Global

The United Nations marks 4 April as International Landmine Awareness Day.  This year, in a message on the occasion, UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres said that the day  “reminds us how far we have come in clearing the world of explosive remnants of war – and how far we still have to go.” Gutteres pointed out that in Ukraine, the legacy of a single month of war – in the form of unexploded ordnance, landmines, and cluster munitions – will take decades to tackle, threatening lives long after the guns fall silent. In his message Antonio Gutteres also called on all states to accede without delay to the Ottawa Convention banning the production and use of landmines. "Permanent members of the Security Council in particular have a special responsibility", Gutteres said.

Reports from Vienna suggest that Iran and the world powers are close to agreeing on restoring the Iran Nuclear Deal. For a moment it appeared that the negotiations were going to get entangled in the current Ukraine crisis, but it appears that Iran has dissuaded Russia from doing so. In this op-ed for commonspace.eu Benyamin Poghosyan says a deal would be good for neighbouring countries like Armenia who are keen to exploit trade opportunities with Iran.