An Iranian army infantry drill in Isfahan province, Iran. AP
An Iranian army infantry drill in Isfahan province, Iran. AP
An Iranian army infantry drill in Isfahan province, Iran. AP
An Iranian army infantry drill in Isfahan province, Iran. AP

Iran foils drone attack on defence ministry complex in Isfahan


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Iran foiled a drone attack on a Ministry of Defence complex in the city of Isfahan overnight, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Wednesday.

“The Ministry of Defence’s Amir Al Momenin complex in Isfahan was the target of the attack by a small drone, which was foiled by defence systems,” Tasnim said.

It said the attempt did not cause any damage.

Isfahan's deputy governor Mohammedreza Janashari later said there was "no security incident" in comments carried by state outlet Irna.

The military and police "are ready to deal with any threat, as always", he added.

The incident comes three days after the Iranian navy said it warned off a US reconnaissance plane near the Gulf of Oman.

"After the warning, the plane was prevented from entering the country's skies without authorisation," Tasnim said, identifying the plane as a US Navy EP-3E.

While the report said the aircraft had crossed into Iranian airspace, it also said that the plane had not entered Iranian skies and had left after the warning.

In late January, Iran blamed Israel for a drone attack in Isfahan that damaged a weapons depot. That attack targeted a defence ministry "workshop complex" in Isfahan, home to the Natanz nuclear enrichment plant.

It said the attack was carried out by a "foreign trained" Kurdish group based in neighbouring Iraq.

Isfahan, 350km south of Tehran, is home to both a large airbase built for Iran's fleet of American-made F-14 fighter jets and its Nuclear Fuel Research and Production Centre.

Tehran often accuses Israel of attacks in Iran and on Iran-linked weapons stores and facilities in Syria, as well as stoking unrest such as the nationwide protests that have rocked Iran since September.

It accused Israel of a 2022 drone attack on a military drone storage plant in the western city of Kermanshah.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has also attacked what it called Israeli intelligence bases in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

Israel has admitted launching strikes on Iran-linked sites in Syria and held joint military drills with the US to "send a message to Tehran".

IRGC Deputy Commander Sardar Naqdi hit out at Israel on Wednesday over suspected Israeli strikes that killed two IRGC members near Damascus last week.

Speaking at the funeral of Milad Heydari, the commander said Iran warned Israel to prepare for a "strong and decisive response".

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE

When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Updated: April 05, 2023, 8:57 AM