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Rockets reportedly fired towards US embassy in Iraq

By
IFP Media Wire
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US Forces

Explosions were heard early on Friday morning in the vicinity of the Iraqi capital’s heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses the institution. US troops and installations across the region have come under attack as Washington continues to support Israel’s bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip.

News agencies, quoting unnamed US and Iraqi military officials, report that rockets landed on the outskirts of the district housing government and diplomatic buildings at dawn.

Alarm sirens calling on people to “duck and cover” were activated. According to social media videos, rockets were seen landing near the US embassy.

In one video, sirens are heard amid a series of explosions close to the building. Another shows an area of Baghdad’s diplomatic zone as explosions are heard in the background.

The US embassy in Baghdad has not yet commented on the reports. It was not immediately clear whether the embassy’s air defence systems were activated or if there were any injuries.

Iraqi groups that support Palestinians have promised retaliation against Israel and its close ally the US for the deadly war in Gaza.

According to the Pentagon, since the Gaza war erupted on October 7, US forces deployed in Iraq and Syria have been attacked at least 66 times, causing injuries to more than 60 personnel. However, until now, diplomatic missions have been spared.

The US has occasionally retaliated against these attacks and has accused Iran of “actively facilitating” rocket and drone attacks by Iranian-backed proxy groups on its forces.

In November, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin asserted in a statement that Washington “does not seek conflict and has no intention nor desire to engage in further hostilities”, but he added that “these Iranian-backed attacks against US forces are unacceptable and must stop”.

Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amirabdollahian has said that Tehran “neither gives orders to the resistance groups across the region, nor stops them from taking decisions in their own countries based on their own interests”.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for any attack on the US embassy on Friday.

Kremlin says Putin and Raisi talked for over five hours

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Raisi and Putin

The Iranian president arrived in Moscow on a state visit on Thursday. Moscow and Tehran have developed strong ties in recent years and as a result have strengthened their respective economies, the Russian president told his counterpart.

The two leaders discussed bilateral ties and wider global challenges, including the Israel-Hamas conflict. Russia and Iran have built up “good momentum” over the past year, Putin said, pointing to cooperation in energy and education.

Trade between the two nations has grown by 20% over the past year and has reached $5 billion, the Russian president continued, adding: “We are engaging in active cooperation across the entire spectrum of our bilateral relations.”

The talks concluded a series of meetings that Putin has held in the past 48 hours with leaders and officials from Middle Eastern countries.

During the talks with the Iranian leader, Putin joked that he had considered visiting Tehran on Wednesday after visiting Saudi Arabia and the UAE, saying that he was flying over Iran on his way back home and thought perhaps he could just land in Tehran and meet with Raisi there, but he was informed that the Iranian president was already about to leave for Moscow. Raisi replied that Iran is ready to receive Putin at any time and invited him to visit Iran.

US says can’t give Ukraine guarantees over funding

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Russia Ukraine War

On Wednesday, the Senate failed to advance the $111 billion spending bill that would have allocated over $60 billion in aid to Kiev, even after President Joe Biden argued that this would undermine US leadership and prestige.

“We’re not in a position to make that promise to Ukraine, given where things are on the Hill,” Kirby said at the White House press briefing on Thursday, answering a reporter who had asked whether the White House could offer any assurances that additional funding was coming Kiev’s way.

The US Congress has approved over $120 billion worth of aid to Kiev since the conflict with Russia escalated in February 2022. This included cash payments to keep the Ukrainian government going, as well as more than $44 billion worth of weapons, ammunition and equipment for Kiev’s military from the Pentagon’s stockpiles.

Biden asked for over $60 billion in additional funding in mid-October, as House Republicans fought to elect a new speaker. The White House chose to bundle that request with aid to Israel, Taiwan and the US-Mexico border. That appears to have been a mistake, however, as Republicans insisted on addressing the fact that over six million people had crossed into the US illegally since Biden took office in 2021.

Democrats called the Republican holdouts “hard right” and “extreme”, while Biden made an impassioned plea on Wednesday to not “kneecap Ukraine” amid the ongoing conflict. Biden even warned that US troops might end up fighting Russian troops on NATO territory in the event that Kiev capitulates, prompting a strong rebuke from the Kremlin.

Aside from partisan quarrelling among legislators over the allocation of funding, the Department of Defense has argued that it is running out of weaponry to pass along.

“The biggest problem that we are running up against is we don’t have enough money to backfill our own stocks, which means we don’t have enough to continue to supply Ukraine with what it needs,” the Pentagon’s deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters on Thursday.

“Because it is our weapons, our capabilities, our systems being pulled off our shelves, and being shipped over to Ukraine, and if we can’t backfill that’s going to also impact our own readiness.”

Earlier in the week, the Washington Post reported on the failure of Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive, revealing that Kiev had thrown out the plan wargamed by US and British generals after only a few days of fighting in June wiped out much of its Western-supplied equipment.

IMF warns Gaza war to ‘severely depress’ Palestinian economy

By
IFP Media Wire
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Gaza War

“We do expect the conflict to severely depress economic activity in both the West Bank and Gaza, where even before the conflict GDP growth was set to decline over the medium term,” the IMF communications chief, Julie Kozack, told reporters.

She added that while the economies of the occupied West Bank, Gaza will be the hardest hit, “the ultimate impact will depend on the duration and intensity of the conflict.”

The IMF announced last week that it will revise its economic outlook for countries in West Asia and North Africa due to the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

The fund warned that the Israeli aggression on Gaza will have wide-ranging consequences for both people and economies in the region.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s decades-long suppression and devastation against Palestinians.

Israeli occupation forces are continuing their genocidal war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and have vowed to flatten the coastal territory.

More than 17,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, and over 43,000 others injured since the onset of the current US-backed war.

Vast areas of the besieged Gaza Strip have been reduced to rubble as a result of Israel’s incessant bombardment.

Iranian president back home from Moscow trip

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
Ebrahim Raisi

President Raisi, who had traveled to Moscow at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, held talks on various bilateral, regional, and international issues, including the latest developments in Palestine.

Upon his return, President Raisi said during the meetings with Putin and other high-ranking officials, the two sides explored the ways to promote cooperation in the fields of energy, agriculture, transit and the North-South route.

The two sides also discussed the Israeli regime’s ongoing strikes against Palestinians, which has so far claimed over 17,000 lives, and left the Gaza Strip in ruins.

“Urgent actions to quickly stop the bombings against the oppressed people of Gaza, lifting the blockade on the strip and restoration of the Palestinian nation’s rights were brought up and emphasized in the talks,” the Iranian president said.

The Iranian president’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Political Affairs, Mohammad Jamshidi, wrote on X social media platform on Friday, “During the three-hour private meeting between Mr. Raisi and Mr. Putin, the presidents of Iran and Russia, detailed and very helpful discussions were held about bilateral and regional cooperation with Gaza taking the center stage.”

“Recalling the successful experience of regional cooperation, President Raisi proposed some initiatives and the two sides agreed to coordinate the measures and goals to that end,” he added.

Iran’s Raisi, in meeting with Russian president, urges ‘immediate’ stop to Israeli genocide

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
Raisi and Putin

President Raisi stressed the critical need to halt the incessant bombings in Gaza, expressing grave concern about the frequency of child casualties.

He reiterated: “The ongoing events in Palestine constitute not just a humanitarian crisis but a condemnable act of genocide.”

Highlighting international complicity, Raisi lamented the backing of the Zionist regime’s actions by the US and some other Western nations.

He criticized the diminished effectiveness of human rights advocating bodies and international organizations in addressing the Israeli crimes against Palestinians.

“Injustice prevailing in the global system and its unilateral nature manifest vividly in the dire situation unfolding in Gaza,” Raisi remarked, underlining broader global concerns.

The Iranian president also emphasized the robust bilateral relations between the Tehran and Moscow, noting considerable potential for further enhancement.

“While our cooperation in energy, agriculture, and knowledge-based sectors is commendable, there exists greater scope for mutual benefit,” Raisi affirmed.

Expressing gratitude for hosting the meeting, President Putin  stressed the importance of deliberating on regional matters, particularly the Palestine situation.

He touched upon the accelerating trade and economic collaboration, hinting at plans for a free trade agreement between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union under Russia’s consideration.

“Relations between our nations are burgeoning. Please convey our regards to the Eminent Leader [Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei], whose support for our ties is invaluable,” Putin added.

Enumerating existing collaboration in transportation, energy, and education, Putin pointed to the signing of agreements to construct railways between Iran and Russia and develop oil and gas resources.

Iran welcomes UN chief’s invoking of Article 99 of UNSC Charter

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
Nasser Kanaani

Nasser Kanaani stated: “As highlighted by the Secretary-General in his letter, the severity of the attacks in Gaza, the targeting of civilians—especially children and women—the destruction of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, and the forced displacement of a significant portion of Gaza’s population to other areas within the strip, pose a threat to both peace and regional security.”

Kanaani regarded the Secretary-General’s plea to the UN Security Council to stop the Zionist regime’s assaults and facilitate immediate and comprehensive relief for the people of Gaza as a wholly appropriate action in line with the top UN official’s legal duties and authority.

Regarding the information outlined in the Secretary-General’s letter to the chairman of the Security Council, illustrating the grave deterioration in Gaza, Kanaani stressed the urgent need for all pertinent governments and international bodies to take swift and concerted action to halt the occupying regime’s attacks and crimes and to provide support to the oppressed people of Gaza.

He emphasized that the primary responsibility for this lies with the United Nations Security Council, which holds clear legal obligations to promptly prevent aggression and threats against international peace and security.

Kanaani called for the UN Security Council swift action to that end.

Kanaani underlined: “The precarious situation in Gaza, amid the continuous war crimes and genocide perpetrated against Palestinians by the Zionist regime, and its legal dimensions, presents a clear and immediate threat to regional and global peace and security. It necessitates prompt and decisive action by the Security Council, which cannot evade or delay its responsibilities on any grounds.”

He reiterated: “Any compromise, delay, or inaction by the Security Council in this matter equates to endorsing and emboldening the criminal forces of the occupying regime to further perpetrate killings of Gazans, widen the destruction of their properties, intensify displacement, and exacerbate the suffering of over two million Palestinians residing in Gaza. It signifies complicity in these crimes.”

He added: “The Islamic Republic of Iran underscores that phrases like ‘humanitarian pause’ amount to mere rhetoric that postpones but does not halt the occupation force’s crimes. Therefore, the only effective action anticipated from the Security Council is its immediate, explicit decision compelling the Israeli regime to cease all its attacks and military actions promptly and entirely in Gaza, the West Bank of Palestine, and against other regional countries.”

Syria appoints new envoy to Saudi Arabia after a decade

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Bashar Assad Arab League

Syria’s state-run news agency SANA said in a statement on Wednesday that Soussan was officially sworn in before Assad during a ceremony attended by Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad.

Sousan will be the first Syrian ambassador to be dispatched to Saudi Arabia since 2012, thus completing the steps to restore diplomatic relations between the two countries.

During Wednesday’s ceremony, Maher Baddour also took the legal oath as Syria’s Ambassador to the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria.

Later, President Assad received the two ambassadors and wished them success in their missions.

Saudi Arabia closed its embassy in Damascus and withdrew all diplomats in March 2012. Back in May, the two countries agreed to resume diplomatic relations and re-open embassies.

In the same month, the Arab League, a 22-member intergovernmental organization of Arab states, agreed to welcome Syria back into the fold with immediate effect after more than a decade.

Syria was one of the six founding members of the Arab League in 1945. The Arab League suspended Syria’s membership in November 2011, citing an alleged crackdown by Damascus on opposition protests.

Over 90 people killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon since early October: Beirut

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Lebanon Israel

The ministry added that 92% of wounded people are males and 96% of wounded people are Lebanese.

The Lebanon Disaster Risk Management Unit as of Wednesday had registered 20,000 displaced people from villages in Tyre district, south Lebanon, Lebanon state-run NNA news said on Thursday.

Those displaced people are distributed among five shelter centers in the city of Tyre, not including thousands who were displaced to other areas and were not registered within the Disaster Risk Management Unit, NNA added.

The unit announced that there is a lack of resources to provide services, saying nearly 40 villages on the border with Israel are still not safe for civilians to return.

Israel has also evacuated communities on its side of the border in response to rockets fired from Lebanese territory.

Amid the conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israeli troops and Hamas, tension has flared along the border between the Israeli-occupied territories and Lebanon, with exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah and the Israeli regime have been exchanging sporadic fire since October 8, a day after the Zionist regime started bringing the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip under a relentless and indiscriminate war.

The Lebanese resistance movement has announced the group’s “guns and rockets” were with Palestinian fighters, and stressed that it will intensify its attacks against Israel if necessary.

Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has recently told senior Israeli officials that Hezbollah is “ten times stronger than Hamas”, Israel’s Kan public broadcaster has reported.

President Joe Biden and his aides have advised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to launch pre-emptive strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, The New York Times daily newspaper has reported.

Hezbollah has already fought off two Israeli wars against Lebanon in 2000 and 2006, forcing a humiliating retreat upon the Tel Aviv regime’s military in both cases.

The resistance movement has vowed to resolutely defend Lebanon in case of any Israeli-imposed war.

Israel should await “terrible days”: Iran FM

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Israeli Army

Amirabdollahian held a telephone conversation with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and the Zionist regime’s recent aggression against Palestine.

The foreign ministers denounced the Israeli regime’s crimes against the women and children in Palestine and demanded the international community take an urgent measure to immediately stop the Israeli regime’s war crimes, genocide and clear violations of international laws.

They also stressed on the need to deliver sufficient humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people.

The Iranian and Qatari foreign ministers voiced support for efforts by United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres to put an end to the Israeli regime’s strikes against the people in Gaza. They also underlined the UN Security Council resolution on the ongoing events in Gaza and the West Bank as a political solution for the international community.

During the phone call, Amirabdollahian reiterated that the Islamic resistance has firmly retaliated against the Israeli regime’s aggression so far, warning that the regime should await terrible days in case the developments continue in this path.

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