LONDON: British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Friday that Iran must not follow through with threatening to execute British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari.
“The Iranian regime should be in no doubt. We are watching the case of Alireza Akbari closely,” he said in a tweet.
Cleverly on Wednesday called for immediate release of Akbari who has been sentenced to death by the Iranian regime on charges of spying for Britain.

ANKARA: Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has denounced a protest by Kurds in central Stockholm, where an effigy of Turkiye’s president was hung from a lamppost, as an act of “sabotage” against Sweden’s bid to join NATO.

ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi on Friday officially launched an advanced marine research vessel with a mission to monitor sea life and help combat the effects of climate change in the Gulf.
‘Jaywun’, a 50-meter vessel developed by the emirate’s environment agency EAD, was launched by its Chairman Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.
The vessel can be crewed by around 30 people, and is equipped with the advanced equipment including six laboratories and a remotely operated submersible.

BEIRUT: The Lebanese army said on Friday its troops shot at an Israeli drone that crossed into Lebanon’s southern airspace, with a security source saying the drone was not brought down.
Israel regularly flies military aircraft in Lebanon’s airspace without permission but it is rare for troops to target them.
The Lebanese army statement said a patrol was inspecting a separate incident in the south when a “drone belonging to the Israeli enemy violated Lebanese airspace,” prompting troops to begin shooting in its direction.

CAIRO: A top US official has praised efforts by Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority to improve navigation in the waterway and ensure the safe passage of ships.

Mira Resnick, US deputy assistant secretary of state for regional security in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, was speaking during her first official visit to the canal.

Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, received her at the Guidance Building in Ismailia.

The visit included an inspection of improvement works on a section of the canal.