Amman, July 16: Several Middle Eastern countries, including Jordan, Qatar, Iran, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, have strongly condemned the recent Israeli airstrikes on Syrian military convoys near the southern city of Sweida.

In a joint statement on Tuesday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said they ordered the military to “immediately strike” Syrian forces and weapons in the area to “prevent the Syrian regime from harming” the Druze community, due to “the deep fraternal alliance with the Druze citizens of Israel and their familial and historical ties to the Druze in Syria.”

Condemning the Israeli strike on Syria, the Jordan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates described it as a “flagrant violation of international law and a dangerous escalation targeting Syria’s stability, sovereignty, and security.”

“The Ministry’s official spokesperson, Ambassador Sufian Al-Qudah, stressed the need to immediately halt these attacks and the necessity of respecting the sovereignty of the sisterly nation of Syria. Ambassador Al-Qudah reiterated the Kingdom’s stance and full solidarity with Syria, its security, stability, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the safety of its citizens, emphasizing that Syria’s security and stability are a cornerstone of regional stability,” Jordan Foreign Ministry stated.

Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al Khulaifi, affirmed that the country is following with deep concern the developments in the city of As-Suwayda in southern Syria, out of the firm belief that Syria’s security is an integral part of the region’s stability.

He further emphasised the importance of intensifying efforts to strengthen civil peace through dialogue and peaceful means.

“He expressed the State of Qatar’s condemnation of the Israeli attacks on the city of As-Suwayda, describing them as blatant violations of Syria’s sovereignty, international law, and the United Nations Charter, and a serious threat to regional security,” read a statement issued by Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Esmail Baqaei, expressed deep concern over the recent clashes in the Suwayda region of southern Syria, which resulted in the “deaths of dozens of civilians.”

The Foreign Ministry spokesman touched upon the ongoing “military aggressions” by the Israeli regime against Syria’s territorial integrity, occurring alongside its “continued occupation of significant parts of Syrian territory”.

“He described the persistent inaction of the United Nations Security Council in response to the regime’s acts of aggression against regional countries as highly dangerous and a major factor in emboldening the occupying regime,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a post on X.

Kuwait called on the international community and the Security Council to assume their responsibilities to deter these violations and put an end to them to preserve the security of the region, and affirm its solidarity with Syria to maintain its security and stability.

“Kuwait also expresses its strong condemnation and denunciation of the blatant Israeli attacks on the territories of the Syrian Arab Republic, which represent a continuation of a series of violations of international law and the United Nations Charter,” read a statement issued by the Kuwait Foreign Ministry.

Furthermore, Saudi Arabia condemned the “continued blatant Israeli attacks on Syrian territory, interference in its internal affairs, and destabilisation of its security and stability, in flagrant violation of international law and the 1974 Disengagement Agreement between Syria and Israel.”

According to the Saudi Foreign Ministry, the Kingdom renewed its call to the “international community to stand by the Syrian Arab Republic, support it at this stage, and confront these ongoing Israeli attacks and violations against Syria”.

Tehran, July 16: The Indian mission in Iran has advised its citizens to consider the evolving situation before undertaking non-essential travel to the country.

The Indian embassy in Iran also advised the citizens to continue to monitor the latest regional developments and follow updated advisories issued by the Indian authorities before visiting the country.

“In view of the security-related developments over the past several weeks, Indian nationals are advised to carefully consider the evolving situation before undertaking non-essential travel to Iran,” the Indian Embassy said in an advisory posted on X.

“Indian nationals already in Iran, and interested in leaving, may avail the commercial flight and ferry options which are available right now,” it said in the advisory.

The advisory comes given the security situation in the region and the recent conflict following Israel’s launch of “Operation Rising Lion” last month against Iran.

The situation escalated after Iran launched retaliatory airstrikes against Israel as well as the US military airbase in Qatar.

The US military also struck three sites in Iran, inserting itself into Israel’s effort to destroy the country’s nuclear programme.

The 12-day hostilities ended after US President Donald Trump announced a unilateral ceasefire from the Israeli side.

Israel has said its war, which began on June 13, was aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, an ambition Tehran has long denied holding.

New York, July 16: US President Donald Trump stated that India is working on a trade deal along the same lines as the one he announced with Indonesia, which will provide the US with greater access to the Indian market.

Under the deal with Jakarta, there will be a 19 per cent tariff on imports into the US, but none on exports from the US to Indonesia, he told reporters in Washington on Tuesday.

“India basically is working along that same line”, he said. “We’re going to have access into India”.

Negotiators from India and the US are working to reach a deal before the August 1 deadline Trump has set for making deals or face arbitrary tariffs.

While he has issued letters to several countries and the European Union threatening tariffs as high as 35 per cent if they don’t make a deal by that date, he has sent a similar warning to India.

It is not clear if he meant an exact duplication of the Indonesia deal, which would be a tough sell for India, or other levels of tariffs and other concessions by India.

If the bilateral trade agreement between the US and India under negotiation mirrors the Indonesian one, it would mean a 19 per cent tariff on India’s exports and none on imports from the US.

Trump also said that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin could agree to a peace deal with Ukraine before the 50-day deadline, which would spare India and others from buying Russian energy products from the 100 per cent punitive tariff he has threatened.

Asked by a reporter about the September 2 deadline, he said, “I don’t think 50 days is very long, and it could be sooner than that”.

Trump announced on Tuesday that he was taking strong action against Russia because it has so far refused to agree to a ceasefire in its war against Ukraine.

One of those is the imposition of a 100 per cent secondary tariff on countries importing energy from Russia making India and others collateral victims of the actions directed against Moscow.

The aim of the punitive tariffs on importers of Russian energy is to force them to stop the purchases and to cut off funds to Moscow, and to make the buyers put pressure on Russia to make a deal.

Meanwhile, the Republican Party’s leader in the Senate, John Thune, said that he was holding off on bringing a bill that sought to impose a 500 per cent tariff on Russian energy importers.

Trump had expressed scepticism about the need for such legislation when he could impose sanctions himself.

On the deal with Indonesia and a prospective deal with India, Trump said, “You have to understand, we had no access into any of these countries. Our people couldn’t go in. And now we’re getting access because of what we’re doing with the tariffs”.

He said that Indonesia has high-quality copper and rare earth minerals that the US needs.