WAR snippets

UAE sneak four oil tankers via strait

The UAE has been able to sneak some of its oil tankers through the strait directly under Iran’s nose, according to experts and shipping data. The UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Co managed to export at least 6 million barrels of its crude in April aboard four tankers sailing through the Gulf, tracking data from Kplr and SynMax showed. The tankers were able to either unload their shipment to other vessels bound for Southeast Asia, dock in Oman, or sail directly to refineries in South Korea, three sources told Reuters. The journey the four ships took demonstrates the risks producers and buyers are willing to take to free up oil sales despite Iran’s threats to attack a vessel daring to cross the strait without permission.

Turkiye unveils its first ICBM 

Turkiye has unveiled a prototype of an intercontinental ballistic missile as part of a push to become self-reliant and to gain a foothold as a key defence player in West Asia and among its Nato allies. The ICBM, Yildirimhan, unveiled at the defence and aerospace exhibition in Istanbul, has a range of 6,000km. If launched from Turkiye, it will be able to hit targets across Europe, Africa and Asia.

Israel: probing soldier’s act 

Israel’s military has said it is probing an Israeli soldier who was photographed smoking and placing another cigarette on the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in occupied southern Lebanon. The picture was taken in the Chri­sti­an village of Debel, where another soldier was photographed last month hitting a statue of Jesus on a cross in the face with a sled­g­e­hammer. IDF said it viewed the incident with “utmost severity” and the conduct of the soldier “completely deviates from the val­u­­es expected of its personnel”.

Pezeshkian: Met Mojtaba recently

Iran’s President Masoud Pe­zeshkian said on Thursday he met Supreme Leader Mojta­ba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since his appointment in early March. Pezeshkian did not say when their meeting took place. “What struck me most during this meeting was the vision and the humble and sincere approach of the supreme leader of the Islamic revolution,” the president said in a video broadcast by state television.