As press questions intel, an unlikely voice blames Soleimani’s stupidity - Fox News

Seventeen years after the press rolled over for faulty intelligence on Iraq, journalists are training a harsh spotlight on disputed intelligence on Iran.

It’s healthy for the media to question how President Trump decided to take out Qassam Soleimani, and to examine the far-ranging consequences -- though some of the coverage has been cloaked in the usual anti-Trump hostility.

Several network and cable anchors pressed Mike Pompeo during his Sunday rounds on whether he could prove that the general was plotting “imminent attacks”—the details of which the secretary of State called an “irrelevant distraction.”

SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW SOLEIMANI FUNERAL CROWDS THRONGING STREETS OF TEHRAN

But it’s not irrelevant, given that the administration’s rationale that time was of the essence, not just that Soleimani was a bad guy responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans. And with leaked accounts of unnamed officials calling the intelligence thin, the controversy was inevitable.

Yet given the journalistic hand-wringing over what happened in 2003, news outlets have an added incentive not to allow history to repeat itself.

When George W. Bush was trying to sell the country on Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, the press was filled with stories about the CIA’s “slam-dunk” assessment, and Colin Powell unveiled his charts at the United Nations.

After no WMDs materialized, Bob Woodward would tell me: “We did our job, but we didn’t do enough, and I blame myself mightily for not pushing harder.” There was a “groupthink” among intelligence officials, Woodward said, and “I think I was part of the groupthink.”

Len Downie, then the Washington Post’s executive editor, told me “we were so focused on trying to figure out what the administration was doing that we were not giving the same play to people who said it wouldn’t be a good idea to go to war…Not enough of those stories were put on the front page. That was a mistake on my part.” And some pieces were delayed or killed.

The New York Times, in a note to readers, said that “questionable” information was “insufficiently qualified or allowed to stand unchallenged. Looking back, we wish we had been more aggressive in reexamining the claims as new evidence emerged—or failed to emerge.” The Times public editor said the paper ran “some rather breathless stories built on unsubstantiated ‘revelations’” by officials with vested interests.

SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE'S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF OF THE DAY'S HOTTEST STORIES

That sense of guilt and failure continues to cast a shadow over the press. The intelligence community has also been taking flak from the president itself as he denounces some of its players on Russia and Ukraine. Still, intelligence by its nature is a flawed human enterprise, and it’s tough to release the raw material without jeopardizing sources and methods.

On the political front, the press is casting the retaliation threats from Iran, its withdrawal from the Obama nuclear agreement and the Iraqi parliament’s move to expel U.S. forces as the unintended consequences of Trump’s decision.

“For three years,” the Times said yesterday, “President Trump’s critics have expressed concern over how he would handle a genuine international crisis, warning that a commander in chief known for impulsive action might overreach with dangerous consequences.

“In the angry and frenzied aftermath of the American drone strike that killed Iran’s top general, with vows of revenge hanging in the air, Mr. Trump confronts a decisive moment that will test whether those critics were right or whether they misjudged him.”

But there was a contrarian take from Tom Friedman, the three-time Pulitzer winner who knows the region’s hatreds as well as any journalist on the planet.

“One day they may name a street after President Trump in Tehran,” he said in his Times column—this from a liberal commentator who generally supported Barack Obama and is a fierce Trump critic.

The reason? “Because Trump just ordered the assassination of possibly the dumbest man in Iran and the most overrated strategist in the Middle East.”

Rather than the evil genius portrayed by much of the press, he says, Soleimani is an idiot who squandered the lifting of sanctions that was part of the 2015 deals and helped plunge his country into poverty and protests that left some critics jailed or killed.

Soleimani did this by fighting proxy wars against Americans and in such places as Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Israel, says Friedman, freaking out U.S. allies and forcing the Trump administration to take action. The use of pro-Iranian militias to storm the American embassy in Baghdad was one provocation too far.

It is too soon to gauge the magnitude of the repercussions. The 2020 Democrats are all campaigning against Trump’s decision. But as the Friedman column makes clear, Soleimani bears much of the blame for his own downfall.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZveG5ld3MuY29tL21lZGlhL2FzLXByZXNzLXF1ZXN0aW9ucy1pbnRlbC1hbi11bmxpa2VseS12b2ljZS1ibGFtZXMtc29sZWltYW5pcy1zdHVwaWRpdHnSAWhodHRwczovL3d3dy5mb3huZXdzLmNvbS9tZWRpYS9hcy1wcmVzcy1xdWVzdGlvbnMtaW50ZWwtYW4tdW5saWtlbHktdm9pY2UtYmxhbWVzLXNvbGVpbWFuaXMtc3R1cGlkaXR5LmFtcA?oc=5

2020-01-07 07:58:45Z
52780536809258

President Trump's new threat to Iran in case of retaliation - ABC News

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiK2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnlvdXR1YmUuY29tL3dhdGNoP3Y9T095Y3pKQnhxTEHSAQA?oc=5

2020-01-06 15:53:38Z
52780536809258

Tears From Ayatollah as Iran Mourns Dead General: Live Updates - The New York Times

Here’s what you need to know:

• Iran’s supreme leader sheds tears for slain general.
• Iraq recalibrates after vote to expel American troops.
• Suleimani may have been emissary in outreach to Saudis.
• Trump doubles down on threat to attack Iran’s cultural sites.
• Democrats press Trump to declassify strike notification.

Video

Throngs of people chanting “Death to America” crowded the streets of Tehran on Monday as Iran mourned Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, whose funeral was held in the capital.CreditCredit...Office of Iran’s Supreme Leader, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Iran’s supreme leader sheds tears for slain general.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wept and offered prayers over the coffin of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani at the funeral in Tehran on Monday, as throngs of people filled the city’s streets to mourn.

General Suleimani was killed by the United States on Friday in Baghdad in a drone strike. American officials said the general had ordered assaults on Americans in Iraq and Syria and was planning a wave of imminent attacks.

Ayatollah Khamenei had a close relationship with the general, who was widely considered to be the second most powerful man in Iran.

The military commander was hailed as a martyr, and his successor swore revenge during the funeral ceremony, while chants of “Death to America” rang out from the crowds in the capital.

State-run news outlets reported that millions had gathered in Tehran, and images showed a sea of mourners, many wearing black and waving the Iranian flag.

Image

State-run news outlets reported that millions had gathered in Tehran.Credit...Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times

“God the almighty has promised to get his revenge, and God is the main avenger,” said Esmail Ghaani, the Iranian general who will succeed General Suleimani as head of the Quds Force, the foreign expeditionary arm of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. “Certainly actions will be taken,” he added.

General Suleimani’s killing has prompted fears of escalating retaliatory actions between Iran and the United States, and of a broader regional conflict. After the attack, Iran said it would no longer abide by a 2015 agreement to suspend uranium production.

Zeinab Suleimani, General Suleimani’s daughter, said in a eulogy that the United States and Israel faced a “dark day.”

“You crazy Trump, the symbol of ignorance, the slave of Zionists, don’t think that the killing of my father will finish everything,” she said.

The general’s funeral was attended by a broad swath of Iranians, including reformers who oppose the government of President Hassan Rouhani but who perceived the killing as an attack on all of Iran.

“I felt like he was our safety umbrella spread above Iran,” said Amir Ali, 22, a university student, of General Suleimani. “I felt safe knowing he was out there.”

Iraq recalibrates after vote to expel American troops.

The Iraqi government has begun to consider new parameters for the American military in Iraq after lawmakers voted 170-0 on Sunday in favor of expelling United States troops from their country.

The troops will be limited to “training and advising” Iraqi forces, but will not be allowed to move off their bases or to fly in Iraqi airspace while plans are being made for their departure, said Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf, the military spokesman for Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi.

The vote on Sunday was not final and many lawmakers did not attend the session. But Mr. Mahdi drafted the language and submitted the bill to Parliament, leaving little doubt about his support for the expulsion.

The drone strike that killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani on Friday also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.

The attack was viewed by many in Iraq as a violation of the nation’s sovereignty, and the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that it had summoned the American ambassador. Iran reacted to Sunday’s vote with congratulatory messages.

But the Iraqi Parliament was divided over the demands from angry citizens to expel American troops. Nearly half of its members, primarily Kurds and Sunnis, did not attend Sunday’s session and did not vote. In his speech to lawmakers, Mr. Mahdi laid out two possibilities: to either quickly end the presence of foreign forces in Iraq, or to set a timeline for their expulsion.

The measure approved by Parliament did not include a timeline, and only instructed the government to end the presence of foreign forces in Iraq. Officials said no decision had been made about whether any American troops would be able to stay, or under what conditions.

By Monday, there was still no timetable for the troops’ departure and no specifics about whether all American forces would be asked to leave or only some. And while Mr. Mahdi’s rhetoric was tough in his speech to the Iraqi Parliament on Sunday, by late in the evening, after speaking with President Emmanuel Macron of France by phone, his language was more modulated.

In a post on Twitter describing their phone call, Mr. Mahdi suggested that he was leaving the door open to something less than a complete departure.

He said he had agreed with Mr. Macron to “continue to discuss this delicate issue.”

He added that they talked about “the withdrawal of the foreign forces from Iraq in a way that would not damage the battle against ISIS and would preserve the sovereignty of Iraq and keep its relationships with the countries of the international coalition” that is fighting the Islamic State in Iraq.

Those goals would be difficult to achieve without some continued presence by the United States, because other countries’ troops are unlikely to stay in the absence of American military support.

Suleimani may have been emissary in outreach to Saudis.

President Trump and other American officials have said that Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani was in the midst of planning attacks on United States forces when he was killed. But the general may have also been working as a go-between in quiet efforts to reduce the tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Hostility and competition for influence had grown for years between the two regional rivals, but in recent months, Iran and Saudi Arabia had taken steps toward indirect talks to diffuse the situation.

In an address to the Iraqi Parliament on Sunday, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi of Iraq said that he was supposed to meet with General Suleimani on the morning he was killed.

“It was expected that he was carrying a message for me from the Iranian side responding to the Saudi message that we had sent to the Iranian side to reach agreements and breakthroughs important for the situation in Iraq and the region,” Mr. Mahdi said.

The content of the messages was not immediately clear, but Mr. Mahdi’s comments suggested that the drone strike ordered by Mr. Trump may have interrupted a diplomatic back channel aimed at averting conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump doubles down on threat to attack Iran’s cultural sites.

President Trump on Sunday doubled down on his threats to attack Iranian cultural sites and warned of a “major retaliation” if the Iranian government planned tit-for-tat attacks in the aftermath of the killing of a senior military commander.

Mr. Trump defended the drone strike that killed General Suleimani.

Earlier on Sunday, Mr. Trump said in a tweet that the United States had selected 52 Iranian sites, some “at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture” to attack in the event of Iranian retaliation.

That prompted the Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, to say that “targeting cultural sites is a war crime.”

But on Sunday evening, aboard Air Force One on his way back from his holiday trip to Florida, Mr. Trump did not back down.

“They’re allowed to kill our people,” he said to reporters. “They’re allowed to torture and maim our people. They’re allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people. And we’re not allowed to touch their cultural site? It doesn’t work that way.”

Democrats press Trump to declassify strike notification.

Two top Senate Democrats urged President Trump early Monday to declassify the document that the administration sent to Congress formally giving notice of the airstrike that killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani. It is unusual for an administration to classify the entirety of such a notification, and Democrats upbraided the document as insufficient. The notification to Congress is required by law.

In a joint statement, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader; and Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, said it was “critical that national security matters of such import be shared with the American people in a timely manner.”

“An entirely classified notification is simply not appropriate in a democratic society, and there appears to be no legitimate justification for classifying this notification,” they said.

The House is expected to vote later this week on a resolution invoking the War Powers Act that would curtail the president’s ability to authorize a strike against Iran without Congress’s approval. The Senate could vote on similar legislation as soon as mid-January.

Iran pledges to restart uranium enrichment.

The Iranian government said it would no longer abide by a commitment it made under a 2015 nuclear deal that limited its enrichment of uranium.

The decision to lift all restrictions on the production of nuclear fuel spelled the effective end of the nuclear deal, experts said, though Iran left open the possibility that it would return to the limits if sanctions were lifted.

“It’s finished. If there’s no limitation on production, then there is no deal,” said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, a nonprofit in Washington.

The announcement came after the Iranian Supreme National Security Council held an emergency meeting on Sunday after General Suleimani’s assassination.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will end its final limitations in the nuclear deal, meaning the limitation in the number of centrifuges,” the government said in a statement. “Therefore Iran’s nuclear program will have no limitations in production including enrichment capacity and percentage and number of enriched uranium and research and expansion.”

The announcement followed several steps by Iran to move away from the terms of the agreement, nearly two years after Mr. Trump withdrew the United States from the deal. Since that renunciation, the Trump administration has imposed severe sanctions aimed at crippling Iran’s economy.

The nuclear agreement ended some economic sanctions on Iran in return for its verifiable pledge to use nuclear power peacefully.

Iran’s statement on Sunday did not include details about its enrichment ambitions. And the country did not say that it was expelling the inspectors who monitor its nuclear program.

President Trump seemed to respond to the announcement on Monday with an all-caps post on Twitter:

The European parties to the deal, including Britain, France and Germany, as well as China and Russia, also signatories to the deal, had struggled to preserve the agreement as tensions between the United States and Iran worsened.

Geng Shuang, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a daily news briefing that there was still hope for the nuclear deal. He noted that Tehran had said it would continue to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors Iranian activities under the agreement, and that it could return to the pact under the right conditions.

“We believe that although Iran has been compelled to reduce adherence owing to external factors, it has also demonstrated restraint,” Mr. Geng said.

Europe scrambles to preserve the nuclear deal.

In a joint statement on Sunday night, Britain, France and Germany called on Iran to refrain from violence and to return to “full compliance with its commitments” under the 2015 nuclear agreement, which Tehran has seemed to all but have abandoned.

The statement followed Iran’s announcement that day that it would no longer abide by the limits to uranium enrichment set out in the deal, a move that seemed to finally kill off the agreement after months during which Tehran had carefully breached less significant limits.

President Trump withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal in 2018.

The European statement seemed somewhat forlorn, since its efforts to preserve the deal have been weak, hamstrung in part by a desire to maintain good relations with Washington. The statement did not support the drone strike on the Iranian general but did acknowledge American concerns, saying that, “we have condemned the recent attacks’’ on coalition forces in Iraq and “are gravely concerned by the negative role played by Iran in the region.’’

The statement called for “de-escalation” of tensions from all parties and reaffirmed the Europeans’ determination “to continuing the fight against Islamic State, which remains a priority.’’ And it called on Iraq “to continue to supply the necessary support to the coalition’’ — in other words, to not expel American and NATO troops.

The secretary general of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, called an emergency meeting of the alliance’s advisers on Monday afternoon.

Josep Borrell Fontelles, the European Union foreign policy chief, posted on Twitter that while the bloc regretted Iran’s announcement on the deal, it would wait for independent verification from the international nuclear monitoring group to determine what actions would be taken.

Peter Stano, his spokesman, said during a news briefing in Brussels said that de-escalation was the goal.

“It’s in our interest as Europeans to maintain this agreement,” Mr. Stano said.

On Monday, Heiko Maas, the German foreign minister, said that the Europeans would talk to Iran and planned to come up with a coordinated response.

“This could be the first step toward the end of this agreement, which would be a great loss,” Mr. Maas told a German radio station. “And so we will weigh things up very, very responsibly.”

Russian officials have been sharply critical of the targeted killing in Iraq but have not otherwise intimated how the Kremlin might respond, or whether Moscow, which has longstanding ties with Tehran, might play a mediating role.

President Vladimir V. Putin invited Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany to visit Moscow on Saturday to discuss the strike, among other issues, the Kremlin announced.

Oil prices surge to nearly $70 a barrel.

Oil prices surged and stock markets in Asia fell on Monday morning, as the impact of General Suleimani’s death ricocheted around the world.

The price of Brent oil, the international benchmark, jumped above $70 in futures trading as markets digested a steady flow of news over the weekend. It fell back below that level, to $69.92 a barrel, when markets opened in Europe, though the price was still about 5 percent higher than before the killing last week.

The sudden escalation in tensions in a region that supplies much of the world’s petroleum has roiled oil markets. The West Texas Intermediate, the American oil benchmark, rose 1.9 percent to $64.22 a barrel in futures trading.

Analysts at Capital Economics have warned that the price of oil could spike to $150 a barrel if the bellicose rhetoric between the two countries turned into action.

“The price of oil would soar in the event of full-blown military conflict in the Middle East,” said Alexander Kozul-Wright, a commodities economist at Capital Economics.

Johnson faces first foreign policy crisis of post-Brexit era.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, fresh from winning a mandate to take Britain out of the European Union, faces a particularly vexing challenge in dealing with the escalation between the United States and Iran.

In the first foreign policy crisis of the post-Brexit era, London is caught between its traditional alliance with Washington — one that Mr. Johnson wants to deepen further with a trade agreement — and the new relationship with Europe.

In his first statement on President Trump’s decision to strike the general, Mr. Johnson took pains to emphasize the threat posed by the Iranian military leader and said, “We will not lament his death.” But Mr. Johnson also called on all sides to avoid aggravating the situation, echoing the language used by the French and German governments.

Mr. Johnson suggested he wanted to play a mediating role and noted that he had spoken to Mr. Trump, as well as to President Emmanuel Macron of France and to Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. The European governments have been more circumspect in their reactions to the American strike, with the Germans criticizing Mr. Trump’s threat to impose sanctions on Iraq if Baghdad were to expel American troops from bases in the country.

Mr. Johnson was said to be upset that Mr. Trump had not notified him of the strike in advance, but he can ill afford a falling out with the president, given Britain’s need to initiate trade talks with Washington.

Evacuations planned and alerts raised for foreigners in Iraq.

President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines on Monday held an emergency meeting with defense officials to discuss a potential evacuation plan for the thousands of Filipino workers stationed in Iran and Iraq. The Philippines has a huge population of expatriate laborers who live and work in the region.

“President Duterte ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines to be prepared to deploy military assets to repatriate overseas Filipinos in the Middle East, particularly from Iran and Iraq, at any moment’s notice,” said Senator Christopher Lawrence Go, a close ally of Mr. Duterte who was at the meeting, according to The Associated Press.

On Monday, New Zealand became the latest country to advise its citizens to leave Iraq, but officials denied reports that it had decided to withdraw troops stationed there as part of a training mission. The training mission was said to have been postponed as tensions in the region soared.

“New Zealanders currently in Iraq despite our advice who have concerns for their safety are strongly advised to depart as soon as possible,” the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

Reporting was contributed by Alissa J. Rubin, Ben Hubbard, Russell Goldman, Alexandra Stevenson, Farnaz Fassihi, Christopher Buckley, Megan Specia, Steven Erlanger, Melissa Eddy, Mark Landler, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Eric Schmitt, Vivian Yee, David D. Kirkpatrick, Catie Edmondson, Andrew Kramer and Edward Wong.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiTWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm55dGltZXMuY29tLzIwMjAvMDEvMDYvd29ybGQvbWlkZGxlZWFzdC9pcmFuLXNvbGVpbWFuaS10cnVtcC5odG1s0gFRaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMC8wMS8wNi93b3JsZC9taWRkbGVlYXN0L2lyYW4tc29sZWltYW5pLXRydW1wLmFtcC5odG1s?oc=5

2020-01-06 15:02:53Z
52780542470277

Iran vows revenge for death of Qassem Soleimani as Trump says 52 Iranian sites could be targeted - CBS News

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiK2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnlvdXR1YmUuY29tL3dhdGNoP3Y9OTU0QVl4eFBUb0nSAQA?oc=5

2020-01-06 14:56:05Z
52780536809258

Puerto Rico rocked by a magnitude 5.8 earthquake, with more tremors expected - CNN

The magnitude 5.8 tremor happened at 5:32 a.m. ET, the US Geological Survey said.

It was centered about 8 miles south-southeast of Indios, Puerto Rico, at a depth of about 3.7 miles below ground.

No major injuries were reported, Puerto Rico Director of Emergency Management Carlos Acevedo said.

He said some homes were damaged in Guanica, and a home collapsed in Guayanilla.

Some victims of the earthquake posted photos of deep cracks in walls.

There were also reports of rock slides along Route 2, Acevedo said.

No tsunami warning was issued after the quake. But geologists warn of more tremors to come.

"More earthquakes than usual (called aftershocks) will continue to occur near the mainshock," the USGS said.

"When there are more earthquakes, the chance of a large earthquake is greater which means that the chance of damage is greater."

The agency advised anyone in or near vulnerable structures to be extra cautious and said those caught in potential quakes should drop, cover and hold on.

CNN's Leyla Santiago, Paul P. Murphy and Rosa Flores contributed to this report.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiQ2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNubi5jb20vMjAyMC8wMS8wNi91cy9wdWVydG8tcmljby1lYXJ0aHF1YWtlL2luZGV4Lmh0bWzSAUdodHRwczovL2FtcC5jbm4uY29tL2Nubi8yMDIwLzAxLzA2L3VzL3B1ZXJ0by1yaWNvLWVhcnRocXVha2UvaW5kZXguaHRtbA?oc=5

2020-01-06 14:41:00Z
52780542311922

Huge crowds flood Tehran streets for Soleimani's funeral, calling for revenge and retaliation - CNN

The mourners carried photographs of Soleimani, a revered and powerful figure who headed the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps elite Quds Force and led Iran's overseas operations.

Many of those on the streets of the Iranian capital were visibly upset and angry; others shouted "down with the USA" and "death to the USA." Iranian state television said millions attended, although this was yet to be verified.

Soleimani has been hailed a martyr and a hero inside Iran, especially due to his work in the fight against ISIS. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's ultimate political and religious authority, was photographed praying over Soleimani's body during the funeral ceremony alongside President Hassan Rouhani.

The US, however, has long viewed Soleimani as a terrorist and adversary. Washington claims he is responsible for aiding and abetting attacks by Iran's Shia allies against American troops, many of whom were killed during the bloodiest days of the Iraq War and in sectarian conflicts throughout the Middle East.

President Donald Trump said the decision to kill Soleimani was based on intelligence that he had been involved in planning an "imminent attack" that put American lives at risk.

Washington had already carried out a series of airstrikes in Iraq targeting Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed group the US held responsible for a series of rocket attacks on American facilities that killed a US contractor.

Trump said Soleimani was killed "to stop a war," but the action marks a significant escalation that has seen both sides inching dangerously close to the brink of conflict.

Iran has vowed revenge and threatened both the US and Israel. Maj. Gen. Hossein Dehghan, the top military adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader, told CNN that Tehran would retaliate by targeting military sites. The US operates about 800 military bases and logistical facilities outside its sovereign territory.

And Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said the country will no longer limit itself to the nuclear restrictions set forth by the international nuclear deal reached in 2015 between Iran and a handful of other countries. The Trump administration abandoned the deal in 2018.

Trump has responded to Iran's talk of vengeance by threatening to carry out a series of attack a number of Iranian targets, including cultural sites -- a potential war crime.

"Iranian proxy forces in Iraq have thought that they could act with impunity, and that if they acted we wouldn't take strikes against Iran proper," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told CNN when asked about Trump's statement. "We've made clear for months to the Iranian regime that that wouldn't be the case, that we were going to hold responsible the actors, the leaders who took these actions and who orchestrated these actions."

However, the Trump administration's domestic and foreign critics accused the President and his advisers of failing to think through the cost of killing Soleimani.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to her fellow democrats that the decision was "provocative and disproportionate" and argued that it endangered US personnel in the region.

The future of US troops in Iraq

Gulf Arab states and European leaders have called for restraint.

In a joint statement Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there is "an urgent need for de-escalation" concerning rising tensions with Iran.

Iraq's Parliament voted nearly unanimously to force the government to work toward the removal of US and other foreign troops inside the country, a clear rebuke to Washington over the strike that killed Soleimani.

"Iraqi priorities and the US are increasingly at odds," caretaker Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi said during his address to parliament.

He said a US troop withdrawal was the only way to "protect all those on Iraqi soil," especially American forces that require protection from the Iraqis.

Muqtada al-Sadr, a firebrand Shia cleric and fierce critic of the US, said the response by Iraq's parliament was weak "in comparison to American violations of Iraqi sovereignty."

Meanwhile, Trump said any move to expel US troops from the country would be met with "sanctions like they've never seen before ever."

"It'll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame," Trump said.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen, Tim Lister, Schams Elwazer, Eric Levenson and Kareem Khader contributed to this report.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiU2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNubi5jb20vMjAyMC8wMS8wNi9taWRkbGVlYXN0L2lyYXEtdXMtaXJhbi10ZW5zaW9ucy1pbnRsLWhuay9pbmRleC5odG1s0gFXaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuY25uLmNvbS9jbm4vMjAyMC8wMS8wNi9taWRkbGVlYXN0L2lyYXEtdXMtaXJhbi10ZW5zaW9ucy1pbnRsLWhuay9pbmRleC5odG1s?oc=5

2020-01-06 12:44:00Z
52780536809258

Live updates: Iran holds massive funeral for slain commander in Tehran amid calls for vengeance - The Washington Post

Wana News Agency Via Reuters Iranians attend a funeral procession for slain Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in Tehran, Jan. 6, 2020.

Huge throngs of Iranians attended the funeral of slain Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in the capital, Tehran, on Monday in a display rivaling the ceremony three decades ago that marked the passing of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, wept as he prayed over the coffin of Soleimani, while he and other Iranian leaders vowed revenge for the U.S. drone strike that killed one of the country’s top military commanders.

Here are key points of what we know:

●The funeral in Tehran was a stark display of Soleimani’s importance to the regime.

●In the aftermath of the strike that killed Soleimani, Iran has discarded more internationally mandated curbs on its nuclear program.

●Iraq’s parliament is moving to expel U.S. troops after the strike.

●President Trump has threatened to hit Iraq with heavy sanctions if U.S. troops are forced to leave.

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated with no relief in sight in the days after a U.S. drone strike killed Qasem Soleimani, a revered Iranian military figure, on Jan. 3.

7:09 AM: Putin, Merkel to discuss Iran in Moscow

MOSCOW — At the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Moscow Saturday with plans to discuss escalating tensions in the Middle East in the wake of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani’s killing, the Kremlin announced.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas is accompanying Merkel on the trip. Maas said Monday that President Trump threatening Iraq with heavy sanctions if U.S. troops are forced to leave is “not very helpful.”

Russia has been even more critical of the U.S. air strike that killed Soleimani. Its Foreign Ministry denounced the move as “reckless” on Friday though Putin himself has been publicly mum on the issue with the country still enjoying its New Year’s holidays.

He spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron by phone Friday evening, and the Kremlin announcement of the call said “both sides expressed concern” and “that this attack could escalate tensions in the region.”

Moscow has quietly benefitted from Soleimani’s death with oil prices spiking. Now Putin will weigh in on the state of the Middle East twice this week, when he meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul Wednesday and then with Merkel over the weekend.

By: Isabelle Khurshudyan

5:15 AM: France, Germany and Britain call on Iran to refrain from violence and honor nuclear deal

BEIRUT — In a joint statement on Monday, France, Germany and Britain appealed to Iran to stick with its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal and refrain from responding violently to a U.S. attack.

On Sunday, Iran announced that, unless U.S. sanctions are lifted, the country would abandon the accord’s “final restrictions” on uranium enrichment. The decision followed a U.S. drone attack that killed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force.

“We specifically call on Iran to refrain from further violent action or proliferation, and urge Iran to reverse all measures inconsistent with JCPOA,” the statement said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal that Tehran struck with world powers.

The joint statement also stressed the need for de-escalation in the region, where tensions have escalated to a new level over the weekend, and it condemned attacks on forces in Iraq under the U.S.-led coalition to fight the Islamic State.

“The current cycle of violence in Iraq must be stopped,” it said.

By: Sarah Dadouch

5:00 AM: Removing U.S. troops from Iraq may not be that hard

President Trump may have balked at the idea of U.S. troops being asked to leave Iraq, but ending America’s 17-year military presence there may be easier for the country’s government than he thinks.

Unlike most deployments stretching back to the aftermath the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, American troops in Iraq are not operating under a conventional status of forces agreement approved by the Iraqi parliament, according to experts.

The presence of 5,000 U.S. troops as part of a global coalition fighting the Islamic State is based on an arrangement that is less formal and, ultimately, on the consent of an executive branch that urged parliament on Sunday to tell foreign forces to leave.

“The current U.S. military presence is based of an exchange of letters at the executive level,” said Ramzy Mardini, an Iraq scholar at the U.S. Institute of Peace who previously served in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.

[Getting U.S. troops out of Iraq might not be that hard, say experts]

“If the prime minister rescinds the invitation, the U.S. military must leave, unless it wants to maintain what would be an illegal occupation in a hostile environment,” Mardini said.

Addressing Iraq’s wood-paneled parliament on Sunday, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi urged lawmakers to take “urgent measures” to force the withdrawal of foreign troops. Shortly after, the chamber passed a nonbinding resolution to that effect, and Abdul Mahdi’s office said that legal experts were drawing up a timetable for the pullout.

“At this moment in time [the] government has not yet decided to remove foreign troops but it is probable soon as things stand,” Sajad Jiyad, managing director of the Baghdad-based Bayan Center think tank, wrote on Twitter.

By: Louisa Loveluck

3:00 AM: Iran’s supreme leader weeps at funeral of commander killed by U.S. drone strike

ISTANBUL — Facing a sea of mourners in central Tehran on Monday, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, openly wept as he prayed over the body of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the slain commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force.

The commander’s death has galvanized Iranians who have rallied in major cities, including Ahvaz, Mashhad and now Tehran.

Official President's website

Via Reuters

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Hassan Rouhani pray before the coffins of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Tehran, Jan. 6, 2020.

Hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets of the capital Monday to pay homage to Soleimani, a larger-than-life figure who oversaw the rapid expansion of Iranian influence across the Middle East. A U.S. drone targeted Soleimani as he left the Baghdad airport in a two-car convoy last week. U.S. officials cited what they said was his role directing rocket attacks on U.S. military bases in Iraq.

Khamenei, who observers said rarely presides over the funerals of senior officials, was flanked Monday by President Hassan Rouhani; Soleimani’s successor, Brig. Gen. Ismail Qaani; and other key security and political figures.

Iran Press

AP

In this image taken from video, Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, openly weeps as he leads a prayer over the coffin of Gen. Qasem Soleimani, in Tehran, Jan. 6, 2020.

The supreme leader has vowed revenge for his killing.

As the crowds wailed in Tehran on Monday, Khamenei recited the Namaz-e Meyet, or prayers of the dead, and choked back tears before beginning to sob.

“We have not witnessed any sins from him,” the supreme leader said.

Soleimani’s body will be carried next to the holy city of Qom, after which he will be buried in his hometown in Kerman.

By: Erin Cunningham

3 AM: China slams U.S. attack on Iranian commander

BEIJING — China on Monday heavily criticized the U.S. killing of Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani as a violation of international norms and said it would work with Russia to “maintain international justice.”

In a flurry of calls with his Russian, Iranian and French counterparts over the weekend, Beijing’s top diplomat Wang Yi criticized what he called a “risk-taking” U.S. military strike and urged a halt in the American “abuse of force,” according to statements released by China’s Foreign Ministry.

Wang and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed during their phone call to “strengthen joint strategic coordination to maintain international justice,” the ministry said without giving details.

China, which has increasingly close military ties with Moscow, has long sought a neutral position in the Middle East, with friendly relations with Iran, Israel and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.

At a regular press briefing, ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China would uphold an “objective and just position” in Middle East politics but lambasted the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and America’s “ignorance of international obligations and international law” as the “root cause of the tension.”

When asked by reporters, Geng declined to say whether China would increase its security presence in the region.

“We urge the U.S. not to abuse force and the relevant parties to exercise restraint to prevent a spiraling of tensions,” he said.

By: Gerry Shih

1:30 AM: Germany says Trump’s threats against Iraq ‘not helpful’

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Monday that President Trump’s threats against Iraq were “not very helpful at this point.”

Maas added in an interview with German public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk that the international community “has invested a lot, not only militarily but also in terms of support for stabilization.” Those efforts, said Maas, were now at risk of “being lost if the situation continues to develop this way.”

Maas remained vague when asked whether Germany would side with the United States on Iran.

“As Europe, we have to make an effort to ensure that we try everything to give diplomacy another chance,” he said.

By: Rick Noack

12:30 AM: Successor to slain Iranian commander vows to drive U.S. from region

The general succeeding the Iranian commander slain in a U.S. drone strike vowed to continue his predecessor’s work and expel the United States from the Middle East.

Brig. Gen. Ismail Qaani was appointed the head of the powerful Quds Force, the expeditionary wing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard tasked with spreading the country’s influence abroad.

As Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani’s deputy, he worked closely with the slain commander on developing Iran’s proxy forces in Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.

“We promise to continue down martyr Soleimani’s path as firmly as before with the help of God, and in return for his martyrdom we aim at getting rid of America from the region,” he said in an interview with state television.

Soleimani’s daughter also addressed the funeral ceremony for her father in Tehran, saying that Israel and the United States would soon face a dark day.

By: David Crawshaw

8:30 PM: Trump threatens sanctions against Iraq if it expels U.S. troops

WASHINGTON — President Trump said Sunday the United States would put “very big sanctions on Iraq” if the country forced out U.S. troops.

His remarks came shortly after Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi asked parliament to take urgent measures to pass laws to remove all foreign troops from Iraq. Parliament passed a nonbinding resolution doing just that, but it will have to be followed up by actual legislation for the troops to leave.

Kevin Wolf

AP

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump exit Air Force One on Jan. 5, 2020, at Joint Base Andrews, Md.

The vote Sunday did not immediately imperil the U.S. presence in Iraq, but it highlights the head winds the Trump administration faces after the strike, which was seen in Iraq as a violation of sovereignty and as a dangerous escalation by governments across the Middle East.

[Trump threatens to strike Iranian cultural sites and impose ‘very big’ sanctions on Iraq as tensions rise]

“If they do ask us to leave, if we don’t do it in a very friendly basis. We will charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before ever,” Trump said. “It’ll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame.”

Trump also warned that he expected Iraq to compensate the United States for an air base there.

“We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that’s there,” Trump said. “It cost billions of dollars to build. Long before my time. We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it.”

By: Seung Min Kim

1:41 PM: Iran says it’s suspending its commitments to 2015 nuclear deal

ISTANBUL — Iran said Sunday that it is suspending its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal it had struck with world powers and will abandon the accord’s “final restrictions” on uranium enrichment and other activities unless U.S. sanctions are lifted.

“Iran’s nuclear program will now be based solely on its technical needs,” the statement said. The move includes breaching the deal’s caps on uranium production and enrichment capacity, as well as nuclear research and development. 

[Iran announces it is suspending its commitments to the 2015 nuclear deal]

“If the sanctions are lifted . . . the Islamic Republic is ready to return to its obligations,” the statement said. It added that Iran will continue to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog.

By: Erin Cunningham

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMieGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS93b3JsZC9pcmFuLXN0cmlrZS1saXZlLXVwZGF0ZXMvMjAyMC8wMS8wNi8zYjU0NTFmMi0zMDI0LTExZWEtOTMxMy02Y2JhODliMWI5ZmJfc3RvcnkuaHRtbNIBhwFodHRwczovL3d3dy53YXNoaW5ndG9ucG9zdC5jb20vd29ybGQvaXJhbi1zdHJpa2UtbGl2ZS11cGRhdGVzLzIwMjAvMDEvMDYvM2I1NDUxZjItMzAyNC0xMWVhLTkzMTMtNmNiYTg5YjFiOWZiX3N0b3J5Lmh0bWw_b3V0cHV0VHlwZT1hbXA?oc=5

2020-01-06 12:21:00Z
52780536809258