Daesh holdouts in Syria battle ‘gone by tonight:’ Trump

US President Donald Trump speaks after touring the Lima Army Tank Plant at Joint Systems Manufacturing in Lima, Ohio, March 20, 2019. (AFP)
Updated 20 March 2019
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Daesh holdouts in Syria battle ‘gone by tonight:’ Trump

  • He showed off maps that illustrate the dramatic shrinking of territory held by the militant group

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the Daesh’s last bastion in Syria will be “gone” by the end of the day.
He showed off maps that illustrate the dramatic shrinking of territory held by the militant group in the period from his election in 2016 and now.
In one map shown by Trump to reporters in Washington and then again at a rally to factory workers in Lima, Ohio, Daesh territory marked in red extends over large areas. A second map, he said, shows the militant organization about to be wiped out.
“There is no red. In fact, there’s actually a tiny spot which will be gone by tonight,” he said.
Fighting continued in Baghouz, Syria, on Wednesday, but the Daesh militants are down to a tiny scrap of land, where they are surrounded and under heavy fire from a US-led coalition of Kurds, Syrians and others.


Iran’s foreign minister heads to Muscat for nuclear talks with US

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. (File/AFP)
Updated 06 February 2026
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Iran’s foreign minister heads to Muscat for nuclear talks with US

  • Iran will engage in ‌the talks “with authority ‍and with ‍the aim of reaching a fair, ‍mutually acceptable and dignified understanding on the nuclear issue,” a spokesperson said

TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has departed for the Omani capital ​Muscat at the head of a diplomatic delegation for nuclear talks with the US due to be held on Friday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson said.
The US and Iran ‌have agreed ‌to hold ‌talks ⁠in ​Oman ‌on Friday, officials for both sides said, even as they remain at odds over Washington’s insistence that negotiations must include Tehran’s missile arsenal and Iran’s vow to discuss ⁠only its nuclear program.
Iran will engage in ‌the talks “with authority ‍and with ‍the aim of reaching a fair, ‍mutually acceptable and dignified understanding on the nuclear issue,” the spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Thursday.
“We hope the ​American side will also participate in this process with responsibility, ⁠realism and seriousness,” Baghaei added.