Russian President Vladimir Putin met Emirati counterpart Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Moscow on Thursday ahead of a second round of talks on the Ukraine war in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE has emerged as a key mediator in the nearly four-year war, brokering a number of prisoner exchanges between the two sides and most recently hosting talks between U.S., Russian and Ukrainian officials on a U.S.-drafted plan to end the fighting.

Iran's army on Thursday added 1,000 drones to its combat regiments as its chief vowed a "crushing response" to any attack, state television reported, after the United States moved a strike force into regional waters.

"In accordance with the threats we are facing, maintaining and enhancing strategic advantages for rapid combat and a crushing response to any invasion... is always on the army's agenda," Iran's army commander Amir Hatami said, cited by state television.

The Kremlin said on Thursday there was still room for negotiations in the standoff between ally Tehran and Washington, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened new military strikes on Iran.

"It is clear that the potential for negotiations is not exhausted," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists, adding: "any use of force can only create chaos in the region and lead to very dangerous consequences."

Turkey will offer to help resolve tensions between Washington and Tehran when Iran's top diplomat visits, a foreign ministry source said Thursday a day ahead of the visit.

"Turkey is ready to contribute to resolving the current tensions through dialogue," Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was to tell his counterpart Abbas Araghchi when the pair meet on Friday, the source said.

Iran's foreign minister warned Wednesday its forces would respond immediately and forcefully to any U.S. military operation after President Donald Trump declared time was running out to avoid one, but did not rule out a new deal on Tehran's nuclear program.

The Islamic republic's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi warned its forces have their "fingers on the trigger" to "powerfully respond" to any U.S. strikes, but also used language strikingly similar to Trump's to describe a possible agreement to defuse the stand-off through a new nuclear deal.

The European Union appeared poised Thursday to sanction Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard over Tehran's deadly crackdown on nationwide protests, further squeezing the Islamic Republic as it worries over a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to potentially launch a military strike against it.

America has moved the USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers into the Mideast, which can be used to launch attacks from the sea. Iran has kept up its own threats as well, saying it could launch a preemptive strike or broadly target the Mideast, including American military bases and Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday warned Israel's enemies that they would pay a heavy price if they attacked, speaking at the funeral for the last hostage to be recovered from Gaza.

"We are determined to complete our missions: to disarm Hamas and demilitarize Gaza, and we will succeed. Let our enemies know that anyone who raises a hand against Israel will pay an exorbitant price," he told mourners attending the funeral of Ran Gvili, whose remains were returned to Israel this week.

Israel has pledged an investigation after two Italian security officers were held up by an Israeli soldier with an automatic weapon in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli ambassador to Italy, Jonathan Peled, made the pledge Monday in Rome after he was summoned by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani over the incident, the Italian Foreign Ministry said.

An international media association expressed disappointment after Israel's supreme court again postponed ruling on a petition seeking free and independent press access to Gaza, in a statement sent to media on Wednesday.

Since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, triggered by an attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the Israeli government has barred foreign journalists from independently entering the blockaded territory.

Iraq's main candidate for the premiership, Nouri al-Maliki, on Wednesday denounced Washington's "blatant interference", after President Donald Trump warned that he would end all support to the country if Maliki took the post.

"We categorically reject the blatant American interference in Iraq's internal affairs," Maliki said on X, adding that "we consider it a violation" of Iraq's "democratic system" after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.