Thursday, 9 January 2020

News from the Middle East

I have made a video but it is taking many hours to upload so I will add it later on.

Trump pulls back from

the brink

This is the video I have made. The item at the end appears

TWICE

US President Donald Trump is delivering an eagerly-awaited address to America, as the country stands on the brink of war with Iran. Trump’s speech comes hours after Iranian missiles struck two US bases in Iraq.

Speaking from the White House, Trump backed away from threatening further strikes against Iran, describing Tehran’s stand-down as “a good thing for all parties concerned.”

Our missiles are big, powerful, accurate, lethal and fast...The fact that we have this great military and equipment, however, does not mean that we have to use it.

Trump did, however, vow to impose new economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic, in addition to the thousand or so imposed since the US withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, or Iran nuclear deal) in 2018. “These powerful sanctions will remain,” he said, “until Iran changes its behavior.”

“Iran must abandon its nuclear ambitions and end its support for terrorism,” Trump continued. “Time has come for the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia and China to recognize this reality. They must now break away from the remnants of the JCPOA.”

While Trump recently declared that the US would wipe out 52 Iranian state and cultural targets if American interests were attacked, he struck a more conciliatory tone in his speech on Wednesday. After boasting about America’s “big missiles,” Trump suggested that under a new deal, Iran could become a “great country,” and could cooperate with the US on areas of mutual benefit.

“ISIS [Islamic State, IS, ISIL] is the natural enemy of Iran,” he said. “The destruction of ISIS is good for Iran. And we should work together on this and many other shared priorities.”

Early on Wednesday, Iran rained a barrage of missiles on two military bases used by American troops in Iraq. The missile attack came in response to the drone assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani by the US in Baghdad on Friday. Soleimani, according to Washington, had orchestrated a series of attacks on American forces in Iraq, and was allegedly plotting further strikes through Iranian-backed militias in the country. Tehran called the killing an act of “international terrorism,” vowing to take revenge.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif described the missile attack as a “proportionate measure” taken in self-defense. Zarif added that Tehran does not intend to escalate the situation further, but would target US allies in the region if Washington responds with force.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the strikes served as a “slap in the face” for the United States, but were not “sufficient” to remove “the corrupting presence of America in the region.”

Press TV – Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says Iran’s early Wednesday missile attack on US bases in Iraq following assassination of a top general was just “a slap”.

“The talk of revenge and such debates is another issue. For now, a slap was delivered on their face last night,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in remarks broad live on national television Wednesday.

“What is important about confrontation is that military action as such is not sufficient. What is important is that the seditious American presence in the region must end,” he said to chants of “Death to America” by an audience in Tehran.

The remarks came hours after Iran’s responded to US assassination of the Middle East’s most prominent anti-terror commander and his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis with a barrage of missiles that hit two US bases in Iraq.

Ayatollah Khamenei said Iran is quite equipped in the face of global bullying powers. “It is a very blatant mistake that some people think if they take a step back, the Americans will stop their hostility.”

“Some people say and even write in newspapers that we should act so that America does not get angry; this is absolutely wrong. This is contrary to the Qur’an commandment,” the Leader added.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the overriding responsibility of the masses is to discern their enemies, and “I am firmly saying that the enemy is America, the Zionist regime and the arrogant apparatus of corporations and institutions.”

Tune in to Press TV’s Twitter and Youtube channels to watch the speech:

The Leader hailed the Iraqi parliament’s decision ordering US troops to leave the country as well as the Iranian parliament’s blacklisting of American forces as terrorists.

“The Americans want Iraq to be like the former idolatrous regime in Iran or Saudi Arabia today – a region full of oil to be under their control so they can do whatever they want – a milking cow in the words of that individual,” he said in reference to US President Donald Trump.

“But the faithful elements and the Iraqi youth and their Marja’iya (religious authorities) stood up to these scenarios, and Haj Qassem assisted this vast front as an active adviser and an honorable supporter,” the Leader added.

The US, Ayatollah Khamenei said, has similar plans for Lebanon. “The Americans want to clear Lebanon of the most important factor of independence which is the resistance so that it cannot resist.”

However, “thank God, Hezbollah has become stronger day by day and today, both Lebanon’s hands and eyes are Hezbollah and the role of our martyr [Gen. Soleimani] is paramount and outstanding,” the Leader added.

https://theiranproject.com/blog/2020/01/08/ayatollah-khamenei-irans-retaliation-against-us-only-a-slap/