Ceasefire in jeopardy following U.S. seizure of Iranian cargo ship; Kim Jong Un supervises test launch of North Korean missiles; and another boat accused of carrying drugs taken out by U.S. strike, killing 3 people.
1. A ceasefire between the United States and Iran appeared in jeopardy on Monday after the U.S. said it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade and Tehran vowed to retaliate, refusing for now to join new peace talks. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Washington has shown it was "not serious" about pursuing the diplomatic process and Tehran would not change its clearly stated demands, adding that it did not believe in deadlines or ultimatums when safeguarding national interests. The U.S. had hoped to start negotiations in Pakistan shortly before the two-week ceasefire expires, with sweeping security preparations under way in Islamabad, but Baghaei said the U.S. was "insisting on some unreasonable and unrealistic positions". A senior Iranian source told Reuters the continuation of the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports was undermining the prospect of peace talks, and Tehran's "defensive capabilities", including its missile program, were not open to negotiation. A Pakistani security source said Pakistan's key mediator, Field Marshal Asim Munir, had told U.S. President Donald Trump the blockade was an obstacle to talks, and that Trump had replied that he would consider the advice.
2. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sunday supervised the latest test launch of Hwasong-11 Ra surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missiles to assess the weapon’s warhead capability, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency. KCNA reported Monday that North Korea fired five tactical ballistic missiles, striking a target area of roughly 31 to 32 acres with “very high density” near an island about 85 miles away. South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said it detected several ballistic missiles launched around 6:10 a.m. over the Sea of Japan, or East Sea, from Sinpo, North Korea, according to a message to reporters Sunday. South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities are analyzing the details of the launch, the ministry said.
3. The U.S. military said it launched another strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the Caribbean Sea, killing three people Sunday. The Trump administration’s campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters has persisted since early September and killed at least 181 people in total. Other strikes have taken place in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Despite the Iran war, the series of strikes have ramped up again in the past week or so, showing that the administration’s aggressive measures to stop what it calls “narcoterrorism” in the Western Hemisphere are not letting up. The military has not provided evidence that any of the vessels were carrying drugs. The attacks began as the U.S. built up its largest military presence in the region in generations and came months ahead of the raid in January that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. He was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges and has pleaded not guilty.
4. The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is operating in the Middle East following a nearly monthlong sojourn in the Mediterranean Sea. Ford, along with the destroyers USS Winston S. Churchill and USS Mahan, left the U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations late last week, a U.S. official confirmed to Stars and Stripes on Monday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. The carrier, with embarked Carrier Air Wing 8 and more than 4,500 sailors and personnel, transited the Suez Canal and now is operating in the Red Sea, USNI News reported Sunday, citing unidentified U.S. officials It wasn’t clear when exactly Ford made the Suez Canal transit, which would put it in the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet operating area. Ford’s move into the Middle East comes after it set a record on Wednesday with 296 days on deployment. That broke the post-Vietnam War carrier deployment record of 295 days held by USS Abraham Lincoln.
5. More than 60 nations sent representatives to Brussels Monday to discuss with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Mustafa stability, security and long-term peace in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, as global attention largely remains focused in the Middle East on the ongoing crises in Iran and Lebanon. Ongoing attacks in the West Bank and continued devastation in Gaza have dimmed the prospect for a two-state solution, said Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot ahead of the meeting Monday. He is co-hosting the meeting with the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas. “We observe without naivety that the two-state solution is being made more difficult by the day,” Prévot said. “But Belgium and many European and Arab partners continue to believe that this remains the only realistic path to a lasting peace, for Israelis, for Palestinians and for the stability of the entire region.”
- Security