TEHRAN: An Iranian general warned his country is still seeking to kill former US president Donald Trump and his secretary of state Mike Pompeo in revenge for assassinating top commander Qasem Soleimani.
Tehran has repeatedly vowed to avenge the killing of Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ foreign operations, in a US drone strike on Baghdad airport in January 2020.
“We hope we can kill Trump, Pompeo, (former US general Kenneth) McKenzie and the military commanders who gave the order” to kill Soleimani, General Amirali Hajjizadeh, the Guards’ aerospace unit commander, said on television late Friday.
Trump had ordered the strike in response to a number of attacks on US interests in Iraq that his administration blamed on Iran.
Days later, Iran retaliated by firing missiles at a US air base in Iraq that housed US troops. None were killed, but Washington said dozens suffered traumatic brain damage.
The United States and its allies have repeatedly expressed concerns about Iran’s ballistic missile program as well as its “destabilising” role in the Middle East.
In his televised remarks, Hajjizadeh said Iran was “now able to hit American ships at a distance of 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles).”
“We have set this limit of 2,000 kilometers out of respect for the Europeans and we hope that the Europeans show themselves worthy of this respect,” the Iranian general said.
On Saturday, Iranian state television aired video of what it said was a newly unveiled “Paveh cruise missile with a range of 1,650 kilometers (1,025 miles)” developed by the Guards.
The official broadcaster reported on Friday that Iran was likely to provide Syria with the 15-Khordad surface-to-air missile system to “reinforce” its defensive capabilities.
Iran still seeking to kill Donald Trump, general says
https://arab.news/wxuq9
Iran still seeking to kill Donald Trump, general says
- Tehran has repeatedly vowed to avenge the killing of top commander Qasem Soleimani
Tunisian police arrest member of parliament who mocked president
- Ahmed Saidani mocked the president in a Facebook post, describing him as the “supreme commander of sewage and rainwater drainage”
TUNIS: Tunisian police arrested lawmaker Ahmed Saidani on Wednesday, two of his colleagues said, in what appeared to be part of an escalating crackdown on critics of President Kais Saied.
Saidani has recently become known for his fierce criticism of Saied. On Tuesday, he mocked the president in a Facebook post, describing him as the “supreme commander of sewage and rainwater drainage,” blasting what he said was the absence of any achievements by Saied.
Saidani was elected as a lawmaker at the end of 2022 in a parliamentary election with very low voter turnout, following Saied’s dissolution of the previous parliament and dismissal of the government in 2021.
Saied has since ruled by decree, moves the opposition has described as a coup.
Most opposition leaders, some journalists and critics of Saied, have been imprisoned since he seized control of most powers in 2021.
Activists and human rights groups say Saied has cemented his one-man rule and turned Tunisia into an “open-air prison” in an effort to suppress his opponents. Saied denies being a dictator, saying he is enforcing the law and seeking to “cleanse” the country.
Once a supporter of Saied’s policies against political opponents, Saidani has become a vocal critic in recent months, accusing the president of seeking to monopolize all decision-making while avoiding responsibility, leaving others to bear the blame for problems.
Last week, Saidani also mocked the president for “taking up the hobby of taking photos with the poor and destitute,” sarcastically adding that Saied not only has solutions for Tunisia but claims to have global approaches capable of saving humanity.
Under Tunisian law, lawmakers enjoy parliamentary immunity and cannot be arrested for carrying out their duties, although detention is allowed if they are caught committing a crime.
