On Tuesday, North Korea bombed the joint liaison office it had with the South in Kaesong. The site was opened in 2018 as a step towards greater communication between the Koreas. In a statement, South Korea warned it would "respond strongly" if the North continues to escalate hostilities.
On Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen reported that it intercepted ballistic missiles fired by Houthi rebels. The coalition said the Iran-backed group launched missiles from Sa'dah towards the southern Saudi region of Najran. The attack is the latest in more than 300 missile attacks carried out by the Houthis since 2015.
Also on Wednesday, the Japanese government stated it was on alert after North Korea announced its plans to deploy troops to inter-Korean cooperation sites. PAC-3 batteries were deployed to the Defense Ministry headquarters in Ichigaya, Tokyo, a move which the government did not clarify the purpose of.
On Thursday, four rockets struck inside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone near the U.S embassy. The attack was the third in a week, and represent a key challenge to Iraq's new Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. It was not immediately clear who was responsible, but the U.S has blamed Iran-backed militias for similar attacks in the past.
Also on Thursday, Iran said its navy had successfully tested a new locally made cruise missile. The new missiles have a range of 280 km, with Iran stating that range will be increased in the future. The test-firing comes as the United States is seeking an extension of a U.N. arms embargo on Iran, which is set to expire in October.
On Monday, Lockheed Martin reported that the fifth geosynchronous Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) satellite had completed thermal vacuum testing. The successful test puts the Space Force's next missile warning satellite one step closer to launch, and is a major milestone for Lockheed Martin as the GEO-5 is the first military satellite built on the company's modernized LM 2100 bus.
Also on Monday, it was reported that India's defense minister, Rajnath Singh, was on his way to Russia to try to convince them to rush delivery of the S-400 anti-missile system amid tensions with China. The first batch of the system was set to be delivered by the end of 2021, but may possibly be delayed to as far as 2025 due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
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