Iranian Ambassador to Hungary Morteza Moradian said Hungary’s concerns about rising terrorist threats linked to the Middle East are not exaggerated, noting that regional crises can affect Europe’s security, migration, and energy stability. He denied that Iran plans attacks abroad and condemned the US–Israeli strike that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Hungarian authorities detained seven Ukrainian citizens transporting tens of millions of dollars, euros, and gold through the country in what officials called the ‘Ukrainian gold convoy operation’. Kyiv reacted sharply, warning its citizens against travelling to Hungary and accusing Hungarian authorities of illegally detaining the individuals.
‘The project is linked to the defence industry developments of the 4iG Group and relies on the manufacturing capacity of Rába in Győr. The initiative enables Hungary to integrate certain elements of the HIMARS system with its own industrial background, while the vehicle platform and a significant part of the assembly are provided by Hungarian companies.’
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán accused Ukraine’s leadership of ‘bandit behaviour’ and vowed Hungary would resist pressure to abandon Russian energy supplies while warning of rising geopolitical risks.
‘Khomeini and his successor Khamenei stated that the occupation of Palestine by the Jews was part of a satanic plot by the Western powers, first Great Britain and then the United States.’
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte condemned Iran’s ballistic missile strike on Türkiye, intercepted by Turkish and NATO defence systems, as ‘serious and absolutely condemnable’, as the escalating Middle East conflict moves closer to NATO territory. The incident comes amid a wave of Iranian retaliatory attacks across the region and growing international military deployments to protect vulnerable allies.
In a recent interview, Viktor Orbán has framed the coming years as a test of Hungary’s ability to remain outside global conflicts, arguing that the country must resist pressure to provide military or financial support as the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East intensify.
‘Devoted Mahdists could rise to senior leadership positions within the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], bringing under their control the three principal pillars of Iranian power projection: militias across the region, ballistic missile forces, and the nuclear programme itself.’
Two Hungarian prisoners of war from Transcarpathia have been released following diplomatic talks between Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The discussions also centred on Hungary’s energy security as global markets react to escalating tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine’s blockade of the Druzhba pipeline.
While Khamenei’s death does not automatically mean the collapse of the regime, it is nevertheless a severe blow to the Islamic Revolution.