International

Spain assures that no one will intimidate her in her support of the Palestinians

Spain made it clear this Sunday that no one is going to “medren” it in its support of a ceasefire in Gaza and the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip, after Israel broadcast a video in which it reproaches the country for its imminent recognition of the Palestinian State.

“Spain has been very firm condemning the attacks of Hamas and demanding the release of all the hostages, but Spain has also been very firm and will continue to be demanding a ceasefire and the knowledge of help from the land points,” stressed the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares.

At a press conference in Brussels after meeting for the first time in person with the Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohamed Mustafa, he stressed that “no one is going to beurther us in it.”

Albares guaranteed Spain’s support for the Palestinian National Authority and said that next Wednesday he expects to receive Mustafa in Spain, a day after the country has materialized the recognition of the Palestinian State.

The head of Spanish diplomacy stressed that the Palestinian people “have the right to have a State, just as the people of Israel have that right.”

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“Both have to coexist in peace, security and good neighborliness. The recognition of the State of Palestine is of justice for the Palestinians, it is the best guarantee of security for Israel and is indispensable to achieve peace in the region,” he said.

Asked about the video shared on social networks by the Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, in which he reproaches that Spain is going to recognize the Palestinian State, Albares replied that it is “scandalous and execrable.”

“It is scandalous because it is known from all the world, especially from my Israeli colleague, that the Government of Spain has condemned the terrorism of Hamas from the first moment and in all its actions,” he said.

The video, which lasts 18 seconds, starts with the flag of Spain and some of the images of the attacks of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on October 7 appear, alternating with those of two people who imitate flamenco dancers, while the phrase “Hamás: ‘Gracias España’” appears overprinted.

For Albares, the video is also “execrable” for the use he makes of flamenco, “a universal art, an open music, a music that dialogues and, therefore, a universal language that brings us closer to all the peoples of the world and that inspires us,” he said.

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The minister also referred to other statements criticized by Israel, those made on Saturday by the Spanish head of Defense, Margarita Robles, in which he considered that what is happening in Gaza “is a real genocide,” and said that it was “an opinion” on an issue that is being elucidated by the International Court of Justice.

In that context, Albares alluded to the precautionary measures of that UN court for Israel to put an immediate end to its military offensive in Rafah and recalled that its decisions are “mandatory for all parties, they must be complied with and thus avoid the loss of more human lives and so much unnecessary suffering.”

Mustafa, for his part, praised “the courageous decision taken by Spain” to recognize Palestine as a State and urged the rest of the European countries that have not yet taken this step to do the same as a gesture to “end the serious injustice to which the Palestinian people have been subjected for decades.”

He was also “fully convinced” that “a large number of European countries” will recognize the State of Palestine “in the near future.”

Before Mustafa, Albares emphasized the “important role” played by the Palestinian National Authority in the West Bank and guaranteed him the political and financial support of Spain.

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The head of Spanish diplomacy said that, when peace returns to Gaza, both that territory and the West Bank “must be placed under a single Palestinian National Authority.”

He also defended that there is a “massive financial plan” to rebuild Gaza, that the Strip is connected by a corridor with the West Bank and that the capital of the Palestinian State is East Jerusalem.

Albares participates today and tomorrow with the Member States of the European Union and Arab countries in different meetings “to outline the next steps in our efforts for peace.”

International

FBI Warns of Possible Iranian Drone Attack on U.S. West Coast

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned police departments in California about a possible Iranian plan to carry out a drone attack against the west coast of the United States, according to a report published Wednesday by ABC News.

The warning was issued through a memorandum sent to agencies participating in a Joint Terrorism Task Force, outlining the possibility of a surprise attack involving unmanned aerial vehicles launched from a vessel off the U.S. coastline.

According to the document, intelligence suggested that in early February 2026 Iran may have considered an attack against unspecified targets in California if the United States carried out airstrikes on Iranian territory.

However, the memo also noted that authorities lack additional details about the timing, method, specific targets, or individuals responsible for the alleged plan.

Reports cited by U.S. media indicate that the alert coincided with the start of a military offensive by the administration of Donald Trump against the Iran, a development that has heightened tensions across the Middle East.

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Law enforcement sources with counterterrorism experience told the Los Angeles Times that the warning is part of a routine precautionary advisory based on information from the U.S. Coast Guard.

The sources emphasized that there is no credible indication of an imminent attack and no evidence that Iran currently has the capability to successfully carry out such an operation.

California is home to the largest Iranian community in the United States. According to the Migration Policy Institute, more than half of Iranian immigrants in the country lived in the state in 2019, including around 140,000 people in Los Angeles County alone.

The city also hosts a neighborhood widely known as “Tehrangeles,” where a large Iranian community began settling in the 1960s and continued to grow following the Iranian Revolution.

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International

Trump Says Iran Is Welcome at 2026 World Cup but Warns of Security Concerns

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said Thursday that the national football team of Iran is “welcome” to participate in the 2026 World Cup, although he suggested it might be safer for the team not to take part in the tournament.

“The Iranian national soccer team is welcome at the World Cup, but I really don’t think it’s appropriate for them to be there, for their own safety,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

His comments came a day after Iran’s sports minister, Ahman Donyamali, said that there are currently no conditions for the country to participate in the tournament following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, during a military offensive launched on February 28 by Israel and the United States.

“After the corrupt government killed our leader, there are no conditions that allow us to take part in the World Cup,” the Iranian official said. He added that the country has faced two wars in the past eight or nine months, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths, making participation in the tournament unlikely.

On Tuesday, the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, met with Trump at the White House.

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Following the meeting, Infantino said that Trump reiterated that Iran’s national team would be allowed to compete in the FIFA World Cup 2026.

“We discussed the current situation in Iran and the fact that the Iranian team has qualified to participate in the FIFA World Cup 2026. During the conversation, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States,” Infantino wrote on Instagram.

International

Iran issues threat to Trump as conflict escalates over Strait of Hormuz

The head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, threatened U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, warning him to “beware of being eliminated.”

The Republican president had warned on Monday that he would strike Iran “very hard” if the Islamic Republic blocked oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which has effectively been closed since the war began eleven days ago.

“Iran is not afraid of your empty threats. Others more powerful than you tried to destroy the Iranian nation and failed. Beware that you are not eliminated,” Larijani wrote on X.

Earlier, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards — the ideological military force of the Islamic Republic — also said their forces would move to block oil exports from the Gulf.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s military offensive against Iran is far from over.

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“Our aspiration is that the Iranian people free themselves from the yoke of tyranny; ultimately, that depends on them. But there is no doubt that with the measures taken so far we are breaking their bones, and we are not finished yet,” Netanyahu said in a statement.