Asia Pacific

Russia and China, Tehran’s two most powerful diplomatic partners, have labelled the US-Israeli war on Iran that has killed more than 1,000 people a clear violation of international law.

President Vladimir Putin called the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday a “cynical violation of all norms of human morals”.

China’s Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi told his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar, that “force cannot truly solve problems” as he urged all sides to avoid further escalation.

Russia and China jointly requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.

The reaction reflects the close relationship between Iran, Russia, and China. Moscow and Beijing have signed bilateral deals and expanded coordination through joint naval drills, projecting a united front against what they describe as a US-led international order that has long sought to isolate them.

Yet despite their sharp rhetoric, neither has indicated a willingness to intervene militarily to support Iran.

Russia-Iran: Strategic partners, not military allies

In January 2025, Russia and Iran signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty covering areas from trade and military cooperation to science, culture, and education.

The agreement deepened defence and intelligence coordination and supported projects such as transport corridors, linking Russia to the Gulf through Iran.

The pair carried out joint military drills in the Indian Ocean as recently as late February, the week before the US and Israel attacked Iran.

However, when the war began, Moscow was not obliged to respond as the treaty did not include a mutual defence clause, meaning it stopped short of forming a formal military alliance.

Andrey Kortunov, the former director general of the Russian International Affairs Council and a member of the Valdai Discussion Club, a Russian foreign policy think tank, told Al Jazeera via videolink from Moscow, that Russia’s 2024 mutual defence treaty with North Korea is an example of a “more binding” agreement on military support.

He said that, under that agreement, Russia would be obliged to join North Korea “in any conflict the country might get involved in”, whereas with Iran, “it just mentioned that both sides agreed to abstain from any hostile actions in case the other side is engaged in conflict”.

Kortunov said Russia is unlikely to take direct military action in support of Iran because the risks would be too high.

He added that Moscow appears to be “prioritising the United States mediation in the conflict with Ukraine”, and noted that Russia has previously taken a similar approach by criticising US actions in places like Venezuela after the US military attack and arrest of its President, Nicolas Maduro, in January.

Although the treaty clearly states that Russia is not obliged to intervene, he said some of his contacts in Tehran have expressed a “degree of frustration”, and there had been an “expectation that Russia should somehow do more than just diplomatic moves in the United Nations Security Council or in other multilateral forums”.

China–Iran ties and their limits

In 2021, China and Iran signed a 25-year cooperation agreement aimed at expanding ties in areas such as energy, while also drawing Iran into China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Jodie Wen, a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for International Security and Strategy (CISS) at Tsinghua University in China, who has travelled frequently to Iran, told Al Jazeera that the relationship is widely viewed in Beijing as pragmatic and stable.

“From the political side, we have regular exchange,” she said over the phone from Beijing, adding, “on the economic side, the cooperation is very deep; many enterprises have investments in Iran.”

Yet she stressed that Beijing has long drawn clear limits around the partnership, particularly regarding military involvement.

“The Chinese government always adheres to not interfering in other countries’ issues … I do not think the Chinese government would send weapons to Iran,” she said.

Instead, Beijing’s role is more likely to focus on diplomacy and crisis management.

“I think China is trying its way to talk with the US side and Gulf countries to keep calm,” she said.

That clarity about the relationship, she added, has helped build trust in Tehran.

Even so, she noted the relationship is not symmetrical.

Vessel-tracking service Kpler estimates that 87.2 percent of Iran’s annual crude oil exports go to China, underscoring how economically significant China is for Tehran, while Iran remains a relatively small partner in China’s global trade.

Dylan Loh, an associate professor in the Public Policy and Global Affairs programme at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, told Al Jazeera that he believes China’s role regarding Iran “has evolved into a protective one, accelerating its mediation effort to prevent a regional collapse that would threaten its own regional economic and security interests”.

“I think there will be some assessment of how to lower the political risks and what sorts of options are available; truth be told, this re-think already started after [the US attack on] Venezuela,” he said.

Kim Jong Un supervised the launch of sea-to-surface ‘strategic cruise missiles’ from country’s new naval destroyer.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has overseen the test-firing of “strategic cruise missiles” from a new 5,000-tonne naval destroyer before the vessel’s official commissioning, according to state media.

Kim supervised the launch of sea-to-surface missiles from the destroyer Choe Hyon on Wednesday, assessing the test as a “core” element of the new warship’s capabilities, which he described as a “new symbol of sea defence” for his country.

Calling for the production of more warships of a similar class or better, Kim said his navy’s adoption of nuclear weapons was making progress.

“Our Navy’s forces for attacking from under and above water will grow rapidly. The arming of the Navy with nuclear weapons is making satisfactory progress,” Kim said at the Nampo Shipyard in the west of the country, according to North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“All these successes constitute a radical change in defending our maritime sovereignty, something that we have not achieved for half a century,” he said.

South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency noted that North Korea uses references to “strategic” weapons to indicate they could have nuclear capabilities.

According to KCNA, over a two-day visit to the shipyard, spanning Tuesday and Wednesday, Kim inspected the Choe Hyon, the lead vessel in a new series of 5,000-tonne “Choe Hyon-class” destroyers currently under construction in North Korea.

‘Wage a more active and persistent struggle’

In May 2025, North Korea’s ambitious naval modernisation programme suffered a major setback when a second Choe Hyon-class destroyer capsized during a botched side-launch ceremony at Chongjin Shipyard, an incident witnessed by the Korean leader.

Later, and in a rare admission of failure, KCNA reported that a launch mechanism malfunction caused the stern of the 5,000-tonne destroyer to slide prematurely into the water. The accident crushed parts of the hull and left the bow stranded on the shipway.

At the time, Kim characterised the launch failure as a “criminal act”, blaming the incident on “absolute carelessness” and “irresponsibility” across multiple state institutions.

This week’s missile tests come after the North Korean leader pledged in late February to lift living standards as he opened a rare congress of the governing Workers’ Party, held once every five years.

Kim told the congress that the ruling party was “faced with heavy and urgent historic tasks of boosting economic construction and the people’s standard of living”.

“This requires us to wage a more active and persistent struggle without allowing even a moment’s standstill or stagnation,” he said.

North Korea has prioritised nuclear weapons development and military strength above all else, claiming that it must be militarily strong to resist pressure from the United States and its ally, South Korea.

Since taking power in late 2011, Kim has maintained the military as a core priority while simultaneously emphasising economic strengthening to address the country’s chronic impoverishment.

Canadian leader also said the US-Israeli attacks on Iran appear to be ‘inconsistent with international law’.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that he could not rule out his country’s military participation in the escalating war in the Middle East, after earlier saying that the US-Israeli strikes on Iran were “inconsistent with international law”.

Speaking alongside Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra on Thursday, Carney was asked whether there was a situation in which Canada would get involved.

“One can never categorically rule out participation,” Carney said, noting the question was “hypothetical”.

“We will stand by our allies,” he said, adding that “we will always defend Canadians”.

Carney said earlier that he supported the strikes on Iran “with some regret” as they represented an extreme example of a rupturing world order.

The Canadian prime minister also stressed that his country was not informed in advance of the US-Israeli attack on Iran, in his first remarks since the war was launched on Saturday.

“We were not informed in advance, we were not asked to participate,” Carney told reporters travelling with him in Australia on Wednesday.

“Prima facie, it appears that these actions are inconsistent with international law,” he said.

“The United States and Israel have acted without engaging the United Nations or consulting with allies, including Canada,” he added, according to Australia’s SBS News, while also condemning strikes on civilians in Iran and calling for “all parties … to respect the rules of international engagement”.

Whether the US and Israeli attacks on Iran had broken international law was “a judgement for others to make”, he added.

Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said on Wednesday that efforts were under way to help more than 2,000 Canadians who have requested assistance from the government to leave the ⁠Middle East region since the war broke out on Saturday.

Anand said about half of all inquiries for help were from Canadians in the United Arab Emirates, more than 230 from Qatar, at least 160 from Lebanon, more than 90 from Israel and 74 from Iran.

Canada’s Foreign Ministry has been instructed to contract charter flights out of the UAE ‌in the coming days, contingent on approval from the UAE government to use its airspace, the minister said.

Commercial ⁠air traffic remains largely absent across much of the region, with major Gulf hubs – including Dubai, the world’s busiest airport for international passengers – largely shut amid the conflict, in the biggest travel disruption since the COVID pandemic.

Repatriation flights chartered by foreign governments, including Britain and France, were due to leave on Wednesday and Thursday, while the UAE opened safe air corridors to allow some citizens to return home.

Under ⁠normal circumstances, thousands of commercial flights would depart the region each day.

F1’s technical changes pose challenges for drivers and engineers alike while raising concerns about the quality of racing.

Formula One’s new era ⁠starts at this weekend’s season-opening ⁠Australian Grand Prix, where teams will leap into the unknown and grapple with sweeping technical changes under race conditions for the first time.

F1 has simultaneously overhauled chassis and power unit regulations for the first time ⁠in decades, posing a challenge for drivers and engineers while raising concerns about the quality of racing.

With near-parity between electrical and combustion engines and cars running on 100 percent advanced sustainable fuel, drivers gained some insight into the changes during winter testing. But all ⁠are in the dark about how the reset will play out when going wheel-to-wheel on race day.

“I’m certainly more comfortable now than I was a couple of months ago with how to drive these cars and how to try and get the most out of them,” McLaren’s Oscar Piastri told reporters on Wednesday.

“But I think there’s still the saying of ‘You don’t know what you don’t know.’”

Australian Piastri said McLaren ‌thought they had the cars worked out two months ago, only to find they had “a whole bunch of stuff” they did not understand during winter testing.

With more power generated by electricity than last year’s engines, there is more emphasis on drivers needing to be tactical with energy deployment and regeneration.

The old drag reduction system has been replaced by a new overtake mode, giving extra power for overtaking.

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen described the changes as “like Formula E on steroids” and “anti-racing”.

Formula One Chief Executive Stefano Domenicali defended them and assured fans there will still be plenty of thrills.

The changes may have different effects at ⁠different circuits, leaving all teams to learn on the fly, week by week.

Piastri said Sunday’s race ⁠at Albert Park, a suburb of Melbourne, would probably showcase the more “unnatural” parts of driving.

“You know, a lot more lift and coast, a lot more kind of just driving to maximise the power unit,” he said.

“You’ve got power units that are reducing in power down the straights at different points. And there’s a lot of unknowns, ⁠a lot of challenges in there.”

The new regulations raised hopes of a more open championship and the prospect of a disruptor team emerging to force change at the top. But preseason testing in ⁠Bahrain hinted at a familiar top four, with Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull and ⁠McLaren all performing well.

Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley said the gap between the “best and the rest” might only widen.

“I think it’s going to be a very different year in terms of the competitiveness in the sport,” he told the Reuters news agency. “We’re already seeing the gap between the fastest teams and the slowest teams but larger than it’s been ‌in the last few years.”

Whatever the pecking order, F1 race tracks will be more crowded with the addition of the new Cadillac team although there may be more breathing room at Albert Park, given Aston Martin’s preseason troubles.

Despite the technical guidance of Adrian ‌Newey, ‌who joined from Red Bull, the Honda-powered team completed few laps during winter testing and have reliability problems.

The AMR26 cars will be in Australia – something of a relief for F1 management – but may only race for a few laps before retiring.

Finn Allen hits fastest century at a T20 World Cup as New Zealand crush South Africa by nine wickets to reach final.

New ⁠Zealand stormed into the Twenty20 World Cup final ⁠with a nine-wicket demolition of South Africa in ⁠the first semifinal at the Eden Gardens.

Put into bat, South Africa recovered ‌from a precarious 77-5 to post a competitive 169-8 after Marco Jansen led their recovery with a belligerent 55 not ⁠out.

Finn Allen smashed an ⁠unbeaten 100 off 33 balls, however, and shared a 117-run ⁠opening stand with Tim Seifert (58) as ⁠New Zealand romped ⁠to their target in only 12.5 overs.

Allen’s achievement was the fastest century scored at a T20 World Cup.

“We wanted to start well and put them on the back foot early,” Allen said. “It is easy for me when Tim [Seifert] is going like that. The way he batted got us off to an absolute flyer.

“It is easy in semifinals to stay up for the fight and with Tim [Seifert] we keep each other in it, and we enjoy it out there together.”

Earlier Jansen’s fifty came in response to Kiwis spinners Rachin Ravindra and Cole McConchie took two wickets each before Tristan Stubbs and Jansen put on 73 to rescue the innings at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.

Stubbs (29) and Jansen, who hit two fours and five sixes in his 30-ball knock, helped set New Zealand a target of 170 to reach the final.

India successfully chased 196 against the West Indies on Sunday on the same ground.

South Africa were the only unbeaten team in the tournament, while New Zealand had edged into the semifinals on net run-rate.

McConchie struck first in the second over with his off-spin to send back Quinton De Kock for 10 and Ryan Rickelton next ball, but Dewald Brevis avoided the hat-trick.

Aiden Markram was reprieved on three when Ravindra dropped him at midwicket off pace bowler Lockie Ferguson.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra made amends when he had the South Africa captain caught in the deep by Daryl Mitchell for 18.

David Miller was dropped on three by Glenn Phillips but fell for six to Ravindra five balls later, with Mitchell again taking the catch at long-on.

South Africa had lost half their side in 10.2 overs when Jimmy Neesham cut short Brevis’s knock on 34.

Ferguson bowled Stubbs but Jansen hit him for six to reach his fifty.

Pace bowler Matt Henry, who arrived back only on Tuesday night after going home for the birth of his child, took 2-34.

The bowling figures for South Africa will be ones to quickly forget, as the figures to focus on – and the moment to remember – belonged to Allen.

“You take the positives from this game, celebrate little moments of success,” Allen added “Then we have a final to play on Sunday and we look forward to that.”

Defending champions India take on ‌twice champions England in the second semi-final in Mumbai ‌on ‌Thursday, ahead of Sunday’s final.

China’s foreign minister tells Israel to end attacks; Russian FM Lavrov says no sign Tehran seeking nuclear bomb.

Russia and China have criticised the US and Israeli attacks on Iran, with Moscow saying it had seen no evidence that Tehran was developing nuclear weapons, and Beijing demanding an immediate halt to the joint attacks.

Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang ⁠Yi told his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar, on Tuesday that the attack on Iran came as negotiations between Washington and Tehran had “made significant progress, including addressing Israel’s security concerns”, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“Regrettably, this process has been interrupted by military action. China opposes any military strikes launched by Israel and the US against Iran,” Wang told the Israeli foreign minister during a phone call, according to the ministry.

“China calls for an immediate cessation of military operations to prevent the further escalation and loss of control of the conflict,” Wang said.

“Force cannot truly solve problems; instead, it will bring new problems and serious long-term consequences,” he added.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Saar agreed to a request from Wang to take “concrete measures to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel and institutions” in Iran.

The call on Tuesday with Israel and Beijing’s apparent efforts to stabilise the spiralling regional situation followed calls Wang made on Monday to discuss the conflict with the foreign ⁠ministers of Iran, Oman and France.

‘US doesn’t attack those who have nuclear bombs’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also criticised the US and Israel on Tuesday, saying their war on Iran could lead to the very outcome they claimed they wanted to prevent: nuclear proliferation.

Lavrov told a news conference that the logical consequence of the US and Israel’s actions could be that “forces will emerge in Iran… in favour of doing exactly what the Americans want to avoid – acquiring a nuclear bomb”.

“Because the US doesn’t attack those who have nuclear bombs,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov also said that Arab countries could now join the race to acquire nuclear weapons, given the experience of recent days and “the nuclear proliferation problem will begin to spiral ⁠out of control”.

Israel is widely seen as the Middle East region’s only nuclear-armed state, which it neither confirms nor denies.

“The seemingly paradoxical declared noble goal of starting a war to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons could stimulate completely opposite trends,” he said.

Lavrov, who said that Moscow had still seen no evidence that Iran was developing ⁠nuclear weapons, spoke with his Iranian counterpart, ⁠Abbas Araghchi, on Tuesday, and said that Russia stood ready to help find a diplomatic solution to the conflict, while rejecting the US and Israel’s use of “unprovoked military aggression” in the region.

As the US and Israel launched their first strikes on Iran on Saturday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused the close allies of carrying out a “premeditated and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent UN member state”.

The two countries had hidden their true intention of regime change in Tehran “under the cover” of negotiations to normalise relations with Iran, the ministry said.

The US and Israel were “swiftly pushing the region toward a humanitarian, economic, and potentially even radiological disaster”, the ministry warned.

“Responsibility for the negative consequences of this manmade crisis, including an unpredictable chain reaction and spiralling violence, lies entirely with them,” the statement added.

Russia has faced its own accusations of aggression against a sovereign state after it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a war now in its fifth year.