Call for action
Iran has strongly condemned recent desecrations of the Qur’an and Islamic sanctities in Sweden and Denmark, demanding that they prevent such actions from happening again. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Naser Kan’ani said Sweden and Denmark should prosecute the perpetrators or hand them over to Islamic countries. The desecrations that took place last week have drawn strong condemnations from Muslim nations, triggering mass protests in several countries, including Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon. Amid the fallout, Baghdad also expelled the Swedish ambassador and recalled its envoy to Stockholm. Tehran said it will not accept a new Swedish ambassador and will not send an envoy to the European country for now. Several Islamic countries have also summoned Swedish and Danish envoys to condemn the sacrilege.
Russia-Ukraine war
Russia's defense ministry says it has intercepted two Ukrainian drones over the capital Moscow. The ministry called the attack a terrorist act by Ukraine. Moscow’s mayor earlier said two buildings suffered damage in the incident. The mayor said there were no casualties and serious damage. According to Russian media, they are located near the defense ministry’s headquarters in central Moscow. In a separate incident, the Governor of Russian-held Crimea said a Ukrainian drone strike hit an ammunition depot there. The governor said air defenses downed 11 of the drones. Kiev is yet to comment. It almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.
Korea tensions
A US nuclear-powered submarine arrives in South Korea, days after a US nuclear-armed submarine made port in the country for the first time in four decades. The USS Annapolis is not nuclear-armed. The vessel had also joined trilateral anti-submarine exercises with South Korea and Japan last September in waters off the Korean peninsula. Pyongyang is yet to respond to the submarine’s arrival. But it launched ballistic and cruise missiles last week, in reaction to the earlier visit by the nuclear-armed USS Kentucky to South Korea. North Korea has warned that the stationing of nuclear strategic assets could lead to Pyongyang's use of its nuclear weapons.