Jordan's king says violence in Iran Israel Gaza is threat to people everywhere

Amman, Jun 17 (AP) King Abdullah II condemned Israel's offensive on Iran in a speech to European Union parliamentarians on Tuesday in Strasbourg, France.
     “There is no telling where the boundaries of this battleground will end,” he said. “And that, my friends, is a threat to people everywhere.”
     Often interrupted by applause, the king said that “consequences ripple across borders.”
     “When our global community fails to bridge the gap between principle and action, when values are not practiced, they become performative, abstract and expendable," he said. "We are at another defining crossroad in our history, one that demands a choice, power or principle the rule of law or the rule of force, decline or renewal.”
    
     More explosions in Tehran as group reports mounting death toll
    
     The sound of two explosions rang out across Tehran early on Tuesday afternoon. Black smoke rose from the northern part of the city, near Iranian state television headquarters and other government offices. There was no immediate acknowledgement from authorities of the attack.
     Meanwhile, Human Rights Activists, a Washington-based group that monitors Iran, said it had counted at least 452 deaths and 646 people injured in Iran since the Israeli campaign started last Friday.
     The group crosschecks local reports in Iran against a network of sources it has developed in the country.
    
     US joining conflict would lead to broader conflict, says EU foreign policy chief
    
     The European Union's top diplomat said on Tuesday that the United States joining the conflict between Israel and Iran would “drag the region into a broader conflict.”
     Kaja Kallas added that during a recent call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, he had “emphasised that it's also not in their interest to be drawn into this conflict.”
     Kallas said the foreign ministers of the 27-nation bloc, in a video conference meeting, agreed on a peaceful political resolution of the conflict in Gaza and between Israel and Iran .
     “Ministers called on all sides to abide by international law, exercise restraint and avoid actions that could spiral out of control.”
     She said that “all agreed the urgent need for de-escalation” and that “Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and diplomacy is the solution to prevent this”.
    
     Russian drone production not affected by conflict
    
     Russia makes the drones it uses in its war in Ukraine and is unlikely to be impacted immediately by the conflict in the Middle East, said David Albright, an expert on Russian and Iranian drones.
     The drones are made predominantly in the Alabuga plant in Russia's Tatarstan region and while Moscow initially bought a limited number of drones from Tehran, it later opened its own production facilities.
     Iran has “decades of experience” building drones, Albright said, and Russia could suffer because it will not be able to get more “advanced drone models” from Iran, which is likely to need them. (AP) SCY
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)