Defence

Iran has announced that it will raise its nuclear enrichment level up to 60 percent. The move, according to President Hassan Rouhani is a response to "nuclear terrorism". On Sunday (11 April) the Iranian Fuel Enrichment Plant in Natanz was attacked with Iran pointing fingers at Tel Aviv. Rouhani described the attack as a plot to weaken his country's position during the ongoing nuclear negotiations in Vienna.

The trio had been found guilty of "the crime of high treason in cooperation with the enemy," according to an official statement carried by Saudi Press Agency, but the statement did not provide details on who the enemy was.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the US President, Joe Biden, has directed the Pentagon to cut troops present in the Gulf. The move appears to be an early step in the efforts towards a realignment of US presence away from the Middle East.

Initially the Altay was supposed to be powered by a German engine, but restrictions imposed by the German government on arms exports to Turkey forced the Turkish government to look for alternatives

"Russia’s aggressive actions constitute a threat to Euro-Atlantic security". This was stated unambiguously in a statement issued by NATO Foreign Ministers at the end of their meeting in Brussels on 23-24 March.

After weeks of uncertainty on the issue of the leadership of the Armenian armed forces, on Monday the formal procedures for appointing a new Chief of the General Staff were completed, and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the army headquarters to introduce the new head of the army to fellow senior officers. On his part the new head of the army, General Artak Davtyan, has made it clear that the army intends to keep out of politics.

Russia's biggest naval ship and only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, has been embroiled in a corruption scandal at the Murmansk shipyard where it currently is being repaired and overhauled. The ship is often used by Russia for power projection in the Mediterranean and elsewhere.

Boris Johnson, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, has today (16 March) published an Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy outlining the UK’s post-Brexit direction of travel.

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian has issued an open invitation to prime minister Nikol Pashinyan and the leaders of the opposition to a meet amid a continuing political crisis and an impasse on the command of the armed forces. Pashinyan had a meeting with the army leadership this afternoon