with the World Health Organization and United Nations, we (Department of Defense, Department of State and the U.S. Intelligence Community) consider the Gaza Health Ministry figures to be generally reliable (though not precise),” he wrote, ’but probably less so now than they were originally due to the general destruction and chaos in Gaza.’ (Source: Jewish News Syndicate - U.S)
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