SCO Defense Ministers Meet in China

Against the backdrop of intensifying global conflicts, defense ministers from the ten member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) convened this week in China’s eastern city of Qingdao, reaffirming their commitment to dialogue, multilateralism, and regional stability.

Hosted by Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun, the annual SCO Defense Ministers’ Meeting on June 26 emphasized strategic coordination in the face of growing international uncertainty—particularly as tensions escalate in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

During a bilateral meeting on June 25, Chinese Defense Minister Dong met with his Iranian counterpart Aziz Nasirzadeh, who is in China to attend the SCO gathering. Dong reaffirmed China’s support for Iran’s legitimate position and criticized unilateralism and hegemonic behavior, calling them major sources of global instability.  

“In a world undergoing profound changes, unilateralism, protectionism, and power politics are eroding the international order,” Dong said. “The defense departments of SCO member states must uphold founding principles of the SCO, deepen practical cooperation, and safeguard a peaceful environment for development.”  

In response, Minister Nasirzadeh thanked China for its understanding and support in the face of the recent aggression.  

“Iran has recently come under attack, and we are grateful for China’s just position. We hope China will continue to play a constructive role in preserving the ceasefire and easing regional tensions,” he said.

In a joint statement released on June 23, the SCO expressed serious concern over the recent escalation in the Middle East, strongly condemning the United States' military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which the organization said violated international law, the UN Charter, and the SCO Charter, particularly the principle of non-use of force in international relations.  

“The attack on Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity has seriously undermined regional and global peace and stability,” the statement read, calling for the crisis to be resolved through political and diplomatic means.  

The meeting also saw defense chiefs from India and Pakistan share the same table for the first time since a military flare-up in Kashmir last month.

Belarus and Iran, the SCO’s newest full members, participated in the event for the first time in this capacity—highlighting the organization’s growing breadth and influence.  

Dong welcomed all attendees with a call for greater defense coordination under the Global Security Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, which promotes common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security.  

Xiao Bin, Deputy Secretary-General of the SCO Research Center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, described the SCO as a rare example of a multilateral security platform that emphasizes non-alignment, non-confrontation, and consensus-based cooperation.  

“It plays a unique role in stabilizing the regional landscape, curbing destabilizing factors, and promoting peaceful dialogue in times of conflict,” Xiao said.

As the rotating chair, China has overseen a year of active defense diplomacy. According to Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense, recent SCO events have helped build trust and amplify the organization’s collective voice on global security.  

“These meetings provided a vital platform for dialogue and consensus-building among all member states,” Zhang noted.  

The Qingdao meeting, held in a city symbolic for being where China first proposed the “SCO Community of Shared Destiny” in 2018, delivered a timely reminder of the group’s mission, to uphold peace, sovereignty, and shared development in an increasingly fragmented world.

As tensions mount across multiple regions, the SCO has emerged as a platform where strategic communication, mutual respect, and regional cooperation can still flourish.

 

 

Impact of Iran on resistance forces and people

The US-led Israeli aggression against Iran has imposed a complex landscape that will gradually become clearer. Iran has succeeded in preserving its sovereign gains, relying on a cohesive system of defensive strategies and indigenous capabilities that have exceeded the expectations of its enemies.

Despite the severe blows, and thanks to Iran’s military, security, diplomatic, and popular strength, Tehran has been able to show unprecedented deterrence that have inflicted unforeseen costs on its enemies.

This has been achieved through carefully considered operational performance that has efficiently confounded their calculations, while maintaining its constant readiness for any potential future surprise attack.

Tehran has avoided falling into the trap of depleting its strategic capabilities, which will establish more solid negotiating power in favor of the entire Axis of Resistance.

The legitimacy of the strategic vision of the Islamic Revolution, its institutions, and its alliances (not its arms, as the enemies promote) was strengthened, as it purified the Islamic popular consciousness and mood, which had been polluted by Western propaganda and fabricated nonsense.

The victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran compensated for the setbacks suffered by the peoples of West Asia, particularly after Egypt’s deviation from the resistance front and its subsequent normalization with the Zionist regime.

Over four decades since the blessed Islamic revolution, Iran has been able to shake the foundation of the illegitimate Zionist entity. Thus, the project of David Ben-Gurion, one of the colonial Israeli entity’s founders, has collapsed.

This imperialist project was based on forging strategic alliances with peripheral states (Iran and Turkey) in order to restrain the surrounding states (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt). 

Since the 1990s, despite the heavy toll of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, Tehran’s support for Hezbollah led to the May 2000 liberation, victory in the July 2006 war, and the successive victories of Gaza from 2008 to 2021, in addition to defeating the Takfiri project in 2017.

“A million Arabs are not worth a Jewish fingernail. We must stop the Iranian attack on Israel,” Jay Sullivan, the US senator and AIPAC member, wrote on X, making no distinction between Iranians and the Arabs, even though the imperialist project tried hard to present them as opposites. 

What Tehran has established as a firm principle is that accepting the so-called “peace” concessions, as proven by the experiences of Egypt, the PLO, Jordan, and some Persian Gulf sheikhdoms, only breeds more humiliation, submission, and degradation.

Despite the events that have followed the Al Aqsa Flood Operation - including the ongoing attacks on Gaza and Lebanon – and the fall of Damascus, Tehran demonstrated the cohesion and resilience of the resistance project, which some had imagined had collapsed irretrievably.

Most importantly, Iran has demonstrated its institutional depth, structural cohesion, and extremely solid foundation.

What our enemies dub as an Iranian “project” has been evident to the Iranian people and the peoples of the region. It has also been evident to the herds of colonial settlers as Tehran succeeded in undermining the trust between them and their fragile entity that failed to provide them with security throughout occupied Palestine.

In Lebanon, Italy took over command of UNIFIL from Spain in the presence of the head of the committee supervising the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, US General Michael Lenny, who attended despite the warning from the US spy den (the embassy) in Beirut to “take strict security measures” for fear of being targeted. 

Since assuming his position, succeeding General Jasper Jeffers, Lenny will chair a meeting of the committee (which has been suspended since March 11) to review the implementation of UN Resolution 1701.

Given the continued Israeli occupation of tens of thousands of meters of lands along the southern border, including the five points, UNIFIL’s most difficult challenge is whether and how its mandate will be renewed at the end of next August.

This is in addition to its military and civilian personnel and equipment, the value of the general budget, and, most importantly, the extent of its powers, which have not yet been decided. The Lebanese government has been preoccupied with condemning the legitimate Iranian response against the American air base in Qatar, rather than pursuing the renewal of UNIFIL’s mandate.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Army has arrested one of the most prominent ISIS leaders “following a series of security surveillance and monitoring operations”, seizing in his possession “a large quantity of weapons and ammunition, in addition to electronic devices and equipment for manufacturing drones.”

The Lebanese Army clarified in the statement that “the detainee had assumed leadership of the organization in Lebanon after the arrest of his predecessor (who was appointed as a Caliphate of Lebanon) along with a large number of terrorists.

Impact of Iran’s legendary resilience on the Resistance forces and people

 

 

Khamenei claims victory over Israel

According to media reports, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said his country emerged victorious over Israel and “delivered a slap to America’s face” on Thursday.

The speech in a video broadcast marked Khamenei's first public comments since a US-brokered ceasefire was declared between the two countries following 12 days of conflict.

He told viewers that Washington had only intervened in the fighting because “it felt that if it did not intervene, the Israeli regime would be utterly destroyed.”

Khamenei said “US has achieved no gains from this war."

“The Islamic Republic was victorious and, in retaliation, delivered a slap to America’s face,” he said, in apparent reference to an Iranian missile attack on a US base in Qatar on Monday, which resulted in all rockets neutralized and no casualties.

Khamenei has not been seen in public since reportedly taking shelter in a secret location after the outbreak of the conflict on June 13, when Israel struck multiple military targets and nuclear facilities in Iran.

Following a massive US bombing attack last Sunday that struck Iran's main nuclear facility, Fordow, with bunker-buster bombs, Washington and President Donald Trump negotiated a ceasefire that came into effect on Tuesday.

Khamenei did release a video message last Sunday at the height of the conflict, and state-run media outlets announced he would make an appearance in a video message to his compatriots on Thursday.

The ayatollah also congratulated Iran "on the victory" over Israel in a post on X.

Khamenei downplayed the impact of the US strike on three of the country's nuclear sites, suggesting they had "failed to achieve anything significant".

This directly contradicts Donald Trump's claims that the US had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear program when 125 military aircraft targeted the sites of Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan.

Speaking at the Nato summit in the Netherlands on Wednesday, Trump rejected a Pentagon intelligence report that suggested the US had only set back Iran's program "by a few months".

Instead, Trump insisted that the nuclear sites in Iran were "completely destroyed" and accused the media of "an attempt to demean one of the most successful military strikes in history".

Standing alongside Trump at the Nato podium, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also dismissed the report, and argued that the evidence of what had been bombed "is buried under a mountain, devastated and obliterated".

And this was followed up by CIA director John Radcliffe, who later said there was "credible intelligence" Iran's nuclear program had been "severely damaged".

Iran's supreme leader said the US military action was never about nuclear issues or nuclear enrichment — but about "surrender".

Khamenei continued, saying that the Iranian people demonstrated their unity — sending a message "our people are one voice".

He said Trump called on Iran to "surrender", but his comments were “too big for the mouth of the president of the United States”.

"For a great country and nation like Iran, the very mention of surrender is an insult," Khamenei added.

He said Trump accidentally revealed a truth — that the Americans have been opposing the Islamic Republic of Iran from the very beginning.

He said Trump had made an “unusually exaggerated” account of what had taken place.

It was clear he needed to do it, said Khamenei, adding that anyone listening could tell the US were overstating things to distort the truth.

"We attacked one of the US’s key bases in the region, and here, they tried to downplay it," he said.

Khamenei's speech came a day after Iran’s parliament approved a bill to suspend cooperation with the UN’s nuclear watchdog, as politicians unanimously supported the move against the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), according to Iranian state media.

The bill, which states that the Supreme National Security Council must authorize any future IAEA inspection, will need to be approved by the unelected Guardian Council to become law.

“The International Atomic Energy Agency, which refused to even marginally condemn the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, put its international credibility up for auction,” Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on state television.

“The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran will suspend its cooperation with the IAEA until the security of our nuclear facilities is guaranteed,” he added.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei stated on Thursday morning that Tehran has a "right" to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

"Iran has the full right under Article 4 of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and it is determined to uphold that right under any circumstances," Baghaei said.

The US "must be held accountable for the aggression it committed against Iran in collusion with Israel," he added, claiming that the bunker buster strikes "destroyed diplomacy".

Deep rooted Arab-Iran animosity still prevails

One is amazed to read the condemnation of Iranian attack on the US base in Qatar, let me reiterate, it was not an attack on Qatar, but targeting of the US base in the emirate.

It may also be recalled that some of the gulf countries, including Qatar have been providing their airspace to Israel and United States for the attacks on Iran and also intercepting missiles fired by Iran on Israel

Qatar presented a luxury jet to US president, who has been vetoing UN resolution to stop Israeli genocide in Gaza.

It has been reported in media that Iran informed Qatar in advance and also that no Qatari was killed in this attack.

Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani received Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and foreign ministers of other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states at the Emiri Diwan in Doha on Tuesday. GCC Secretary General Jassim Albudaiwi also attended the meeting.

During the meeting, the GCC foreign ministers condemned the Iranian aggression against its territory and affirmed their solidarity with Qatar.

“This aggression constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and the principles of good neighborliness,” they said while reiterating that the attack is unacceptable and unjustifiable under any circumstances.

I ask my readers to search through the internet if gulf countries has issued any condemnation of airstrikes on Iran by Israel and United States.

They should also ask their conscience, should Qatar has allowed an airbase to United States, the country that has been sponsoring Israeli genocide in Gaza, by supplying the most lethal weapons?

Trump Calls Mamdani “Communist Lunatic”

Democratic socialist, Zohran Mamdani won New York City's Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday by campaigning on issues including affordable housing, fare-free buses, no-cost childcare, green schools, and raising the minimum wage—a platform that has "terrified" oligarchs, including Republican US President Donald Trump, who weighed in Wednesday afternoon.

In a pair of posts on his Truth Social network, Trump—an erstwhile New Yorker—called Mamdani "a 100% Communist Lunatic," said "we've had Radical Lefties before, but this is getting a little ridiculous," and attacked the winner's appearance, voice, intelligence, and supporters, including Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

"I have an idea for the Democrats to bring them back into 'play.' After years of being left out in the cold, including suffering one of the Greatest Losses in History, the 2024 Presidential Election, the Democrats should nominate Low IQ Candidate, Jasmine Crockett, for President," Trump wrote of a Democratic Texas congresswoman willing to call out him and his allies in Congress.

"AOC+3 should be, respectively, Vice President, and three High Level Members of the Cabinet," Trump continued, referring to progressive Reps. Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib. "Added together with our future Communist Mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, and our Country is really screwed!"

Critics of Trump took the comments as a clear signal that the second-term president is scared of Mamdani and other progressive political leaders fighting for policies that would improve the lives of working people.

"Trump attacking Mamdani is basically an endorsement at this point," wrote a Bluesky user called The Vivlia.

Georgia state Rep. Ruwa Romman—known nationally as the Palestinian American barred from speaking at last year's Democratic National Convention—said: "...is Trump jealous of Zohran? The focus of his posts is... something."

In an opinion piece published by Common Dreams before Trump's afternoon comments, political organizer Corbin Trent wrote that Mamdani beat disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo "by acknowledging what everyone already knows—life has become unaffordable—and saying we're going to build our way out of it. Housing that teachers can afford. Transit that actually works. Childcare centers so parents don't have to choose between working and raising their kids. And that the ultrawealthy are going to pay their fair share."

Trent argued that other Democrats, and especially the party leadership, have much to learn from Mamdani—both in style and substance—if they want to win back voters who have gravitated to Trump and his right-wing MAGA worldview.

"Mamdani hasn't even been elected yet," Trent noted. "But he's shown us how to stop lying about what needs fixing. He's shown that you can win by promising to build for everyone, not just donors."

 

 

 

 

Retaliatory operations against US in Arab world and beyond

West Asia, specifically Lebanon, is in a highly sensitive situation due to the escalating military situation in the region. Many are behaving as if a major war has become a fait accompli, with no end in sight.

The US attack on the Iranian nuclear facilities on Sunday has weighed heavily on Lebanon’s domestic political landscape, with concerns about the repercussions of this adventurous aggression, especially as the US surveillance den (embassy) in Beirut announced that the State Department had ordered the departure of family members and non-essential government employees from Lebanon.

 “The US Department of State has ordered the departure of family members and non-essential US government employees from Lebanon due to the volatile and unpredictable security situation in the region,” the embassy said in its announcement.

With this dubious announcement, the surveillance den (or the US offensive base in Awkar, as the Lebanese like to call it) has clearly raised American concerns about legitimate reactions against its presence, whether in Lebanon or at its bases spread along the Persian Gulf coast, the United States in particular, and the West in general.

The embassy’s equivocal statement appeared to be part of precautionary measures, especially since similar measures has also been taken at its embassies in Qatar and the UAE.

It is worth noting that even before the September 2024 aggression against Lebanon (which is still continuing sporadically), Western embassies allied with the United States have kept only essential staff at their headquarters.

Besides, they have restricted diplomats from bringing their families, and warned them against visiting certain Lebanese regions (especially pro–Resistance strongholds). These embassies are continuously monitoring developments and acting accordingly.

Diplomatic sources have confirmed that the situation in Lebanon—so far—is not a source of concern, as coordination between Lebanese parties and the international community is “reassuring” following a confirmation that Lebanon is “not interested in escalation.” 

Amidst anticipation of the potential repercussions of the US aggression against Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities, President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam are in continuous consultations to “spare” Lebanon from the repercussions of the Iranian-American escalation.

In a statement, President Aoun said, “The recent escalation of Israeli-Iranian confrontations and the rapid developments accompanying them, particularly the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities, are likely to raise fears of an escalation of tensions that could threaten security and stability in more than one region and country.”

He noted that this “calls for restraint and the launch of constructive and serious negotiations to restore stability to the countries of the region and avoid further killing and destruction.”

In the midst of this escalation, which could last for a long time, Aoun claimed that “Lebanon—its leadership, parties, and people—realizes today, more than ever, that it has paid a heavy price for the wars that erupted on its soil and in the region.”

Aoun alleged, “Lebanon is unwilling to pay more, and there is no national interest in doing so, especially since the cost of these wars was and will be greater than its ability to afford.” 

Prime Minister Salam announced that he and Aoun agreed “to work together to spare Lebanon from the repercussions of these conditions, prioritize the supreme national interests, and preserve unity and national solidarity.”

For its part, Hezbollah condemned “The barbaric, treacherous American aggression against the peaceful nuclear facilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which reveals the true face of the United States of America as the greatest threat to regional and international security and stability.”

Hezbollah affirmed, “The American administration sought, through this criminal aggression, to achieve what the Zionist entity failed to accomplish.”

Despite the President and Prime Minister’s condemnation of the aggression and their expression of Lebanon’s full solidarity with Iran, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants (Lebanese Forces party minister) Youssef Rajai once again violated his diplomatic duties!

Rajai not only did not condemn the aggression, but also did not even attend the emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) held Friday in Istanbul, Turkey, to discuss the aggression against Iran.

Lebanon was represented by its ambassador to Ankara, Ghassan al-Moallem.

Ironically, the foreign minister of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham regime, Asaad al-Sheibani, participated, despite his government’s hostility toward Iran.

The OIC issued a statement describing the Israeli attacks as “a clear violation of international law and a threat to the security of the region.”

 

 

China can continue to purchase Iranian oil

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that China can continue to purchase Iranian oil after Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire, a move that the White House clarified did not indicate a relaxation of US sanctions, reports Reuters.

"China can now continue to purchase Oil from Iran. Hopefully, they will be purchasing plenty from the US, also," Trump said in a post on Truth Social, just days after he ordered US bombings of three Iranian nuclear sites.

Trump was drawing attention to no attempts by Iran so far to close the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers, as a closure would have been hard for China, the world's top importer of Iranian oil, a senior White House official told Reuters.

"The president continues to call on China and all countries to import our state-of-the-art oil rather than import Iranian oil in violation of US sanctions," the official said.

After the ceasefire announcement, Trump's comments on China were another bearish signal for oil prices, which fell nearly 6%.

Any relaxation of sanctions enforcement on Iran would mark a US policy shift after Trump said in February he was re-imposing maximum pressure on Iran, aiming to drive its oil exports to zero, over its nuclear program and funding of militants across the Middle East.

Trump imposed waves of Iran-related sanctions on several of China's so-called independent "teapot" refineries and port terminal operators for purchases of Iranian oil.

"President Trump's green-light for China to keep buying Iranian oil reflects a return to lax enforcement standards," said Scott Modell, a former CIA officer, now CEO of Rapidan Energy Group.

In addition to not enforcing sanctions, Trump could suspend or waive sanctions imposed by executive order or under authorities a president is granted in laws passed by Congress.

Trump will likely not waive sanctions ahead of coming rounds of US-Iran nuclear talks, Modell said. The measures provide leverage given Tehran's demand that any deal includes lifting them permanently.

Jeremy Paner, a partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed law firm, said if Trump chooses to suspend Iran oil-related sanctions, it would require lots of work between agencies.