WORLD BRIEFING: June 23, 2024

The Biden administration will again allow Iran to run absentee voter stations on U.S. soil for next week’s Iranian presidential election, VOA has learned, prompting the Islamic republic’s critics to denounce the plan as absurd and shameful. Iranian Foreign Ministry official Alireza Mahmoudi told state media on Sunday that Tehran is planning to set up more than 30 ballot stations across the United States for the June 28 vote to replace Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last month. Mahmoudi said ballot boxes for Iranian absentee voters would be set up at the Iranian Interests Section of the Pakistani embassy in Washington and in New York but did not identify other locations. Iranian state media say the United States is home to the largest proportion of overseas-based Iranians at 30%. The U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey estimates there are about half a million people born in Iran or of Iranian origin in the U.S., while the Iranian American nonprofit group National Union for Democracy in Iran, or NUFDI, says it has a higher estimate of more than 1 million. Canada and Turkey follow with 12% shares of the Iranian diaspora, according to Iranian state media. Mahmoudi said Iran is arranging absentee voting in other diaspora locations as well. - VOA

At least three dead and 54 injured in Kharkiv in what local officials describe as a direct hit on a densely populated residential complex. Initial images suggest a very powerful explosion, impacting multiple locations. Mayor Ihor Terekhov said: “There are dead and wounded. The strike hit a residential building,” Terekhov wrote on Telegram. Regional Governor Oleh Synegubov said on Telegram that "doctors are fighting for the lives of four of the patients -- two women and two men, who are in serious condition."

Other Topics of Interest

Eurotopics: EU Starts Accession Talks With Ukraine and Moldova

However, it remains to be seen how long the negotiations will last and whether they will culminate in accession. Commentators discuss the next steps.

Ukraine's Energy Ministry and the national grid operator Ukrenerho say the country's battered energy infrastructure was targeted again in a large-scale Russian missile and drone attack early on June 22. The latest series of strikes damaged power transmission systems in the Zaporizhzhya and Lviv regions, Ukrenerho said in a statement on Telegram, adding that two employees needed hospitalization after sustaining injuries in the attack in the Zaporizhzhya region. The Energy Ministry said that, because of the attack, the overhead power lines in eastern Ukraine were disconnected, which led to a decrease in energy supply in the region. Ikrenerho said the attack was the eighth large-scale strike targeting the country's energy grid over the past three months. - RFE/RL

At least two Israeli airstrikes shook Gaza City on Saturday, sending rescue workers rushing to the scene amid destruction and unconfirmed reports of high casualties. Many details remained unclear, but the Israeli military said its fighter jets had targeted “Hamas military infrastructure” at two sites in the area of Gaza City, without elaborating. Gazan rescue workers and residents said there were many killed and wounded at the scene, and that at least one of the strikes was big enough to kick up huge clouds of dust. Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Defense emergency rescue organization, said that more than 30 people had been killed and 50 wounded in separate strikes in at least three Gaza City residential neighborhoods — Tuffah, Shujaiyya and Shati — and that other victims were believed to still be trapped under rubble. - NYT

The Israeli military strapped an injured Palestinian man to the hood of a military vehicle during an operation on Saturday in the occupied West Bank. Video shows the man lying across the front of the Israeli jeep as it drove through a neighborhood of Jenin. The man appeared slumped on the hood of the vehicle as it drove past Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) ambulances. In response to questions about the incident, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Saturday that its forces violated “orders and standard operating procedures” and an investigation would be launched. - CNN

Two Airbus A340 aircraft, owned by Gambia’s leasing company Macka Invest, were diverted from Lithuania to Iran instead of their intended destinations, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. The planes departed from Šiauliai, Lithuania, in late February, but turned off their transponders upon entering Iranian airspace. One aircraft landed at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport, while the other landed at Konarak airport in Chabahar. This manoeuvre allowed Mahan Air, an Iranian aviation company, to recover the planes in violation of US sanctions tied to Iran’s nuclear programme. A third aircraft from Macka Invest was grounded in Šiauliai due to carrying spare parts. Aurelija Kuezada, director of Šiauliai Airport, explained that the third plane was held back to prevent it from potentially landing in Iran. Oro Navigacija, Lithuania’s state-owned navigation service, noted that the aircraft did not arouse suspicion and that their movements outside Lithuania fell under the jurisdiction of other countries’ air navigation services. - LRT