Headlines:

• Iran-Russia Sign Memorandum on Defence Cooperation
• The Modi Doctrine
• Senate Fails to Override Trump Veto

Iran-Russia Sign Memorandum on Defence Cooperation

Iran and Russia have signed a memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation, while both sides are planning to conduct joint naval drills in the Indian Ocean before the end of the year. An Iranian official initially said the exercises could include the Strait of Hormuz, but government sources later said the drills would be confined to the Indian Ocean and the Sea of Oman. The announcement shows the increasing military cooperation between Russia and Iran, especially in light of Iran’s falling out with the US. Any exercise in or near the Strait of Hormuz would likely draw significant international opposition. Iran’s clerics are the learning the hard way of hat working with the US really entails, Syria is now in the past.

The Modi Doctrine

A Muslim teenage boy, who had been set on fire for refusing to chant the Hindu slogan “Jai Shri Ram” has according to India Today reports. According to multiple news outlets, the teenager had been admitted to Kashi’s Kabir Chaura hospital with 60% of his body covered in burns. He had stated, via a hospital camera, that he had been kidnapped by four men who had set him on fire for refusing to chant the Hindu slogan. This is not the first to have been reported. Last month, footage emerged of a 22-year-old Muslim being mercilessly beaten and killed by a mob who had tied him to a tree and forced him to chant slogans praising two Hindu ‘deities’. Other reports include Muslim youth and students being attacked, a Hindu mobs chanting outside a mosque and threatening to attack it, and a 40-year-old Imām being rammed by a car, all in the name of the same Hindu ‘deity.’ Under Modi’s rule, the country had seen a rise in ‘extremist’ killings of Muslims. In 2002, Modi allowed Hindu mobs to kill 1,000 people in Gujraat, it seems he’s using the same strategy.

Senate Fails to Override Trump Veto

Bipartisan bills that blocked US arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which were vetoed by President Trump earlier this month, survived another vote in the US Senate on Monday 29 July, where they failed to get enough votes to override the vetoes. The vote was 45-40. These arms sales were authorised on an “emergency” basis to bypass Congress, though since they weren’t being rushed to the purchasers, Congress still had ample time to debate and vote against the sales. Sen. Bob Menendez, one of the advocates of an override, noted that the administration had offered no justification for the use of an “emergency” declaration, noting officials changed their story several times in the lead-up to the vote, and that Trump’s veto statement itself didn’t even mention this fact. Donald Trump defeated many established politicians to become US president and those in Congress have utilised every opportunity to undermine the Trump administration, even on key arms sales. Similar acts have taken place over Turkey where Trump criticised Congress for expelling the country from the F-35 program.