State-owned Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) said early on Thursday it signed three memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Turkish companies to "support the localization of defense industries" in the kingdom.
In a statement, SAMI said it agreed with Turkey's drone maker Baykar to "establish manufacturing capabilities" and develop systems for Baykar's unmanned aerial vehicles in Saudi Arabia.
It also agreed with Turkish aerospace and defense company Aselsan ASELS.IS to explore opportunities for developing defense electronics technologies in the kingdom.
In addition, SAMI signed a preliminary agreement with Turkey's Fergani Space for the "development of emerging technologies in the kingdom to serve the global space sector," the statement said.
While Turkish defense companies need international customers and exports, Saudi Arabia faces threats from Iran-backed Houthis that have been in conflict with the Kingdom for nearly a decade. In addition, military drones have become an important weapons system in modern warfare and play a major role in the war in Ukraine.
With reporting by Reuters
Bashir Biazar, a former Iranian official with links to the IRGC Quds Force who was detained in France for acting as "an agent of influence and agitator" returned to Iran where he received a hero's welcome.
A short clip released by Iran's state-run media showed Biazar getting off a plane in Tehran and being greeted by an Iranian official.
Biazar was an "agent of influence, an agitator who promotes the views of the Islamic Republic of Iran and, more worryingly, harasses opponents of the regime," a French Interior Ministry representative told a hearing in Paris Wednesday.
It is unclear if he has been deported or has willingly returned to Iran on a different arrangement after the end of his "administrative detention."
The decision to release Biazar has sparked criticism from activists who say the French government could have exchanged him with French prisoners held "hostage" in Iran.
Cécile Kohler, Jacques Paris, and Louis Arnaud are among the unknown number of foreign and dual nationals held by Iran, but it is not clear if Biazar's released is linked to any swap deal between Tehran and European countries.
Biazar and his family had lived in France since 2022. Last week, Iran International reported that he had been detained and was about to be deported for his IRGC connections. But Iran's state news agency dismissed such reports, saying Biazar was a "musician."
Iran International has seen official documents from France's Interior Ministry in which Biazar is described as a "former director of Iran's state broadcaster". He is also said to be connected with Unit 840 of the Quds Force, whose mission is to conduct covert operations outside Iran, including the attack and intimidation of dissidents.
Iranian activists in France attempted to keep Biazar in France so that he could be tried for alleged role in broadcasting forced confessions of dissidents on Iran's state TV.
Iran's Acting Foreign Minister threatened that Lebanon will become "a hell without return for the Zionists" if a full-scale war breaks out with Iran's proxy Hezbollah.
Ali Bagheri Kani made the remarks as fears of a third Lebanon war loom strong with drum-beating rhetoric from both sides.
Lebanon joined the war against Israel after Iran-backed Hamas's attack of October 7, in which 1,200 mostly civilians were killed in Israel and a further 240 taken hostage.
Since then, over 3,300 projectiles have been fired by Hezbollah towards Israel leaving 200,000 people displaced on both sides of the border.
It is a continuation of the war-mongering from Iran's government, with an aide to the supreme leader warning this week that Iran's proxies across the region would support the Lebanese militant movement with “all means.”
“All Lebanese people, Arab countries, and members of the axis of resistance will support Lebanon against Israel," he said in an interview with the Financial Times.
Iran's strongest and largest proxy, Hezbollah, is believed to have stockpiled over 200,000 missiles. Its leader has frequently boasted about advanced weaponry that has not yet been deployed in its persistent, albeit low-intensity, conflict with Israel over the past eight months.
Recently, Hezbollah has escalated its attacks, employing exploding drones and low-flying missiles. At least 11 civilians in Israel and dozens in south Lebanon have been killed. Around 400 Hezbollah militants and at least 15 Israeli soldiers have also died in the border war.
The assaults have occasionally overwhelmed Israel's short-range Iron Dome defense system, causing significant damage. Many of the drone attacks have resulted in extensive forest fires in Israel's agriculture-dependent northern regions.
The last major conflict between Israel and Hezbollah occurred in 2006 following the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers.
The war ended with the UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which called for Hezbollah's disarmament—a mandate that has not been enforced as the terror group has only continued to expand and has continually breached the buffer zone of the UN agreement.
Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated that Iran has developed a detailed strategy for the destruction of Israel relying on extensive missile and rocket attacks followed by ground assaults.
“The Iranian regime has an orderly plan for the conventional destruction of the State of Israel,” said Smotrich speaking at a conference co-sponsored by the national-religious Makor Rishon newspaper and the Jerusalem College of Technology on Sunday.
According to the report of Ashkan Safaei, Iran International’s correspondent in Israel, Smotrich stated that this plan does not involve nuclear weapons. Smotrich stated that Iran wants nuclear weapons to ensure its survival.
In his speech, Smotrich detailed the strategy, which includes launching tens of thousands of missiles and rockets from various Middle Eastern locations where Iran has established military bases over the years. He indicated that this initial bombardment would be followed by coordinated ground attacks from multiple fronts, including internal fronts.
To counteract this threat, Smotrich proposed a multifaceted approach. He stated that Israel's response should be to strive to overthrow the Islamic Republic and, concurrently, neutralize all of its proxy forces in the region. He added that the response should be pursued on both political and military fronts.
Specifically, Smotrich pointed to Hamas and Hezbollah as Iran’s key proxies. He argued that Israel must first destroy Hamas "in a way that it cannot stand up and be a threat to Israel for a long time."
Additionally, he advocated for a swift and forceful strike against Hezbollah in northern Israel to incapacitate the group for at least a few years, so that it would not be a threat to Israel within Iran's broader regional ambitions.
Since the beginning of the current war in Gaza, Iran-backed Hezbollah has had daily clashes with Israeli forces along the southern borders of Lebanon.
Smotrich acknowledged that a war with Hezbollah would come at a high cost to Israel, but said “Any price we pay today will be much smaller than what we will be forced to pay in the future if we don't act."
Smotrich stated that the creation of a Palestinian state was a part of Iran's plan to destroy Israel. He emphasized that the Israeli government should fight this issue as well.
According to Ynetnews, in recent weeks, Iran has recently increased its weapons smuggling to Hezbollah, including critical air defense systems used to counter Israeli Air Force strikes in southern Lebanon.
In recent months, Hezbollah, designated a terrorist group by Israel and the United States, has attempted to target Israeli army drones, achieving some success. In response, the Israeli Air Force has targeted the intercepting systems or their parent units.
On Monday, the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) reported that Hezbollah is collaborating with Iran to establish a new front against Israel in the Mediterranean to neutralize Israel’s air force capabilities. According to the report, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah fears a preemptive Israeli Air Force (IAF) strike from bases in Cyprus, a scenario IAF practiced in recent military exercises in the last year.
On June 19, Nasrallah threatened Cyprus for the first time, accusing the country of assisting Israel: “The Cypriot government must be warned that opening Cypriot airports and bases for the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon means that the Cypriot government has become part of the war and the resistance will deal with it as part of the war.”
Last week, Nasrallah stated that the fate of the "Resistance Front"—an alliance of militant groups sponsored by Iran, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Houthis in Yemen, and Iraqi Shiite militias—is closely tied to that of its main sponsor, the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Additionally last week, amid escalating tensions, the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock urged Iran to take all necessary measures to prevent further escalation in the Middle East.
An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader has issued a warning that an all-out Israeli offensive against Hezbollah could trigger a regional war.
Kamal Kharrazi, foreign affairs adviser to Ali Khamenei, stated that Tehran and the “axis of resistance” would support the Lebanese militant movement with “all means.”
“All Lebanese people, Arab countries, and members of the axis of resistance will support Lebanon against Israel," he said.
Hezbollah, Iran's most formidable proxy, funded, trained, and armed by Tehran, continues its daily skirmishes with Israeli forces amid the ongoing Gaza conflict.
In an interview with the Financial Times on Tuesday, Kharrazi claimed that the Islamic Republic was “not interested” in a regional conflict and urged the US to pressure Israel to prevent further escalation. Meanwhile, Iran's regional proxies continue to attack both Israel and US targets in the region.
Kharrazi emphasized the risk of the conflict spreading, stating, “There would be a chance of expansion of the war to the whole region, in which all countries including Iran would become engaged. In that situation, we would have no choice but to support Hezbollah by all means.”
Lebanon's Hezbollah began targeting Israel after the eruption of the Gaza war, sparked by Iran-backed Hamas's invasion of October 7. At least 1,200 mostly civilians were killed and 250 more taken hostage.
The supreme leader's aide added, “The expansion of war is not in the interest of anyone — not Iran or the US.”
In April, Iran launched the first direct attack on Israel with a barrage of 350 missiles and drones following an alleged Israeli strike on Iran's consulate in Syria targeting a senior Quds Force commander and other senior IRGC figures.
A US-led coalition intercepted most of the projectiles in what was seen as the beginning of direct conflict between the two arch-enemies.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz has responded to Iran's warning against the Jewish state's possible offensive in Lebanon, saying the Islamic Republic deserves to be "destroyed".
"Iran threatens today to destroy Israel if Israel fully responds to Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon," Katz said in a post on his X account on Saturday. “My response to Iran is clear: A regime that threatens destruction deserves to be destroyed."
Katz's comments came in response to Iran's mission to the United Nations which warned that any “full-scale military aggression” by Israel in Lebanon against Hezbollah would trigger an "obliterating war."
The Israeli top diplomat also made it clear that if Hezbollah does not cease its attacks from Lebanon, Israel will retaliate with full force.
"If Hezbollah does not cease its fire and withdraw from southern Lebanon, we will act against it with full force until security is restored and residents can return to their homes,” Katz said.
The situation has been tense along the Lebanese border following a series of attacks by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia. The Israel Defense Force (IDF) retaliated by targeting several Hezbollah positions after the group launched attacks on northern Israel.
The confrontation is part of a broader conflict involving Iran’s “Axis of Resistance," which includes not only Hezbollah but also Hamas, Yemen’s Houthis, and other groups in Syria and Iraq.
The axis has actively targeted Israel since October 7, when Hamas-led fighters stormed southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, sparking the ongoing war in Gaza.
Iran itself launched missile and drone strikes on Israel on April 13, following an alleged Israeli airstrike in Damascus that killed several senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Although Iran’s strike was largely repelled with the help of the United States and other allies, it marked a new level of escalation in the region.
