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Category: Middle East

  • MIL-OSI USA: Crapo, Scott and GOP Colleagues Lead Effort to Strengthen Review of Foreign Land Purchases Near Sensitive U.S. Military Sites

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Idaho Mike Crapo

    Washington, D.C.–U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) joined Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) in an effort to strengthen national security by ensuring the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) can effectively review foreign land purchases near sensitive military, intelligence and national laboratory sites.

    “We must protect sensitive military and government sites from foreign adversaries pursuing intelligence activities on our own land,” said Senator Crapo.  “Idaho has multiple military installations and the acclaimed Idaho National Laboratory conducting vital research, development and training of critical national security efforts right here in our backyard, and increasing accountability about land sales around these sites is of utmost importance.”

    The Protect Our Bases Act, introduced by Senators Crapo, Scott, Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee), Katie Britt (R-Alabama), Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska), Jim Banks (R-Indiana), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) and Dave McCormick (R-Pennsylvania), would require CFIUS member agencies to annually update records of the military, intelligence and national laboratory facilities that should be designated as sensitive sites for national security purposes.  

    “The Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to infiltrate and surveil all parts of the U.S national security apparatus requires vigilance from our national security agencies.  This legislation will enhance the review of foreign real estate transactions near critical national security installations, helping ensure CFIUS has the information it needs to protect our homeland and keep our nation safe,” said Chairman Scott.

    “We must address the growing threat from the Chinese Communist Party and other hostile regimes trying to get close to our most sensitive military and intelligence sites,” said Senator Tillis.  “The Protect Our Bases Act ensures the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has the most up-to-date information on key U.S. national security locations so dangerous land purchases can be blocked well before they become security risks.”

    “Ensuring the safety and security of our military and government installations is a national priority,” said Senator Hagerty.  “For too long, foreign adversaries have tried to exploit America’s open real estate market and rule of law in an attempt to gain strategic footholds.  The Protect Our Bases Act gives our nation the tools to identify who is buying land near sensitive sites and stop transactions that could put the security of Americans at risk.”

    “As threats from our foreign adversaries, including the Chinese Communist Party, Iran and Russia, continue to escalate, it’s paramount that we secure our intelligence,” said Senator Britt.  “Allowing CFIUS to review foreign land purchases near sensitive military and government sites is just common sense.  Proud to join this legislation that takes a crucial step toward strengthening our national security and safeguarding our strategic advantages.”

    “There’s no reason why America’s adversaries should be able to buy land next to our military bases,” said Senator Ricketts.  “Farmland adjacent to sensitive sites should remain in the hands of American farmers and ranchers, not Communist China.  This commonsense bill will help to protect our troops, prevent espionage and counter our adversaries.”

    BACKGROUND:

    In 2022, Fufeng Group, a Chinese company with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, announced it would purchase land near Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota.  CFIUS determined that it could not evaluate the transaction for national security risks because the U.S. Department of Defense had not listed the base as a sensitive site for national security purposes.  Although the City of Grand Forks ultimately blocked the transaction, the incident demonstrated a significant flaw in the review process of foreign land purchases.  CFIUS relies on its member agencies to provide updated information on sensitive military, intelligence and national laboratory sites in order to properly assess the security risk of foreign investment in our country.  If CFIUS member agencies do not appropriately update their site lists, CFIUS cannot ensure an accurate review.

    In addition to requiring agencies represented on CFIUS to provide updated records of the military, intelligence and national laboratory facilities that should be sensitive sites on an annual basis, the Protect Our Bases Act makes these records easier for CFIUS to use for national security reviews and requires CFIUS to submit an annual report to Congress certifying the completion of such reviews and the accuracy of its real estate listings.

    For bill text, click here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI Security: Two-Hundred-Fifty-One New Immigration Cases Filed in Western District of Texas, Fewest Since March

    Source: US FBI

    SAN ANTONIO –United States Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas announced today, that federal prosecutors in the district filed 251 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from June 13 through 19.

    Among the new cases, U.S. citizens Derrick Eugene Huntington, 39, and Michael Jerear Smith Jr., 39, of Arlington, along with Christina Elena Duggan-Rankin, 42, of Huffman, were arrested at an immigration checkpoint near Carrizo Springs after they were allegedly discovered conspiring to transport four illegal aliens concealed in two separate vehicles. A criminal complaint alleges that Huntington and Smith occupied a sedan carrying an illegal alien in the trunk, while Duggan-Rankin drove an SUV with one illegal alien hidden on the floorboard in the passenger compartment and two others in the rear of the vehicle. The complaint further alleges that the three Americans admitted to conspiring with a facilitator to transport the aliens to a location near San Antonio for monetary gain, and that cell phone evidence revealed photos of the smuggled aliens and communications with the facilitator, along with a pin-drop of the pick-up location. Huntington, Smith and Duggan-Rankin are each charged with bringing in and harboring aliens.

    In a separate case, U.S. citizens Raul Hilario Alvarado, 24, and Timothey Nathan Easterling, 40, were arrested during a vehicle stop on Highway 85 near Big Wells for allegedly transporting two illegal aliens. During an immigration inspection, a criminal complaint alleges, one backseat passenger was determined to be illegally present in the U.S., while a second illegal alien was found in the trunk of the vehicle. According to the criminal complaint, both defendants admitted to conspiring with a facilitator and that they were going to be paid up to $2,500 for transporting the illegal aliens.

    Mexican nationals Israel Moreno-Salgado, 38, and Jose Hector Ramirez Roman, 43, were arrested near Maverick and charged with illegal re-entry felonies. Moreno-Salgado has been previously removed from the U.S. eight times, the most recent being April 1. Ramirez Roman has been removed from the U.S. five times, the latest being Jan. 22. Honduran national Delmar Sanchez-Zuniga, 42, was also arrested near Maverick for illegal re-entry. The three-time felon, with convictions for possession of a controlled substance, possession of a firearm by a felon, and a previous illegal re-entry conviction, has been deported twice before, the last being Dec. 13, 2024.

    Mexican national Jose Rodolfo Cruz-Lopez was arrested and charged with illegal re-entry in El Paso. Court documents reveal that, in May 2023, Cruz-Lopez was convicted of three felonies related to child abduction in Elizabethtown, North Carolina. He was removed from the U.S. to Mexico in October 2023. Also a Mexican national, Edwin Enrique Carpio-Lopez was arrested for illegal re-entry, having been removed from the U.S. five times, the last being on Feb. 11. Additionally, immigration records show Carpio-Lopez has been granted four voluntary returns and has been expelled 17 times under Title 42.

    On June 14, U.S. Border Patrol agents in El Paso attempted a traffic stop after they allegedly observed multiple individuals enter a pick-up truck near the border. A criminal complaint alleges that the driver of the truck, identified as Mexican national Ruben Alfredo Carrillo-Castruita¸ fled at a high rate of speed in a reckless manner, running several red lights before exiting the vehicle at an intersection and fleeing on foot. An assisting Texas Department of Public Safety trooper was able to apprehend Carrillo-Castruita, while the two passengers who fled from the pick-up were located by Border Patrol agents. The complaint alleges that Carrillo-Castruita admitted to being hired by a smuggler and was going to be paid $300 per illegal alien. The defendant was previously convicted for transporting illegal aliens in New Mexico in May 2023.

    Heriberto Betancourt-Morales, a Mexican national, was charged in a criminal complaint for conspiracy to bring in aliens as the result of a U.S. Border Patrol investigation that identified him as a person involved in human smuggling. The complaint alleges that Betancourt-Morales was previously removed from El Paso to Ciudad Juarez on Sept. 21, 2024, and had transported multiple illegal aliens in May 2025. In one victim account, Betancourt-Morales allegedly carried a makeshift ladder for an alien to climb the border fence and pushed them over the fence causing the alien to fall and sustain injuries. Another victim cited in the complaint alleged that Betancourt-Morales and other smugglers transported her to multiple stash houses in Mexico prior to making illegal entry using a makeshift ladder to climb the fence. A third victim also identified Betancourt-Morales as an individual who conducted random checkups and gave orders at a stash house in Ciudad Juarez, where she was harbored with more than 10 other subjects.

    These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with additional assistance from state and local law enforcement partners.

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas comprises 68 counties located in the central and western areas of Texas, encompasses nearly 93,000 square miles and an estimated population of 7.6 million people. The district includes three of the five largest cities in Texas—San Antonio, Austin and El Paso—and shares 660 miles of common border with the Republic of Mexico.

    These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

    Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI Video: Damascus Attack, Security Council on Iran & other topics – Daily Press Briefing (23June 2025)

    Source: United Nations (video statements)

    Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

    ———————————

    Highlights:
    – 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4)
    – Guest Speaker Tomorrow Jorge Moreira da Silva, Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).
    – Damascus Church Attack
    – Security Council meeting on Iran, Secretary General Remarks.

    Full Highlights:
    https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=23%20June%202025

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPeVJl4i2rA

    MIL OSI Video –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Schatz Statement On U.S. Military Action In Iran

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Hawaii Brian Schatz

    Published: 06.21.2025

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement on U.S. military action in Iran.

    “This strike ordered by President Trump is a reckless and dangerous escalation that puts American lives at risk and threatens our national security. It was carried out without congressional approval and with no clear plan for what comes next beyond more chaos and bloodshed.

    “We’ve all seen what happens when the United States gets dragged into an endless war in the Middle East — lives lost, trillions spent, and no lasting peace or security. We cannot continue to repeat the mistakes of the past.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI Africa: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) launch second phase of the Africa Phytosanitary Programme

    The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), in collaboration with the Government of South Africa, represented by the Department of Agriculture, launched the second phase of the Africa Phytosanitary Programme (APP) today – representing a major effort to stop the spread of plant pests and diseases in Africa using cutting-edge digital tools.

    The launch event was hosted by the Government of South Africa and brought together over 50 phytosanitary specialists from nine countries: Algeria, Cape Verde, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Liberia, Malawi, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia. They will participate in a weeklong Train-the-Trainer (ToT) workshop in advanced pest surveillance techniques, including the use of customised digital tools and applications for monitoring, detecting and reporting major pests of economic, regulatory and environmental importance in Africa. Participants will receive state-of-the-art tablets for geospatial pest surveillance, use field survey protocols developed by technical experts, and undertake practical sessions using the pest survey tools.

    “Africa stands at a turning point. With immense biodiversity, rising agricultural productivity, and growing opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), we are well-positioned to become a global leader in the trade of high-quality plant products. But this vision can only be achieved if we ensure that the movement of plants and plant products is safe, traceable, and fully compliant with international phytosanitary standards” said John Henry Steenhuisen, Honourable Minister of Agriculture, in South Africa, in remarks read on his behalf by Jan Hendrik Venter, South Africa’s Director of Plant Health.

    “Well-trained, well-equipped plant health officials across the continent are our best line of defence in maintaining pest-free or low-prevalence status, an essential condition for accessing these lucrative markets”, he added.

    The first and pilot phase of APP started in 2023, engaging phytosanitary specialists from Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Phase 2 builds on achievements made in the pilot phase and aims to train plant health officers, who upon their return to their countries will teach their peers in the national plant protection organisations (NPPOs) and other government stakeholders on the use of the APP suite of digital tools.

    “We are building a critical mass of phytosanitary inspectors, technicians and officers across Africa by equipping plant health officers with the tools and skills to prevent and address major plant pest threats, that ultimately jeopardize food security, agricultural trade, economic growth and the environment”, said Beth Bechdol, FAO Deputy Director-General and Officer-in-Charge of the IPPC, in her video message.

    Funded through generous contributions from the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, APP phase two builds on support from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) which funded phase one in 2023. FAO and the IPPC are working to replicate and scale up the benefits from APP to more African countries and other regions. 

    Mitigating the pest problem in Africa

    Worldwide, plant pests destroy about 40 percent of crop yields, resulting in approximately USD 220 billion in economic losses[1]. In Africa, the impacts of climate change are worsening  the problem, with invasive pests – such as, fruit flies, false codling moth, maize lethal necrosis disease, citrus greening and fall armyworm – causing major damages. Fall armyworm alone is estimated to cause the highest yield loss in Africa – USD 9.4 billion annually –, based on data from the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI). 

    The African Union’s Plant Health Strategy for Africa highlights that limited technical capability remains a key barrier to achieving sustainable agriculture on the continent. Through APP, FAO, the IPPC and partners aim to strengthen plant health systems and build national phytosanitary capacity across Africa.

    Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): Regional Office for Africa.

    MIL OSI Africa –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – EMA’s role in COVID-19 vaccine approval procedures, inspections and good clinical practice checks – P-001695/2025(ASW)

    Source: European Parliament

    The highest standards in the evaluation of COVID-19 vaccines were applied by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). As for every other product it evaluates, EMA’s human medicines committee[1] (CHMP) considered the need for good clinical practice (GCP) inspections.

    Studies supporting the authorisation of a medicine must comply with GCP. Regulators can request and conduct inspections to verify compliance with the standards.

    Criteria used to select a GCP inspection is published[2]. When a GCP inspection is requested by the CHMP, EMA makes a call for available EU national GCP inspection resources.

    The Member States have the final say on whether to send inspectors for an EMA-coordinated inspection. During the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the restrictions to travel with a view to protect public health, regulators assessed the need for inspections and decided on a case-by-case basis the most appropriate and viable approach to take.

    The European Public Assessment Reports for Vaxzevria[3] and Comirnaty[4] are publicly available.

    The first cases of myocarditis that occurred in Israel in 2021 following vaccination with Comirnaty triggered a formal review by EMA[5].

    The outcome was that the risk for myocarditis and pericarditis was overall ‘very rare’ (up to one in 10 000 vaccinated people may be affected) with the highest risk in younger males[6].

    The product information of Comirnaty and Spikevax was revised adding myocarditis and pericarditis as new side effects with a warning to raise awareness.

    • [1] https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/committees/committee-medicinal-products-human-use-chmp.
    • [2] https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/other/points-consider-assessors-inspectors-european-medicines-agency-inspection-coordinators-identification-triggers-selection-applications-routine-cause-inspections-their-investigation-scope-such_en.pdf.
    • [3] Vaxzevria (previously COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca), INN-COVID-19-Vaccine-(ChAdOx1-S-[recombinant]) https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/assessment-report/vaxzevria-previously-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-epar-public-assessment-report_en.pdf.
    • [4] https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/assessment-report/comirnaty-epar-public-assessment-report_en.pdf.
    • [5] https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/report/report-pharmacovigilance-tasks-eu-member-states-and-european-medicines-agency-ema-2019-2022_en.pdf.
    • [6] Meeting highlights from the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) 29 November — 2 December 2021 https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/meeting-highlights-pharmacovigilance-risk-assessment-committee-prac-29-november-2-december-2021.
    Last updated: 23 June 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Attack on Gaza Freedom Flotilla – E-001794/2025(ASW)

    Source: European Parliament

    The EU is very concerned about reports of a drone attack on a ship carrying humanitarian aid and activists heading for Gaza. The EU discourages flotillas as a means for aid delivery.

    They risk the safety of their participants and carry the potential for escalation. However, nothing justifies attacking participants of flotillas with drones.

    Humanitarian aid is needed in Gaza to help people in desperate need. The EU repeats its call on Israel to allow unimpeded humanitarian aid to flow at scale into and throughout the strip.

    The High Representative/Vice-President has been engaged on this issue, including through calls with Israeli Foreign Minister and with international partners including the United Nations (UN).

    The High Representative/Vice-President expressed deep concern at the humanitarian blockade, which has lasted more than two months, and at the intensified Israeli ground operation in Gaza[1].

    The EU has consistently reiterated that in exercising its right to defend itself, Israel must fully comply with its obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, in all circumstances.

    The EU firmly condemns any attack on humanitarian aid workers and calls for accountability. The EU reiterates the importance of ensuring the protection of all civilians, including humanitarian workers, at all times, as well as civilian infrastructures, including medical facilities, schools and UN premises.

    • [1] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/de/statement_25_1155;
      https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/joint-donor-statement-humanitarian-aid-gaza%C2%A0_en.
    Last updated: 23 June 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – EUR 2.5 billion in financial aid earmarked by the EU for Syria – E-001300/2025(ASW)

    Source: European Parliament

    The EU continues to call for an end of violence across Syria and urges all parties to protect all Syrians from all backgrounds without discrimination.

    The EU, gravely alarmed by the violence in Syria’s coastal region, issued a statement strongly condemning the horrific crimes committed against civilians[1].

    It also called for a swift, transparent and impartial investigation to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice and to prevent any such crimes from happening again and welcomed the commitments made by the transitional authorities, particularly the establishment of an investigative committee.

    The EU remains attentive to the actions of the new authorities in ensuring the protection of all Syrians without any kind of discrimination and consistently supports an inclusive, peaceful, Syrian-owned and Syrian-led political transition grounded in the respect for international law, human rights, fundamental freedoms, pluralism and tolerance among all components of society. It continues to be a staunch supporter of accountability mechanisms working on Syria.

    The EU’s current approach, in terms of non-humanitarian assistance, is gradual and conditional to the steps taken by the transition government.

    Such EU assistance provided follows strict implementation parameters and is subjected to extensive monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, including third party monitoring and risk assessments.

    The EU delivers humanitarian assistance through pre-certified partners in all parts of Syria without discrimination, based on people’s needs, humanitarian principles, accountability to affected populations, transparency, efficiency, and effectiveness.

    • [1] https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2025/03/11/syria-statement-by-the-high-representative-on-behalf-of-the-european-union-on-the-recent-wave-of-violence/pdf/.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI Global: The Learning Refuge: How women-led community efforts help refugees resettle in Cyprus

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Suzan Ilcan, Professor of Sociology & University Research Chair, University of Waterloo

    A grassroots organization in Paphos, Cyprus, is bringing women together to address the needs of refugees in the city. (Shutterstock)

    Since 2015, the Republic of Cyprus (ROC) has seen a steady rise in migrant arrivals and asylum applications, primarily from people from Middle Eastern and African countries like Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon.

    But many asylum-seekers face significant challenges. Refugees formally in the asylum system are often denied residency permits, which means they face persistent insecurity, poverty and isolation

    These conditions are compounded by restrictive and limited services for asylum-seekers. This deepens the precarity and exclusion refugees face within a political and economic system that treats them more like economic burdens than as human beings with rights who need help.

    In response to these institutional failures, citizens, volunteers and refugees themselves have begun to build grassroots networks of care and solidarity in the ROC and beyond to support refugee communities.

    In 2022 and 2023, we conducted interviews with women volunteers and refugees affiliated with The Learning Refuge, a civil society organization in the city of Paphos in southwest Cyprus that cultivates dialogue and collaboration among these two diverse groups.

    Women-led initiatives

    Many displaced people first arrive on the island of Cyprus through the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). However, the absence of a functioning asylum system or international legal protections leaves them in limbo.

    With no viable path to status in the TRNC, most cross the Green Line that bifurcates Cyprus into the ROC, where European Union asylum frameworks exist but remain limited in practice.

    Women-led community-building is often a response to the negative effects of inadequate state support and humanitarian aid for refugees. In Cyprus, this situation leaves many refugees without access to sufficient food, satisfactory health care, accommodation, employment, clothing and language training. In this current environment, refugees are increasingly experiencing insecure and fragile situations, especially women.

    In Cyprus, ss in many other countries, a variety of community-building efforts are important responses to limited or restricted state support and humanitarian aid for refugees.

    Women-led efforts offer opportunities to deliver educational activities and establish networks, and to help improve the welfare and social protection of refugee women, however imperfectly.

    These and other similar efforts highlight how women refugees and volunteers can mobilize to foster dialogue and collaboration.

    The Learning Refuge

    Founded in 2015, The Learning Refuge began as community meetings in a city park. The organization then used space from a nearby music venue to conduct support activities, and later, established itself in a dedicated building.

    Organizations like The Learning Refuge emerged to address the limited state support and humanitarian assistance services available to refugees.

    The Learning Refuge cultivates dialogue and collaboration among a diverse group of community volunteers.
    (Suzan Ilcan)

    As Syrian families began arriving in Paphos in 2015, local mothers started working with Syrian children, assisting them with homework, providing skills-training opportunities and language classes.

    The Learning Refuge cultivates dialogue and collaboration among a diverse group of community volunteers, including schoolteachers, artists, musicians, local residents, refugees and other migrants.

    With the aid of 20 volunteers, the loosely organized groups provide women refugees with material support and resources to enhance collective activities, including art and music projects, while also engaging in educational and friendship activities.

    While modest in scale, the organization has formed partnerships with local and international organizations, including Caritas Cyprus, UNHCR-Cyprus and the Cyprus Refugee Council to extend its outreach to various refugee groups.

    The organization has also launched creative initiatives aimed at cultivating additional inclusive civic spaces. One such effort, “Moms and Babies Day,” was developed in response to the rising number of single mothers from Africa arriving on the island. These women often face poverty and isolation, and struggle with language barriers.

    These efforts highlight how grassroots responses — especially those led by women — can offer partial but vital educational and emotional support to refugees struggling to find their footing in a new country.

    Negotiated belonging

    Through participation in The Learning Refuge, refugee women in Paphos engage in a dynamic process of negotiated belonging, navigating challenges like language barriers, gendered isolation, domestic violence and poverty while contributing to broader community-building efforts.

    For example, Maryam, a Syrian woman and mother of three, told us how The Learning Refuge helped her children establish friendships and learn Greek. She also highlighted that it helped her form close ties with volunteers and other Syrian women living in Cyprus, and find paid work in the city.

    The volunteers and women refugees participating in The Learning Refuge’s activities emphasized not only their capacity to develop new forms of belonging and solidarity; they also help reshape communal knowledge and generate supportive spaces for women from various backgrounds.

    Our research shows that women-led community-building is an effective, though short-term, response to insufficient state support and humanitarian aid systems that leave many refugees in precarious situations.

    In varying degrees, these efforts offer women and their families spaces to learn and cultivate new relationships, and foster collective projects and better visions of resettlement and refuge.

    Suzan Ilcan receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada.

    Seçil Daǧtaș receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

    – ref. The Learning Refuge: How women-led community efforts help refugees resettle in Cyprus – https://theconversation.com/the-learning-refuge-how-women-led-community-efforts-help-refugees-resettle-in-cyprus-252682

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Israel further tightens grip on the West Bank amid Iran escalation

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

    Jerusalem – As international focus shifts to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, Israeli forces have ramped up their activities in the West Bank, Palestine. Increased military operations in Jenin, Nablus, and Tulkarem governorates, along with additional troop deployments, have led to heightened restrictions on Palestinians. Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) warns that these actions exacerbate the already dire situation for Palestinians in the West Bank, who face significant barriers to accessing healthcare and essential services, especially since October 2023. MSF urges an immediate halt to measures that contribute to forced displacement and a system of annexation, including prolonged military presence, movement restrictions, demolitions, excessive use of force, and denial of basic services. 

    “On 13 June the Israeli forces raided my village in Tulkarem,” says Karim,* an MSF staff member in the West Bank. “They took over two residential buildings and turned them into military barracks, displacing the people who were living there. Since then, they have been patrolling the village regularly, conducting investigations, interrogations, arrests, searches, and detentions.” 

    “Over the past week, West Bank communities have seen their lives further controlled by an occupying power while the world looks away,” says Simona Onidi, project coordinator Jenin and Tulkarem. “This cannot continue.” 

    On 13 June, the day the escalations started, the Israeli authorities blocked all major Israeli checkpoints and road gates entrances to Hebron for four days. This forced people seeking medical care to cross between areas on foot, pushing critically ill people to walk long distances, taking the risk of being shot at, or being prevented from crossing at all.  

    “On 14 June, I tried to take my brother from Bethlehem to a medical appointment in Hebron – a trip that should take 25 minutes,” says Oday Al-Shobaki, MSF communications officer in the West Bank. “But due to the new Israeli restrictions, all main entrances and exits were closed. It took us three hours, and in the end, despite being very ill, he had to walk through a closed checkpoint on foot, like many others, which is not safe.” 

    MSF has suspended mobile clinics in Hebron and Nablus that provide mental health, sexual reproductive care, and basic healthcare due to these checkpoint closures and security concerns from the intensified military operations. In Jenin and Tulkarem, mobile clinics had to adapt working hours, running on some days, not others, because of Israeli forces’ presence in nearby villages. This has forced patients to rely on phone consultations.  

    Military operations and violent raids by the Israeli army have been going on for years in the West Bank. 2022 saw a then-record number of Palestinian deaths due to violence by Israeli forces or settlers. Since October 2023, Israeli forces have increased the number of coercive measures and use of extreme physical violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including severe movement restrictions, military raids, and systemic barriers to essential services.  

    In January 2025, the Israeli forces began the ‘Iron Wall’ military operation in northern West Bank, which is still ongoing. Violently emptying well-established camps and preventing anyone from returning, more than 42,000 people have been forcibly displaced and left without stable homes, and with limited access to food, water, and medical care. 

    “This latest wave of restrictions and violence over the last week, seems to be an opportunity for Israeli forces to entrench control, deepen the fragmentation of Palestinian communities, and further the system that the International Court of Justice has described as amounting to racial segregation and apartheid,” says Onidi. “We urge third states to move beyond words of condemnation and put real pressure on Israeli authorities to end excessive force and lift movement restrictions blocking access to essential services and humanitarian aid, and scaling up support for displaced and isolated communities across the West Bank.” 
     

    *name changed to protect our colleague’s identity.

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    Open Letter 16 Jun 2025

    MIL OSI NGO –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Cliff Bentz Statement on Recent Bombing of Iran

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Cliff Bentz (R-Ontario)

    WASHINGTON, D.C.– On June 22nd, using B2 bombers, 30 tomahawk missiles, and six 30,000 pound “Bunker Busting” bombs, the United States attacked three nuclear sites in Iran. The reason for the attack was to prevent Iran, a country hostile to the United States, Israel, and peace in the Middle East, from using the enriched uranium it had produced at those sites to construct an atomic bomb.

    Said Congressman Cliff Bentz (OR-02): “I support President Trump’s decision to use our military to damage and hopefully destroy Iran’s immediate capability to produce nuclear weapons. To quote my fellow Congressman Dan Crenshaw, ‘The regime that’s spent decades chanting “death to America” just got the message: you don’t threaten the United States or our allies without consequences.’ 

    Unless Iran immediately surrenders which is highly unlikely, this is not the end of this crisis. Therefore, every American must be vigilant and report to authorities any activity that even hints at terrorist activity. I thank the incredibly brave men and women that carried out this mission, and I pray for those currently stationed in the middle east protecting us from those who may at any time retaliate.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Cliff Bentz Statement on Recent Bombing of Iran

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Cliff Bentz (R-Ontario)

    WASHINGTON, D.C.– On June 22nd, using B2 bombers, 30 tomahawk missiles, and six 30,000 pound “Bunker Busting” bombs, the United States attacked three nuclear sites in Iran. The reason for the attack was to prevent Iran, a country hostile to the United States, Israel, and peace in the Middle East, from using the enriched uranium it had produced at those sites to construct an atomic bomb.

    Said Congressman Cliff Bentz (OR-02): “I support President Trump’s decision to use our military to damage and hopefully destroy Iran’s immediate capability to produce nuclear weapons. To quote my fellow Congressman Dan Crenshaw, ‘The regime that’s spent decades chanting “death to America” just got the message: you don’t threaten the United States or our allies without consequences.’ 

    Unless Iran immediately surrenders which is highly unlikely, this is not the end of this crisis. Therefore, every American must be vigilant and report to authorities any activity that even hints at terrorist activity. I thank the incredibly brave men and women that carried out this mission, and I pray for those currently stationed in the middle east protecting us from those who may at any time retaliate.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI Canada: Joint Statement: Enduring Partnership, Ambitious Agenda

    Source: Government of Canada – Prime Minister

    1. Today marks a historic milestone as we, the leaders of the European Union and Canada, met to renew our enduring commitment and take a pivotal step to further reinforce the strategic partnership between the European Union and Canada. Our strong partnership is deeply rooted in trust and common values and shaped by a shared history of human connection and robust economic ties. Most importantly, our partnership is grounded in the core values we share: democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and open, rules-based markets. In a rapidly changing world marked by geopolitical uncertainty, shifting economic dynamics, and the accelerating impacts of climate change, this partnership is more important than ever.
       
    2. We stand united in our objective to forge a new ambitious and comprehensive partnership that responds to the needs of today and will evolve to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future. This marks the beginning of a long-term effort that will help us promote shared prosperity, democratic values, peace and security. To do this, we have decided to further build on existing ties and launch a process that will move Canada and the EU closer together and that lays out immediate and long-term actions outlined in an ambitious agenda at the end of this document. We also agreed today on an EU-Canada Security and Defence Partnership.
       
    3. Our citizens are looking for responses to the unprecedented challenges we face. This is why it is more important than ever to work together to promote our shared values and the rules-based international order. We will also pursue our common interests, while continuing to promote and deepen our vibrant trade and investment relationship, and our strong people-to-people contacts. We will stand together even more firmly in support of peace, stability, and prosperity in the world, including in Ukraine, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.
       
    4. We confirm our unwavering commitment to the rules-based international order with the United Nations and its charter at its core. The EU and Canada will continue to cooperate closely in promoting international peace and security. Our commitment to sustainable development remains a key pillar of our relationship. We will continue to be key partners in promoting democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms, gender equality and the rule of law globally. We will take further action to ensure respect for the rights of women and girls, and to end to all forms of discrimination, including against LGBTI persons. We will continue supporting the implementation of the UN Pact for the Future and the ambitious reforms sought under the UN80 Initiative. We reaffirm our steadfast support for the independent functioning of the international criminal justice system, particularly the International Criminal Court. We condemn threats to the independent functioning of the ICC, including measures against individual officials.
       
    5. We are determined to continue working together in responding to the growing challenges to the international economic and trade order. We reiterate our mutual commitment to sustainable, fair and open trade, grounded in the rule of law and in respect for internationally agreed trade rules, as embodied by the World Trade Organization. This is essential to maintain global economic stability and to safeguard our supply chain resilience.
       
    6. We reaffirm our resolute condemnation of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which constitutes a manifest violation of the UN Charter and international law. Our commitment to ensuring a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine that respects Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders is unshakeable. We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to providing continued political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes and as intensely as needed, in full respect of the security and defence policy of certain EU Member States and taking into account the security and defence interests of all EU Member States. We support the conclusion of a just and lasting peace agreement, in full compliance with the principles of the UN Charter and international law, and join the call for a full, unconditional ceasefire of at least 30 days, which Ukraine has unilaterally committed to. We will continue to support the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children co-chaired by Ukraine and Canada, and we reiterate our urgent call on Russia and Belarus to immediately ensure the safe return of all unlawfully deported and transferred Ukrainian children. We will continue our close coordination of efforts to provide military equipment and training to the Ukrainian Armed Forces —including through the work of the EU Military Assistance Mission (EUMAM Ukraine) and Operation UNIFIER.
       
    7. We will increase pressure on Russia, including through further sanctions and taking measures to prevent their circumvention, and by ensuring that Russian sovereign assets remain immobilized until Russia ceases its war of aggression against Ukraine and compensates it for the damage caused by this war. We are committed to ensuring full accountability for war crimes and other serious crimes committed in connection with Russia’s war of aggression, including by the establishment of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. We also remain committed to supporting Ukraine’s repair, recovery and reconstruction including through the Ukraine Donor Platform and in-country coordination mechanisms. We welcome Canada’s continued support, through the extension of an expert deployment to the Ukraine Donor Platform. The Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome in July 2025 will be particularly relevant in that context.[1]
       
    8. We also reaffirm our continued support for the Republic of Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, enhancing the country’s resilience in dealing with the consequences of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the hybrid activities by Russia to undermine Moldova, in particular in the run-up to the Parliamentary elections. 
       
    9. In relation to the situation and latest developments in the Middle East, we reaffirm our commitment to an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, and the resumption of unimpeded humanitarian aid at scale into Gaza in line with humanitarian principles, in order to address the catastrophic humanitarian situation on the ground. We reiterate our strong condemnation of the escalation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, following increased settler violence, the expansion of settlements, which are illegal under international law, and Israel’s military operation. We emphasize the importance of pursuing a lasting and sustainable peace based on the implementation of the two-state solution. We see no role for Hamas in the future governance of Gaza. 
       
    10. We express our deepest concern at the dangerous escalation following Israeli strikes on Iran, and Iran’s response. We reiterate our strong commitment to peace and stability in the Middle East, including the security of Israel, and call on all sides to show restraint and abide by international law. We have been consistently clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. A diplomatic solution remains the best way to address concerns over Iran’s nuclear program. The EU and Canada stand ready to contribute to a negotiated deal, which imposes verifiable constraints on Iran’s nuclear program, with the International Atomic Energy Agency in charge of monitoring and verification. We also remain committed to addressing Iran’s destabilizing behaviour, including its nuclear proliferation risks, military support for Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, backing of regional armed groups, transnational repression, and systematic human rights violations.
       
    11. Security in the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions is increasingly interconnected. We reaffirm our shared interest in maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, including in the East and South China Seas and across the Taiwan Strait. We will continue working with regional partners, including ASEAN, to uphold a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific region based on international law. We continue to be deeply concerned by DPRK’s ongoing nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs and condemn Russia-DPRK military cooperation, which violates UN Security Council resolutions and undermines international security.
       
    12. We will continue deepening our cooperation and dialogue, together with partners from around the world, to address key regional issues, in particular in relation to the broader Middle East – notably Lebanon and Syria. We will also continue engaging with each other on issues related to Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, including Haiti. We will stay engaged in fragile and conflict-affected countries, facing instability or in complex settings, to support populations, in particular the most vulnerable.
       
    13. The Arctic will remain an area of close collaboration to foster peace and security, stability, and sustainable economic development, in particular of the blue economy, in full respect of the interests, priorities and rights of Indigenous Peoples in line with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
       
    14. The EU and Canada will continue to be reliable and responsible partners. We reiterate our steadfast commitment to advancing global sustainable development, working with partners across the globe. We are determined to deliver on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals, together with international partners and in multilateral fora. We look forward to the upcoming 4th International Conference on financing for Development (FfD4), which will take place in Seville from 30 June to 3 July 2025. We will continue to deepen our cooperation and dialogue on humanitarian aid, including on respect for International Humanitarian Law and response to humanitarian crises.
       
    15. We recognize the existential threat of the interdependent crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation and pollution. The EU-Canada Green Alliance is our steadfast, joint commitment to ambitious environment and climate action on the global stage. Carbon pricing, carbon removal and industrial decarbonization are key to reaching net-zero and decarbonization goals, while a high integrity carbon market can contribute to enhancing the global ambition. The EU is a dedicated participant in Canada’s Global Carbon Pricing Challenge (GCPC). At COP30, the EU and Canada aim to further promote carbon pricing as a tool to combat climate change, foster innovation and to modernize our industries. COP30 will also be an opportunity to highlight the importance of decarbonizing the transport sector and to promote sustainable transportation solutions. We reiterate our commitment to the swift and full implementation of the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including through the Nature Champions Network.
       
    16. We agree that the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) and the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) are at the core of the EU-Canada relationship. Through these agreements we are developing and deepening our partnership continuously in response to an evolving global context. We will continue to ensure their effective implementation and remain committed to achieving their full ratification. The SPA and CETA have allowed us to boost our cooperation over the past eight years.
       
    17. We are committed to further enhancing our EU-Canada trade and investment relationship, to advance and diversify our trade, promote our economic security and resilience, create investment opportunities and ensure our long-term security and prosperity. Our relationship is underpinned by CETA and its benefits are clear: bilateral trade has increased by over 65% compared to pre-CETA levels. We welcome the efforts being made to remove barriers to interprovincial trade in Canada and reduce barriers within the EU Single Market as they will further ease trading and doing business for our companies.
       
    18. Ensuring reliable and sustainable supply chains is a mutual priority and we have a shared interest in diversifying our supply chains and strategic investment. We will foster a closer cooperation on targeted industrial matters driving global competitiveness and strategic autonomy, such as artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, space, cyberspace, aeronautics, biotechnologies, new energies, minerals and critical metals, advanced manufacturing and cleantech. We intend to maintain a secure transatlantic supply chain on key technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), supercomputers and semiconductors. We welcome the recent announcement of a Canadian strategic nickel project under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act and will work to identify opportunities for co-investment in projects of mutual interest. We welcome the G7 Global Critical Minerals Action Plan agreed under Canada’s Presidency.
       
    19. We also remain committed to pursuing mutually beneficial collaboration on digital and tech policy issues and bolstering the bilateral digital trade relationship. Through the Canada-EU Digital Partnership, we are already working hand in hand on concrete projects in crucial areas for a robust digital economy, such as research in cutting-edge technologies, and we look forward to Canada hosting the first EU-Canada Digital Partnership Council later this year. We intend to enhance cooperation on AI innovation, including collaboration on AI Factories, to link our high-performance computing infrastructure and to deepen research cooperation in strategic technology areas such as AI and quantum. We also intend to align our frameworks and standards in the regulatory field, to make online platforms safer and more inclusive, to develop trustworthy AI systems and to establish interoperable digital identities and digital credentials to facilitate interactions between our citizens and our businesses.
       
    20. We have agreed today an EU-Canada Security and Defence Partnership, which provides a coherent, high-level political framework for our joint efforts in this field and will strengthen and widen the scope of cooperation and dialogue between the EU and Canada. We remain committed to continuing our strong cooperation, notably through Canada’s contributions to EU missions and operations, and welcome possible further collaboration on crisis management in the future. Canada will strengthen its defence relationship with the EU by posting a defence representative to the EU. We underscore the value of Canada’s participation in the EU’s Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) projects and look forward to pursuing additional initiatives within this framework. In line with our shared security interests, we attach particular importance to collaboration on defence. For Canada and those EU Member States who are NATO Allies, NATO remains the cornerstone of their collective defence. Our aim will be to help deliver on our capability targets, including through our defence industries, more quickly and economically and with enhanced interoperability in ways that deliver mutual benefit and reinforce the European contribution to NATO. All of the above is without prejudice to the specific character of the security and defence policy of certain EU Member States, and taking into account the security and defence interests of all Member States, in accordance with the EU Treaties. We appreciate Canada’s continued commitment to European security, which includes the largest deployment of Canadian Armed Forces overseas.
       
    21. Recognizing the importance of the Women, Peace and Security as well as the Youth, Peace and Security agendas, we will continue supporting the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and youth in conflict prevention, mediation, resolution, peacekeeping, peacebuilding, and post-conflict reconstruction. We recognize that an enabling environment, is fundamental to ensuring the safe participation of women, and remain committed to fostering such environments. We will ensure that Women, Peace and Security is integrated in all aspects of cooperation on security and defence. Gender equality is a shared political and security priority, and we will collaborate to counter setbacks against gender equality and the rights of women and girls.
       
    22. To ensure comprehensive and sustainable progress, Canada and EU senior officials will meet at regular intervals to review progress and identify opportunities to deepen cooperation, in line with existing CETA and SPA consultation mechanisms, and in view of the next EU-Canada Summit. 

    Annex – The New EU-Canada Strategic Partnership of the Future 

    Together, we will: 

    Increase trade flows and promote economic security 

    • Support businesses to grow and diversify markets by fully and effectively implementing CETA.
    • Modernize our approach to trade by launching work towards a Digital Trade Agreement that would complement CETA.
    • Create tools for businesses to better support trade diversification, such as facilitating B2B matchmaking, cluster-to-cluster cooperation, and supporting the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
    • Advance our collaboration in the EU-Canada Economic Security Dialogue. Political and technical exchanges will allow us to identify trends and risks of mutual concern that could affect our economic security, and cooperation on possible policy responses.
    • Reduce barriers and strengthen agriculture and agrifood trade.
    • Prepare ourselves for the energy needs of the future, by cooperating more closely and exploring options to work together on more resilient, diversified, reliable energy supply chains, including clean tech value chains, LNG, renewables, safe and sustainable low-carbon hydrogen and other safe and sustainable low-carbon technologies, in view of increasing bilateral trade and strengthening energy security.
    • Continue the existing cooperation on nuclear technologies, including fuels and fuel cycle services, through the negotiation of a modernized and comprehensive Canada-Euratom Nuclear Cooperation Agreement.
    • Strengthen labour mobility by facilitating the movement of highly skilled workers, and explore shared interests in exchanging information about immigration partnerships. 

    Foster competitiveness and resilience through strengthened cooperation in strategic value chains 

    • Launch a new EU-Canada Industrial Policy Dialogue to boost industrial and supply chain cooperation in strategic sectors.
    • Promote projects and investments that reduce supply chain risks and foster resilience and the competitiveness of our industries and critical goods (e.g. semiconductors), including by promoting projects that abide by environmental, social and governance standards.
    • Work together closely to ensure security and diversity in the supply of minerals and metals critical to our mutual security and the green and digital transitions, including by exploring new opportunities to facilitate the two-way flow of investment, materials and expertise through the EU-Canada Strategic Partnership on Raw Materials.
    • Complete the negotiations for a renewed Canada-EU Competition Cooperation Agreement, providing a legal framework to coordinate enforcement activities and share information obtained through investigative powers in full respect of data privacy guarantees in both jurisdictions, as soon as possible. 

    Deepen regulatory alignment 

    • Identify opportunities for increased regulatory alignment between Canada and the EU, including through advancing work under CETA’s Protocol on the Mutual Acceptance of the Results of Conformity Assessment.
    • Bolster formal consultative mechanisms on EU and Canadian legislation and regulations, including CETA’s Regulatory Cooperation Forum. 

    Increase transatlantic security through a new era of EU-Canada security and defence cooperation, including the full implementation of the EU-Canada Security and Defence Partnership 

    • Bolster our bilateral dialogue and operational cooperation in all areas of joint interest in support of peace, security and defence – such as maritime security, cyber issues and hybrid threats.
    • Advance cooperation on the climate-security nexus and expand joint efforts in maritime security by identifying opportunities for coordinated naval activities.
    • Expand cooperation on defence capabilities, in particular by creating opportunities for increased defence industrial cooperation.
    • Secure and protect our democratic institutions by preventing and countering foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) through increased cooperation through relevant EU, Canadian and multilateral initiatives, such as the Canada-hosted G7 Rapid Response Mechanism.
    • Consider Canada’s further participation in EU Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) projects, with an aim towards joint development of capabilities and greater interoperability.
    • Increase defence procurement cooperation through Canadian collaboration with ReArm Europe/Readiness 2030:
      • launch work towards a bilateral agreement related to the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument
      • explore the possibility of establishing an administrative arrangement between Canada and the European Defence Agency 

    Shape the digital transition and promote exchanges in education and on innovation for technologies of the future 

    • Deepen cooperation in the framework of the EU-Canada Digital Partnership, and hold the first EU-Canada Digital Partnership Council later this year to drive this process forward.
    • Advance cooperation on AI, cybersecurity, secure digital communication and advanced connectivity, secure and trusted communications infrastructure (including 5G and subsea cables), the transparency and resilience of global tech supply chains, digital identity, quantum science, data spaces, online platforms and fighting FIMI.
    • Advance regulatory cooperation under the Digital Partnership, notably in AI and cybersecurity, so as to work towards the mutual recognition of AI and cybersecurity product certification including under the CETA Protocol on Conformity Assessment.
    • Deepen collaboration by leveraging Canada’s association to Horizon Europe, including on high priority topics, and exploring its potential participation in EU’s 10th Framework Programme.
    • Expand cooperation for access to world-class high-performance computing infrastructure through Horizon Europe.
    • Support research and industrial collaboration in research security, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum sciences, cyber security, climate change, oceans, circular economy, polar research and researcher mobility and training, including through the Canada-EU Digital Partnership and under the EU-Canada Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement.
    • Promote and defend the freedom of academic and scientific research and the protection of scientists.
    • Increase people to people ties, improve mobility and recognition, including in higher education and research through Erasmus+, the European Research Council and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions. 

    Fight climate change and environmental degradation and facilitate the transition to climate neutrality 

    • Support for carbon pricing and industrial decarbonization as priority cooperation areas to combat climate change.
    • Bolster competitiveness through cooperation on carbon pricing systems and carbon border measures.
    • Work with international partners to promote the full, swift and effective implementation of the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
    • Collaborate to achieve an internationally legally binding instrument on plastic pollution covering the full lifecycle of plastics at INC 5.2.
    • Collaborate on the implementation of the Just Energy Transition Partnerships.
    • Jointly call for ambitious action to implement the Paris Agreement, in line with efforts to keep the 1.5°C warming goal within reach.
    • Continue working with other international partners to promote relevant international instruments to combatting climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.
    • Welcome Canada joining the Global Energy Transition Forum launched by the European Commission to deliver on the goals of tripling the world’s renewable energy capacity and doubling the global annual rate of energy efficiency improvement by 2030 in parallel to a transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems.
    • Work together as co-conveners of the Global Methane Pledge to deliver on the goal of reducing global methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030.
    • Advance cooperation on the climate–security nexus by exploring a Climate-Security Dialogue. 

    Crisis management 

    • Advance public and private investments, notably in sustainable, inclusive, resilient and quality infrastructure, including through our shared G7 commitment under the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment and the EU’s Global Gateway strategy. At the same time, we recognize that investments in human development are a key enabling factor for just and sustainable digital and green transitions.
    • Strengthen cooperation on international crisis response and enhance cooperation on emergency management with the signing of an Administrative Arrangement between the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development of Canada and the European External Action Service on international cooperation in emergency planning and crisis response.
    • Respond more effectively to humanitarian crises and explore the possibility of a humanitarian administrative arrangement to align priorities and facilitate coordination.
    • Build health security and resilience through enhanced partnerships, including an administrative arrangement on medical countermeasures.
    • Building on the sale of 22 Canadian-built DHC-515 water bombers to the EU and Member States, explore further opportunities to share mutually beneficial technology and expertise in combating disasters. 

    Justice and Home Affairs 

    • Explore cooperation between Eurojust, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Canadian authorities in the field of criminal justice.
    • Advance the implementation, ratification and entry into force of the-EU-Canada Passenger Name Record Agreement.

    [1]We note the reservations of one Member State regarding the strategic direction of certain EU policies towards Ukraine.

    MIL OSI Canada News –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Neal Statement on Trump’s Unilateral Military Action in Iran

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Richard Neal (D-MA)

    Neal Statement on Trump’s Unilateral Military Action in Iran

    Springfield, MA, June 21, 2025

    Congressman Richard E. Neal released the following statement:

     

    “Tonight, President Trump offered the American people no strategy and no justification for his attack on Iran — only the prospect of another war that the American people do not want. That’s why Congress, as the voice of the people, is entrusted with the constitutional authority to decide matters of war.

    “I pray for the safety of our troops and the American lives that have been put in harm’s way in the region.

    “Congress must return to Washington to assert its authority and prevent any further unchecked escalation. The only path to peace in the region is one where we exhaust every avenue of diplomacy.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 24, 2025
  • Regional crisis deepens after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Tensions in the Middle East have reached a critical point following a direct strike by the United States on three of Iran’s major nuclear facilities. Explosions rocked Tehran, including a reported Israeli missile strike on the entrance to the capital’s notorious Evin Prison, in what officials are calling a coordinated Israeli campaign targeting both military and governmental sites across Iran.

    The attacks on the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities, described by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as involving ground-penetrating munitions and cruise missiles, have escalated into a broader regional conflict. Iran retaliated with waves of missiles and drones, striking multiple cities in Israel. While the full extent of the damage remains unclear, the strikes mark a dramatic escalation of hostilities and a direct confrontation among Iran, Israel, and the United States.

    In a rare move that signals a widening of military objectives, the Israeli Defense Forces targeted Evin Prison, a high-security facility housing political prisoners, dual nationals, and government critics. The operation marks a shift in Israeli strategy, extending beyond purely military targets to the symbolic and institutional pillars of the Iranian regime.

    Amid the spiraling crisis, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf announced that the legislature is weighing legislation to suspend all cooperation with the IAEA. Qalibaf insisted that Iran has no intention of pursuing non-peaceful nuclear activity but accused the UN nuclear watchdog of failing to maintain its neutrality and professionalism, alleging it had become politicized.

    In Vienna, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi convened an emergency session of the agency’s Board of Governors. Grossi confirmed that key Iranian nuclear sites had been significantly damaged, though off-site radiation levels remained unchanged. He warned that the conflict presents a grave threat to the global non-proliferation regime and called for the immediate restoration of IAEA access to Iranian facilities, including those housing uranium enriched to 60 percent purity. Grossi also revealed that inspectors remain in Iran and are ready to resume oversight operations.

    “The current trajectory is deeply concerning for international security,” Grossi told the assembled board members. “We must prioritize diplomacy and the technical role of the IAEA, not allow it to be undermined by geopolitical agendas.”

    The regional impact has already begun to ripple outward. Major energy companies, including Eni, BP, and Total Energies, began emergency evacuations of foreign staff from Iraqi oilfields. Iraq’s state-run Basra Oil Company confirmed the move amid fears of broader conflict. Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Qatar issued an urgent advisory instructing American citizens to remain indoors due to the volatile security situation.

    In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, expressing strong support for Tehran and condemning the strikes by the U.S. and Israel as an “unprovoked act of aggression.” Putin reaffirmed Russia’s commitment to its strategic alliance with Iran, while noting that he had held recent consultations with U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, UAE President Mohammed Al Nahyan, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

    Araghchi, in turn, thanked Russia for its support and denounced the attacks as illegal violations of international law. He emphasized Iran’s right to defend its sovereignty and stated that Tehran would continue to work closely with Moscow amid the growing crisis.

    June 24, 2025
  • Regional crisis deepens after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Tensions in the Middle East have reached a critical point following a direct strike by the United States on three of Iran’s major nuclear facilities. Explosions rocked Tehran, including a reported Israeli missile strike on the entrance to the capital’s notorious Evin Prison, in what officials are calling a coordinated Israeli campaign targeting both military and governmental sites across Iran.

    The attacks on the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities, described by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as involving ground-penetrating munitions and cruise missiles, have escalated into a broader regional conflict. Iran retaliated with waves of missiles and drones, striking multiple cities in Israel. While the full extent of the damage remains unclear, the strikes mark a dramatic escalation of hostilities and a direct confrontation among Iran, Israel, and the United States.

    In a rare move that signals a widening of military objectives, the Israeli Defense Forces targeted Evin Prison, a high-security facility housing political prisoners, dual nationals, and government critics. The operation marks a shift in Israeli strategy, extending beyond purely military targets to the symbolic and institutional pillars of the Iranian regime.

    Amid the spiraling crisis, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf announced that the legislature is weighing legislation to suspend all cooperation with the IAEA. Qalibaf insisted that Iran has no intention of pursuing non-peaceful nuclear activity but accused the UN nuclear watchdog of failing to maintain its neutrality and professionalism, alleging it had become politicized.

    In Vienna, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi convened an emergency session of the agency’s Board of Governors. Grossi confirmed that key Iranian nuclear sites had been significantly damaged, though off-site radiation levels remained unchanged. He warned that the conflict presents a grave threat to the global non-proliferation regime and called for the immediate restoration of IAEA access to Iranian facilities, including those housing uranium enriched to 60 percent purity. Grossi also revealed that inspectors remain in Iran and are ready to resume oversight operations.

    “The current trajectory is deeply concerning for international security,” Grossi told the assembled board members. “We must prioritize diplomacy and the technical role of the IAEA, not allow it to be undermined by geopolitical agendas.”

    The regional impact has already begun to ripple outward. Major energy companies, including Eni, BP, and Total Energies, began emergency evacuations of foreign staff from Iraqi oilfields. Iraq’s state-run Basra Oil Company confirmed the move amid fears of broader conflict. Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Qatar issued an urgent advisory instructing American citizens to remain indoors due to the volatile security situation.

    In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, expressing strong support for Tehran and condemning the strikes by the U.S. and Israel as an “unprovoked act of aggression.” Putin reaffirmed Russia’s commitment to its strategic alliance with Iran, while noting that he had held recent consultations with U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, UAE President Mohammed Al Nahyan, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

    Araghchi, in turn, thanked Russia for its support and denounced the attacks as illegal violations of international law. He emphasized Iran’s right to defend its sovereignty and stated that Tehran would continue to work closely with Moscow amid the growing crisis.

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI Security: Maryland Man Charged with Mailing Threatening Communications to Jewish Organizations, Including a Jewish Institution in Philadelphia

    Source: US FBI

    PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Clift A. Seferlis, 55, of Garrett Park, Maryland, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with mailing threatening communications.

    As alleged in the complaint, from at least March 1, 2024, through the present, the defendant is alleged to have sent numerous written threats through the mail to Jewish organizations and entities located in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

    Many of these letters threaten the Jewish institutions and contain references to Gaza, Israel, or events in which Jewish people were killed or otherwise attacked. The letters then suggest that the recipients might become victims of similar acts of violence.

    One of these communications came from a typewritten letter, postmarked in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 7, 2025. The envelope was addressed to Victim Jewish Institution 1, to the attention of a person with the initials J.G., an employee of Victim Jewish Institution 1 at the time.

    The letter began, “Hello [J.]” and continued:

    I just wanted to say you are going to have to be more reliant than ever on your donors.

    But at some point that money too will become less and less.

    The hatred toward you all, your [institution], and especially the nation of Israel is at an all time high and is only getting worse.

    Do you – deep down – reallycare [sic] – really – about what is going on in Gaza?

    Will it take something happening to your beloved [institution] to make that happen.

    This Victim Jewish Institution 1 received numerous additional messages since April 1, 2024, which contained a threat to physically destroy the institution.

    Prior to the receipt of the May 7, 2025, mailing, Victim Jewish Institution 1 and its employees had received very similar-looking letters, believed to have been sent by Seferlis, which referenced Victim Jewish Institution 1’s “many big open windows,” “Kristallnacht,” “anger and rage,” and a future need to “rebuild” the institution following its destruction.

    This case was investigated by FBI Philadelphia, with assistance from FBI Baltimore, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Department, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland’s Greenbelt office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Dubnoff.

    The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

    MIL Security OSI –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI Security: Clairton Resident Sentenced to 48 Months in Prison for Violating Federal Narcotics Laws

    Source: US FBI

    PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A resident of Clairton, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to a 48-month term of imprisonment to be followed by a 3-year term of supervised release on his conviction of violating federal narcotic laws, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.

    United States District Judge William S. Stickman IV imposed the sentence on Mark Cook, 58.

    According to information presented to the Court, from July 2022 through June 2023, Cook provided codefendants with cocaine and crack cocaine for resale in the Hill District neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

    Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Stickman stated that the defendant’s actions were serious and that, through those actions, he victimized the families and citizens of the Hill District.

    Assistant United States Attorney Katherine C. Jordan prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

    Acting United States Attorney Rivetti commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Cook.

    This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

    MIL Security OSI –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI Global: At June’s Nato summit, just keeping Donald Trump in the room will be seen as a victory

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham

    Gints Ivuskans/Shutterstock

    When Nato leaders meet for their annual summit in The Hague on Wednesday June 25, all eyes will be on Donald Trump. Not only is the 47th president of the United States less committed to the alliance than any of his predecessors in Nato’s 76-year history. But he has also just joined Israel’s war with Iran and seems to have given up his efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

    Leaders of Nato’s 32 member states should therefore have had a packed agenda. Although there are several meetings and a dinner planned for June 24, the actual summit – which has tended usually to stretch out over several days – has been reduced to a single session and a single agenda item. All of this has been done to accommodate the US president.

    A single session reduces the risk of Trump walking away from the summit early, as he did at the G7 leaders meeting in Kananaskis, Canada, on June 16.

    The single item remaining on the agenda is Nato members’ new commitment to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. This is meant to placate Trump who demanded such an increase even before his inauguration in January 2025.


    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.


    Trump has frequently complained, and not without justification, that European members of the alliance invested too little in their defence and were over-reliant on the US. A draft summit declaration confirming the new spending target has now been approved after Spain secured an opt-out.

    Even accounting for Trump’s notorious unpredictability, this should ensure that Nato will survive the Hague summit intact. What is less clear is whether Nato’s members can rise to the unprecedented challenges that the alliance is facing.

    These challenges look different from each of the member states’ 32 capitals. But, for 31 of them, the continued survival of the alliance as an effective security provider is an existential question. Put simply, they need the US, while the US doesn’t necessarily need to be part of the alliance.

    The capability deficit that Canada and European member states have compared to the US was thrown into stark relief by Washington’s airstrikes against Iran over the weekend. This is not simply a question of increasing manpower and to equip troops to fight. European states also lack most of the so-called critical enablers, the military hardware and technology required to prevail in a potential war with Russia.

    This includes, among other things, intelligence capabilities, heavy-lift aircraft to quickly move troops and equipment and command and control structures that have traditionally been provided by US forces. These will take significant time and resources to replace.

    For now, Russia is tied down in Ukraine, which will buy time. And the 5%-commitment – even if not all member states will get there quickly or at all – is likely to go some way towards to mobilise the necessary resources for beefing up Europe’s defences. But time and resources are not limitless. And is not yet clear what the American commitment to Europe will be in the future and when and how it will be reduced.

    A new type of war

    Nor is it completely obvious what kind of war Europe should prepare for. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is both a very traditional war of attrition and a very modern technological showdown.

    A future confrontation with the Kremlin is initially likely to take the form of a “grey-zone” conflict, a state of affairs between war and peace in which acts of aggression happen but are difficult to attribute unambiguously and to respond to proportionately.

    This has arguably already started with Russian attacks on critical infrastructure. And as the example of Ukraine illustrates, grey-zone conflicts have the potential to escalate to conventional war.

    In February 2022, Russia saw an opportunity to pull Ukraine back into its zone of influence by brute force after and launched a full-scale invasion, hoping to capture Kyiv in a matter of a few days. This turned out to be a gross misjudgement on the Kremlin’s part. And three years on from that, if frequent Russian threats are to be believed, the possibility of a nuclear escalation can no longer be ruled out either.

    Key members of the alliance are unequivocal in their assessment of Russia as an existential threat to Europe. This much has been made clear in both the UK’s strategic defence review and the recent strategy paper for the German armed forces.

    Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte, the former prime minister of The Netherlands, gives a press conference before the Nato summit.

    Yet, this is not a view unanimously shared. Trump’s pro-Putin leanings date back to their now infamous meeting in Helsinki when he sided with the Russian president against his own intelligence services.

    In Europe, long-term Putin supporters Victor OrbanOrbán and Robert Fico, the prime ministers of EU and Nato members Hungary and Slovakia, have just announced that they will not support additional EU sanctions against Russia.

    Hungary and Slovakia are hardly defence heavyweights, but they wield outsized institutional power. Their ability to veto decisions can disrupt nascent European efforts both within the EU and Nato to rise to dual challenge of an increasingly existential threat to Europe from Russia and American retrenchment from its 80-year commitment to securing Europe against just that threat.

    What will, and more importantly what will not, happen at the Nato summit in The Hague will probably be looked back on as another chapter in the remaking of the international order and the European security architecture. A Nato agreement on increased defence spending should be enough to give the organisation another lease of life. But the implicit inability to agree on what is the main threat the alliance needs to defend itself against is likely to put a short expiration date on that.




    Read more:
    US joins Israel in attack on Iran and ushers in a new era of impunity


    Stefan Wolff is a past recipient of grant funding from the Natural Environment Research Council of the UK, the United States Institute of Peace, the Economic and Social Research Council of the UK, the British Academy, the NATO Science for Peace Programme, the EU Framework Programmes 6 and 7 and Horizon 2020, as well as the EU’s Jean Monnet Programme. He is a Trustee and Honorary Treasurer of the Political Studies Association of the UK and a Senior Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Centre in London.

    – ref. At June’s Nato summit, just keeping Donald Trump in the room will be seen as a victory – https://theconversation.com/at-junes-nato-summit-just-keeping-donald-trump-in-the-room-will-be-seen-as-a-victory-259585

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI Global: How might the US-Iran conflict escalate? Expert Q&A

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Scott Lucas, Professor of International Politics, Clinton Institute, University College Dublin

    On Sunday June 22, Donald Trump announced that several of Iran’s most important nuclear facilities had been “completely obliterated” and that the country’s nuclear weapons programme had been crippled. Iran denied this and vowed to retaliate. The Iranian parliament has already given approval to closing the strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil transits en route to customers all over the world.

    Initially the US government insisted that the objective was simply to halt Iran’s nuclear programme. But the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said several times that he wanted to topple Iran’s theocratic regime. And the day after the US bombing raids, Donald Trump also began to talk of regime change in Iran.

    We asked Middle East expert Scott Lucas how the situation might develop.

    How might this now escalate?

    Iran’s leadership has no good military options, just as it has had limited capabilities in the nine days since Israel launched its missile strikes and targeted assassinations across the country. In theory, it could target US forces, with up to 40,000 in the region within range of missiles and drones. Iran-backed militias in Iraq could also attack US personnel on bases in the country.

    But the Biden administration showed that it would hit these back hard. When the militias in Iraq and the Assad regime’s Syria killed troops and a contractor, Washington pummelled the groups with airstrikes. Iran’s Quds Force, responsible for operations outside the Islamic Republic, told the militias to stop.

    Iran could target the US fleet in the Persian Gulf. It has also threatened to close the vital strait of Hormuz. But given that 20% of the world’s oil goes through the waterway, those operations would incur the wrath not only of Washington but of other countries. The Gulf states, whose support Tehran desperately wants and needs, would be angered.

    Iran’s allies in Yemen, the Houthi rebels, could renew their attacks on Red Sea shipping. They could fire drones and missiles, reprising their assault on Saudi oil facilities between 2019 and 2022. But the political and military cost of that retaliation would be high.


    Sign up to receive our weekly World Affairs Briefing newsletter from The Conversation UK. Every Thursday we’ll bring you expert analysis of the big stories in international relations.


    Iranian hybrid attacks, through cyber-warfare and assassination plots, are also a possibility. But the US and other states have clamped down on those activities in recent years with toughened surveillance, enforcement and sanctions on Iran, making their achievement of results more difficult.

    So while Iran continues to launch a dwindling stock of missiles at Israel, I think that its strategy beyond that is political. Play the victim and try to encourage other states, including the Gulf countries and the Europeans, to distance themselves from the Trump administration.

    What does this tell us about the relationship between Trump and Netanyahu?

    Benjamin Netanyahu has played Trump to ensure the success of Israel’s war. It’s as simple as that. As recently as February 4, Trump came close to humiliating the Israeli prime minister when he visited Washington to ask for the administration’s support for strikes on Iran. As Netanyahu sat uncomfortably in the White House press briefing, Trump declared that the US was going to open negotiations with Iran over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

    Netanyahu told the Trump administration in mid-May that it was intending to go ahead with strikes on Iran, even without US approval. There was some manoeuvring over the next three weeks, as the US and Iran went through five sets of talks. But on June 8, Trump met his national security advisors at Camp David in Maryland, where the CIA director John Ratcliffe and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Dan Caine, briefed him on the threat from Iran.

    The next day Netanyahu told Trump over the phone that Israel was going ahead with its attacks, which it launched four days later. The US duly cancelled the sixth set of peace talks in Oman. Now Trump, with the Orwellian cry of “NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!”, has blown up those negotiations for the foreseeable future.




    Read more:
    Why are the US and Israel not on the same page over how to deal with Iran? Expert Q&A


    Where are Russia and China in all this?

    Both countries are watching closely and calculating their response. On May 22, Beijing condemned “a reckless escalation and a flagrant violation of international law”. But its response will largely be rhetorical, avoiding any military or even political entanglement. If the US deepens its involvement in Iran’s war, including with any further strikes, China will step up the rhetoric while seeking advantage from the instability. It will play the responsible power, pursuing peace and progress, in contrast to a destructive and unreliable Trump administration. That would be a certain diplomatic win for Beijing.

    Russia is in a trickier position because of its 40-month full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has no end in sight. Iran has been an essential part of the military campaign, providing thousands of drones for Moscow’s daily attacks on military and civilian sites. As recently as April, the two countries signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement, pledging closer cooperation in trade, defence, energy, and regional infrastructure projects. Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi has flown to Moscow for “serious consultations” with Russian “friends”, including Vladimir Putin.

    But Russia’s scope for intervention could be limited. Just before the US attacks the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said he might mediate between Israel and Iran. Trump immediately slapped him down. And the Kremlin will not want to commit military resources to what might be a prolonged conflict, since it is already stretched – maybe overstretched – in Ukraine both on the battlefield and on the economic front.

    What will the Arab world be thinking?

    Perhaps the most important reaction to the strikes is coming from the Gulf states, in particularly Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar. Only a few weeks ago Trump was in the Gulf signing deals on trade and arms. But Gulf leaders are rattled by what might be an expanding, destructive conflict with the prospect of a power vacuum in Tehran.

    For months, they have manoeuvred against that instability in discussions with the Islamic Republic as well as with Washington. With its open-ended war in Gaza, Israel has already shattered the economic and political prospects of “normalisation” (establishing diplomatic relations and trade partnerships). Now the Gulf states are worried how far Israel and Iran will carry out their confrontation across the Middle East.

    There had been hints that they might come off the fence between flattering Trump and pushing back against Washington, and this now appears to have happened – to an extent anyway. Without naming the US, Saudi Arabia “condemned and denounced” the violation of Iran’s sovereignty. Qatar said the US strikes would have “catastrophic repercussions”. The UAE warned all parties to avoid those “serious” repercussions, and Oman went farther by criticising the breaking of international law.

    Trump ignored his own intelligence. So who is helping him game out this situation?

    That’s a great question with no clear answer. It is clear that it’s not the director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, reportedly out of favour because she dared to publicise the assessment of US intelligence agencies that Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapon. But with other cabinet members all proclaiming that this was Donald Trump’s “brilliant” plan, it is hard to see who led in pushing him away from negotiations and into the strikes.

    The defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is little more than a hyperactive cheerleader. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is balancing between promoting the strikes and urging Iran to return to negotiations. The US vice-president, J.D. Vance, was central last week in efforts to persuade Republican legislators to back the strikes, amid the split in the Trumpist bloc over attacks.

    In the end, much of the impetus for this comes from Israel. Netanyahu has been careful to lavish praise on the US president for his “bold decision”, which he said would “change history”. With encouragement from a roll call of his Republican party admirers, Trump appears to have eagerly taken this up as his “victory”, claiming to have achieved “peace through strength”.

    Scott Lucas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. How might the US-Iran conflict escalate? Expert Q&A – https://theconversation.com/how-might-the-us-iran-conflict-escalate-expert-qanda-259514

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Statement Attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on the Terrorist Attack in Damascus

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    The Secretary-General strongly condemns the Sunday terrorist attack on St. Elias Church in Douileia, Damascus. He expresses his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and wishes a swift recovery to those injured.

    The Secretary-General reiterates that all perpetrators of terrorism must be held accountable. He takes note that the Syrian interim authorities have condemned this attack and, after a preliminary investigation, attributed it to Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL). He calls for a full investigation.

    The Secretary-General reaffirms the commitment of the United Nations  to supporting the Syrian people in their pursuit of peace, dignity, and justice.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Sherrill Statement On Trump’s Strikes on Iran

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11)

    WASHINGTON, DC — Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) released the following statement following Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran: 

    “I am grateful to learn of reports that no U.S. service members were harmed during tonight’s operation against Iran’s nuclear facilities. Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon and its support for terrorism across the region poses a grave threat to the United States, our ally Israel, and our partners throughout the Middle East.

    “However, I am deeply concerned by President Trump’s decision to order these strikes tonight without first seeking legal authorization from Congress, as required by the Constitution. This constitutional requirement ensures Congress has the ability to weigh the proposed plan, the potential cost and danger to service members, and whether it is the best path forward to achieve our long-term goals. This is especially important given the poor decision making that led to twenty years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan without advancing the goals of the United States and our allies. 

    “I urge all sides to return to the negotiating table, stop this conflict, and diplomatically ensure that Iran will not be able to acquire a nuclear weapon.”

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Lois Frankel Responds to U.S. Strikes on Iranian Nuclear Facilities

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Lois Frankel (FL-21)

    Washington, D.C. – Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL-22), Ranking Member of the House National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Subcommittee released the following statement today after the United States carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

    “Here’s what’s not up for debate: For decades, the Iranian regime has threatened Israel’s very existence, armed terrorist proxies, and relentlessly pursued nuclear weapons, all while chanting “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.” It has American blood on its hands, both directly and through its network of terror proxies. Most alarmingly, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, ballistic missile arsenal, and genocidal rhetoric pose an existential threat to Israel and a grave danger to global security,” said Rep. Frankel.

    “As we move forward, President Trump must abide by the Constitutional authority of Congress and engage in constructive, bipartisan cooperation to advance peace and stability in the region, and to ensure that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon. The safety and security of Israel, our allies, and the United States depend on it.” 

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Strickland Statement on President Trump’s Strikes on Iran

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10)

    Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10) released the following statement in response to President Trump’s order of U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities:

    “The Islamic Republic Guard (IRG) of Iran must be stopped in its quest for nuclear weapons. They are the most prolific state sponsor of terrorism – supporting and funding Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. For the 40+ years the IRG has ruled Iran, they have abused and terrorized their own people, and stated that they seek to destroy Israel and the United States.

    Peace and stability in the region must now be the priority through multinational diplomacy and thoughtful negotiations. President Trump’s action on Iran has dangerously escalated tensions and put American lives at risk.

    As we continue to learn more about the aftermath of this action in the coming days, I want to thank our U.S. troops and join all Americans as we pray for their safety and security.”

    Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10) serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. She is Whip of the New Democrat Coalition, Secretary of the Congressional Black Caucus, and is one of the first Korean-American women elected to Congress.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Tonko Statement on Trump’s Unconstitutional Bombing of Iran

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Paul Tonko (Capital Region New York)

    Tonko Statement on Trump’s Unconstitutional Bombing of Iran

    Amsterdam, June 22, 2025

    Amsterdam, NY — Congressman Paul D. Tonko released the following statement:

    “President Trump committed an illegal and unauthorized act of war against Iran, which will lead to untold consequences.

    The American people don’t want another war of choice in the Middle East.

    Congress must reconvene immediately and vote on the Iran War Powers Act resolution to contain the fallout and prevent further dangerous escalation.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Updated Statement: Palestine Action

    Source: Scottish Greens

    23 Jun 2025 External Affairs Peace

    Scottish Greens respond to authoritarian government overreach against Palestine Action

    More in External Affairs

    Following confirmation that the UK Government is intending to proscribe Palestine Action, the Scottish Greens reiterated warnings of the deeply authoritarian implications of using terrorism legislation to silence non-violent protesters. 

    Patrick said: 

    “Today’s confirmation that Labour intends to use terrorism legislation against non-violent protesters should worry us all. 

    “Palestine Action have been accused by Keir Starmer of ‘vandalism’ and by Rachel Reeves today of causing damage to “privately owned assets” – which the RAF said would have no impact on their operations. 

    “It’s obviously absurd that throwing red paint on things could cause a group to be listed alongside Al Qaeda, ISIS and Russia’s Wagner Group, with membership carrying a 14-year prison sentence.

    “This is deeply authoritarian. Human rights groups like Amnesty International have rightly raised significant concerns over this aggressive use of powers that should be reserved for only the most extreme and dangerous organisations.

    “To use Rachel Reeves’ own words – what really is “totally unacceptable” is the UK Government’s ongoing commitment to train, arm and support Israel as it regularly and openly commits war crimes as part of an ongoing genocide.

    “Labour’s priorities are completely backwards – and will have devastating consequences for Palestinians under siege in Gaza and non-violent protesters here in the UK.”  

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI Russia: Unprovoked aggression against Iran has no justification – Russian President V. Putin

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    Moscow, June 23 /Xinhua/ — Unprovoked aggression against Iran has no justification, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday during a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

    “This absolutely unprovoked aggression against Iran has no basis or justification,” V. Putin emphasized, noting that A. Araghchi is visiting Russia “at a difficult time of sharp aggravation of the situation in the region and around” Iran.

    “Our position on the current events is well known, it is clearly stated, articulated by the Foreign Ministry on behalf of Russia. And you know about the position we have taken in the UN Security Council,” the Russian president added.

    A. Araghchi, in turn, thanked the Russian side for resolutely condemning the aggressive actions against Iran.

    On the night of June 13, Israel launched massive strikes on Iran. The stated goal of the operation was to destroy Tehran’s work on the nuclear program. In response, the Iranian side began to strike Israeli territory. On the night of Sunday, the US army attacked three key nuclear facilities in Iran. –0–

    MIL OSI Russia News –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI Europe: New EUAA Country Guidance on Syria and Sudan

    Source: European Asylum Support Office

    The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) has just published two Country Guidance documents on international protection matters arising from the situation in Syria and Sudan, respectively. Recently endorsed by the Management Board of the EUAA, these documents are meant to assist national asylum authorities in assessing applications for international protection lodged by Syrian and Sudanese nationals in EU+ countries, thereby fostering convergence of asylum decisions at the European level. 

     

    The interim Country Guidance on Syria takes stock of the significant changes on international protection needs caused by the fall of the Assad government in December 2024. While the persons previously persecuted solely by the Assad regime are generally considered no longer at risk, individuals targeted by other armed actors are still exposed, and new groups may be in need of international protection.

    Developed by a network of senior policy officials from EU+ countries under the auspices of the EUAA, this interim document provides critical guidance at a time when many EU Member States are resuming examination of asylum applications from Syrian nationals. It will be complemented by a fuller update intended to be published at the end of 2025. 


    The Country Guidance on Sudan is the first of its kind published on the situation in this country, often referred to as one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world today. Since the civil war broke out in Khartoum in April 2023, attacks on civilians, forced displacements and widespread human rights violations have continued unabated and spread across the country.

    In this context, the publication identifies a range of profiles likely to qualify for refugee status and provides an assessment of the level of indiscriminate violence across the country, for subsidiary protection assessment purposes. Also drafted by senior policy officials from EU+ countries, this document aims to assist national asylum authorities in navigating through the complexities of the situation in Sudan, the seventh  country covered by EUAA Country Guidance publications.

    Background

    The EUAA Country Guidance documents provide country-specific, common analysis and guidance in relation to the assessment criteria of international protection needs established in the Qualification Directive and in the newly adopted Qualification Regulation. In accordance with Article 11 of the EUAA Regulation, Member States have the obligation to take into account the guidance notes and common analysis when examining applications for international protection, without prejudice to their competence for deciding on individual applications.

     

    MIL OSI Europe News –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI Europe: New EUAA Country Guidance on Syria and Sudan

    Source: European Asylum Support Office

    The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) has just published two Country Guidance documents on international protection matters arising from the situation in Syria and Sudan, respectively. Recently endorsed by the Management Board of the EUAA, these documents are meant to assist national asylum authorities in assessing applications for international protection lodged by Syrian and Sudanese nationals in EU+ countries, thereby fostering convergence of asylum decisions at the European level. 

     

    The interim Country Guidance on Syria takes stock of the significant changes on international protection needs caused by the fall of the Assad government in December 2024. While the persons previously persecuted solely by the Assad regime are generally considered no longer at risk, individuals targeted by other armed actors are still exposed, and new groups may be in need of international protection.

    Developed by a network of senior policy officials from EU+ countries under the auspices of the EUAA, this interim document provides critical guidance at a time when many EU Member States are resuming examination of asylum applications from Syrian nationals. It will be complemented by a fuller update intended to be published at the end of 2025. 


    The Country Guidance on Sudan is the first of its kind published on the situation in this country, often referred to as one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world today. Since the civil war broke out in Khartoum in April 2023, attacks on civilians, forced displacements and widespread human rights violations have continued unabated and spread across the country.

    In this context, the publication identifies a range of profiles likely to qualify for refugee status and provides an assessment of the level of indiscriminate violence across the country, for subsidiary protection assessment purposes. Also drafted by senior policy officials from EU+ countries, this document aims to assist national asylum authorities in navigating through the complexities of the situation in Sudan, the seventh  country covered by EUAA Country Guidance publications.

    Background

    The EUAA Country Guidance documents provide country-specific, common analysis and guidance in relation to the assessment criteria of international protection needs established in the Qualification Directive and in the newly adopted Qualification Regulation. In accordance with Article 11 of the EUAA Regulation, Member States have the obligation to take into account the guidance notes and common analysis when examining applications for international protection, without prejudice to their competence for deciding on individual applications.

     

    MIL OSI Europe News –

    June 24, 2025
  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: First RAF flight for British nationals leaves Israel

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    First RAF flight for British nationals leaves Israel

    As announced by the Foreign Secretary in the House of Commons, A RAF flight to take vulnerable British nationals and their dependents out of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) has departed this afternoon.

    • The RAF flight to transport vulnerable British nationals and their dependents out of Israel and the OPTs left today
    • Further flights will be based on demand and the latest security situation
    • British nationals should continue to register their presence in Israel and the OPTs to be contacted with further guidance on potential further flights

    Addressing the House of Commons today, the Foreign Secretary announced the first RAF flight to help vulnerable British nationals wanting to leave Israel and the OPTs has taken off this afternoon (23 Jun) from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport. 

    The flight is for vulnerable British nationals plus their immediate family members who are eligible to travel. All passengers must hold a valid travel document and non-British immediate family members require valid visas/permission to enter or remain that was granted for more than six months. 

    The government has worked with partners in recent weeks to enable this flight to operate, with further flights to be considered depending on demand and the latest security situation on the ground. British nationals in Israel and the OPTs urged to continue to register their presence to be contacted with further guidance on any future flights. 

    Foreign Secretary David Lammy said:   

    Throughout the crisis, the safety of British Nationals in the region has been our top priority. That is why the UK Government is working with the Israeli authorities to arrange RAF and charter flights to help those wanting to leave. 

    Today’s flight will bring British nationals and their dependents safely back to the UK. While the situation in the Middle East remains volatile, we are working around the clock to secure more flights and bring more people home.

    Due to ongoing restrictions in Israeli airspace and the security situation on the ground, the government used an RAF A-400M aircraft for the flight from Tel Aviv to Cyprus – with passengers due to transfer on to a civilian charter aircraft for the onwards journey to the UK this afternoon. 

    Those eligible for the flights will be expected to pay for their seat – and payment will be taken on registration via the flight booking form. This fee will be refunded to those who are not allocated a seat – in line with the government’s approach to previous charter flights from the region. 

    UK Government officials have been working around the clock to keep British nationals safe, with consular officers deployed to the border in Jordan and extra consular support based near the border in Egypt. These officials are on hand to provide advice on onward travel to British nationals crossing and support to vulnerable British nationals.  FCDO Rapid Deployment Teams are working across the region to bolster the support offered by British Embassy officials.     

    British nationals should continue to register via the Register Your Presence portal that will be used to confirm any further details in due course. 

    Commercial flights are continuing to operate from Egypt and Jordan, and international land border crossings to these countries remain open. 

    The situation remains volatile and the government’s ability to run flights out of Israel and the OPTs could change at short notice. 

    Media enquiries

    Email newsdesk@fcdo.gov.uk

    Telephone 020 7008 3100

    Email the FCDO Newsdesk (monitored 24 hours a day) in the first instance, and we will respond as soon as possible.

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    Updates to this page

    Published 23 June 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

    June 24, 2025
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