Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iran’s army chief said Sunday that Washington lacked the “courage” to initiate a conflict after US President Donald Trump threatened to hit dozens of targets inside the Islamic republic. “I doubt they have the courage to initiate” a conflict in which the Americans threatened to …
Read More »Libya MPs call for break with Turkey over military deal
Benghazi, Libya | AFP | Libyan deputies voted Saturday for a break in diplomatic relations with Turkey over its controversial agreements with the UN-recognised government that is contested inside the North African country. At an emergency meeting in the eastern city of Benghazi, parliament also urged the international community to …
Read More »US flags burn as thousands mourn general in Tehran
Tehran, Iran | AFP | US and Israeli flags were set alight in Iran’s capital Saturday as thousands mourned the loss of top military commander Qasem Soleimani, a day after he was killed by American forces. “We are with you,” they chanted as they waved their hands in unison during the …
Read More »US killing catapults Iraq back to aftermath of 2003 invasion
Baghdad, Iraq | AFP | Iraqi factions threatening to oust US troops, officials denouncing American “violations” and fears of a new Gulf war: a US strike has catapulted Iraq back to the tumultuous aftermath of the 2003 invasion. The precision drone strike outside Baghdad airport on Friday killed top Iranian …
Read More »US deploying up to 3,500 troops to Middle East
Washington, United States | AFP | The US is deploying up to 3,500 more troops to the Middle East in a show of force, a Pentagon official said Friday, after an American drone killed a top Iranian general. The reinforcements will come from the 82nd Airborne Division’s Global Response Force, …
Read More »Trump’s no ‘stupid’ wars doctrine faces biggest test
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump campaigns on a no more “stupid” wars mantra, but the US killing of Iran’s military mastermind will test his ability to stay out of Middle Eastern quagmires less than a year from election day. Since the day of his surprise election …
Read More »Trump hits campaign trail with pitch to evangelicals
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump benefited from the fierce support of evangelicals in 2016 and cannot afford to lose those voters if he wants to win a second term in November. So the Republican incumbent is beginning the election year with a pitch to seal …
Read More »France says world ‘more dangerous’ after US killing of Iran general
Paris, France | AFP | The US killing of a top Iranian military commander has made the world “more dangerous,” France’s Europe minister said Friday, calling for efforts to de-escalate the deepening conflict in the Middle East. “We have woken up to a more dangerous world,” Amelie de Montchalin told …
Read More »ROUHANI: Iran and region’s ‘free nations’ to avenge general’s killing:
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iran and the “free nations of the region” will take revenge on the United States for killing Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani on Friday, President Hasan Rouhani said. “There is no doubt that the great nation of Iran and the other free nations of the …
Read More »Iran supreme leader vows ‘revenge’ for Soleimani killing
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed “severe revenge” after the United States killed the commander of the Islamic republic’s Quds Force, General Qasem Soleimani, in Baghdad on Friday. “Martyrdom was the reward for his ceaseless efforts in all these years,” Khamenei said on his …
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