Donald Trump described the missile assassination of the Iranian general Qassem Suleimani as 'decisive action to stop a ruthless terrorist', before adding: 'Last week we eliminated the world’s top terrorist.'
Additional economic sanctions on Iran were announced during the White House conference as Trump called for Europe to break away from the 'foolish' nuclear deal
Continue reading...As a new Republican president seeks re-election, senior figures in Washington warn history may be repeating itself
A Republican president facing a tough re-election campaign and widely viewed as hopelessly out of his depth. Bureaucrats itching to turn US military firepower on a Middle Eastern regime they claim without evidence is plotting an imminent attack. Compliant sections of the media that put flag-waving jingoism ahead of skeptical scrutiny.
So it was in late 2002, when President George W Bush’s administration built unstoppable momentum towards invading Iraq, promising to destroy weapons of mass destruction (WMD) that never existed. Nearly two decades later the potential target is not Iraq but Iran, with many of the same concerns over false pretexts and official lies.
Continue reading...Australia appears set to remain in Iraq, even as other US allies such as Germany and Canada pull their troops out
Scott Morrison has told the chief of the Australian defence force “to take whatever actions are necessary” to protect Australian troops and diplomats in Iraq after Iran began bombing allied military bases. All defence and diplomatic staff in the country were now safe, Morrison said.
Australia’s military appears set to remain in Iraq as long as the US does, even as other allies such as Germany and Canada pull their troops out of the country.
Continue reading...Tehran can show it has retaliated over the assassination of Qassem Suleimani, while US may shrug off limited nature of strike
The “severe revenge” Iran promised for the death of Qassem Suleimani was heralded on Wednesday morning by at least two waves of short-range missile attacks on bases in Iraq hosting US and coalition personnel.
The attacks will provide an opportunity for hawks inside the Donald Trump administration to ratchet up the conflict with Iran – but also potentially a pathway out of the crisis.
Continue reading...The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, called for a diplomatic solution to the crisis in the Middle East as he headed to Brussels for talks with his German and French counterparts.
Britain, Germany and France have called for a de-escalation of tension in the region following the assassination of the top Iranian military commander Qassem Suleimani in a US drone strike last week
Continue reading...Dozens of people have been killed in a crush in the south-eastern Iranian city of Kerman, where hundreds of thousands of mourners have gathered for the burial of the military commander Qassem Suleimani, according to state media.
The vast crowds in Suleimani's home town matched the huge turnouts in Baghdad, Tehran, Qom, Mashhad and Ahvaz in recent days to say farewell to the commander of the Revolutionary Guards external operations force, who was killed by a US drone strike in Iraq on Friday
Continue reading...Iran’s supreme leader wept as he led prayers in Tehran at the funeral of Qassem Suleimani, the general killed by a US drone strike last week. Mourners, which state media said numbered in the millions, chanted 'death to America'. Donald Trump has defended his threat to target Iranian cultural sites – widely seen as a war crime – if Tehran retaliates for the killing
Continue reading...Tehran has vowed revenge for the killing of Qassem Suleimani but conflict is not yet certain
The threats emanating from Twitter feeds and podiums in Tehran and Washington might suggest the moment for diplomacy has long passed, and some form of war between the US and Iran following the assassination of Qassem Suleimani is now inevitable.
The only consideration that might hold the two sides back is the possible consequences. Tehran has tasted the unpredictability of Donald Trump and however much the desire for revenge beats in the hearts of Iranians, European leaders are pleading with Tehran’s leadership, saying it has a responsibility to use its head and recognise any direct attack on US assets in the Middle East is likely to be met with a further escalation by Trump.
Continue reading...In the north-east city of Mashhad, mourners accompanied a casket carrying the Iranian general's remains. Earlier that day, his body had been taken to Ahvaz, in the south-west. Iran has threatened 'harsh retaliation' for the US strike that killed the top military commander.
Continue reading...Thousands have gathered across Iran and Iraq to mourn the death of Iran's top general, Qassem Suleimani, who was killed by a US drone strike in Baghdad. Mourners chanted 'death to America' and burned US flags as Iranian authorities vowed vengeance for Suleimani's death
The Iraqi television channel Ahad TV has shared CCTV footage purporting to show the moment a US drone strike killed Iran's top general, Qassem Suleimani
Continue reading...Thousands of mourners have attended a funeral procession for Iran's top general, Qassem Suleimani, in Baghdad. His body, along with others killed in a US drone strike on Friday, were taken on a procession through the Iraqi capital before a public farewell in Tehran on Sunday. Marchers, many of them in tears, chanted 'death to America, death to Israel'
Continue reading...Thousands of mourners attend funeral procession for Iranian general killed in US airstrike
Thousands of mourners have marched in a funeral procession through Baghdad for Iran’s top general and Iraqi militant leaders, who were killed in a US airstrike, chanting: “Death to America.”
The bodies of Iranian general Qassem Suleimani and others killed in a US drone strike were taken on a funeral procession starting in Baghdad on Saturday before a public farewell for the slain military leader in Tehran on Sunday, according to officials in Iran.
Continue reading...Donald Trump said the USA was prepared to take 'whatever action is necessary' if Iran targeted US citizens in response to the killing of its top general, Qassam Suleimani. Speaking at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump said Suleimani was responsible for 'acts of terror' that had destabilised the Middle East, but said that he was not seeking regime change in Iran
Continue reading...World reacts to news of US drone strike ordered by Donald Trump on Iranian general Qassem Suleimani in Baghdad
Defense officials told the AP that nearly 3,000 more troops from the 82nd Airborne Division would be deployed to the Middle East amid fears of reprisals against the US for the killing of Iranian general Qassem Suleimani.
The AP reports:
The United States is sending nearly 3,000 more Army troops to the Mideast as reinforcements in the volatile aftermath of the killing of an Iranian general in a strike ordered by President Donald Trump, defense officials said Friday.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a decision not yet announced by the Pentagon, said the troops are from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. They are in addition to about 700 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne who deployed to Kuwait earlier this week after the storming of the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad by Iran-backed militiamen and their supporters.
The commander of the Quds force, which was previously run by the late general Qassem Suleimani, advised Iranians to “be patient” following the US drone strike and witness the deaths of Americans across the Middle East.
Breaking News: @AJABreaking News alert: Al Quds Force Commander Ismail Qaani: we say be patient, soon you will witness the bodies of Americans in all of the Middle East https://t.co/88y3cgW5XV
Continue reading...Iran has vowed revenge for a US airstrike at Baghdad international airport that killed Gen Qassem Suleimani, the head of the elite Quds force and architect of Iran’s spreading military influence in the Middle East
Continue reading...Thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets after a US airstrike killed Qassem Suleimani, the country's most powerful military chief. Protesters burned American flags and chanted 'Down with the USA'. Iran has declared three days of national mourning and vowed 'severe revenge' for Suleimani's death
Man who died alongside Suleimani was important Shia leader in post-Saddam era
A few days before his assassination in an American drone strike, Jamal Jafaar Mohammed Ali Ebrahimi – known more widely by his nom de guerre of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis – addressed a crowd of his supporters in Iraq.
“The US ambassador, the Americans and their intelligence agencies must not think that they can sustain their control over their bases in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon,” he said, in the aftermath of US strikes that had killed two dozen members of the militia he founded.
Continue reading...The White House said Donald Trump ordered an airstrike that killed the powerful Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The attack came amid Iranian tensions with the US after thousands of Iraqis stormed the US embassy compound in Baghdad this week. The killing of Suleimani presents a dramatic escalation of an already bloody struggle between Washington and Tehran for influence across the region
Quds leader was extraordinarily successful in reshaping the region in wake of Iraq war and Syrian revolution
US drone strikes in Baghdad on Friday morning have killed not just one of the most influential men in Iran but also in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, too.
Qassem Suleimani had become well known among Iranians in past years and was sometimes discussed as a future president. Yet the leader of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds force was still a relatively obscure figure outside a region that he may have done more than anyone to reshape.
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