TheNewsGuru

Tag: Iran

  • Davido to shun America over fears of Iran war

    Davido to shun America over fears of Iran war

    Afro-pop star, Davido has declared that he will not be visiting America following fears of a Third World War over the killing of Iranian military general, Qassem Soleimani, by US forces.

    TheNewsGuru recalls that the military chief was killed last Thursday. He was the head of Quds Force, a covert wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. His brutal exploits had been widely condemned by military analysts and governments across the world.

    Tweeting on Saturday evening, Davido, 27, condemned US President Donald Trump for the action, saying he would not be in America until fears of war are over.

    “Not going to America till the draft is over !! Crazy ass Trump trynna have me shouting Shekpe from Iran ,” he said.

    Mr Trump says the US took the action to stop the war. Reports from Pentagon, however, say the US President was warned against the action over new threats.

    Iran has vowed to retaliate over the killing which was launched near the Baghdad International Airport in Iraq.

    Thousands of Iranians have begun protesting the US action, describing it as a crime and shouting death to America.

     

  • JUST IN: Iraqi parliament passes resolution to expel US troops

    JUST IN: Iraqi parliament passes resolution to expel US troops

    The Iraqi parliament voted on Sunday to remove US troops from Iraq.

    In an extraordinary session, lawmakers voted for a resolution to ask the government to end an agreement with Washington to station 5,200 troops in Iraq.

    The resolution specifically calls for ending a 2014 agreement that allowed Washington to send troops to Iraq to help in the fight against the “Islamic State” group.

    “The government commits to revoke its request for assistance from the international coalition fighting Islamic State due to the end of military operations in Iraq and the achievement of victory,” the resolution read.

    “The Iraqi government must work to end the presence of any foreign troops on Iraqi soil and prohibit them from using its land, airspace or water for any reason.”

    The resolution was passed two days after the US killing of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad, Iraq by airstrikes on Friday.

    “The parliament has voted to commit the Iraqi government to cancel its request to the international coalition for help to fight IS,” parliament speaker Mohammed Halbusi announced.

    A resolution is non-binding, but it is likely to be heeded by the government as they support the measures.

    Populist Iraqi Shi’ite cleric Moqtada Sadr described the response as “weak.”

    “I consider this a weak response insufficient against American violation of Iraqi sovereignty and regional escalation,” Sadr, who leads the largest bloc in parliament, said in a letter to the assembly read out by a supporter.

  • Trump threatens to hit 52 Iranian sites, says Soleimani’s killing warning

    Trump threatens to hit 52 Iranian sites, says Soleimani’s killing warning

    In a series of tweets Saturday, US President Donald Trump responded to Iranian threats of avenging Major General Qassem Soleimani’s assassination in a US airstrike, by warning that the US will hit 52 Iranian sites, dear to Iran.

    His tweets represent a further escalation of the tension, amidst protests by anti-war groups in the US and the UK and the claim by his administration that it was committed to de-escalation.

    Trump, who is never known to walk away from a fight lashed out at Tehran in the tweets, and threatened that his country has primed its arsenals on 52 Iranian targets, as a revenge for the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago. This was in 1979.

    “Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, & badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently hundreds of Iranian protesters.

    “He was already attacking our Embassy, and preparing for additional hits in other locations. Iran has been nothing but problems for many years. Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!”, Trump wrote.

  • Soleimani: Britain warns citizens against travel to Iraq, Iran

    Soleimani: Britain warns citizens against travel to Iraq, Iran

    Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has warned British citizens against travel to Iraq or Iran amid heightened tension following the U.S. airstrike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force.

    “Given heightened tensions in the region, the (foreign office) now advise people not to travel to Iraq, with the exception of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and to consider carefully whether it’s essential to travel to Iran,” Raab says.

    Raab earlier urged all sides to “de-escalate” tension following Soleimani’s death, saying “further conflict is in none of our interests.”

  • Iraq holds massive funeral for slain top Iranian general Soleimani

    Iraq holds massive funeral for slain top Iranian general Soleimani

    Thousands of Iraqis, including senior politicians, attended the funeral of a top Iranian general and Iraqi militiamen in Baghdad on Saturday, following a U.S. airstrike that sharply escalated tensions across the region.

    The attack near Baghdad airport killed Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, the deputy head of Iraq’s Muslim Shiite militia Hashd al-Shaabi, along with six other Iran-allied militiamen.

    On Saturday, the bodies of those killed in the strike were carried inside caskets onto military vehicles in a funeral procession led by Iraqi militiamen holding the Iraqi flag and banners of militias backed by Iran.

    Iraq’s caretaker prime minister, Adel Abdel-Mahdi, and Hadi al-Amiri, a senior leader in Hashd al-Shaabi, were in attendance.

    Angry mourners chanted anti-U.S. slogans such as “Death to America!” and called for revenge.

    Others raised placards reading: “We all are Soleimani and al-Mohandes.”

    Iraqi army helicopters flew overhead as part of tight security. Authorities had deployed hundreds of security personnel and closed main streets in the capital for the funeral, witnesses said.

    The bodies are to be flown later Saturday to the holy Shiite provinces of Karbala and Najaf in southern Iraq for similar funeral processions, according to Iraqi media.

    Afterwards, the slain Iraqi militiamen are to be buried in a major Shiite cemetery in Najaf, while the body of Soleimani will be flown to Iran for burial in his hometown, the reports said.

    Soleimani was considered one of Iran’s most influential military leaders, wielding influence in Iraq, Syria, and other parts of the Middle East where Iran has a foothold.

    Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has threatened the U.S. with “harsh retaliation” for his killing, while U.S. President Donald Trump defended his decision to order the deadly strike by saying he had taken action “to stop a war.”

    Iraqi President Barhan Salih on Saturday called for regional and international cooperation to defuse tensions, state news agency INA said.

    He made his appeal during a phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    “The Turkish president confirmed his interest in Iraq’s stability, unity, sovereignty, and independence and preventing Iraq from turning into an arena for regional and international conflicts,” Salih’s office said in a statement.

    The U.S. nonetheless braced for retaliation, as Washington called on American citizens to depart Iraq “immediately.”

    On Saturday, Britain also warned its citizens against travel to Iraq or Iran.

    Tensions between Washington and Tehran have escalated since Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and reinstated U.S. sanctions in what his administration calls a “maximum pressure campaign.

    The Iraqi army on Saturday denied a report by Hashd al-Shaabi that an unidentified airstrike had targeted overnight a group of medics affiliated with the powerful militia in the area of Taji, north of Baghdad.

    “The Joint Operations Command denies reports circulated by some media about such an air raid,” the army said in a statement, carried by Iraq’s official news agency.

    The U.S.-led military coalition fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq meanwhile said in a tweet it had not conducted airstrikes in Taji.

  • Iranian General Soleimani killed in Baghdad airstrike, US claims responsibility

    Iranian General Soleimani killed in Baghdad airstrike, US claims responsibility

    Iraq’s powerful Shiite Hashd Shaabi militia said on Friday that the group’s deputy leader, Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, and high-ranking Iranian General Qassem Soleimani have been killed in an attack near Baghdad airport.

    The Iran-backed Hashd Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), said they were killed in a U.S. strike targeting their vehicle on the Baghdad International Airport road.

    Soleimani is the Commander of Iran’s Quds Force, a unit in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRCG).

    Their deaths are the latest escalation in tensions between the U.S. and Iran, coming after thousands of supporters of the Shiite militia broke into the U.S. embassy compound in central Baghdad on Tuesday.

    Protesters set fire to one of the gates of walls around the embassy buildings and camped outside until the next day.

    The two days of protests were triggered by U.S. strikes in Iraq and Syria on Sunday that targeted the Kataib Hezbollah militia group.

    The U.S. airstrikes killed at least 25 militiamen.

    Kataib Hezbollah, a part of the Hashd Shaabi umbrella group, had been blamed for an attack last week that killed a US citizen.

    Loud explosions were heard near the airport early Friday, which Iraqi security said was three Katyusha rockets falling down in the vicinity killing several people and leaving two vehicles burnt.

    Shortly after, the militia said five of its members were killed in the attack, including Mohammed Reda al-Jaberi, who was the group’s head of the public relations and protocol officer.

     

    Meanwhile, The Pentagon in a swift reaction said the U.S. was responsible for killing General in a “defensive action”.

    “At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qassem Soleimani,” the Pentagon statement said, adding that Soleimani was “actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.”

    “General Soleimani also approved the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that took place this week,” the statement continued.

    The U.S. also held Soleimani and his Quds Force responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and said he “orchestrated” a rocket attack on Dec. 27, which killed an American.

  • Iran in talks with Buhari over release of El-Zakzaky, wife – Official

    Iran in talks with Buhari over release of El-Zakzaky, wife – Official

    Iran constantly pursues the case of Nigeria’s top Shia cleric Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky through diplomatic contacts with the Nigerian government in line with efforts to help improve his health, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

    Abbas Mousavi told reporters in Tehran on Sunday that Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Iranian Vice President for Economic Affairs Mohammad Nahavandian recently met in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on a range of issues, including Zakzaky’s case.

    The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 5th Summit of Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Equatorial Guinea.

    “We hope that the consultations and arrangements that are being made will expedite the settlement of this issue,” the Iranian official said.

    Sheikh Zakzaky, who is in his mid-sixties, has been under arrest since December 2015, when his home in the town of Zaria was raided by Nigerian forces in a deadly incident during which he was beaten and lost his left eye.

    Three of his sons were killed, his wife sustained serious wounds and more than 300 of his followers died.

    Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) regularly take to the streets of Abuja and several other cities to call for the release of Sheikh Zakzaky.

    Last week Nigerian authorities transferred Zakzaky and his wife to the Correctional Center in Kaduna state, following a high court ruling.

    Earlier on Sunday, Sheikh Zakzaky’s daughter, Suhailah, expressed concerns about her parents’ health conditions and said the Nigerian government had ignored her father’s legal right to treatment.

    At a press conference in Tehran, she added that the same court, which had issued a verdict on the necessity for the urgent treatment of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife, on December 5 ordered their transfer to the Correctional Center in Kaduna. She said she knew nothing about her parents’ situation in the prison.

    Suhailah said her father has suffered several bouts of heart attack due to numerous medical conditions and her mother is not able to walk. Sheikh Zakzaky, his daughter said, also suffers from lead and cadmium poisoning, which forced the Nigerian authorities to allow him to travel to India for an aborted treatment.

  • Iranian women in stadium after 40 year, as Iran take on Cambodia

    Iranian women in stadium after 40 year, as Iran take on Cambodia

    Iranian women on Thursday entered the Azadi Stadium in Tehran to watch men’s football for the first time in almost 40 years as their country hosts Cambodia in a World Cup qualifier.

    According to media reports between 3,500 to 4,000 women, were able to buy tickets which sold out quickly.

    They entered special blocks at the stadium for the match which had female only police and doctors in attendance.

    Many fans turned up hours before kick-off making victory signals and waving national flags.

    Women have generally been banned from attending games in the country since the Islamic revolution by the ultra-conservative clergy despite many in the political class pushing for change.

    Some have attempted to enter stadiums wearing fake beards to try to circumvent the ban.

    In September,a woman died after setting herself on fire having been given a prison term for trying to violate the ban.

    World football’s governing body FIFA will see the partial lifting of the ban as a major victory.

    President Gianni Infantino, had threatened to exclude Iran from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar if women continued to be banned from stadiums for men’s internationals.

    The lifting of the stadium ban only applies to World Cup qualifying matches and not to games in the Iranian championship or the Asian Champions League.

    And some restrictions were still in place at the Azadi Stadium on Thursday, with women being refused press accreditations to work as photographers despite the Ministry of Sport promising this would happen.

  • Somali pirates release Iranian held hostage since 2015

    Somali pirates release Iranian held hostage since 2015

    An Iranian held for more than four years by Somali pirates has been released, a humanitarian organisation that helps hostages said on Saturday.

    Mohammad Sharif Panahandeh was a crew member on the FV Siraj, an Iranian fishing vessel that was captured off the coast of Somalia in March 2015, the Hostage Support Partnership said in a statement.

    He was one of the last four hostages being held by Somali pirates.

    “Mr Sharif was very seriously ill and would not have survived much longer,” said Leslie Edwards, who negotiated the release on behalf of the partnership.

    Following medical tests, he will be flown home to Iran in the coming days, the Nairobi-based group said.

    “There remain three other poor souls held hostage now for over five years and living in appalling conditions.”

    “I call on the pirates and local leaders of influence … to show humanity and release these men too,” said Hostage Support Partnership coordinator John Steed.

    International patrols and the presence of security guards on board vessels have dissuaded Somali pirates in recent years.

  • Iran decries U.S. sanctions as illegal

    Iran decries U.S. sanctions as illegal

    Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said that recent U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic are “illegal,’’ the Tasnim News Agency reported on Friday.

    “Their new sanctions, like previous embargoes are ineffective and lack any legal basis,“Abbas Mousavi was quoted as saying.

    He said that these sanctions are “desperate’’ measures taken by the U.S. President Donald Trump administration.

    On June 24, Trump signed an executive order targeting sanctions on Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his office and those closely affiliated with him.

    Washington also announced that it would sanction Iran’s foreign minister in July.

    Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said that fresh U.S. sanctions targeting the country’s senior officials are harmful to diplomacy as a means to settle prickly issues between Tehran and Washington.