LONDON, April 19. /TASS/. Tehran does not plan to immediately retaliate amid reports of an attack on Iranian soil, Reuters reported, citing an unidentified senior Iranian official.

"The foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed. We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack," the news agency quoted him as saying.

MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. Russia will not announce pauses in fighting if new talks on Ukraine begin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Sputnik, Govorit Moskva and Komsomolskaya Pravda radio stations.

He also noted that the Ukrainian authorities could not be trusted. "First, he (Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky - TASS) banned himself from holding talks," Lavrov noted, adding: "Second, they cannot be trusted."

ANKARA, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye on Friday expressed its concern that tensions between Iran and Israel could turn into a wider conflict, calling on both countries to refrain from any steps that could escalate the conflict after an alleged Israeli attack against Iranian targets.

"In light of the latest developments, it is becoming increasingly evident that the tensions that were initially caused by Israel's illegal attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus risk turning into a permanent conflict," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

CARACAS, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela on Thursday again rejected "the United States government's intention to monitor, protect, control and manipulate the Venezuelan oil industry."

At a press conference, Foreign Affairs Minister Yvan Gil read a statement confirming that "Venezuela will never recognize and accept" the "illegal policy of imposing coercive measures and licenses" against the South American nation by the United States.

CARACAS, April 18. /TASS/. The Ukrainian trace is obvious in the Crocus City Hall attack case, and the law enforcement employees exert efforts to identify the instigators of this crime, Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov said during the meeting with the Venezuelan Ministry of Interior, Justice and Peace Remigio Ceballos Ichaso in Caracas.

MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. Iran suspended flights above some of its cities, such as Isfahan, Shiraz and Tehran, the IRNA news agency reported.

Besides, air defense systems were activated in Isfahan, Reuters said citing an Iranian source. Presumably, the systems reacted to a drone.

IRNA said air defenses were in action in several Iranian provinces.

UNITED NATIONS, APRIL 19. /TASS/. The United States exercised its veto right to block a UN Security Council resolution granting full UN membership to Palestine, a TASS correspondent reported.

A total of 12 countries, including Russia and China, voted in favor of the document, while two countries — Switzerland and the United Kingdom — abstained. The United States was the only country that voted against the proposed resolution.

19 April 2024; AP: CAPRI, Italy; The United States told the Group of Seven foreign ministers on Friday that it received “last minute” information from Israel about a drone action in Iran, Italy’s foreign minister said.

KUALA LUMPUR, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia on Friday expressed its disappointment over a U.S. decision to use its veto to deny Palestine's full membership in the United Nations.

It also called into question the sincerity of the United States to realize the inalienable rights of the Palestinians, including their right to self-determination, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

DAMASCUS, April 19 (Xinhua) -- In the early hours of Friday, the Israeli military launched a series of airstrikes targeting Syrian air defense sites in the southern region, the Syrian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The airstrikes started at approximately 2:55 a.m. local time on Friday (2355 GMT Thursday) from northern Israel and aimed at air defense installations in southern Syria, it said.

The strikes caused material losses, but no casualties were reported, it added.

Tehran, IRNA — Over 100 pro-Palestinian protesters have been arrested on the campus of New York’s Columbia University as police cleared an encampment set up by students demonstrating against Israel’s war on Gaza, media outlets have reported.

Several students involved in the protest said they were also suspended from Columbia University and its associate institution, Barnard College. They include Isra Hirsi, who is the daughter of Ilhan Omar, a Democrat in the United States House of Representatives, Al Jazeera reported on Friday.

19 April 2024; AP: The U.S. and U.K. on Thursday imposed a new round of sanctions on Iran as concern grows that Tehran’s unprecedented attack on Israel could fuel a wider war in the Middle East.