By Staff Writer South Africa’s government is engulfed in a row about control of the military, following allegations that the top brass might have ignored orders to sideline Iran from controversial naval exercises. A board of inquiry is due to investigate this week whether Cyril Ramaphosa’s instructions were disregarded or miscommunicated during naval drills off Cape Town last week. The incident has sparked debate about whether the elected government has a constitutional grip on one of the most well regarded militaries in sub-Saharan Africa. Three Iranian warships arrived in False Bay earlier this month to join a week of BRICS…

By Andre Pienaar, Chief Executive and Founder, C5 Capital Davos, Switzerland The World Economic Forum (WEF) convenes this week under the theme “A Spirit of Dialogue” at a moment when two prevailing forces are rapidly rewiring the global economy: energy security and the infrastructure of money itself. Today at Davos, C5 and our partners announced OIL1, the world’s first energy-backed stablecoin, which will be collateralised with verified crude oil inventory, fusing energy and money into a new energy security instrument for the 21st century. OIL1 is not another cryptocurrency experiment. It is a settlement instrument designed to harden the financial…

By Sean Rayment MI5 has warned that it is unrealistic to “eliminate every potential risk” posed by the new Chinese mega-embassy in London. Sir Ken McCallum, the MI5 director-general, and Anne Keast-Butler, director of GCHQ, have told the home and foreign secretaries that it is not feasible to expect “to be able wholly to eliminate each and every potential risk” associated with the new site. Ministers approved the establishment of China’s new mega-embassy in central London on Tuesday, a move hoped to facilitate new trade deals with Beijing. But the decision is expected to attract significant political backlash due to…

By Staff Writer Pressure is mounting on European Union member states to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation. Several capitals, including Germany, are publicly pushing for a decision that would place the Guards on the EU’s terror list alongside groups such as Daesh and al-Qaeda. But legal and political constraints remain, and key states such as Italy, France, Spain and Luxembourg have not yet backed the move amid reports that at least 16,500 protesters have been killed and about 330,000 injured during Iran’s unrest, according to a report compiled by doctors inside the country. European concern…

By Staff Writer In the wake of the lethal repression of civilian protests across Iran, with fatalities now estimated to exceed 15,000, the board of MTN-Irancell dismissed Alireza Rafiei as the company’s chief executive yesterday for “disobeying orders from security bodies” to implement the internet shutdown immediately. Tasnim, the media group owned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported on Monday 19 January that it took Rafiei and his management team at MTN-Irancell several hours to implement the order from the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) to shut down the internet nationwide. The SNSC issued the order on the…

By Sean Rayment The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced an investment of more than £200 million to ensure the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) Typhoon fighter jet fleet remains operational and ready to protect the UK and its NATO allies. The initiative is set to secure 250 highly skilled jobs across the country, according to the department. The contract, awarded to British firm QinetiQ, will provide essential technical and engineering support to the Typhoon fleet over the next five years. The MoD said the £205 million deal highlights the government’s commitment to investing in capabilities that bolster national security while…

By Sean Rayment The US president has suggested that his plan to seize control of Greenland was driven by resentment at being overlooked for the Nobel Peace Prize. Donald Trump told Norway’s prime minister in a letter that, in retaliation for not receiving the award, “I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace” and would instead consider “what is good and proper for the United States of America”. He also accused Denmark on Sunday of failing to protect the island from Russia and questioned the country’s claim to sovereignty over Greenland. Mr Trump has repeatedly insisted that…

By Staff Writer Iran’s exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, has warned that “the slaughter has not stopped” inside the country, as the United States withdraws personnel from the region and foreign governments scale back their presence in Tehran. United States officials said Washington had begun withdrawing some personnel from military facilities across the Middle East, describing the move as a precaution. The decision follows repeated warnings from Tehran that any US strike would be met with retaliation against American bases in neighbouring countries. United States President Donald Trump told reporters he was monitoring developments closely and suggested that reports of…

By Staff Writer The UK has committed £600 million in air-defence capabilities, including cutting-edge turrets that can shoot down Russian drones, to support Ukraine through the winter, as Putin’s air campaign plunges homes, hospitals and power stations into darkness. The support has already seen more than 1,000 missiles delivered to Ukraine since June, a direct result of the UK Government’s biggest single-year investment in air defence for Ukraine. The announcement comes as Defence Secretary John Healey MP and his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, co-chaired the 32nd meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group last month. The Ministry of Defence has…

By Asal Abasian, Committee to Protect Journalists Iranian authorities have imposed a near-total internet shutdown as nationwide protests intensify, severely restricting journalists’ ability to report and cutting off communication with the outside world. The blackout began on January 8, more than a week after protests erupted in late December over mounting economic pressure, currency devaluation, and rising living costs. Journalists and rights advocates say the internet shutdown and restricted telephone access — a practice used by authorities in previous mass protests — appear aimed at suppressing coverage of the unrest and obscuring the scale of arrests and casualties. “Iran’s near-total shutdown of the internet is a blatant assault on press…

By Staff Writer On the day Iran’s security services moved to tighten their grip on the streets, millions of Iranian families received a stark and unsettling text message on their mobile phones. The message did not address protesters directly. Instead, it targeted parents, turning the private sphere of family life into an extension of the state’s coercive apparatus. “Dear parents, inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country.” The message was delivered via MTN-Irancell, Iran’s largest mobile network operator, reaching deep into households across the country. For many…

By Staff Writer The UK will develop new tactical ballistic missiles that boost Ukraine’s firepower to defend itself from Putin’s war machine. Under Project Nightfall, the UK has launched a competition to rapidly develop ground-launched ballistic missiles with a range of more than 500 kilometres, designed to operate in high-threat battlefields with heavy electromagnetic interference. The Ministry of Defence has said that Nightfall missiles will be capable of being launched from a range of vehicles, firing multiple missiles in quick succession and withdrawing within minutes. This will allow Ukrainian forces to hit key military targets before Russian forces can respond.…