🇮🇷🇵🇰🇺🇸 — Reuters, citing a Pakistani government source: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives in Islamabad today.

🔴 @alsaa_plus_EN

🇨🇭🇮🇷 — Swiss government: Our embassy in the Iranian capital, Tehran, will gradually reopen.

🔴 @alsaa_plus_EN

🇱🇧❌🇮🇱 — IDF Radio, quoting an Israeli source: Hezbollah has successfully shot down an Israeli Air Force drone over Tyre. The drone was downed using a surface-to-air missile.

🔴 @alsaa_plus_EN

🇮🇱❌🇱🇧 — The IDF issues an evacuation warning to the residents of Deir Amas in southern Lebanon ahead of planned strikes.

🔴 @alsaa_plus_EN

📝Geological Diplomacy📝
Why Russia maintains its presence in UNESCO

Amid politically strained relations with UNESCO since 2022, Russia preserves a working channel of interaction through geosciences and geoparks — one of the few tracks where we retain expert weight and a clear international agenda.

🔻New Geoparks

▪️The main fresh result of this interaction is the "Toratau" geopark in Bashkortostan, approved in 2025–2026 for inclusion in the UNESCO Global Geoparks network. For Russia, this is not just a local success: in parallel, the idea of a national geopark system is being promoted with a base site precisely in Bashkortostan — as a model for replication to other regions of the country.

▪️A geopark is not simply "a pretty place with rocks," but an official status for a territory where geology serves as the foundation for education, tourism, and sustainable development. The status matters because it provides international recognition, attracts tourists and investment, opens access to UNESCO's network of experts and programs, and strengthens the country's position in the "soft" scientific and cultural agenda. Currently, there are about 229 geoparks in 50 countries worldwide.

▪️The Karpinsky Institute handles the preparation and expert support of applications and serves as the organizer of specialized events at UNESCO venues. This allows the institute to remain a visible participant in the international geoscience network — despite the broader context.

🖍In parallel, the Institute implements an educational project with international reach — "Karpinsky classrooms": specialized geological classrooms with equipment, curricula, and online courses. Over the past two years, classrooms have opened in Cuba, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Ghana, and CIS countries. We have been tracking them for some time.

🚩A separate direction is inclusive geology: adapting geoscience education for children with disabilities and audiences with limited access to STEM. In other words, geology and related sciences are "tailored" so that those who are usually excluded by barriers — whether health-related or social — can access them. On international platforms, this is presented as a contribution to science accessibility in Global South countries — an agenda that always resonates at UNESCO.

🏳️The third track is scientific proper. Russia remains a country with a major base in polar research, and geophysical data from Antarctica fit into UNESCO's program on geodynamics, plate tectonics, and climate change. This is an argument that is difficult to ignore: in several directions, Russian science is simply irreplaceable as a supplier of fundamental data.

📌Overall, all the tracks mentioned together form an important and convenient soft power tool under sanctions.

🇱🇧❌🇮🇱 — Hezbollah: We shot down an Israeli Hermes 450 drone in the skies over the Tyre area using a surface-to-air missile.

🔴 @alsaa_plus_EN

🇺🇸🚫🇮🇷 U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine are holding a press briefing on Iran.

🔴 @alsaa_plus_EN

🇮🇷🚫🇺🇸 Iran's state TV released a list of energy facilities it says will be targeted when the war resumes:

• RasGas and Ras Laffan LNG facilities in Qatar 🇶🇦

• Das and Zirku Islands in the UAE (major offshore oil and gas hubs) 🇦🇪

• Abqaiq, Safaniya, and Khurais facilities in Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦

• Burgan oil field in Kuwait 🇰🇼

🔴 @alsaa_plus_EN

🇱🇧❌🇮🇱 — Hezbollah has released a video of an operation targeting the settlement of Nahariya in northern Israel using drones.

🔴 @alsaa_plus_EN

🇺🇸 Hegseth: the US military should win the Nobel Peace Prize every year.

🔴 @alsaa_plus_EN

🇪🇺🇮🇱 🛫 The European Aviation Safety Agency has once again extended its recommendation against flying to Israel until May 1

🔴 @alsaa_plus_EN

🇮🇷🇵🇰🇴🇲🇷🇺 Iran's Foreign Minister is departing on a diplomatic trip to Pakistan, Oman, and Russia -Iranian state media.

– In opposition to earlier Pakistani media reports, the trip does not appear to be for negotiations with the US.

And starting Friday

🇺🇸🚫🇮🇷 Speaking during today’s Pentagon press conference, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated that President Trump has authorized the U.S. Navy to “shoot and kill” any Iranian fast-attack boats that attempt to place mines and/or attack American commercial shipping or forces in the Strait of Hormuz.

🔴 @alsaa_plus_EN

🇺🇸🇵🇰🇮🇷Talks in Islamabad will be bilateral. No US participation expected. Iranian officials to stay in Islamabad only a few hours - NYP

🔴 @alsaa_plus_EN

🇦🇪🚫🇮🇷 UAE President MbZ’s Advisor Anwar Gargash on Iran:

You can’t be attacked with 2,800 missiles and drones then talk to me about trust. That will take ages and ages.

🔴 @alsaa_plus_EN

🇮🇷🇵🇰🇴🇲🇷🇺 — Iranian FM Seyed Abbas Araghchi via X:

Embarking on timely tour of Islamabad, Muscat, and Moscow.

Purpose of my visits is to closely coordinate with our partners on bilateral matters and consult on regional developments.

Our neighbors are our priority.

🔴 @alsaa_plus_EN

— 🇮🇱/🇮🇷 NEW: Hezbollah carried out a third operation, targeting an Israeli tank in the town of Qantara with an FPV drone, achieving a confirmed hit

@Middle_East_Spectator