Israel says it has killed Iran’s security chief, as war drags on
Ali Larijani, who was head of the Islamic Republic’s influential security council and had effectively run the country since Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s death, was killed in a strike overnight, Israel has said. Tehran has not confirmed his death. If it is true, Larijani would be the latest senior Iranian official to be assassinated, following Khamenei, IRGC Commander Mohammad Pakpour, and National Defense Council leader Ali Shamkhani. Larijani was seen as a pragmatist who had the capacity to negotiate with the United States, so his killing could potentially embolden hardline figures in the regime. Israel, meanwhile, said it will continue to hunt down the Islamic Republic’s leaders, as the conflict shows no immediate signs of ending. Gulf states are now reportedly pushing Washington to continue hitting Iran hard and crush the regime’s ability to threaten the region’s oil industry.
Separately, Iran appears to be allowing certain fuel tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, including two that were headed to India, a move that may provide some relief to energy markets.
US considers linking HIV aid to critical minerals in Zambia
A drafted US memo to Zambia shared with The New York Times on Tuesday showed Washington is considering withholding HIV assistance unless the African nation grants the US more access to its critical minerals. The memo marks the latest example of the “trade not aid” approach the Trump administration is taking to Africa. In a similar move last month, Washington agreed to help Congo combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases weeks after the nation handed US companies increased access to the country’s rich minerals. For decades, Zambia has benefitted from the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, which is an HIV treatment program that has been one of the most successful and bipartisan US programs in Africa. Losing the aid potentially risks treatments that 1.3 million Zambians rely on daily.
Cuba hints at opening to US investment
A top Cuban official has said the crisis-stricken nation, which suffered yet another island-wide blackout yesterday, will open to more investment from the US, especially from Cuban Americans. Details have yet to emerge, but the shift comes as the communist-run island runs out of fuel due to a de facto blockade on oil deliveries imposed by US President Donald Trump, who said on Monday he could now “take” the country and “do whatever I want with it.” Rumors are swirling of a possible US-Cuba deal in which Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, would resign in order to pave the way for closer economic relations between the US and the Cuban regime. Since 2020, as much as 10% of the Cuban population has fled an economic crisis brought on by economic mismanagement, US sanctions, and the tourism-killing effects of the pandemic.
