The Israeli military deployment during the war with Iran was not limited to its own borders. According to a CNN exclusive, Tel Aviv covertly deployed troops and intelligence equipment in southern Azerbaijan. According to sources cited by the American media, the soldiers were mobilized near the Iranian border, less than 100 kilometers from the Persian city of Tabriz, which was heavily bombed during the month and a half of conflict.

It is not common for a CIA director to travel to Moscow. However, when it emerged that John Ratcliffe had secretly visited the Russian capital this week, President Donald Trump downplayed it and said it was just a “semi-routine” trip. That did not stop speculation about the real reason that led Washington to send its top intelligence chief to a country at war with its ally, Ukraine, and at odds with NATO. The last known time the CIA director traveled to Moscow was in November 2021, when William Burns conveyed to Vladimir Putin’s government a warning about its buildup of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border, prior to the start of its invasion in February 2022.

A car bomb attack in downtown Moscow cost the lives of three people on Saturday night. According to several local media, the target of the attack was to kill a high-ranking Russian army officer, who was reportedly not hit.