MFA concerned about situation in Middle East, emphasizes importance of diplomatic efforts for de-escalation

,,I will convene an extraordinary Foreign Affairs Council via video link on Sunday to address Iran and the rapidly unfolding events across the Middle East. I have been in contact with our partners in the Gulf countries. The Iranian regime’s indiscriminate attacks against its neighbours carry the risk of dragging the region into a broader war and we condemn this. It is essential that the war does not spread any further. The Iranian regime has choices to make-Kaja Kallas

According to Reuters, citing an Iranian news agency, the council has been tasked with assuming the role of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, until the Assembly of Experts elects a new leader. During the transitional period, Alireza Arafi will serve on the interim Leadership Council alongside Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and the head of the judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei.

The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will hold a special meeting tomorrow at its headquarters in Vienna to discuss the situation in Iran, CBS News reports. “The meeting is being convened at Russia’s request in connection with the military strikes carried out by the United States and Israel on the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the agency said in a statement. Last week, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stated that most of Iran’s nuclear material remains in the country in significant quantities, despite the strikes carried out by the United States on Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025.

The Georgian parliamentary delegation will depart for Washington, D.C.  The delegation includes members of the parliamentary majority: Nikoloz Samkharadze, Mariam Lashkhi, and Lika Shartava.According to Nikoloz Samkharadze, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Relations, the delegation will hold meetings with members of Congress as well as representatives of the executive branch. He told the GPB First Channel that the visit will also include participation in a conference organized on behalf of the Alliance of Sovereign States.“We will have the opportunity to hold discussions at think tanks about Georgia–US relations. We expect the visit to be productive and to contribute to resetting relations between the two countries. Our main objective is not only to restore the strategic partnership, but to strengthen it and give it more substantive content than before. It will be interesting to see the position of the American side. However, the fact that this visit is taking place gives us reason to believe that certain steps forward may be possible,” Samkharadze said.Samkharadze also responded to opposition criticism regarding the invitation extended to the Georgian delegation by Anna Paulina Luna. He noted that the congresswoman is closely associated with representatives of the new US administration.“As for Anna Paulina Luna, she is an active member of the so-called MAGA movement, which is connected to the Charlie Kirk Foundation. We know how close Charlie Kirk has been to the American president and his team. Therefore, if someone claims that she is pro-Russian, they would effectively be making the same claim about the new American administration, given her close ties to its representatives,” Samkharadze stated.

Iranian state media confirmed in the early hours of Sunday that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed at his office, BBC reported. The country has declared 40 days of mourning.The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has warned of a “devastating offensive” in response, saying it would attack US bases and Israel.