Asia
Terrible consequences of spreading hatred against immigrants in Iran
In the past few days, efforts have been made by some Iranian citizens to deport Afghan immigrants from that country. Behind these efforts, there are a number of journalists, some of whom write and publish content under pseudonyms on social accounts to put pressure on the Iranian government to deport Afghan immigrants.
In the meantime, there are some Iranian journalists and media people who work with their original names and identities in social networks and mass media, and these journalists play a prominent role in inflaming the situation for immigrants.
Some of these journalists and social media influencers, unfortunately, in order to confuse the Iranian people and incite them against the Afghan immigrants, they publish false information and, as journalists and experts, make unfair accusations against the immigrants, which are mostly not reasonable. This way of propaganda is really not worthy of a human society, let alone that there are linguistic, cultural and religious commonalities between the two countries Afghanistan and Iran. It is worth mentioning that there are common roots and history between Kabul and Iran. And behind that both are the Muslims and speak the same language.
In the last few days, snippets of the speeches of an Iranian journalist named Seyedhadi Kesaizadeh, which he said in a debate, have been circulating on social networks.
The whole debate is over two hours and Kesaizadeh, who represents him as a journalist and pretends to know everything, gives misleading information and makes unjust and sometimes embarrassing accusations against the Afghan immigrants.
False and misleading information is utterly against norm of journalism
A few words from Kesaizadeh may be true, but in general he deliberately wants to distort and divert the Iranian people’s mentality by publishing false and misleading information so that they act against Afghan immigrants.
To see who Kesaizadeh is, I took a glance at his social media accounts, especially X and followed some of his interviews and reports. He is the managing director of a media called “Midan Azadi” and in some media he is referred to as an investigative reporter.
The literature he uses is strange. He calls waste recycling “garbage mafia”. However, what he says in the guise of a journalist, whether in the recent debate or previous interviews or on his social media pages, the vast majority of it has nothing to do with reality and is just pure hatred.
He makes very absurd and incorrect generalizations and makes claims that do not come out of the mouth of a wise and mature person. It has clear racist demarcations and asserts that “all Afghans are either criminals or terrorists unless proven otherwise.”
The community of Afghan immigrants in Iran, which is said to be several million people, can contain thieves and criminals, which is a very normal situation. In its normal state, every society has criminals, thieves, and lawbreakers, otherwise the existence of long and wide organizations called courts, prosecutors, police, etc., becomes meaningless.
Regarding the presence of terrorists, it should be said that the Iranian government is a close friend to Taliban, where Kesaizadeh calls it a terrorist group. But it is irrational and against human principles for a person to come in a journalist’s robe and divide a society of several million people into two groups of “criminals” and “terrorists”.
Kesaizadeh even faked a headline quoting euronews to use against Afghan migrants.
Of course, in other cases, apart from the case of Afghan immigrants, which he wrote less, Kesaizadeh did not forget to spread hatred and make accusations and used aggressive and accusing literature.
Even when he talks about those Iranian politicians who have issues with them, he calls them “political scavengers”. Ironically, after Hassan Nasrallah’s assassination, in a post on social media, he said that an Afghan spy had reported Nasrallah’s location to Israel and demanded the deportation of immigrants from Iran. He published this news by quoting from “euronews” and created an image with the same headline of the news agency with the help of Photoshop. This is despite the fact that a few hours before the impersonation of this Iranian user, euronews published a news story, quoting a French media, and said that an Iranian spy had reported Nasrallah’s location to Israel.
Such falsifications are done with the aim of worsening the living conditions of Afghan immigrants in Iran.
Therefore, in the sense that such people do not have a deep view of the issues, they and their positions should not be given much importance, but unfortunately in the current inflamed atmosphere, such groups of people can make people react against them by launching anti-immigrant campaigns. make it narrower and more difficult for them. They have already created hashtags that demand the deportation of immigrants from Iran.
There is no question that people like Kesaizadeh make false claims and deliberately spread hatred, which unfortunately are not few in number, but the issue is why the Iranian society should go in that direction and what consequences this situation could have for Afghan immigrants?
The claims of those Iranians who spread hatred against Afghan immigrants regarding the large number of immigrants coming from Afghanistan, are true. Most of the families in Afghanistan, one or more of their members have traveled to Iran, and these trips were often for working and providing for the family’s living expenses; Those who have many bitter and sweet memories of living and working in Iran and of course had an acceptable and good image of Iranian people.
The entry of illegal Afghans into Iran is an undeniable fact, but that doesn’t mean Iran should violate immigrant rights.
These things are quite obvious. Illegal entry from the borders is also an undeniable fact. However, Iran, as a member of the international community, must comply with requirements and not violate the rights of immigrants.
Unfortunately, returning immigrants and asylum seekers to a country where their lives are in danger is an act that is committed every day by the Iranian government.
On the other hand, it seems that the contribution of the Iranian government in this hatred is very high. The government of Iran, which suffers from many problems in its domestic and foreign policy, when it feels unable to manage the situation, to prevent the formation of protests by its citizens, it brings up the issue of border control and Afghan immigrants.
Iran had repeatedly hinted on border and Afghan immigrants that it has now become a hot issue and every time this issue is raised, the public mind in Iran is diverted. Deviation of the public mind from internal problems or mistakes in Iran’s foreign policy is one of the main reasons for the issue of Afghan immigrants by the Iranian government. This issue gives an excuse to Iranian anti-immigrants to make the atmosphere more tense by resorting to propaganda and spreading false information.
In fact, this is a cycle where the government turns on the anti-immigrant key, and then the anti-immigrants, especially the anti-immigrant media and journalists, cling to it with all their hands and feet, and finally this time they pressure the government to implement a stricter policy against immigrants. These bilateral measures have worsened the situation of immigrants.
The consequences of this anti-immigrant process for the Afghan immigrant community are very terrible.
Majority of Afghans went to Iran and other countries after the fall of republic government in Afghanistan
In addition to the pressure exerted by Iranian anti-immigrants on the Iranian government, it seems that the collusion of the authorities of Iran with the Taliban is also involved in the group deportation of immigrants.
The government of Iran has always proven that if a social demand – no matter how humane and serious – is not in the direction of this government, it will not act on those demands. In the issue of Afghan immigrants, the government of Iran accepts the wishes of a very few anti-immigrants and intensifies the pressure on the immigrants, there are reasons other than the wishes of the citizens of Iran.
In the recent wave of Afghan immigrants entering Iran, there are those who were members of the Afghan security forces or were journalists or civil activists in pre-Taliban Afghanistan, who are now under persecution of the Taliban.
Kesaizadeh had also mentioned about these Afghans during his debates and interviews on tv. These are the people who have sought refuge in Iran out of fear for their lives, just as they have sought refuge in Pakistan and the northern neighbors of Afghanistan, and even Europe, Australia, and USA. Deporting these Afghan immigrants – whether they have entered Iran legally or illegally – directly put them in danger.
Uncertainty in the global arms market, driven by the United States reassessing its relationships with allies and a broad rearmament drive across many countries, is creating major commercial opportunities for South Korea. According to an analysis published by Politico, Seoul has become the world’s fastest-growing supplier of military equipment.
The report said that large-scale conflicts around the world have created urgent demand for weapons as countries seek both to support allies and strengthen their own defenses against potential future confrontations. At the same time, changes in the US role within the global arms market have opened new opportunities for South Korean manufacturers. Statements and policy decisions by US President Donald Trump regarding NATO have led allies to question Washington’s reliability in times of crisis, increasing uncertainty across the global market. In addition, the diversion of a large share of US weapons supplies to the Middle East because of ongoing conflicts has placed further strain on already overstretched supply chains.
European countries increase purchases from South Korea
Faced with what Politico described as the Trump administration’s more distant approach toward allies, European countries in particular have accelerated arms purchases from South Korea. The publication noted that Seoul’s growing influence as a supplier has been driven largely by major defense contracts signed with Poland.
Following the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, several Eastern European capitals, including Warsaw, transferred portions of their military inventories to Kyiv, relying on German support to replenish their arsenals. However, Berlin’s slow pace in replacing allied stockpiles generated frustration across the region.
South Korea emerged as an alternative supplier during this period and became a reliable source of military equipment for Eastern European countries. Poland became Seoul’s largest customer through a $13.7 billion agreement covering the purchase of tanks, rocket launchers, self-propelled howitzers and other military equipment.
“We were originally preparing against North Korea, but now we are ready to provide these solutions to customers around the world,” said Choo Hyung-kim, head of the Security Management Institute, a defense analysis organization affiliated with South Korea’s National Assembly.
Lack of political baggage gives Seoul an advantage
Politico reported that one of the greatest advantages enjoyed by South Korean defense companies is the absence of the “political baggage” associated with major arms exporters such as the United States, China, Russia and Israel.
According to the figures cited, the combined projected revenue of South Korea’s largest defense companies, including Hanwha Group, Hyundai Rotem, LIG Nex1 and Korea Aerospace Industries, is expected to reach approximately $37 billion in 2026. That would represent a fourfold increase from their combined revenues in 2021.
Meanwhile, an official from the office of former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol told the Yonhap news agency in 2024 that the scale of any weapons shipments to Ukraine would depend on Russia’s approach to its relationship with North Korea. Seoul later clarified that it had no plans to provide ammunition directly to Ukraine.
Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek has raised more than 50 billion yuan ($7.4 billion) in its first funding round. According to Reuters, citing The Information, the company’s valuation has surpassed $50 billion.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the capital will be used to support the costly development of advanced artificial intelligence technologies.
According to the newspaper, citing sources familiar with the matter, investors valued the company at more than $50 billion. The valuation makes DeepSeek the most valuable AI startup in China.
DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng reportedly owned about 90% of the company before the funding round. Liang is said to have contributed roughly $3 billion during the fundraising process, making him the largest participant in the round.
According to Reuters, the transaction was structured in an unusual way that allows Liang to retain control of the company.
Rather than investing directly in DeepSeek, investors were required to invest through a limited partnership managed by a senior executive of the startup. Under the arrangement, investors were not granted voting rights. The report also said restrictions were placed on the use of invested funds for a period of five years.
The sole exception was the China National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund. The fund reportedly invested approximately $150 million directly in DeepSeek, allowing it to retain both voting rights and full discretion over its stake.
Other major investors in the funding round included Tencent, which invested approximately $1.5 billion, and Contemporary Amperex Technology, which invested about $740 million.
Bloomberg previously described the transaction as one of the largest fundraising rounds undertaken by a Chinese startup. According to the agency, the investment marks a new stage in the efforts of leading Chinese AI companies to compete with their US rivals.
DeepSeek told prospective investors that it would prioritize foundational and transformative AI research over short-term commercialization.
Based in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, DeepSeek emerged as one of Beijing’s most prominent AI companies after unveiling a more powerful and lower-cost model more than a year ago. The WSJ reported that interest surrounding the company has accelerated AI adoption in China and increased investor appetite for domestic startups.
Liang Wenfeng has previously said he intends to continue developing open-source AI models and ultimately aims to achieve artificial general intelligence (AGI). According to Bloomberg, the strategy continues an approach that has contributed to the spread of open models and influenced companies across China’s AI market, including Alibaba’s Qwen platform.
Bloomberg added that while global rivals such as OpenAI and Anthropic are exploring public offerings and revenue-generation strategies, DeepSeek has maintained its “research first” approach.
Asia
China issues white paper on global governance reform, urging support for UN-centered international system
China’s State Council Information Office on Wednesday released a white paper titled “A More Just and Equitable Global Governance: China’s Principles, Proposals and Actions.”
The white paper was issued to introduce China’s principles, proposals, and actions regarding global governance, to foster a broader consensus within the international community, to enable more effective responses to global challenges, and to build a more just and equitable global governance system.
The document states that global governance is a common endeavor concerning the well-being of all humanity, and that building a just and equitable global governance system is a shared vision long pursued by people around the world. It also emphasizes that China has always been an active participant, contributor, and builder of global governance.
According to the white paper, in the new era, Chinese President Xi Jinping has put forward the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind. Advancing a global governance system shaped on the basis of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, Xi has called for true multilateralism to promote an equal and orderly multipolar world and an economic globalization that is inclusive and beneficial for all.
In 2025, Xi proposed the Global Governance Initiative (GGI). This initiative was designed to offer China’s solutions to two urgent questions of the era: What kind of global governance system should be established, and how should global governance be reformed and improved?
The white paper notes that shortly after its introduction, the GGI received support from approximately 160 countries and international organizations, with more than 60 countries joining the Group of Friends of the Global Governance Initiative. It states that the international community is of the view that the GGI sends a clear message: to defend multilateralism, join forces, and strive for a just future.
According to the white paper, the GGI aligns with the growing trend toward greater democracy in international relations and strengthens international confidence in the practice of multilateralism. The initiative provides a clear and actionable roadmap for the improvement of global governance, injecting valuable stability and positive energy into a turbulent world.
The white paper emphasizes that China proposed the GGI to accelerate the construction of a more just and equitable global governance system. The document states that firmly defending the authority and status of the United Nations is of fundamental importance for the effective implementation of this initiative.
According to the white paper, success will also depend on major countries acting with a sense of responsibility and all nations working together in unity to bridge deficits in peace and development. It states that rather than attempting to reinvent the wheel, all countries must firmly defend the international system with the UN at its core, maintain the international order based on international law, and uphold the fundamental norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
In addition to the preface and conclusion, the white paper consists of five chapters: “Today’s World Faces Severe and Complex Challenges,” “The Global Governance Initiative Responds to the Challenges of Our Era,” “China’s Contribution to the Development of Global Governance,” “Directing the Course of Change Toward a Bright Future,” and “Advancing Hand in Hand at a Critical Juncture in History.”
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