During the phone call, the two sides conferred on the recent crash of a Ukrainian plane in Tehran as well as other issues of mutual interest.
The Ukraine International Airlines flight, en route to Kiev and carrying 179 people most of whom were Iranians and Iranian-Canadians, crashed early Wednesday six minutes after take-off.
An engine problem is said to be the main cause of the incident.
The crash came hours after Iran fired missiles at bases housing US forces in Iraq.
All Iranian newspapers today highlighted the Wednesday attacks on the US’ Ain al-Assad Airbase carried out by Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) in retaliation for the US’ assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani.
The top story in all papers was the comments made by the Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei regarding the final revenge for Soleimani’s assassination, which is the expulsion of US forces from the region.
Also a top story today was the tragic deaths of 179 passengers and crew members of the Tehran-Kiev flight which crashed shortly after take-off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport.
Abrar:
1- Pentagon’s Response to IRGC’s Missile Attack
2- US’ Corrupt Presence in Mideast Must End: Leader
3- Zarif: We Sent a Message to US Immediately after Operation
4- 80 US Terrorists Killed in Ain al-Assad Base
Afkar:
1- US Received a Slap on Tuesday Night: Leader
2- Boeing Explodes in Middle of Air
3- Iran’s Next Steps Will Be Proportional to Americans’ Behaviour
Aftab-e Yazd:
1- Iranian Slap: Tehran Gives Its First Response in Decisive Way
2- Iran’s Revenge Makes US President Back Off
3- One Airplane Crash Brings Grief to Six Countries
4- Iran Leader Offers Condolences on Tragedy of Plane Crash
Arman-e Melli:
1- US Received a Slap, but US Must Leave Region: Leader
2- Americans’ Dark Night
* Trump Says US Ready to Open Its Arms for Peace
3- Kiev Flight without Any Return: All People on Board Killed
* One Day of National Mourning Announced
Ebtekar:
1- First Slap: US Presence in Mideast Must End, Leader Says
2- Doomed Flight in Morning: Ukrainian Plane Crashes in Tehran with 179 on Board
Etemad:
1- Leader: Soleimani’s Martyrdom Showed to World Iran’s Revolution Alive
2- All Passengers of Boeing 737 Killed after Ukrainian Flight Crashes in Tehran
Hamshahri:
1- Blow to US’ Eye: Furthest US Base in Region Attacked by Iran
2- Endless Trip: Interview with Only Survivor Who Missed Flight
3- National Unity Must Be Preserved: Iran Leader
Hemayat:
1- New Order at Soleimani’s Time
2- Hollow Power of Hegemony Once Again Proved
3- Trump Backs Off Following IRGC’s Slap
Iran:
1- Revenge for Soleimani with Iranian Missile
* US Ain al-Assad Base Pounded by Fateh and Qiam Missiles
2- Endless Flight in Parand
Jame Jam:
1- This Was a Slap; Revenge Is Something Else: Leader
2- Iran’s Slap Leaves Mark on Trump’s Face
Javan:
1- US Accepts Defeat for First Time in History
* Trump Said US Won’t Respond to Iran’s Military Attack on Ain al-Assad Base
* This Is First Time US Accepts Defeat
Jomhouri Eslami:
1- US Received a Slap, but Its Presence in Mideast Must Be Ended
2- Rouhani: Americans Cut Off Our Soleimani’s Hand, We’ll Cut Off Their Feet [from Region]
Kayhan:
1- One Slap Given to US, but They Must Leave Region
2- Iran Leader Extends Condolences over Deaths of Iranians in Kerman, Tehran
3- US Humiliated; History Will Remember US Loss of Mideast
* World Analysts, Media React to IRGC’s Missile Slap on US Face
Khorasan:
1- Revenge Is Expulsion of US from Region
Quds:
1- Revenge Is Something Else: Leader
2- Defeat of US Might
3- Trump Backs Down
Resalat:
1- US’ Presence in Region Must Be Ended as It Brings Corruption: Leader
2- 179 Killed in Tehran-Kiev Flight
Vatan-e Emrooz:
1- A Slap in Imam Ali’s Style: Gen. Soleimani’s Family Thanks Iran Leader, Iranian, Iraqi Nations
2- Six Minutes until Meeting God
* Boeing 737 of Ukraine Crashes Shortly after Take-Off
“The international state-sponsored terrorism network of the spy services of the US and the Zionist regime designed and carried out the criminal act with wrong calculations and estimates,” Major General Yahya Rahim-Safavi said Thursday.
“The ignorant president of the US, his criminal secretary of state, and the terrorist military of the country have now reached a deadlock following years of sanctions and pressures against the innocent nation of Iran,” he said.
This is why they commit such a cowardly and terrorist crime in violation of the international norms and law, he added.
Rahim-Safavi stressed that the US assassination of Gen. Soleimani has provoked public opinion of the world, the region, and the American people and elites against the US policies.
“The policy of sanction and pressure against the strong resolve of the Iranian nation is a failed one, and with God’s grace, the blood of Iranian and Iraqi martyrs won’t be wasted. By the virtue of these bloods, a chain of major cultural, security, and political changes will be made to the West Asia region,” the top general noted.
In a statement on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi strongly condemned the recent comments made by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in justification of the US assassination of Iranian commander General Qassem Soleimani, saying the remarks have been made in disregard of the principles of international law.
“The performance of this military organization (NATO), whose influential member is a terrorist state on a global scale, namely the US regime, has resulted in no achievement in recent years but devastation, wars, and insecurity for the people of the region and the world,” Mousavi noted.
“Justifying the US regime’s measure in the unfair assassination of General Soleimani is shutting eyes to the role of this great commander in the decisive and crucial fight against terrorists and destruction of Daesh (ISIS) and eliminating the threat of that savage terrorist group from the region and the areas beyond, as far as the European borders,” the Iranian spokesperson added.
Mousavi also noted that the NATO Secretary General has mocked the world public opinion by justifying the terrorist and thoughtless measure from the NATO’s biggest member before the shocked and worried eyes of the world to assassinate a high-ranking Iranian military official who has been invited by Iraq’s legitimate government.
The Iranian spokesperson finally expressed regret that the NATO has become a tool for justifying the measures by the United States and a number of its European allies to achieve their ominous political objectives in the region.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that security will return to the region when the terrorist activities of the extra-regional forces, some of whom are active under the flag of NATO, would end and providing regional security would be entrusted to the regional governments.”
Hours after Iranian missile strikes on US military bases in Iraq, Brigadier General Amir Hatami said the Iranian Armed Forces have given the US an unforgettable lesson.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a weekly cabinet session on Wednesday morning, the defense minister said the widespread support that people of Iran and Iraq showed for the late commander thwarted the American plots for creating regional discord.
Hatami also noted that the overnight missile attack on US airbase of Ain al-Assad in Iraq’s Anbar province was carried out with homegrown short-range missiles.
“For the first time in the history (after) the Second World War, a major American base was targeted, for which they themselves said they had paid a heavy cost,” the minister added.
In the early hours of Wednesday, the IRGC targeted two US airbases in Iraq, including the US airbase of Ain al-Assad in western Iraq, in retaliation for the US assassination of General Soleimani, who was martyred in a US drone strike in Baghdad on January 3.
His comments came hours after Iranian missiles hit the US’ Ain al-Assad base in western Iraq and a US base near Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan in the country’s north.
The explosion came hours after Iranian missiles hit the US’ Ain al-Assad base in western Iraq and a US base near Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan in the country’s north.
“They cut off our dear Soleimani‘s hand, and you saw his dear hand beside his body in the videos and photos. To avenge the move, we should cut the US’ feet and kick it out of the region,” he said during a cabinet session on Wednesday.
“If the US’ feet are cut off from the region and the hand of its aggression is chopped forever, this will be the real revenge and the ultimate response of regional nations to the US,” he added.
Rouhani said that the Americans made a grave historic mistake by this criminal act. “If Gen. Soleimani wished, he could terminate hundreds of American commanders in different parts of the region, but he was one of the most moderate military commanders in the region and the world.”
“With their criminal act in Baghdad, America martyred a major, great Iranian commander, who was the guest of the Iraqi government and people, against all international regulations,” he noted.
There is no doubt that the US had goals in mind when making this act, he said, adding, “They were after sowing discord inside Iran, creating fear and division in the region and distance between the Iraqi government and people and the Iranian government and people, as well as affecting regional dynamics and efforts that were directed towards full liberation of the region from terrorists, which they failed to do so.”
During the call, the two sides conferred on the latest regional developments, especially after Tehran’s decisive and legitimate response to the US military base in Iraq.
Earlier in the day, Zarif also held separate phone conversations with his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg and Malaysian top diplomat Saifuddin Abdullah.
In the phone calls, the foreign ministers discussed the latest developments in the region.
The talks came hours after Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) hit the US’ Ain al-Assad base in Iraq with dozens of ballistic missiles in retaliation for the US assassination of top general Qassem Soleimani.
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