US's CENTCOM announces multi-day exercises amid Iran tensions

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The United States on Tuesday announced a major multi-day Air Force exercise in the Middle East, as Washington and Tehran face off over Iran's deadly crackdown on anti-government demonstrations.

The announcement came a day after the US military said the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group had arrived in the Middle East, dramatically boosting American firepower in the region.

The exercise will "demonstrate the ability to deploy, disperse, and sustain combat airpower across" the Middle East, the US Air Force component of Central Command, which is responsible for American forces in the region, said in a statement.

No date or exact location for the exercise were released.

Recent clashes between Syria's military and Kurdish forces are a "setback" and a "plot" to derail the PKK peace process with Turkey, a spokesman for the Kurdish militant group told AFP on Tuesday.

"The developments in Syria and the larger Middle East have a direct effect on the peace process in Turkey," said Zagros Hiwa, spokesman for the political wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

The attacks "against the Kurds are a plot and conspiracy against the peace process and they indicate a setback in the process", he told AFP.

His remarks were echoed by another senior PKK official who warned that policies targeting the Kurds in northern Syria were not compatible with peace efforts.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had a phone call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday, telling the Gulf kingdom's de facto ruler that US threats against the Islamic republic would only result in instability.

"The threats and psychological operations of the Americans are aimed at disrupting the security of the region and will achieve nothing other than instability for them," Pezeshkian told Prince Mohammed, according to his office, after a US aircraft carrier reached the region.

Pezeshkian told Prince Mohammed that the "unity and cohesion" of Islamic countries can guarantee "lasting security, stability and peace in the region".

Two Iranian-backed militias in the Middle East are signaling their willingness to launch new attacks, likely trying to back Iran, which is concerned about an approaching US aircraft carrier after President Donald Trump threatened military action over its crackdown on nationwide protests.

Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on Monday hinted they were ready to resume attacks on shipping in the Red Sea; A short video by the Houthis included images of a ship on fire, with the caption: "Soon."

That came just after Iraq's Kataeb Hezbollah paramilitary group, long supported by Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, issued a direct threat late Sunday toward any attack targeting Iran, warning a "total war" in the region would be a result.

Ahmad "Abu Hussein" al-Hamidawi of Kataeb Hezbollah issued his own threat in a statement.

"We affirm to the enemies that the war on the (Islamic) Republic will not be a picnic; rather, you will taste the bitterest forms of death, and nothing will remain of you in our region," he said.

Iran has warned of "destructive consequences" if the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is listed as a terrorist organisation by the EU, state media reported Tuesday, after Italy's foreign minister urged Brussels to go ahead with the designation.

Tehran summoned Italy's ambassador to the Islamic republic, Paolo Amadei, and condemned Tajani's remarks as "irresponsible", warning of "destructive consequences" if the bloc went ahead with the move, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The ministry urged Rome to "reconsider its misguided stance on Iran", IRNA said.

France, in a joint statement with the US and European allies, on Tuesday called on Syria's government and the SDF to "avoid any security vacuum" that could benefit the Islamic State (IS) group.

"We reiterate the need to maintain and focus collective efforts on the fight against ISIS," said the statement issued by Britain, France, Germany and the United States after a meeting of representatives from the countries' foreign ministries in Paris.

"We call upon all parties to avoid any security vacuum in and around ISIS detention centres," it added, using another acronym for IS.

The Syrian government hopes to hold new round of integration talks with Kurdish forces as early as today, a Syrian government official told Reuters on Tuesday.

The talks would focus on practical ways to implement an agreement mediated by the United States this month, the official said. On Saturday, a four-day ceasefire between the Syrian government and Kurdish forces was extended by 15 days.

Palestine Action activist, Umer Khalid, has ended his hunger and thirst strike in prison after his health deteriorated.

According to his family, the 22-year-old was treated in intensive care amid hears of being at high risk of a heart attack.

His hunger strike lasted a total of 16 days and ended on Sunday. He has since returned to London's Wormwood Scrubs Prison, where he is being held on pre-trial demand.

Britain, the United States, France and Germany on Tuesday welcomed the 15-day extension of the ceasefire between the Syrian government and the SDF, and urged all parties to strictly adhere to the agreement.

"We call upon all parties to strictly adhere to the ceasefire and to exercise their utmost restraint. We urge all external parties to join us in pursuit of peace and de-escalation of violence", the four nations said in a joint statement.

They also urged all parties to swiftly agree to a permanent ceasefire.

Iran's foreign ministry summoned Italy's ambassador over Rome's efforts to place the Revolutionary Guards on the European Union's terrorist register, state media reported on Tuesday.

Iran's foreign ministry warned of the "destructive consequences" of any labelling against the Revolutionary Guards and called upon the Italian foreign minister to "correct his ill-considered approaches toward Iran," the media report said.

The European Union is set to target senior members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in a first volley of sanctions over the recent deadly crackdown on mass protests, diplomats said Tuesday.

The 27-nation bloc is expected to announce asset freezes and visa bans on 21 individuals and entities - including high-ranking IRGC members - when EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Thursday, diplomats said.

Ambassadors from EU member states are due to greenlight the decision on Wednesday, ahead of its formal adoption.

They are also expected to agree to sanction 10 more individuals and entities over Iranian drone and missile supplies to Russia for use in Ukraine.

The new sanctions come as calls grow for the EU to formally list the IRGC as a "terrorist organisation", with Italy throwing its weight behind the push.

Iran's currency dropped to a record low of 1,500,000 rials to the US dollar on Tuesday, according to several Iranian currency tracking websites, weeks after protests sparked by the rial's dwindling value rocked the country.

Hamas is seeking to incorporate its 10,000 police officers into a new U.S.-backed Palestinian administration for Gaza, sources say, a demand likely to be opposed by Israel as the militant group debates whether to surrender its arms.

In a letter to staff on Sunday, seen by Reuters, Gaza's Hamas-run government urged its more than 40,000 civil servants and security personnel to cooperate with the NCAG but assured them it was working to incorporate them into the new government.

That would include the roughly 10,000-strong Hamas-run police force, four sources familiar with the matter said, a demand that has not been previously reported. Many of them have been patrolling Gaza as Hamas reasserts its grip in areas under its control.

It was not immediately clear whether Israel, which has adamantly rejected any Hamas involvement in Gaza's future, would agree to the civil and security workers' inclusion in the NCAG.

Four Palestinians were killed in Israeli shelling near the Al-Batsh Cemetery in the Al-Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City, according to medical sources at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital speaking to Palestinian news agency Wafa, adding that three others were wounded.

Israel is preparing for talks with the Trump administration on a new 10-year security deal, seeking to extend US military support even as Israeli leaders signal they are planning for a future with reduced American cash grants, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

Gil Pinchas, speaking to the FT before stepping down as chief financial adviser to Israel's military and defence ministry, said Israel would seek to prioritise joint military and defence projects over cash handouts in talks that he expected to take place in the coming weeks.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside regular business hours.

"The partnership is more important than just the net financial issue in this context  ... there are a lot of things that are equal to money," Pinchas told the FT. "The view of this needs to be wider."

Pinchas said pure financial support - or "free money" - worth $3.3 billion a year, which Israel can use to purchase US weapons, was "one component of the MOU (that) could decrease gradually."

A US-based rights group said Tuesday it had confirmed the deaths of over 6,000 people in protests in Iran suppressed by security forces, adding it was investigating over 17,000 more potential deaths and warning a wave of arrests was ongoing.

NGOs tracking the toll have said their task has been impeded by an almost three-week internet shutdown, warning that confirmed figures are likely to be far lower than the actual toll.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it had confirmed that 6,126 people had been killed, including 5,777 protesters, 86 minors, 214 members of the security forces and 49 bystanders.

But the group, which has an extensive network of sources inside Iran and has tracked the protests on a daily basis since they began, added it was still investigating another 17,091 possible fatalities.

At least 41,880 people have been arrested, it said.

The group condemned "the continuation of communication control policies, the ongoing wave of arrests, and growing concerns over the safety of medical centres for the injured".

An Israeli airstrike on the town of Kfar Rumman in the Nabatieh district of south Lebanon killed two civilians, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.

Israeli forces have issued demolition notices to shops near Qalandiya refugee camp north of occupied East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The notices, which were given to businesses on the Al-Matar Street near the camp, came on the second day of extensive Israeli raids on towns north of occupied East Jerusalem, including on the town of Kafr Aqab.