• Iran says it won’t negotiate over its missile capabilities.
• Supreme Leader’s adviser says missiles are Iran’s red line.
• Netanyahu pushes to include missiles in US-Iran deal.
  

Iran’s missile capabilities are its red line and are not a subject to be negotiated, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader said on Wednesday, as Tehran and Washington eye a new round of talks to avert conflict. 

US and Iranian diplomats held indirect talks last week in Oman, amid a regional naval buildup by the US threatening Iran. 

“The Islamic Republic’s missile capabilities are non-negotiable,” Ali Shamkhani said, according to state media, while appearing in a march commemorating the 47th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. 

Washington has long sought to extend talks on Iran’s nuclear capabilities to cover its missile programme as well.

Iran has said it is prepared to discuss curbs on its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions, but has repeatedly ruled out linking the issue to other questions, including missiles. 

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to use a meeting with Trump in Washington on Wednesday to push for any US-Iran deal to include limitations on Tehran’s missiles.

President Donald Trump will host Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Wednesday, where the Israeli prime minister is expected to press him to widen US talks with Iran to include limits on Tehran’s missile arsenal and other security threats beyond its nuclear program.

In his seventh meeting with Trump since the president returned to office nearly 13 months ago, Netanyahu will be looking to influence the next round of US discussions with Iran following nuclear negotiations held in Oman last Friday.

Trump has threatened strikes on Iran if no agreement is reached, while Tehran has vowed to retaliate, stoking fears of a wider war. He has repeatedly voiced support for a secure Israel, a longstanding US ally and arch-foe of Iran.

In media interviews on Tuesday, Trump repeated his warning, saying that while he believes Iran wants a deal, he would do “something very tough” if it refused.

Trump told Fox Business that a good deal with Iran would mean “no nuclear weapons, no missiles,” without elaborating. He also told Axios he was considering sending a second aircraft carrier strike group as part of a major US buildup near Iran.

Israel fears that the US might pursue a narrow nuclear deal that does not include limitations on Iran’s ballistic missile program, according to people familiar with the matter.

“I will present to the president our perceptions of the principles in the negotiations,” Netanyahu told reporters before departing for the US. The two leaders could also discuss potential military action if diplomacy with Iran fails, one source said.

• Trump once again takes credit for ending Pak-Ind war.
• US president says he warned Pakistan, India of tariffs.
• Trump claims the arch-rivals were going to go nuclear.

US President Donald Trump has now claimed that as many as 10 fighter jets were shot down during the Pakistan and India conflict, doubling his initial figure.

“I settled eight wars. Of the eight wars, at least six were settled because of tariffs,” Trump said on Fox Business, during a discussion about the effectiveness of his tariff policy.

Expanding further, he said: “In other words, I said if you don’t settle this war I’m going to charge you tariffs, because I don’t want to see people getting killed. And they said, ‘Well, what does this have to do…’ I said, ‘You’re going to be charged.’”

“Like India and Pakistan — it would have been a nuclear war in my opinion. They were really going at it. Ten planes were shot down. They were going at it.”

He recalled that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had mentioned that President Trump saved at least 10 million lives when he got us to stop fighting, “because he — they were going to go nuclear in my opinion. Without tariffs, that would not have happened”.

While Trump has credited himself — and by Pakistan — for stopping the war, India has not acknowledged the US president’s role. In contrast, the Pakistani government also nominated the American commander-in-chief for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Last year in May, Pakistan and India engaged in a military showdown, the worst between the old foes in decades, which was sparked by a terrorist attack on tourists in IIOJK’s Pahalgam area, which New Delhi alleged was backed by Pakistan.

Islamabad denied involvement in the Pahalgam attack, which killed 26 men and offered to participate in a neutral probe into the deadly incident.

During the clashes, Pakistan downed several Indian fighter jets, including three Rafale, and dozens of drones. After at least 87 hours, the war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by the US.

DHAKA: Millions of young Bangladeshis will vote for the first time on Thursday in a landmark election to determine the country’s leadership following a 2024 student-led uprising that ended former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s autocratic rule.

Young people aged 18 to 27 make up 44% of the country’s 129 million voters, many of whom say they never voted during Hasina’s 15-year iron-fisted tenure.

Elections under the ousted prime minister’s rule were marred by allegations of widespread rigging and bans on opposition parties.

Faijullah Wasif, 33, a university official preparing to cast his first ballot, said he didn’t vote while Hasina was in power because he felt it wouldn’t make a difference.

“It was mainly because of fear and anxiety that I didn’t go,” he said. “I did not even feel interested.”

The demographic bulge of younger voters has forced parties to recalibrate their campaigns and messages.

The digital battleground has become central to the campaign, and parties have invested heavily in online outreach, from Facebook videos to TikTok reels.

‘Excited’

This election, Hasina’s former ruling Awami League has been barred.

Instead, the parties once crushed under her rule are running — the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies, and a coalition led by Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest religious party.

Ashfah Binte Latif, 21, a student at Dhaka University, said her parents had told her stories of past elections, pre-Hasina, when polling day was celebrated like a festival.

“Now that we have managed to change the system, I am very excited,” she said.

The National Citizen Party (NCP), formed by the student leaders who spearheaded the uprising, have allied with Jamaat-e-Islami.

Latif said she expected more from the young student leaders, but she is still eager for change.

“We expected young people to lead us — and in many ways, they did,” she said. “If they fail, it’s a failure for all of the young.”

The spark that ignited the 2024 unrest started on university campuses by students opposed to a quota system in the civil service, which they said excluded them from jobs.

‘Respect’

A year and a half later, Bangladesh’s economy remains fragile, and graduates still struggle to land their first job.

Election expert Md Abdul Alim, a former member of Bangladesh’s election reform commission, said he expected a strong youth turnout.

“These young voters will carry this sense of deprivation with them to the polls, and they will vote,” he said.

Of around 2,000 candidates vying for the 350 seats — some 1,400 standing for the first time — more than 600 are aged 44 or below, according to statistics from the electoral commission.

Wasif, the university official, believes the fresh faces will benefit Bangladesh.

“Our trust in young people is very strong, and our hopes are high,” Wasif said.

“Since young people brought about this change, I believe that it is through them that Bangladesh’s political culture will undergo a radical transformation.”

Latif hopes it will usher in a more democratic leadership.

“A government that won’t see dissenting voices as enemies, but will respect them,” Latif said.