With Iran increasingly isolated among its Gulf neighbors, recent reports say Tehran has been deepening its ties in the South Caucasus with the Republic of Georgia.

The former Soviet republic, which was until recently seen as an aspiring European Union and potential NATO member candidate, has slowly moved closer to Tehran.

"Iran has built a vast influence infrastructure in Georgia, which includes entities sanctioned by the U.S. government for links to extremism and viewed in Washington as fronts for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)," Giorgi Kandelaki, former member of the Georgian Parliament, told Fox News Digital. 

IRAN BACKLASH FORCES GULF ALLIES TOWARD WASHINGTON AS REGIONAL TENSIONS RISE

Kandelaki, co-author of a recent report with the Hudson Institute titled Georgia’s Iranian Turn: Tehran’s Rapid Expansion of Influence in a Once-Committed U.S. Ally, said that Tbilisi’s turn toward Iran is bad for Georgians but also bad for U.S. interests in the region.

"Georgia has an overwhelmingly pro-U.S. public opinion committed to Western values with it also being viewed as a traditional U.S. ally in Washington. This reality presents a terrible precedent and reversing this trajectory is in the interest of both the U.S. but also Georgian society," he added.

While Georgia has remained diplomatically neutral, the Hudson report details the budding ties between the two countries and how Iran uses Georgia as a network for intelligence infrastructure, penetrating Georgia’s religious, educational and cultural institutions to impact society.

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As far back as 2007, Iran opened the Georgian branch of Al-Mustafa University, which is considered one of Iran’s main arms for the dissemination of Islamic Republic founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's ideology abroad, according to United Against a Nuclear Iran.

The U.S. Treasury Department stated in 2020 that Iran’s IRGC-Quds Force uses Al-Mustafa University in Georgia as an international recruitment network for Iran and acts as a conduit for the Islamic Republic’s ideological and security interests.

"Al-Mustafa has facilitated unwitting tourists from Western countries to come to Iran, from whom IRGC-Qud's Force members sought to collect intelligence," the Treasury Department said. The Treasury Department also said that the university facilitated student exchanges with foreign universities to develop intelligence sources.

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GEORGIAN DEMONSTRATORS WATCH IRAN CLOSELY AS THEIR OWN PROTESTS GRIND ON

A report from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies estimated the university’s annual budget is $100 million and has trained tens of thousands of emissaries across the world who spread Iran’s revolutionary ideology.

Iran has utilized sympathetic Georgians to commit international crimes to advance its domestic agenda.

While no links have ever been made with the Tbilisi government, a Georgian national, Agil Aslanov, who had ties to organized crime, was reportedly recruited by the Quds Forces to assassinate a prominent Jewish leader in Azerbaijan in 2022. In another case in 2025, Georgian national Polad Omarov was indicted in federal court in New York City and sentenced to 25 years in prison for attempting to assassinate prominent Iranian activist Masih Alinejad, a vocal critic of the Islamic Republic’s use of violence against peaceful protesters.

Georgia once made significant inroads to foster political and security ties with the United States following the Rose Revolution in 2003, becoming a bedrock of regional security in the Black Sea region. After decades of Soviet rule, Georgia aligned itself with the United States, contributing to missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and eventually signed a Strategic Partnership Charter with the United States in 2009.

Tbilisi's ties with Tehran have been expanded under the pro-Russia Georgian Dream party that took power in 2012. That bond, according to analysts, has tightened after Georgia’s pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili finished her six-year term in office in 2024 and was replaced by Mikheil Kavelashvili, who was chosen as her successor by a newly established electoral college reportedly dominated by Georgian Dream supporters.

INSIDE IRAN’S MILITARY: MISSILES, MILITIAS AND A FORCE BUILT FOR SURVIVAL

Kavelashvili’s installment followed parliamentary elections in Oct. 2024 marred by some irregularities, according to the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi, in which the Georgian Dream declared victory. 

Leadership ties between both countries have steadily grown since the Georgian Dream's disputed 2024 parliamentary victory.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze visited Iran in May 2024 for the funeral of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter accident, and again in July to attend the inauguration of Iran’s current president, Masoud Pezeshkian where Iranian news agencies reported both leaders praised the growing relationship between the two countries.

WHO ACTUALLY RUNS IRAN RIGHT NOW? THE KEY POWER PLAYERS AS TRUMP CLAIMS TALKS TO 'TOP' OFFICIAL

Many Georgian companies are also importing oil and petroleum products from Iran, a key economic lifeline for the regime and its regional war efforts, according to Georgian NGO Civic IDEA. In 2024, Iranian oil export revenue was approximately $43 billion, which accounts for roughly 57% of Iran’s total export revenue.

According to Civic IDEA, between 2022 and 2025, 72 companies registered in Georgia imported Iranian oil and petroleum, including eight inked to donors of the ruling Georgian Dream party, boosting Iran’s revenue stream even while heavily sanctioned by Western nations.

"Georgia has become Iran’s primary sanctions-evasion hub …funneling hard currency back to Tehran’s war machine and the IRGC through specific schemes in oil imports," Nicholas Chkhaidze, national security and strategic communications analyst based in Tbilisi, told Fox News Digital.

Chkhaidze said these Georgian companies that import Iranian oil pay in cash and can bypass international banking sanctions. 

"The scale is massive, as Tehran uses the revenue from these schemes to fund its regional operations," Chkhaidze claimed.

Telephone and email requests for comment sent to the government of Georgia were not returned. A spokesman for Iran's mission to the United Nations would not comment on the relations between the two countries.

Iran regime uses former Soviet republic to dodge sanctions, fund war machine: report

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With Iran increasingly isolated among its Gulf neighbors, recent reports say Tehran has been deepening its ties in the South Caucasus with ...

KAOHSIUNG – Taiwan: For the first time in nearly a decade, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) supreme leader and the head of the communist party, Xi Jinping, held a meeting with the chairperson of Taiwan’s main opposition party. Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (also known as the Kuomintang, KMT), met Xi in Beijing on Friday. 

Before their closed-door meeting the pair posed for pictures. Xi said that Taiwan is historically a part of China and remains an "inalienable" and "inseparable" part of Chinese territory. He said the "rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" was a "broader trend" that will not change. China’s state-controlled media and government officials often repeat these party lines, even though, after its establishment in 1949, the communist regime has not ruled Taiwan for a single day.

The two met in their capacities as heads of their respective political parties. China refuses to speak to the democratically elected government of Taiwan, led by President Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The DPP won Taiwan’s presidential elections in 2016, 2020, and 2024, although in 2024 it narrowly lost control of the parliament to an opposition coalition led by the KMT. 

TAIWAN 'WILL NOT ESCALATE, BUT WILL NOT YIELD' TO CHINESE INTIMIDATION, FOREIGN MINISTER WARNS

The meeting came as Taiwan is mired in a dispute over defense spending, with the opposition coalition blocking President Lai’s proposed $40 billion special defense budget. During a recent visit to Taipei, Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., said approval of the package would send a clear message that Taiwan is prepared to invest in its own defense and "peace through strength."

Hours before Cheng and Xi smiled for the cameras, Lai did not directly mention the Beijing meeting, but said on social media that any compromise with an authoritarian regime would damage Taiwan’s sovereignty. There are also concerns that if the special budget isn’t approved soon, the willingness of President Donald Trump to sell weapons to Taiwan could change should Trump decide to strike some kind of deal with Xi at a possible meeting in May.

Xi’s term "rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," which was repeated by Cheng, is a reference to the goal of China becoming a – if not the – major world power by 2049, the centennial of the founding of the communist PRC. 

In comments that are sure to evoke controversy in Taiwan, Cheng repeated much of Xi’s phrasing, claiming that in the more than 100 years of interactions between the KMT and the CCP, "all we ever wanted is to guide the Chinese nation out of decline and toward rejuvenation." Cheng went on to say, "The great Chinese rejuvenation involves people on both sides of the strait. It is about the reawakening and resurgence of Chinese civilization."

That’s not how many here in Taiwan see things. Rose Chou, 45, works as an administrator in one of the biggest primary schools in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan’s largest city and a major port. Chou told Fox News Digital it was time for Taiwan to dump any connection to being China or a part of China. "Yes, I want a Republic of Taiwan. I have an 18-year-old son. And yes, I realize we may have to fight. I’m willing to fight."

US LAWMAKERS WARN TAIWAN TO ‘MEET THE MOMENT’ AS CHINA STAGES INVASION-STYLE DRILLS

Chou readily admitted that most people she knows favor maintaining the status quo. A very small number, she said, are committed to the idea of unification – but under what terms they hope that could occur, Chou said she didn’t know. 

Under the status quo that dates from the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, Taiwan’s official name remains the Republic of China, to nominally indicate that Taiwan is a part of China, just not "Red China." This formula previously satisfied the communist regime in Beijing, but – especially since Xi Jinping’s rise – Beijing has pushed Taiwan towards outright submission.

A meeting between the head of the KMT and the CPP hasn’t happened in almost a decade, but there is precedent. A KMT chair met Xi in 2015, and again in 2016, and separately, in 2015, then-Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou met Xi in Singapore, during which each addressed the other as "Mister," and titles used were "Leader of Taiwan" and "Leader of Mainland China," respectively.

In a statement after the meeting, a spokesperson for the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto U.S. embassy in Taipei, said, "The United States supports cross-Strait dialogue. We expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the Strait. Meaningful cross-Strait exchange should focus on dialogue between Beijing’s leadership and Taiwan’s democratically elected authorities without preconditions, while also including engagement with all other political parties in Taiwan."

Elizabeth Freund Larus, a Taiwan Fellowship Scholar in Taipei told Fox News Digital the KMT’s traditional China approach no longer connects with much of Taiwan’s electorate. "KMT Chair Cheng’s trip is trying to replicate Ma Ying-jeou’s approach to cross-Strait relations," Larus said. "But that approach is 30-years old and no longer appeals to the Taiwanese. As a result, many people in Taiwan are critical of her China trip."

Larus said Beijing is also likely to use the visit for domestic propaganda, presenting it as proof that Taiwan embraces cultural and social affinities with mainland China while casting the government in Taipei as an outlier. "Cheng may be welcomed in Beijing," Larus said, "but her party may receive a less enthusiastic reception" in local elections later this year and in the next presidential and legislative elections in 2028.

Taipei-based political risk analyst and Tamkang University assistant professor Ross Feingold told Fox News Digital, "President Lai’s DPP has a savvy media team, which for many years has successfully shaped public opinion towards China. Following today’s meeting, Cheng and the KMT will be portrayed as traitors willing to sell out Taiwan."

He concluded by noting, "Ultimately, though, the success or failure of Cheng’s visit to China and meeting with Xi will be determined by Taiwan’s voters, despite efforts from China and the United States to influence events. For the Trump administration, though, its near-term priority in Taiwan remains legislative approval to purchase billions of dollars of American weapons and speedy implementation of Taiwan’s commitment to invest $250 billion in the United States."

Taiwan opposition leader meets Xi in Beijing as Taiwan defense fight intensifies

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KAOHSIUNG – Taiwan: For the first time in nearly a decade, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) supreme leader and the head of the communis...

Just hours before the ceasefire deal went into effect on Tuesday between the U.S. and Iran’s clerical regime to pause fighting for two weeks, the regime urged young children and adults to surround Iranian energy facilities as human shields in reaction to President Trump's threat to wipe out its energy infrastructure.

The thinking behind Iran’s regime's willingness to use children and civilians as cannon fodder, according to observers, is that an American airstrike that kills children or civilians will dramatically sway U.S. public opinion against the war and create a rally-round-the-regime effect in Tehran.

And now with high-level peace talks due to start between the U.S. and Iran in Pakistan, Tehran can be seen as the godfather of propaganda when it comes to manipulating much of the world's media — even more skilled than its terror apprentice forces in Gaza and Lebanon. Yemen and beyond.

INSIDE TEHRAN AFTER STRIKES: IRANIAN WOMAN DESCRIBES FEAR, CHECKPOINTS AND PEOPLE USED AS ‘HUMAN SHIELDS’

Lisa Daftari, an Iran expert, told Fox News Digital that the theocratic state’s exploitation of civilians for their war aim is part and parcel of their nearly half-century playbook against the West. "The Islamic Republic is the Godfather of propaganda. It has spent 47 years perfecting the art of saying one thing at the negotiating table and doing another in the field. The Trump administration should walk into these talks with maximum skepticism. This regime has never kept its word on its weapons, and there's no reason to believe this time is different."

She pointed to Tehran's "record of positioning civilian infrastructure — hospitals, mosques, schools and now power plants — as military shields. They did it in Lebanon through Hezbollah. They did it in Gaza through Hamas. And they are doing it now on their own soil, with their own people, under coercion. Iranians who refuse to participate face consequences."

Daftari, who is the Editor-in-Chief of the Foreign Desk, added that, "Iran's regime has never hesitated to use its own people as a shield. The difference now is they're doing it in front of cameras, in real time, knowing exactly which images will make prime-time news around the world. This is propaganda. And the two-week ceasefire just gave them more time to manipulate the West and continue on in their narrative warfare."

Right at the beginning of "Operation Epic Fury", the world's media was full of accounts from Iran of an air strike that reportedly hit an Iranian school for girls in the town of Minab Feb. 28. The air strike reportedly killed 175 people, most of whom were children, at the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school, according to the regime. The school was located on the same street as buildings used by the IRGC. A Pentagon investigation was launched in March to look into the allegations that a U.S. missile struck the school.

Speaking to Fox News Digital last month, Iranian-American journalist Banafsheh Zand, who has been following the reporting, pointed to the fact that the school that has been there for more than a decade and its reported affiliation with Iran’s military. She said that while the regime claims between 168 fatalities and 180 fatalities, mostly girls between the ages of 7 and 12, along with teachers and parents from the school, there has been no independent confirmation of the reported casualty figures. 

TRUMP’S IRAN CEASEFIRE ROCKED WITHIN HOURS AMID REPORTED MISSILE, DRONE ATTACKS

"There is no confirmation on the number of people, from anyone other than regime sources," she said. "Some people in the area said it was 65 boys. Sixty-five boys? What are 65 boys doing in a girls’ school at 10:30 on a Saturday morning?"

Both Democratic and Republican U.S. administrations have classified Iran’s regime as a leading state-sponsor of terrorism.

Speaking on ‘Jesse Watters Primetime,' on Thursday, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said the American media was "essentially… carrying water for Iran."

Jonathan Ruhe, a fellow at JINSA, told Fox News Digital, "The regime wants to show the Iranian people that it is not weakened despite all the deaths in its leadership and losses in its arsenals, and to claim legitimacy by showing it is winning against the eternal American and Israeli enemies."

He said, "Like Hezbollah and Hamas, Iran uses civilians as human shields for propaganda purposes. It cares nothing for the safety and fate of its own people. It wants to portray the country as undaunted and willing to sacrifice for victory. And if civilians are killed, all the better for the regime's political goals… Iran wants to undermine U.S. domestic support for the war by framing it as America doing Israel's bidding, and by using AI-generated disinformation to depict massive destruction and casualties at U.S. bases in the Middle East."

The regime suffered a crisis of legitimacy after millions of Iranians poured into the streets in January and demanded the dissolution of the Islamic Republic.

Both the IRGC and Basij — the regime’s street fighting paramilitary troops — played a key role in the mass murder of 45,000 Iranian civilians in January, who protested the regime. President Trump said in his address to the nation that the regime killed 45,000 people. The previous death toll was estimated to be over 35,000 people.

Ruhe said, "As it did before the war, it also wants to delegitimize protesters and other internal opposition by depicting them as American and Israeli agents. It can be expected to ramp up all of these propaganda efforts during the ceasefire. The United States and our partners will be part of this intended audience, too."

Adding to its deadly propaganda mix, the regime freely uses child soldiers to achieve its goals. According to Amnesty International, "Eyewitness accounts and verified audiovisual evidence show child soldiers having been deployed at IRGC checkpoints and patrols, armed with weapons, including AK47pattern rifles."

Erika Guevara-Rosas, senior director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, for Amnesty stated in the report that, "The Iranian authorities are shamelessly encouraging children as young as 12 to join an IRGC run military campaign, putting them in grave danger and violating international law, which prohibits the recruitment and use of children in the military. Recruiting children under 15 into the armed forces constitutes a war crime."

Jennifer Dyer, a retired commander of U.S. Naval Intelligence, told Fox News "I’d say the remnant of the regime can’t muster enough human shields to be doing it all over the place.  The people are too resistant.  Protests continued in the country the last couple of days, and some reporting on social media indicated a crackdown by the Basij on protesters after the so-called ceasefire was announced."

In late March, a deputy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mohammad Rasoul Allah Corps of Greater Tehran, Rahim Nadali, declared that the state launched a  recruitment campaign called the "Homeland-Defending Combatants for Iran" that is "open to volunteers" aged 12 and older. The drive to recruit child soldiers took place in mosques and bases of the paramilitary organization Basij. The recruitment campaign sought adolescents to join "combatants defending the homeland."

Fox News Digital reached out to Iran’s U.N. Mission in New York for a comment.

Iran’s ‘Godfather of propaganda’ tactics resurface in war with US and Israel

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Just hours before the ceasefire deal went into effect on Tuesday between the U.S. and Iran’s clerical regime to pause fighting for two weeks...

An anonymous Iranian woman has bravely stepped forward on the international stage to describe what's really happening on the ground in Tehran as President Donald Trump's two-week ceasefire with Iran tentatively began on Tuesday.

In an essay published in The Australian, the anonymous author details nightly explosions, sweeping checkpoints and communications blackouts as a part of Iranian daily life since the beginning of operations launched by the United States and Israel in February.

"In effect, ordinary people have been turned into human shields within a vast militarized landscape," she wrote. "A pervasive sense of anger, paranoia and exhaustion has taken hold."

Flagrant public executions of protesters by the thousands by the Iranian regime in January moved residents to cheer on the initial days of attacks by U.S. and Israeli forces as Operation Epic Fury began on Feb. 28.

WHY TRUMP, IRAN SEEM LIGHT-YEARS APART ON ANY POSSIBLE DEAL TO END THE WAR

"They say they’ve hit the leader’s residence," the author's daughter was quoted saying. "All the children were screaming and cheering … even our teacher was quietly snapping their fingers and dancing."

The author describes everyday Iranians celebrating the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei that same Saturday, with the streets of Tehran filling with cheers of "death to the dictator".

"Perhaps for the first time," the anonymous author recalled, "we allowed ourselves to believe our long-held dream was beginning to take shape."

RED CROSS SHARES AUDIO OF IRANIAN CIVILIAN EXPLAINING SITUATION ON THE GROUND IN TEHRAN: 'NO RESPITE'

But soon enough, the reality of day-to-day life under a threatened, crumbling regime and ongoing attacks took a toll. One of the harshest realities faced by those on the ground in Iran is the internet blackout, effectively ending communications with the outside world and leading to great uncertainty at the hands of the regime.

"So far, none of those close to us have suffered physical harm, but no night is calm," the Iranian woman wrote. "What weighs most heavily is not only the war itself, but the possibility that it may end leaving behind a regime even more authoritarian, more repressive, and more violent."

According to the author, a stubborn faction of regime supporters remain, blasting propaganda on loudspeakers nightly through the streets of Tehran and reinforcing its authority to those who support the revolution.

TRUMP’S IRAN CEASEFIRE ROCKED WITHIN HOURS AMID REPORTED MISSILE, DRONE ATTACKS

"The streets are now covered with checkpoints," she wrote. "Under bridges and along main roads, movement is restricted. Long traffic lines form. Young people are stopped, their phones inspected under the pretext of routine checks."

After the announcement of the ceasefire between U.S. forces and the Iranian regime on Tuesday, the author says most of her country went to sleep that night in a "state of deep anxiety."

"What weighs most heavily is not only the war itself, but the possibility that it may end up leaving behind a regime even more authoritarian, more repressive, and more violent," the author notes.

In closing, she urges a ceasefire that is not "abandonment," but peace, destabilizing the Iranian regime.

"A ceasefire that stabilizes the current order, without addressing the demands that have brought Iranians into the streets for years, risks being experienced not as peace, but as abandonment," the author muses.

Negotiations between Iran and the U.S. are set to begin Friday in Pakistan.

"We wait and we continue, in whatever ways possible, to insist that light will eventually overcome this darkness," she concluded.

The Australian notes the author remains anonymous for "fear of retribution."

Inside Tehran after strikes: Iranian woman describes fear, checkpoints and people used as ‘human shields’

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An anonymous Iranian woman has bravely stepped forward on the international stage to describe what's really happening on the ground in T...

Israeli authorities arrested a 22-year-old Haifa resident for his involvement in an Iranian-backed plot to assassinate a high-ranking Israeli official, with the intended target believed to be former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, reports say.

Ami Gaydarov, 22, was arrested last month on suspicion that he was working with an Iranian agent to gather intelligence and build a bomb for use in a terror plot against a high-ranking Israeli official. Gaydarov was unaware of the target's identity. A gag order on his arrest was recently lifted, allowing Israeli media outlets to report on the case.

Authorities said Gaydarov first made contact with his Iranian handler in August 2025 and was paid roughly $23,000 — most of it in cryptocurrency — to carry out tasks in preparation for the assassination plot.

Gaydarov allegedly rented an apartment in the city's downtown area to serve as a laboratory for the bombs.

TOP IRANIAN OFFICIAL, COMMANDER KILLED IN STRIKE, ISRAEL DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS

"To facilitate the contacts with his handlers, Gaidarov purchased dedicated phones and rented an apartment in Haifa where he produced the explosive substance, while documenting his activities in videos and photos that were sent to his handler as proof of compliance," the Israeli police force said.

In connection with the plot, Israeli authorities have also arrested three other suspects, including Sergey Leibman and Edward Shovtiuk. The fourth suspect has not been named. Authorities said indictments for the four suspects should occur in the "coming days."

The terror plot was uncovered as part of Israel's "Operation Roaring Lion," a major military campaign launched against Iran on February 28, coinciding with the start of the war with Iran.

The arrest of the four men comes as Israeli authorities have won more than 40 indictments against more than 60 defendants working on behalf of the Iranian government. Just two months ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered that the citizenship of Israelis convicted of espionage for Iran be stripped of their citizenship.

Since the outbreak of the war with Iran, pro-Iranian attacks linked to radical groups have been on the rise. Just last week, French officials reported that a pro-Iran group was behind a failed bomb plot on a Bank of America office in Paris.

Israeli man built bomb lab for Iranian plot targeting ex-PM Bennett, authorities say

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Israeli authorities arrested a 22-year-old Haifa resident for his involvement in an Iranian-backed plot to assassinate a high-ranking Israe...

U.K. Defense Minister John Healey warned Russian President Vladimir Putin of "serious consequences" Thursday after revealing a weeks-long military operation to deter Russian meddling in the North Sea.

"To President Putin I say we see you, we see your activity over our cables and our pipelines, and you should know that any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences," he cautioned. 

The defense minister detailed an operation involving a Royal Navy frigate, a Royal Air Force patrol plane and hundreds of personnel deployed to deter a trio of Russian submarines that were detected near underwater cables in Britain’s economic exclusionary zone.

RUSSIA, CHINA VETO UN RESOLUTION AIMED AT REOPENING STRAIT OF HORMUZ, HOURS BEFORE TRUMP DEADLINE

One of the submarines, Healey announced, was a nuclear-powered Akula-class submarine, while the other two were spy submarines from Russia’s Main Directorate of Deep Sea Research, also known as GUGI. Subs from this unit were directed specifically by Putin "to conduct hybrid warfare activities against the UK" and its allies, Healey said.

At least one of those allies, Norway, was involved in the deterrent operation, Healey revealed. Norway’s Defense Minister Tore O Sandvik confirmed the cooperation in a Thursday statement. 

"Norway has participated in a coordinated military operation with our allies to send a clear message: covert activities in our waters will not be tolerated," Sandvik wrote.

The submarines left U.K. waters after a protracted period of monitoring from the U.K. and Norway, and there is no evidence of damage to any underwater infrastructure, Healey said. 

Fox News Digital  has reached out to the U.K.’s Defense Department for more information. 

The Russian incursion marked the second time in less than six months that the U.K. detected Russian sea craft near its territorial waters. Healey announced a similar military operation in November after Russia deployed the spy ship Yantar to the North Sea in 2025.

TRUMP, STARMER AGREE STRAIT OF HORMUZ MUST REOPEN AS MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT ESCALATES

Healey also cited this year’s incident as an example of why the U.K. hasn’t sent troops to the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway in the Persian Gulf key to global energy markets that Iran has choked off in recent weeks.

"I understand people questioning why all UK military assets and personnel have not been deployed to deal with it. But that is not in Britain’s national interest," he said, later calling Russia "the primary threat to the UK and to NATO." 

President Donald Trump has criticized NATO allies and the organization itself for not acceding to requests to help open the Strait of Hormuz. 

"NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN," he wrote in a Thursday morning Truth Social post.

The U.K., while holding a planning meeting on how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz after the Iran War is over, initially refused to let the U.S. use a British air base to launch military strikes against Iran. 

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer eventually allowed the U.S. to launch "defensive strikes" from Royal Air Force bases after Trump slammed him as "not Winston Churchill."

UK defense minister warns Putin of 'serious consequences' after covert underwater military operation

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The United Nations’ shipping agency warned Thursday that imposing a toll on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz would "set a dangerous precedent." 

The remark comes after President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that there may be a U.S.-Iranian toll system coming for ships that travel through the key waterway. Trump told ABC News, "We’re thinking of doing it as a joint venture," and, "It’s a way of securing it — also securing it from lots of other people." 

"There is no international agreement where tolls can be introduced for transiting international straits. Any such toll will set a dangerous precedent," a ‌spokesperson ⁠for the U.N.'s International Maritime Organization told Reuters on Thursday. 

The Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, is one of the world’s most critical energy choke points, carrying roughly 20 million barrels of oil a day along with about one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas.

LIVE UPDATES: US MILITARY 'LOADING UP AND RESTING,' TRUMP SAYS, AS IRAN TESTS CEASEFIRE

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also warned on Wednesday that a reported Iranian plan to charge ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz would be "completely unacceptable." 

"I don’t think that the international community would be ready to accept Iran setting up a toll booth for every ship that crosses the strait," Mitsotakis, representing the world's leading shipping power, told CNN. 

HEGSETH DECLARES 'DECISIVE MILITARY VICTORY' OVER IRAN

"This agreement cannot, I repeat, cannot include a sort of a fee that ships will have to pay every time they cross the strait," he continued. "This was not the case before the war started, and it cannot be the case after the war finishes." 

The Trump administration had reached a ceasefire deal with Iran on Tuesday.

 "The United States of America will be helping with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz. There will be lots of positive action! Big money will be made. Iran can start the reconstruction process," Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "We’ll be loading up with supplies of all kinds, and just ‘hangin’ around’ in order to make sure that everything goes well. I feel confident that it will." 

Fox News Digital’s Amanda Macias and Alexandra Koch contributed to this report. 

Strait of Hormuz toll would set 'dangerous precedent,' UN shipping agency warns

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