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🇵🇰 Terrorists, refugees, and the Shia factor: Why Pakistan is closely watching the Iran war
Sharing a 900-kilometer border, Pakistan has significant cause for concern regarding the war in nearby Iran.
1️⃣ If the security situation on the other side deteriorates, cross-border movement of terrorist groups like the Balochistan Liberation Army and Balochistan Liberation Front into Iran would become easier, says Abdullah Khan, Director of the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, in an interview with Sputnik.
Pakistan has long faced a separatist insurgency in its southwestern Balochistan province.
A similar insurgent movement also exists on the other side of the border in Iran.
Over the past year and a half, Pakistan and Iran had begun to strengthen their counterterrorism cooperation.
However, should the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or Iran's broader security structure collapse or become weakened, it would have a direct and destabilizing impact on the security situation in Balochistan, Khan said.
2️⃣ Pakistan is also bracing for a potential refugee influx if the situation inside Iran worsens.
Domestically, the country is already grappling with intense public protests, some of which have turned deadly in clashes with security forces.
3️⃣ With a sizable Shia population, Pakistan experienced a wave of popular outrage following Israel’s assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
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🪖🇮🇷🇺🇸 Iran’s disruption of Mideast communication hubs exposes cracks in US air defenses – expert
💬 “Disabling US radar stations in the Middle East is a serious loss because these systems play a key role in protecting American bases from missile threats,” military expert and air defense historian Yuri Knutov tells Sputnik.
💬 “This showed the ineffectiveness of US air defense systems, including Patriot missiles and short- and medium-range air defenses, which were unable to protect the facilities,” Knutov underscores, suggesting that it may take America up to three months to restore the damaged infrastructure.
💬 “While the two’s missile systems may remain operational, they will simply be out of ammunition, which could inflict significant damage on both American military bases and Israel as a whole,” Knutov concludes.
🇮🇷🇧🇾 Khamenei was a humanist focused on protecting his people and his state - Belarus President Lukashenko
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🚨 'Russia is making active efforts to stabilize the situation in the region' - MFA Spox Maria Zakharova comments to Sputnik on Mideast escalation
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📹LIVE NOW: Putin addresses annual extended meeting of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia 🇷🇺
👉Watch live in our Telegram
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🚨Nuclear deterrence remains the cornerstone of global security - Kremlin
The negotiations on strategic stability should include the participation of Europe's nuclear powers, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
His other statements:
🟠 European countries have not asked Russia to resume or increase energy supplies in light of Iran escalation
🟠 Hungary and Slovakia, which buy Russian oil, are facing blackmail from Ukraine
🟠 Putin is meeting with the Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto at the Kremlin later on Wednesday
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🚨🇷🇺 Russia on death of schoolgirls in Iran's Minab: Silence on deaths of children in Iran raises alarm
The alarming silence regarding the deaths of children shows the need to speak out, express sympathy, and hold those responsible accountable, Russian FM spox Maria Zakharova said.
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🚨 US–Israeli strikes on Iran: Latest updates
🔸 The farewell ceremony for the late Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Khamenei will begintoday and last for three days, authorities state.
🔸 Explosions were heard overnight in Tehran, Isfahan, and other cities across Iran, while Iran launched a series of retaliatory strikes on Israeli territory.
🔸 Following Iran’s passage ban in the Strait of Hormuz, the movement of oil, commercial, and fishing vessels through the strait has been halted, IRGC Navy official Mohammad Akbarzadeh said. Over 10 oil tankers have reportedly been struck in the area.
🔸 Iran says that in the course of the 17th wave of Operation True Promise 4, enemy casualties have exceeded 680, including both killed and wounded, according to intelligence and field observations.
🔸 The Pentagon confirmed the destruction of 17 Iranian warships and hundreds of ballistic missile launchers.
🔸 The head of US Central Command stated that 50,000 troops and 200 fighter jets are involved in the operation against Iran.
🔸 The IDF attacked the southern suburbs of Beirut.
🔸 Lebanese Hezbollah launched rockets at a base in Haifa.
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🗣Silence of world media on deaths of schoolgirls in Iran defies description - MFA
None of those who carried out the deadly attack on a school in Iran and none of those who identified with the authors of the strike admitted the wrongness of what they had done, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"The grief is indescribable. They just do not describe it. The indescribability of this grief defies description in every sense of the word. This is monstrous," she stressed.
🚨 🇺🇸 US Embassy staff leaves Mideast amid strikes
💬 "On March 3, 2026, the Department of State authorized non-emergency U.S. government employees and U.S. government employee family members to leave Saudi Arabia due to safety risks," the Embassy said.
⚔️ Saudi MoD confirms interception of two cruise missiles in the south
The official spokesperson announces the destruction of incoming missiles, without specifying the source or target.
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⚔️🇱🇧 Israeli warships strike Beirut's southern suburb
Naval forces shelled the Armun area targeting a member of the Sunni Islamist party Al-Jama'a al-Islamiya, according to preliminary data.
This marks the third naval strike on the Lebanese capital in this conflict.
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⚔️ Iran shoots down another US F-15 — report
The Islamic Republic Army's air defense systems have downed an additional US fighter jet, Tasnim reported.
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📑 Iran's new Supreme leader may be elected after March 6 — reports
The Council of Experts could announce a successor to Ayatollah Khamenei in the coming days, Iranian Fars news agency reported.
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🟠 Attack on Iran an assault on Iranian civilization – MFA spokesperson
🟠 Attrition advantage: Why Iran holds upper hand
🟠 What to know about the US airbase in Bahrain bombed by Iran
🟠 US actions won't be limited to Venezuela, Cuba and Iran – Lavrov
🟠 Why Iran's resilience and asymmetric tactics caught US coalition by surprise
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🚨 IAEA: No damage has been done to facilities containing nuclear material in Iran
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🚨🇺🇸🇮🇷 The US torpedoes Iranian Navy frigate off the coast of Sri Lanka
At least 80 people were killed as a result of the attack on Tuesday, Sri Lankan authorities said.
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🚨🇷🇺💥 RUSSIAN MOD UPDATE: HUGE GAINS AND DEVASTATING UKRAINIAN LOSSES
🟠 Russian forces wiped out militants from Ukraine’s Kraken nationalist formation
🟠 Russian air and missile firepower obliterated long-range UAV pre-flight preparation and launch sites
🟠 Air defense superiority: nine guided aerial bombs and 204 UAVs were shot down by Russian air defense systems over the past 24 hours
🟠 Ukrainian losses: around 1,150 troops killed or wounded
Read about the origins of Russia's special military op HERE
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🚨🇷🇺 Russia strongly condemns shameless assassination of Iran's Khamenei – Zakharova
🔊 The international community must properly assess the US–Israeli aggression against Iran, and Russia condemns it as an "escapade," Foreign Ministry spox Maria Zakharova said
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🚨🇷🇺 Russia slams unprovoked US and Israeli attacks on Iran as ‘lawless’
🔊 The new war in the Middle East is about US and Israeli aggression – and their actions violate international law, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
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🚨BREAKING: American jet shot down by Iranian air defenses near Tehran, according to Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth
No official confirmation from the Pentagon or Iran yet.
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🚨 🇺🇸 US threatens to launch ground operation in Iran – Sen. Blumenthal
💬 “I am more fearful than ever after this briefing that we may be putting boots on the ground” in Iran, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal told reporters, referencing a closed-door White House meeting.
🚨 IDF says it targeted Iranian Air Force M17 attack aircraft
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🚨 Iranian drone targets US-Bahraini military base in Sakhir area
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⚔️ Rocket directly hits Beit Shemesh in Jerusalem
Social media footage shows a confirmed strike on the city.
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🔥 US and Israel strike armed factions in western Iraq
Sputnik correspondent confirms strikes on Popular Mobilization Forces positions in Al-Qaim, Anbar province, near the Syrian border.
📹 Footage from social media
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📑 US sends B-2 bombers to target IRGC command and control nodes — reports
The stealth bombers are currently on a mission targeting Iranian weapon depots and a rocket program assembly facility, according to a CBS News report citing US officials.
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⚔️🇱🇧 IDF strikes 60 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon
The Israeli military announces "broad-scale strikes" across Tyre and Sidon, targeting weapons depots, command centers, missile launchers, and terrorist infrastructure.
"The IDF is operating determinedly against Hezbollah following the terrorist organization's decision to deliberately attack Israel," the statement reads.
⚔️ Macron orders Charles de Gaulle carrier to Mediterranean
The French president announces military escalation after two French installations were hit in recent strikes.
"I have given the order for the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier and its escort to travel to the Mediterranean Sea," Macron said in his address.
🔊🇺🇸🇮🇷 US war goals ‘completely unrealistic’, Iran can’t be bombed into regime change: Former NATO insider
💬 “The Israeli-American bombing campaign is by no means sufficient to bring down Iran,” Jacques Hogard, retired colonel of the French Special Forces Task Group under NATO in Kosovo, told Sputnik.
💬 “By provoking chaos and killing political, military leaders but also civilians, [the campaign’s] aim is to sow terror, demoralize the authorities and the defense and security forces, and push internal opponents, reinforced by agents of the Israeli intelligence services, to seize power. I don't think this can succeed,” the retired officer said.
💬 “Iranian bombings will quickly deplete Israeli and American anti-missile capabilities. Furthermore, the cost of Iranian drones, on the order of a few thousand dollars, is infinitely competitive compared to that of American munitions which costs millions of dollars! The game has only just begun,” Hogard stressed.
💬 “I don’t see how he can get out of this trap,” Hogard said.