Niko Kelbakiani
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nikokelbakiani.bsky.social
Niko Kelbakiani
@nikokelbakiani.bsky.social
Journalist @BBCMonitoring.
Covering Iran and its relations with the Middle East, Caucasus and Russia.
Although Tehran has not complained about the lack of military support from Russia and China during the 12-day Iran-Israel war, many voices in Iran felt abandoned by them.

Read my analysis on BBC Persian if the "Look to the East" policy has failed to protect Iran.

www.bbc.com/persian/arti...
آیا سیاست «نگاه به شرق» توانست از ایران محافظت کند؟ - BBC News فارسی
سیاست «نگاه به شرق» ایران در پی عدم حمایت نظامی چین و روسیه در جنگ با اسرائیل، با انتقاد داخلی و تردیدهایی درباره کارآمدی و استحکام این اتحادها روبرو شد.
www.bbc.com
August 10, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Reposted by Niko Kelbakiani
New satellite images released by Maxar show the extent of damage at Iran's Shahid Rajaee port following a huge explosion on 26 April vs how it used to look like.

A large crater is visible where the main blast occured, with damage to surrounding containers and buildings.
May 2, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Niko Kelbakiani
Russian authorities are systematically seizing thousands of homes from Ukrainian residents of Mariupol.

BBC Verify has analysed dozens of official documents published since July 2024 that show at least 5,700 homes have been identified for seizure. www.bbc.co.uk/news/resourc...
Russia seizing thousands of homes in occupied Mariupol - BBC News
To save their homes, Ukrainians face a dangerous return through Russia, and pressure to take a Russian passport.
www.bbc.co.uk
April 17, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Reposted by Niko Kelbakiani
There is, of course, a mountain of visual evidence documenting the killings of civilians in Bucha.

Claims by Russian government officials at the time that videos and images of dead civilians in Bucha were "staged" were so bad that they were easily debunked within hours.
March 27, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Iranian domestic and foreign-based media have observed that a US flag was not painted on the floor next to an Israeli flag in an IRGC missile facility unveiled on 25 March. It is a common practice in Iran to paint the two flags on floor or ground for people to walk over and trample on them. 1/4
March 27, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Reposted by Niko Kelbakiani
This is the video we made one week on from President Trump and President Zelensky meeting in the Oval Office. It's a week that included the US pausing military aid to Ukraine - and Russia continuing to attack. (First published 7.3.25) www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3x9...
What's happened a week on from President Zelensky and President Trump's Oval Office row? | BBC News
YouTube video by BBC News
www.youtube.com
March 8, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Reposted by Niko Kelbakiani
Our latest video takes five minutes to look at Donald Trump's history with Ukraine. It's produced by Catherine Karelli. www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...
Ros Atkins on... President Trump's history with Ukraine
The BBC's analysis editor takes a look at President Trump's history with Ukraine - and how it set the stage for this week's events.
www.bbc.co.uk
March 5, 2025 at 7:17 AM
Reposted by Niko Kelbakiani
Tucker Carlson claims that Ukraine has been selling "huge quantities of American weapons on the black market", which he says have been bought by Hamas, Mexican drug cartels and the HTS in Syria.

This is a claim pushed by the Kremlin for nearly three years, but there's no evidence for it.
March 3, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Khamenei yesterday tweeted in Ukrainian (and Persian) a message he tweeted three years ago, days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, that the West's support for allies is "mirage", giving Ukraine as example. Interesting, he omitted another example he had named in the original tweet - Afghanistan.
March 2, 2025 at 8:49 PM
As the world is marking the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Iran used the Russian-made Yak-130 fighter jet in a military drill for the first time today. Iran announced in September 2023 receiving Yak-130 jets from Russia. Iran has for years sought buying Su-35 jets from...
February 24, 2025 at 12:42 PM