TEHRAN: Iran has called the appointment of the former UN Ambassador John Bolton to the role of National Security Adviser of the United States “a shame.”
The Sunday report by the semi-official Fars news agency quotes Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council, as saying for an “apparent superpower it is a matter of shame that its national security adviser receives wages from a terrorist group,” referring to Bolton attending a gathering of the Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK) group in 2017.
The US removed MEK from its list of foreign terrorist organizations in 2012.
President Donald Trump said Thursday he would appoint Bolton to the post as his administration faces a key decision on whether to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal.
Naming John Bolton national security adviser ‘a shame’: Iran
Naming John Bolton national security adviser ‘a shame’: Iran
Pro-Palestinian flotilla announces new mission to Gaza
- Israel controls Gaza's borders and scrutinises all aid coming into the territory
TUNIS: A flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists who attempted to reach Gaza last year will set sail for the besieged territory again next month, one member told AFP on Friday.
The Global Sumud Flotilla said the new mission set for March 29 would be "the largest coordinated humanitarian intervention for Palestine in history" and will mobilise "thousands from over 100 countries".
"We will be sailing from Barcelona, Tunis, Italy and many other ports not yet made public," Brazilian activist Thiago Avila told AFP.
The group said an overland convoy would also leave for Gaza on the same day, without specifying from where.
The campaigners sought to break an Israeli blockade by delivering aid to Gaza by sea last October, before they were intercepted by Israel, detained and deported.
Israel controls Gaza's borders and scrutinises all aid coming into the territory.
The activists describe their actions as a "non-violent response to genocide, siege, mass starvation, and the destruction of civilian life in Gaza".
