Authorities in Iran have neutralized 30 bombs meant to go off simultaneously in Tehran and detained 28 “terrorists” linked to ISIS, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday, citing the intelligence ministry, Azernews reports, citing Al Arabiya.
Day: September 24, 2023
President Reuven Rivlin spoke on the phone to his Armenian counterpart Armen Sarkissian on Monday, amid anger in the capital Yerevan over Israeli arms sales to Azerbaijan as a border dispute between the countries flares.
Shortly after the call, Armenia’s Ambassador to Israel Armen Smbatyan told Armenian news site Factor.am that Yerevan was in talks with Jerusalem and believes weapons sales could be halted in the coming days.
“I think that in this situation, Israel will stop supplying weapons to Azerbaijan. We are cooperating with the Israeli Foreign Ministry, there are certain people in the presidency, there are people who have influence.
“In two or three days they seem to be on the way to stopping the supply of weapons… I was given a verbal promise,” he said.
In the phone call between presidents, Rivlin “expressed his sorrow at the outbreak of violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and at the loss of life on both sides,” a statement from his office said.
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“He added that the State of Israel has longstanding relations with Azerbaijan and that the cooperation between the two countries is not aimed against any side,” the statement added, in an apparent reference to Israel’s sale of military weapons to Baku.
“The president also noted that the State of Israel is interested in promoting relations with Armenia and is prepared to offer humanitarian aid, and that we welcome the opening of the Armenian embassy in Israel and hope that the Armenian ambassador will return soon,” Rivlin’s office said.
In this photo released by Ministry of Defense of Armenia on Sept. 29, 2020, an Armenian soldier fires an artillery piece during fighting with Azerbaijan’s forces in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. (Ministry of Defense of Armenia via AP)
The phone call came four days after Armenia announced that it was recalling its ambassador from Israel due to Israeli weapon sales to its bitter enemy Azerbaijan, against the backdrop of heavy fighting between the two nations over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The ongoing clashes represent the biggest escalation in years of a decades-old conflict that has killed dozens and left scores of others wounded.
The Armenian ambassador was recalled to protest what an Armenian foreign ministry spokeswoman called “Israel’s supply of ultra-modern weapons to Azerbaijan.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry released a statement in response saying it regretted the Armenian decision and that “Israel attaches importance to our relations with Armenia, and because of this sees the Armenian Embassy in Israel as an important tool for promoting the benefit of both peoples.”
Armenian foreign ministry spokewoman @naghdalyan: “For us, Israel’s supply of ultra-modern weapons to Azerbaijan is unacceptable, especially now, in the conditions of Azerbaijan’s aggression with the support of Turkey”
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) October 1, 2020
Israel and Azerbaijan enjoy security and import agreements and it is speculated that Israel supplies 60 percent of the Azerbaijani military’s armaments, while Azerbaijan supplies a large amount of natural fuel to the Jewish state.
The Azerbaijani military has been using Israeli-made attack drones — including loitering munitions, or “kamikaze drones” — during the recent uptick in violence with Armenia, Hikmet Hajiyev, assistant to the president of Azerbaijan, said in an interview with Israel’s Walla news site Wednesday.
Hajiyev lauded the effectiveness of the Israeli weapons.
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense then released several videos showing drones in action against Armenian forces.
An Azeri drone striking an Armenian artillery battery. (Screengrab: Walla)
The fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh erupted last Sunday and has continued despite mounting calls for a ceasefire from around the globe.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said Armenian forces started shelling the town of Tartar last month, damaging “civilian infrastructure” and wounding people, while Armenian military officials reported that Azerbaijani forces were bombing positions of the Nagorno-Karabakh army in the north of the war-torn region.
Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Armenian government since 1994, at the end of a separatist war following the breakup of the Soviet Union three years earlier.
AP contributed to this report.
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China has limited room for further monetary policy easing, and it should pursue structural reforms such as encouraging entrepreneurs rather than counting on macroeconomic policies to revive growth, a central bank adviser said on Sunday.
Liu Shijin, a member of the People’s Bank of China’s (PBOC) monetary policy committee, told a financial forum in Shanghai that Beijing’s room for monetary policy easing was limited by widening interest rate differentials with the U.S.
Fiscally, Chinese governments at various levels are under stress, he told the annual Bund Summit conference.
“If China continues to focus on macro policies in its efforts to stabilise growth, there would be more and more side effects,” said Liu, vice president of the Development Research Center of the State Council.
“More importantly, we will again miss the opportunity for structural reforms.”
China’s post-COVID recovery has lost momentum amid weak consumption, falling exports and a deepening property debt crisis, and the economy is struggling despite a slew of monetary and fiscal measures to boost confidence.
Liu proposed on Sunday a new round of structural reforms that could aid the economy immediately, while also injecting long-term growth momentum.
They include demand-side reforms with a focus on giving migrant workers access to public services enjoyed by city dwellers, as well as supply-side reforms that involve igniting entrepreneurship in emerging industries, he said.
China’s top economic planning body announced this month it would create a new department to help private businesses, as Beijing seeks to revive investor confidence hurt by government crackdowns on sectors ranging from the internet to private tutoring.
Liu said on Sunday that China should give clearer recognition to private businesses’ status, both ideologically and politically.
China has limited room for further monetary policy easing, and it should pursue structural reforms such as encouraging entrepreneurs rather than counting on macroeconomic policies to revive growth, a central bank adviser said on Sunday.
Liu Shijin, a member of the People’s Bank of China’s (PBOC) monetary policy committee, told a financial forum in Shanghai that Beijing’s room for monetary policy easing was limited by widening interest rate differentials with the U.S.
Fiscally, Chinese governments at various levels are under stress, he told the annual Bund Summit conference.
“If China continues to focus on macro policies in its efforts to stabilise growth, there would be more and more side effects,” said Liu, vice president of the Development Research Center of the State Council.
“More importantly, we will again miss the opportunity for structural reforms.”
China’s post-COVID recovery has lost momentum amid weak consumption, falling exports and a deepening property debt crisis, and the economy is struggling despite a slew of monetary and fiscal measures to boost confidence.
Liu proposed on Sunday a new round of structural reforms that could aid the economy immediately, while also injecting long-term growth momentum.
They include demand-side reforms with a focus on giving migrant workers access to public services enjoyed by city dwellers, as well as supply-side reforms that involve igniting entrepreneurship in emerging industries, he said.
China’s top economic planning body announced this month it would create a new department to help private businesses, as Beijing seeks to revive investor confidence hurt by government crackdowns on sectors ranging from the internet to private tutoring.
Liu said on Sunday that China should give clearer recognition to private businesses’ status, both ideologically and politically.