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Tehran-Baku relations

Foreign ministers of Iran and Azerbaijan have rejected the presence of foreign forces in the region as unconstructive. They say regional issues must be resolved by regional countries and players. The remarks were made in a phone call between Iran’s top diplomat Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Azeri counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov. Amir-Abdollahian said cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan is currently on a constructive and positive path. He assessed a recent meeting of the two countries’ joint economic commission as successful, saying good agreements were reached, especially on rail and road transport. Bayramov, for his part, described Amir-Abdollahian’s recent visit to Baku as important, saying it had a positive impact on the two countries’ relations. He also hailed Iran's constructive position on the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, explaining the latest developments in negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Israel political crisis

An international credit rating agency has warned that increasing domestic political uncertainty in Israel will decrease the regime’s economic growth this year. S&P Global Ratings attributed the economic slump to an ongoing standoff over the Israeli cabinet’s so-called judicial overhaul plan. The agency said it expects political polarization to remain elevated in Israel if the cabinet and opposition fail to come to a consensus on the remaining pieces of the plan. It also projected Israel's economic growth to slow to 1.5 percent this year from 6.5 percent in 2022. The report followed a similar warning issued by Moody's rating agency on Tuesday. The Knesset passed the first bill of the judicial overhaul plan on Monday. The changes, which seek to limit the powers of the Supreme Court, have sparked the biggest-ever protest movements in Israel.

Sudan peace talks

Sudan’s army says its delegation to peace talks in Saudi Arabia has returned home for consultations, citing differences with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The army said in a statement that the talks will continue after obstacles are overcome. It added that differences over issues, including the RSF evacuating civilian homes in the capital and public facilities, led to a lack of agreement on a ceasefire. The RSF rejected the army’s statement, saying its forces have vacated all the sites they had taken in the capital. It also rejected the army’s claim that the talks were indirect, saying the two delegations had sat down in person. The RSF said the talks broke down when the army demanded an end to the blockade on its headquarters in central Khartoum. The latest round of talks are aimed at putting an end to the fighting that started in mid-April over a power struggle between the army and the RSF.

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