In their FIFA Club World Cup encounter at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, United States, Sergio Ramos resurrected the years to score a brilliant header to seal a 1-1 draw for Monterrey.
In the 25th minute of their Group E game, the former Spain and Real Madrid defender overran the Inter defenders to score the winning goal, much to the delight of the tens of thousands of Monterrey fans who had gathered at the famed venue in Southern California on Tuesday.
In the 42nd minute, Spanish giants Inter put a superbly crafted team goal together with Lautaro Martinez’ tap in from close range from a Carlos Augusto pass.
On the fourth day of the club competition, Ramos’ goal and subsequent celebrations, both from the player and Monterrey fans, were in the spotlight.
The Monterrey captain said after the game, “There is always joy to contribute to the team by scoring, but if we can get points, that’s even better.”
“Our team played very well,” he said. Football obviously highlights the goal, but we’re here to share this knowledge.
In the second half, both teams had plenty of chances to take the lead, but a Martinez strike was flagged as offside in the 68th minute.
Inter, who lost to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on May 31 and welcomed new manager Cristian Chivu, had a difficult draw.
In the final moments of the game, Ramos, 39, claimed his team lacked energy.
We created a lot of chances for the majority of this match, but we don’t have much energy right now,” he said.
Monterreyans cheer their team on [Yuri Cortez/AFP]
River Plate, who defeated Urawa Red Diamonds 3-1 in the previous game in Seattle, leads the group by one point each with Monterrey and Inter.
The Argentinian club won their first match against Japan with ease thanks to goals from Facundo Colidio (12 minutes), Sebastian Driussi (48 minutes), and Maximiliano Meza (73 minutes). However, the team lost their forward due to an ankle injury while registering the second goal.
Urawa was briefly re-engaged in the game after Yusuke Matsuo’s 58th-minute penalty was successfully converted, but Meza’s goal 15 minutes later cementing River Plate’s lead once more.
Inter take on Urawa on Saturday for the second matchday of the group, while Monterrey takes on River Plate.
Brazilian Serie A side Fluminense held to a goalless draw at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Tuesday, while South African Mamelodi Sundowns defeated South Korean side Ulsan HD 1-0 in Orlando, Florida.
In the 36th minute, Mamelodi, who now has three points, scored Iqraam Rayners. Fluminense and Dortmund each receive one point each.
At the Seattle Lumen Field stadium’s FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Group E game, Yoichi Naganuma and Franco Mastantuono of River Plate are in action.
Following a wave of Israeli airstrikes across Iran, a video shows smoke plumes rising from Tehran’s Khojir missile production complex. According to Israel, its most recent attacks have targeted nuclear centrifuge facilities and weapons facilities.
In a brief military escalation between the neighbors, Pakistan and Iran launched missiles into each other’s territory in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Pakistan was quick to condemn the Israeli action after Israel launched strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and killed several Iranian generals and nuclear scientists 17 months later.
The Israeli strikes were “blatant provocations,” according to Islamabad, which described them as being in violation of Iran’s territorial sovereignty.
In a statement released on June 13, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “The international community and the United Nations bear responsibility to uphold international law, stop this aggression immediately, and hold the aggressor accountable for its actions.”
The deepening conflict is stoking fears in Islamabad as Iranian air attacks and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes reach their sixth day, say analysts, because of its complicated ties to Tehran and the Israeli military’s growing concern about the possibility of Israeli military airstrikes extending close to the Pakistani border.
The Israeli-Iran conflict’s ongoing humanitarian crisis is having a significant impact on people. More than a thousand people have been injured in Israel’s attacks on Iran, which has already resulted in more than 220 fatalities. Iran has launched hundreds of missiles into Israeli territory in retaliation, causing more than 20 people to die and suffer significant property damage.
Pakistan, which has a 905 km (562 miles) border with Iran via its western province of Balochistan, has also suspended five border crossings in Balochistan as of June 15.
In recent days, more than 500 Pakistanis have come back from Iran, primarily students and pilgrims.
“On Monday, 45 students from various Iranian institutions came back to Pakistan to pursue degrees. Nearly 500 pilgrims also crossed the Taftan border crossing to return, according to Naeem Ahmed, the Taftan assistant commissioner.
Taftan, a border town close to Iran, is a town in the Chaghi district of Balochistan, which is known for its hills, where Pakistan conducted its nuclear tests in 1998, and for its famous Reko Diq and Saindak mines, both of which are known for their gold and copper deposits.
According to experts, Pakistan’s concern about security in Balochistan, which is influenced by its ties to Iran, is at the heart of the effort to effectively seal the border.
a complex past
Both Pakistan and Iran have accused one another of hosting armed organizations that carry out attacks on their territory across borders.
The most recent escalation occurred in January 2024 when Iran launched missiles at the separatist group Jaish al-Adl in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
Within 24 hours, Pakistan responded by striking what it claimed were separatist hideouts in Iranian territory.
After that brief escalation, the neighbors were reconciled, and Iran vehemently stayed out of the conflict with Pakistan during its brief military conflict in May.
Ishaq Dar, the minister of foreign affairs, addressed Parliament on Monday, praising Pakistan’s diplomatic relations with Iran and suggesting that Islamabad was ready to help put an end to Israel’s military hostilities.
According to Dar, “Iran’s foreign minister [Abbas Araghchi] stated to me that they are prepared to return to the table if Israel does not launch another attack.” There is still time to stop Israel and bring Iran back to talks, we have said to other nations.
Other countries should do more to encourage a ceasefire, according to Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry, according to Chaudhry.
“We think we are playing our part, but the world must also fulfill its obligations,” we say. They were devastated by wars in Syria, Libya, and Iraq. It even contributed to the rise of ISIL [ISIS]. He continued, “We hope this doesn’t happen again.”
Any Pakistani effort to diplomatically promote peace would be helped, according to Fahd Humayun, assistant professor of political science at Tufts University and visiting research scholar at Stanford, because, at least in the United States, President Donald Trump’s administration is formally advocating for negotiations rather than war.
Despite all the public slurs, Pakistan would be cautious about ingraining itself too heavily into the conflict, according to Umer Karim, a researcher studying the Middle East at the University of Birmingham.
Pakistan “absolutely wants this conflict to end as soon as possible,” he said, “I doubt it has the capacity or the will to do so.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (right) were in Tehran in May when Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (centre) visited. [Handout via the Prime Minister’s Office]
Security and Balochistan
The potential fallout in Balochistan, a resource-rich but restive province, is Pakistan’s greatest concern, according to observers. Balochistan, which has a population of about 15 million people, is Pakistan’s largest province by area but the smallest by population. It is rich in oil, gas, coal, gold, and copper.
At least five rebellion movements have taken place in Balochistan since 1947, with the most recent one beginning in the early 2000s. Rebel organizations have fought for more local resources or complete independence, which has sparked decades of military reprisals.
The province also houses the strategically important Gwadar port, which connects western China to the Arabian Sea and is located close to the $62 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Baloch nationalists accuse the government of squandering resources while ignoring local development, which contributes to growing separatist and secessionist sentiments. In Pakistan, secessionist organizations on both sides of the border have been waging a rebellion in support of independence, particularly the BLA and BLA.
A major concern for Pakistan is that members of armed groups like BLA and BLF, many of whom reside close to Iran, might attempt to enter the country by crossing the obscene boundaries of the two nations, according to Abdul Basit, a research fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
In an effort to control the flow, Pakistan had to close the crossing. Although it’s still to be seen whether they will be successful, at least this is their goal.
Concerns about a redux in Afghanistan
Numerous Afghan refugees have sought refuge in Pakistan since the Soviets’ invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. After the Taliban’s occupation of Kabul in August 2021, there was the most recent mass influx. Nearly 4 million Afghans were living in the nation at their peak, or 4 million.
However, Pakistan launched a campaign to return refugees to Afghanistan in 2023. Nearly a million people have been expelled so far, according to government estimates. As a major justification for its decision, Pakistan has cited rising instances of armed violence in the nation as evidence of its country’s continued reliance on organizations it claims find refuge in Afghanistan. The Taliban reject the suggestion that Afghan-held anti-Pakistani armed groups could find refuge there.
According to Basit, Pakistan would likely prefer to prevent future conflicts involving Afghan refugees.
It is possible that Pakistan’s decision to close the border was influenced by this fact, he said, adding that with Iran’s long border and a history of strong ties between people on both sides.
Angry about the Israelis’ aerial superiority
Experts predict that Pakistan is likely to be worried about the possibility of a refugee influx in addition to the armed groups mentioned above.
Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, claims that his air force controls Tehran’s skies. Pakistan, which does not recognize Israel and views it as a sworn enemy, will not want Israeli influence to expand and sway toward the Iran-Pakistan border as Israel and Iran continue to strike each other’s territory.
As a result of Karim, a professor at the University of Birmingham, Pakistan is opposed to Israel achieving complete air superiority and control of Iranian airspace. This would threaten Pakistan’s western flank’s current level of security, Karim, the scholar, told Al Jazeera.
A new chapter in the history
Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud, a security analyst based in Islamabad, noted that Pakistan has historically sided with the US in regional conflicts, including those in Afghanistan, but may not do so this time.
Pakistan, a country with a majority of Sunnis, still has a sizable Shia population, accounting for more than 15% of its 250 million people.
Oil prices have increased in response to concerns that the US-Iran conflict could become a bigger conflict.
As US President Donald Trump demanded “unconditional surrender” from Tehran, the two most widely used oil benchmarks, Brent North Sea Crude and West Texas Intermediate increased, respectively, by 4.4 percent and 4.3 percent on Tuesday.
Following the increase, the benchmarks were set at $ 6.45″ and $ 4.84″, respectively.
Oil prices increased even more in early trading on Wednesday, increasing the gains by nearly 5%, before stabilizing at $ 76.37 and $ 74.83, respectively, later that day.
The benchmark S&, P500, and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite all dropped 0.84 percent and 0.91 percent, respectively, as a result of rising geopolitical tensions overnight.
Since Friday, Israel has bombed several Iranian oil and gas facilities, including the Shahran oil depot, Fajr Jam gas plant, and the South Pars gasfield.
Although there haven’t been any significant changes to global energy flows so far, the possibility of an even greater escalation, including US military action against Israel, has skeptics on their feet.
Trump reacted more forcefully to his rhetoric against Iran on Tuesday, raising concerns that his administration might order a military strike against the country’s Fordow facility.
Trump threatened Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a thinly veiled tweet that the US knew his whereabouts but did not want him killed “for now.”
Iran’s oil reserves are the third-largest in the world, followed by its gas reserves, but sanctions from the US-led sanctions have severely restricted its ability to export energy.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, the nation produced about 3.99 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2023, or 4% of the global supply.
Iran is also located along the Strait of Hormuz, which handles 20 to 30% of global oil shipments.
Iran’s oil exports are currently exempt from Israeli bombing thanks to the Kharg Island export terminal.
In an analysis released on Monday, Clayton Seigle, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, wrote that “Israel may choose to strike its oil exports in the context of its efforts to destabilize Iran,” believing that working to end a hostile regime risks alienating allies who are concerned about potential price increases.
After being detained by federal agents in an immigration court as he linked arms to a man authorities were attempting to detain, New York City’s Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was released. On camera, the incident was captured.
On Wednesday, June 18, this is how things are going.
Fighting
According to Ukrainian authorities, 16 people died as a result of dozens of Russian drone and missile strikes in Kyiv early on Tuesday. According to officials, two people have also been killed in attacks on Odesa in the Black Sea.
Sergei Shoigu, the head of the Security Council, reportedly made the remarks while meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, adding that the country will send thousands of military construction workers and deminers to aid reconstruction efforts in Russia’s Kursk region.
Diplomacy
A Canadian official told reporters on the sidelines of the summit that Canada had abandoned its plans to make a strong statement about the war after American opposition, according to a Reuters news agency.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, claimed he had informed the G7 leaders that diplomacy was “in crisis” and that they needed to pressure US President Donald Trump to use his “real influence” to put an end to the conflict. The truth is that America still has the most broadest global interests and the largest number of allies, Zelenskyy said on Telegram.
According to Andrii Melnyk, the UN ambassador to Ukraine, a report was quoted as saying to Ukraine’s national news agency Ukrinform that the country called for an urgent meeting of the Security Council following Russia’s deadly attack on Kyiv and other cities.
According to four people with knowledge of the plans, the Trump administration’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, is scheduled to meet with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in the coming days. According to Reuters, Kellygg has privately portrayed the trip as a step toward resuming discussions about ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Sanctions
People and organizations alleged to be connected to Russia’s financial, energy, and military operations have been subject to sanctions in the UK. Two UK residents are accused of sending electronics to Moscow among the sanctioned individuals.
Following the example of several of its Western partners, including Canada and the European Union, Australia announced sanctions on 60 vessels connected to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of oil tankers. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade stated in a statement on Wednesday that “Russia uses these vessels to circumvent international sanctions and continue its illegal and immoral war against Ukraine.”
