Pakistan Launches Retaliatory Strikes in Iran, Reportedly Killing Nine People |
Pakistan’s military said today that it conducted strikes (NYT) on what it called terrorist hideouts in southeastern Iran in response to an Iranian air strike Tuesday in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. Nine people died (Dawn, AFP) in the attack, Iranian state media said. Iran-Pakistan tensions have prompted (FT) calls for restraint from countries including China and Turkey. While a statement from Pakistan’s military calling Iran a “brotherly country” left an opening to contain further escalation, the events underscored the current volatility in the Middle East amid a conflict that has expanded well beyond the Gaza Strip.
Iran’s strikes in Pakistan were part of a series of direct attacks this week by Tehran in nearby countries that also included Iraq and Syria. The strikes were rare in that they were claimed outright by Iran and not one of its proxies. |
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“Pakistan's retaliation appears to have been proportionate to Iran's earlier strike, and notably it targeted only militants and not Iranian security forces. With both sides even, so to speak, this provides an opening for deescalation, if cooler heads prevail. But that's a big if,” the Wilson Center’s Michael Kugelman posts.
“Although both Western and regional countries claim that they do not want the war in the Gaza Strip to become a regional conflagration, Iran, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other members of the axis are playing a very different game. They are patiently and methodically consolidating an alliance of forces across a regional battlefield,” John Hopkins University’s Narges Bajoghli and Vali Nasr write for Foreign Affairs.
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Singapore Transport Minister Resigns Amid Rare Graft Case |
Subramaniam Iswaran resigned as transport minister after being charged with twenty-seven counts in a graft probe. Singapore’s previous graft case involving a government minister was in 1986, Nikkei reported. Iswaran pleaded not guilty to the charges, which are mostly related to claims that he received favors such as event tickets between 2015 and 2022.
U.S./China: U.S. Treasury and Chinese officials are meeting (FT) in Beijing today, a Treasury member said, in another sign of growing ties between the two countries after their presidents met in November. The group of officials has held a series of meetings following U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit to China last July.
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India Says It May Ease Scrutiny of Chinese Investments if Border Is Peaceful |
Stricter Indian requirements for incoming Chinese investment imposed in 2020 after border clashes could be lifted if the border continues to be calm, senior Indian official Rajesh Kumar Singh told Reuters. The restrictions have disrupted billions of dollars of bilateral investments.
For the Asia Unbound blog, Clare Harris and CFR expert Manjari Chatterjee Miller look at how China underestimates India’s concerns about its border.
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Middle East and North Africa |
United States to Add Houthis Back to Terror List, Conducts Fresh Strikes |
The United States said it plans to redesignate (WaPo) the Yemen-based Houthi rebels as terrorists yesterday and carried out strikes (NYT) on the group for the fourth time in a week. U.S. Central Command says its strikes targeted missiles that the Houthis were preparing to fire. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington would reevaluate the designation if the Houthis cease their attacks.
In this YouTube Short, CFR expert Steven A. Cook explains what to know about Washington’s attack on the Houthis.
Palestinian territories: Palestinians fled the grounds (NYT) of Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis today as fighting intensified near the complex (BBC). Israel’s military said it detected strikes coming from the hospital. Nasser and two other major Gaza hospitals risk being shut down due to nearby evacuation orders and fighting, the United Nations said.
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Zambia Plans New Rail Line to Boost Trade With Countries Bordering Lake Tanganyika |
The world’s longest freshwater lake is on the border of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia. Zambia’s government asked (Bloomberg) companies for proposals of interest in building and running a 119-mile rail link between a harbor on the lake and neighboring Tanzania.
Comoros: The country declared a nighttime curfew (AFP) yesterday after opposition demonstrators clashed with security forces at protests. They claimed that Sunday’s election that saw the incumbent President Azali Assoumani reelected was fraudulent.
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UK’s Sunak Overcomes Rebellion Within His Party to Advance Asylum Bill |
United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s bill planning to send asylum seekers to Rwanda passed (NYT) the country’s lower legislative chamber yesterday after several lawmakers in his Conservative Party threatened to rebel against it. The plan was ruled unlawful last year by the UK Supreme Court and still needs to pass the upper chamber, where more opposition is expected.
Russia: Moscow’s foreign minister dismissed (AP) a U.S. proposal to come back to a dialogue on nuclear arms control, saying it would not do so while Washington continues to offer military support to Kyiv.
At this CFR meeting, experts discuss how the war between Russia and Ukraine could end.
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U.S. Sanctions Former Guatemalan President Three Days After His Departure From Office |
Washington banned (El País) former Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei from entry due to “credible information” that he accepted bribes during his time in office, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said.
Ecuador: A prosecutor investigating an on-air armed attack on a public television station was shot and killed (The Guardian) yesterday, the country’s attorney general said. She called on authorities to guarantee the safety of public servants amid rising crime. A spate of attacks on civilian infrastructure nationwide last week prompted Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Azín to declare the country (CNBC) to be in a state of “internal armed conflict.”
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Supreme Court Begins Hearing Case That Could Strip Federal Agencies of Regulatory Power |
The case that stemmed from a dispute regarding a fisheries fee could overturn (AP) a 1984 decision that gave federal agencies authority to interpret regulatory laws when they were not absolutely clear. Conservative justices yesterday voiced support for weakening such power. The 1984 decision has guided major regulatory decisions over four decades, such as food and drug safety and environmental protection.
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Council on Foreign Relations |
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