Iran has issued an arrest warrant for US President Donald Trump over the drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in January, CNN reported citing Iran's local media sources on Monday.
Iran has issued an arrest warrant for US President Donald Trump over the drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in January, CNN reported citing Iran's local media sources on Monday. According to Iran's semi-official Fars news agency, Trump is one of 36 people whom Iran has issued arrest warrants for in relation to the death of Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), but the Tehran attorney general Ali Alqasi Mehr said Trump was at the top of the list.
Mehr claimed that Trump would be prosecuted as soon as he stands down presidency after his term ends, Fars reported. Iran also said it had asked Interpol to issue a Red Notice for these 36 individuals, semi-official state news agency ISNA reported. \Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike at Baghdad International Airport in January along with five others, including Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Iran-backed Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
The strike, condemned by Iran and its allies as an "assassination," raised the spectre of further regional destabilization. A spokesman for Iran's judiciary, Gholam-Hossein Esmaili, announced in early June that an Iranian citizen had been sentenced to death for allegedly working for foreign intelligence agencies. Esmaili claimed that Seyed Mahmoud Mousavi Majd disclosed the whereabouts of Soleimani to US intelligence officials...Read More
The United States and Interpol both dismissed the idea of acting on such a warrant.
Iran has issued an arrest warrant for US President Donald Trump and 35 others over the killing of top general Qassem Soleimani and has asked Interpol for help, Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said on Monday, according to the Fars news agency. The United States and Interpol both dismissed the idea of acting on such a warrant. The United States killed Soleimani, leader of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, with a drone strike in Iraq on Jan. 3. Washington accused Soleimani of masterminding attacks by Iranian-aligned militias on US forces in the region.
Alqasimehr said the warrants had been issued on charges of murder and terrorist action. He said Iran had asked Interpol to issue a “red notice” seeking the arrest of Trump and the other individuals the Islamic Republic accuses of taking part in the killing of Soleimani. Alqasimehr said the group included other US military and civilian officials but did not provide further details. US Iran envoy Brian Hook said the warrant was a “propaganda stunt” at a news conference in Saudi Arabia.
“Our assessment is that Interpol does not intervene and issue red notices … (of) a political nature,” he said. “This is a political nature. This has nothing to do with national security, international peace or promoting stability … It is a propaganda stunt that no-one takes seriously.” Interpol said in a statement that its constitution forbade it to undertake “any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character”…Read More
From a prisoners’ riot in Thailand to Iran’s fears and China’s comfort – here’s a digest of international reports on Covid-19 to bring you up to speed with what’s happening around the world
Europe is botched up, with deaths and new coronavirus cases continuing to rise. Spain on Sunday recorded 838 fatalities, bringing its toll to 6,528 – second only to Italy, which had on Friday confirmed a one-day record of 969. The US, too, seems far from recovery. The number of cases in that country climbed to 8,238 overnight. President Donald Trump has said he is considering putting the New York region under quarantine, along with New Jersey and Connecticut. Meanwhile, South Africa, the epicentre of the virus spread in the continent, is now under a lockdown. Most of the 59 million people in the country will self-isolate for the coming three weeks. Also, New Zealand has reported its first coronavirus death.
Let’s take a look at the global statistics (at 10 pm IST on March 29):
Total confirmed cases: 685,623
Change over the previous day: 39,266
Total deaths: 32,137
Total recovered: 149,215
Nations with most cases: US (125,313), Italy (92,472), China (82,122), Spain (78,797), and Germany (58,247)
Prisoners’ riot in Thailand: On Sunday, prisoners at a facility in northern Thailand rioted and set on fire parts of the complex over concerns that they might catch the coronavirus due to proximity with inmates. The prison houses 2,000. Read more here. Outbreak could last 1-2 years: Iran, which has seen its death toll rise sharply to 2,640, might not see complete recovery from the coronavirus anytime soon. President Hassan Rouhani said the spread of coronavirus had slowed in some provinces, “but the country may have to learn to live with the disease for one or two years”. Read more here. No domestic transmission in China: The national health ministry of China, where the coronavirus originated, has said that “domestic transmission has basically been stopped”. There were only 45 new cases reported on Saturday, down from 54 the previous day. Parts of Wuhan, where the virus originated, have also been opened for travel.Read more here
In December 2019, an outbreak of a coronavirus (officially known as – COVID-19) in China killed over 7,965 people across the globe and infected over 198,229. The virus has spread to 157 countries. In India, 137 confirmed cases have been reported so far. A 68-year-old woman from Delhi, 69-year-old man from Mumbai and a 76-year-old man from Karnataka has been confirmed dead in the country from the virus.
What is coronavirus?
Coronaviruses are a large group of viruses that are common among animals. In rare cases, they can be transmitted from animals to humans. The spikes protruding from the virus’s membrane look like the sun’s corona. It is from this that the virus gets the name ‘coronavirus’. It causes illnesses of the respiratory tract, ranging from the common cold to severe conditions like SARS. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.
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Two Iranian carriers were earlier suspended; regulator’s ire directed at airlines that aren’t making self-declaration forms available
Directorate General of Civil Aviation has cautioned remote carriers of severe activity including conceivable suspension of calendar in the event that they neglect to hold fast to government guidelines on coronavirus counteraction. General screening of all showing up travelers was presented from last Thursday. Aircrafts have been approached to disperse self-presentation structures to travelers and make on board declarations right now.
“We have discovered that a few worldwide aircrafts are not holding fast to the standards. Inability to hold fast to rules will involve severe activity,” said Director General of Civil Aviation Arun Kumar. He didn’t unveil name of carriers. Air terminals have been entrusted to print the structures and give them in adequate amount to the aircrafts, Kumar included. “It has come to information that a few aircrafts are not guaranteeing accessibility of self-statement structures prompting long lines at appearance focuses. This has been seen intensely by this office,” delegate chief general Sunil Kumar said in a roundabout to all aircrafts.
Earlier, DGCA temporarily suspended two Iranian carriers, Iran Air and Mahan Air, from operating to India in view of the coronavirus outbreak. Around 200 Iranians stranded in India following route suspension have returned to their country on a relief flight and Indian Air Force has flown 58 Indians from Iran.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that law enforcement agencies were working on the ground
In the wake of riots in Delhi, in which 48 people lost their lives, Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Monday condemned the organised violence against Indian Muslims in the national capital. He said the senseless thuggery should not prevail and peaceful dialogue should take place. “Iran condemns the wave of organised violence against Indian Muslims. For centuries, Iran has been a friend of India. We urge Indian authorities to ensure the wellbeing of ALL Indians & not let senseless thuggery prevail. Path forward lies in peaceful dialogue and rule of law,” Zarif tweeted.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that law enforcement agencies were working on the ground to prevent violence and ensure restoration of confidence and normalcy. Kumar has urged international bodies not to make irresponsible statements at this sensitive time.
“Iran condemns the wave of organised violence against Indian Muslims. For centuries, Iran has been a friend of India. We urge Indian authorities to ensure the wellbeing of ALL Indians & not let senseless thuggery prevail. Path forward lies in peaceful dialogue and rule of law,” Zarif tweeted. Earlier, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan had condemned the violence against Muslims in Delhi. Frenzied mobs have torched houses, shops, vehicles, a petrol pump and pelted stones at police personnel. Several arrests have been made.
The crash occurred hours after Iran launched missile attacks on U.S.-led forces in Iraq, leading some to speculate that the plane may have been hit
A Ukrainian airliner was on fire immediately before it crashed southwest of Tehran, killing all 176 on board, according to an initial report by Iranian investigators. The Ukrainian International Airlines Boeing 737-800, flying to Kiev and carrying mostly Iranians and Iranian-Canadians, crashed shortly after taking off on Wednesday from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport. The report, by Iran’s civil aviation organisation, cited witnesses on the ground and in a passing aircraft flying at high altitude as saying the jet was on fire while still aloft.
The three-year-old Boeing jet, which had its last scheduled maintenance on Jan. 6, encountered a technical problem shortly after take-off and started to head towards a nearby airport before it crashed, the report said. The technical problem was not specified in the report. However, a Canadian security source told Reuters there was evidence one of the jet’s engines overheated.
The crash occurred hours after Iran launched missile attacks on U.S.-led forces in Iraq, leading some to speculate that the plane may have been hit. Five security sources – three Americans, one European and the Canadian – who asked not to be named, told Reuters the initial assessment of Western intelligence agencies was that the plane had suffered a technical malfunction and had not been brought down by a missile.
The death of Qasem Soleimani, who led the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds force, heightened fears of an armed conflict between the U.S. and Iran that could easily pull in other countries.
US President Donald Trump ordered the killing of Iran Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, who died in Baghdad “in a decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad,” the Pentagon said.
“General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Qasem Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more,” the Department of Defence said.
Following Soleimani’s death, Trump tweeted an image of the US flag without any further explanation. The strike, which occurred at Baghdad’s international airport on Friday in Iraq, also killed the deputy chief of Iraq’s powerful Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force. A pro-Iran mob this week laid siege to the US embassy following deadly American air strikes on a hardline Hashed faction.\
The US had called the strikes in response to a rocket attack days earlier that had killed an American contractor working in Iraq. The Baghdad airport was hit in a volley of missiles just after midnight Friday, Iraq’s military had announced
Soleimani was the key planner of Iran’s local impact, driving the battle against jihadist powers and broadening Iran’s conciliatory heave in Iraq, Syria and past
Progressive Guards administrator Qasem Soleimani, who was killed Friday in a US strike, was one of the most well known figures in Iran and seen as a lethal enemy by America and its partners. General Soleimani, who headed the outer tasks Quds Force for the Guards, had employed his local clout openly since 2018 when it was uncovered that he had direct association in top-level talks over the arrangement of Iraq’s administration.
It was nothing unexpected at the ideal opportunity for a man who has been at the focal point of intensity broking in the district for two decades. Qasem Soleimani has been in and out of Baghdad from that point forward, most as of late a month ago as gatherings looked to shape another administration. Where once he kept to the shadows, Soleimani has lately become an improbable big name in Iran – packed with an immense after on Instagram.
His profile rose abruptly when he was pushed forward as the general population face of Iran’s mediation in the Syrian clash from 2013, showing up in combat zone photographs, narratives – and in any event, being highlighted in a music video and vivified film. In an uncommon meeting disclosed on Iranian state TV in October, he said he was in Lebanon during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war to regulate the contention…
Britain has called Iran’s capture of the Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday a “hostile act”
International News: Iran’s ambassador to Britain warned against escalating tensions on Sunday as a UK official declined to rule out sanctions in response to Tehran’s seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker. Britain has called Iran’s capture of the Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday a “hostile act”. Britain needs to contain “those domestic political forces who want to escalate existing tension between Iran and the UK well beyond the issue of ships,” Iran’s envoy to Britain Hamid Baeidinejad said on Twitter.
“This is quite dangerous and unwise at a sensitive time in the region,” he said, adding that Iran “is firm and ready for different scenarios.” Britain’s junior defence minister Tobias Ellwood did not rule out the possibility of targeting Tehran with sanctions in response.
“Our first and most important responsibility is to make sure that we get a solution to the issue to do with the current ship, make sure other British-flagged ships are safe to operate in these waters and then look at the wider picture,” Ellwood told Sky News.
Asked about the possibility of sanctions, he said: “We will be speaking with our colleagues, our international allies, to see what can actually be done.” Tehran’s seizure of the Stena Impero followed the July 4 capture by Royal Marines of the Grace 1 tanker carrying Iranian oil near Gibraltar. British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt on Saturday said Tehran’s actions showed “worrying signs Iran may be choosing a dangerous path of illegal and destabilising behaviour after Gibraltar’s legal detention of oil bound for Syria.”
In a letter to the UN Security Council, Britain said the Stena Impero was approached by Iranian forces in Omani territorial waters where it was exercising its lawful right of passage, and that the action “constitutes illegal interference.” British warship HMS Montrose radioed an Iranian patrol vessel to warn it against boarding the Stena Impero, according to radio messages provided to Reuters by maritime security firm Dryad Global.
The store of oil has the potential to push down global prices if Chinese refiners decide to draw on it
International News: Tankers are offloading a huge number of barrels of Iranian oil into capacity tanks at Chinese ports, making a crowd of unrefined sitting on the doorstep of the world’s greatest purchaser.
Over two months after the White House restricted the buy of Iran’s oil, the country’s unrefined is proceeding to be sent to China where it’s being put into what’s known as “fortified capacity,” state individuals acquainted with activities at a few Chinese ports. This oil doesn’t cross neighborhood traditions or appear in the country’s import information and isn’t really in break of assents. And keeping in mind that it stays unavailable for general use until further notice, its quality is approaching over the market.
The store of Iran oil can possibly push down worldwide costs if Chinese purifiers choose to draw on it, even as Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and partners check generation in the midst of moderating development in real economies. It additionally enables Iran to continue siphoning and draw its oil closer to potential purchasers.
“Iranian oil shipments have been streaming into Chinese fortified capacity for certain months now, and keep on doing as such notwithstanding expanded investigation,” said Rachel Yew, an investigator at industry specialist FGE in Singapore. “We can perceive any reason why the maker would need to do as such, as a development of provisions close key purchasers is unmistakably gainful for a vender, particularly if approvals are facilitated eventually.”
There could be progressively Iranian oil set out toward China’s reinforced stockpiling tanks, Bloomberg transport following information appear. In any event ten extremely huge rough transporters and two littler tankers claimed by the state-run National Iranian Oil Company and its transportation arm are at present cruising toward China or sitting off its coast. The vessels have a joined conveying limit of more than 20 million barrels…
Airstrikes would have marked a dramatic escalation in the already high tensions between the two nations and would raise the specter of a broader conflict in the volatile region
President Donald Trump approved military strikes on Iran after an American drone was shot down by Iranian armed forces, but then decided not to go through with them, the New York Times reported Thursday night. The targets included radar and missile batteries, the newspaper said, citing unnamed administration officials. The operation was actually underway on Thursday evening — with planes and ships heading toward their targets — when the administration called off the attack, according to the Times.
The White House declined to comment on the report. The Times said it was unclear why the attack did not go forward. Airstrikes would have marked a dramatic escalation in the already high tensions between the two nations and would raise the specter of a broader conflict in the volatile region, which supplies one-third of the world’s oil.
Earlier Thursday, Donald Trump downplayed Iran’s attack on the US Navy drone in the Persian Gulf that escalated regional tensions and fueled a surge in oil prices, suggesting a “loose and stupid” individual may have been responsible for the strike.
“I would imagine it was a general or somebody who made a mistake by shooting that drone down,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting Thursday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “I find it hard to believe it was intentional. It could have been somebody who was loose and stupid.” The last time the US launched a significant military operation against Iran was Operation Praying Mantis in 1988. In that operation, US Navy ships sank two Iranian ships and destroyed two Iranian surveillance platforms.
Opec+, an alliance of Opec and some non-member nations, had in January announced to cut output for six months to prevent a decline in prices
Oil rose to multi-week highs on Monday after Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) demonstrated it will probably keep up generation cuts that have helped bolster costs this year, while strains kept on raising in the Middle East.
Brent rough was up by 96 pennies, or 1.3%, at $73.17 a barrel by 0227 GMT, having prior contacted $73.40, the most astounding since April 26. U.S. West Texas Intermediate rough was 82 pennies, 1.3%, higher at $63.58 a barrel. The US benchmark came to $63.81 before, the most astounding since May 1.
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Sunday there was accord among the Opec and united oil makers to drive down rough inventories “delicately” yet he would stay receptive to the necessities of a “delicate market”. Joined Arab Emirates (UAE) Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei prior told columnists that makers were equipped for filling any market hole and that loosening up supply cuts was not “the correct choice”.
In the interim, US President Donald Trump undermined Tehran on Sunday, tweeting that a contention would be the “official end” of Iran, while Saudi Arabia said it was prepared to react with “all quality” and that it was dependent upon Iran to maintain a strategic distance from war. The talk pursues a week ago’s assaults on Saudi oil resources and the terminating of a rocket on Sunday into Baghdad’s vigorously invigorated “Green Zone” that detonated close to the US government office…
All three matches on day seven ended in a 1-0 result that saw Uruguay advance to the group of 16, and Saudi Arabia and Morocco crashing out of the tournament.
As the Fifa World Cup 2018 completes a week, clarity has started emerging on who will advance to the next stage and who will bow out of the tournament. Wednesday wrote the epitaph of Saudi Arabia and Morocco, who join Egypt as the teams who will pack their pack and travel home as soon as the group stage ends. All three matches on the seventh day produced binary results (1-0), with Portugal, Uruguay, and Spain emerging victorious against Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Iran respectively.
Who scored in each match: Cristiano Ronaldo scored the lone goal for Portugal and improved his tally of goals in the ongoing tournament to four while Luis Suarez scored for Uruguay. Diego Costa had a strike ricochet off towards goal against Iran.
Morocco are out of the FIFA World Cup 2018 after losing their second match today against Portugal in Group B of the FIFA World Cup 2018 at the Luzhniki Stadium. They’d be especially sore about it because they lost the two matches despite playing arguably better than their opponents. But then again, luck wasn’t on their side and neither was Ronaldo, who made all the difference.
Ronaldo scored his fourth goal of the tournament in the fourth minute when Portugal earned a corner. Bernaro Silva took a short corner from which Moutinho sent in a cross. Ronaldo, diving, got at the end of the delivery, giving his team the lead. As much as it was Ronaldo being the fox-in-the-box, Morocco too had been guilty of shoddy defending, with Ronaldo left unmarked, a grave sin.
Trivia: Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first Portugal player since José Torres in 1966 to score a goal with his right foot, left foot and head in a single World Cup tournament.
2nd Match: Uruguay vs Saudi Arabia
Suarez scores the winner
Uruguay are through to the last 16 courtesy their ability to grind out a win out of even drab matches. This was one of such games with chances coming few and far between at Rostov Arena in the Group ‘A’ match. Saudi Arabia are out of the tournament although they were arguably the better team but they paid for a moment of lapse in concentration in which Luis Suarez pounced and scored the sole game of the sluggish match.
