Iranian Plateau

Iran's attack on Israel with more than 300 missiles and drones is a signification escalation of the conflict between the two. For the first time, Iran struck directly at Israel itself, not through proxies. Tehran had given notice that it would respond to the Israeli attack on its consulate in Damascus on April 1.

Iranians are expected to visit Türkiye the most during Nevruz celebrations, taking benefit of their two-week national holiday, sector representatives have said.

Iranian tourists are preparing to spend the Nevruz period between March 21 and April 1 in Türkiye. The initial rush of tourists will arrive from the Kapıköy border gate in the eastern province of Van on March 17.

A Taliban official said journalists were committing "a major sin" by taking pictures, Afghan media reported yesterday.

Television and pictures of living things were banned under the previous Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001, but a similar edict has so far not been imposed since authorities took back power in Afghanistan in 2021.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Feb. 2 that his country will not start a war, but it will "respond strongly" to anyone who bullies it amid remarks by U.S. officials on attack plans on Iranian sites in the Middle East.

Poppy cultivation and opium production have plunged 95 percent in Afghanistan since Taliban authorities banned the crop, according to a U.N. report published Sunday.

Since returning to power in 2021, Taliban authorities have vowed to end illegal drug production in Afghanistan and in April 2022 banned the cultivation of the poppy plant, from which opium and heroin are made.

A Greek shipping company has pleaded guilty to smuggling sanctioned Iranian crude oil and agreed to pay a $2.4 million fine, newly unsealed US court documents seen Thursday by The Associated Press show.

Around 200,000 Iranian tourists visited the eastern province of Van in the first six months of 2023, providing a great deal of income to the tradesmen of the region.

Van, which received over a million visitors the previous year, is currently witnessing an elevated Iranian tourist density once again, local media reported.

Afghanistan's ruling Taliban government has said it signed seven mining contracts amounting to $6.5 billion in investment, in the biggest such round of deals since seizing power two years ago.

The seven contracts are with locally based companies, many of whom have foreign partners in countries including China, Iran, and Türkiye.

About 11,000 Iranian tourists who want to spend Nevruz holiday in Türkiye have started to come to the eastern province of Van by entering through Kapıköy Customs Gate over the last 4 days.

Iranian tourists also make a great contribution to Van's economy every year. Families and friend groups who go shopping during the day have fun in entertainment centers in the evening.

Iranian officials said drones struck a munitions manufacturing facility in the central Iranian city of Isfahan overnight in what U.S. officials on Sunday said was an Israeli operation, the Wall Street Journal reported.