Iran will reciprocate if its ships are seized, official says

Iran will reciprocate if its ships are seized, official says
File Photo Iranian naval ships parading during the last day of a military exercise in the Gulf (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 15 February 2024
Follow

Iran will reciprocate if its ships are seized, official says

Iran will reciprocate if its ships are seized, official says
  • US Department of Justice issued a statement announcing the seizure of more than 500,000 barrels of Iranian fuel

DUBAI: Iran will reciprocate if its ships are seized, the legal adviser to Iran’s President told state media on Thursday, in response to a statement by the United States Department of Justice.
This month, the Department of Justice issued a statement announcing the seizure of more than 500,000 barrels of Iranian fuel to clamp down on the “Revolutionary Guards’ financing network.”
“If an Iranian ship is seized, we will reciprocate and the legal way is not closed in this regard,” legal adviser Mohammad Dehghan said, adding that he was not able to confirm whether US authorities had seized an Iranian vessel.
Court orders by Iran’s judicial system have often been grounds for the seizure of foreign tankers by the Revolutionary Guards.
Since late last year, global shipping has been disrupted in the Red Sea as Iran-aligned Houthi fighters in Yemen have targeted ships in support of the Palestinian Hamas group in its conflict with Israel.


Jordan foreign minister arrives in Beirut for solidarity visit

Jordan foreign minister arrives in Beirut for solidarity visit
Updated 10 sec ago
Follow

Jordan foreign minister arrives in Beirut for solidarity visit

Jordan foreign minister arrives in Beirut for solidarity visit
  • Jordan FM Ayman Safadi stressed his country’s support against the escalating Israeli aggression

BEIRUT: Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi arrived in Beirut on board a Jordanian aid plane, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday.
The aircraft was the seventh aid plane dispatched to Lebanon since the onset of the war, carrying 13 tonnes of food, relief items and medical supplies, according to the Jordanian foreign minister.
As part of his “solidarity visit,” Safadi met with Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati and stressed Jordan’s support against the escalating Israeli aggression.
He reiterated his country’s commitment to achieving ceasefire and providing Jordan with the necessary aid to overcome the repercussions of the intense Israeli bombing.
Safadi is scheduled to meet Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berry and Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces Joseph Aoun during his visit.


Hezbollah vows to keep fighting Israeli ‘aggression’

Hezbollah vows to keep fighting Israeli ‘aggression’
Updated 07 October 2024
Follow

Hezbollah vows to keep fighting Israeli ‘aggression’

Hezbollah vows to keep fighting Israeli ‘aggression’
  • The Israeli army deployed another division to participate in operations in Lebanon

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Hezbollah on Monday vowed to keep up the fight against Israeli “aggression,” on the anniversary of its militant group ally Hamas’s October 7 attack that triggered war in the Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah and the Lebanese have paid a “heavy price” for the Iran-backed group’s decision to open a “support front” for Gaza on October 8, but “we are confident... in the ability of our resistance to oppose the Israeli aggression,” it said in a statement, calling Israel a “cancerous gland that must be eliminated, no matter how long it takes.”

Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli troops in a south Lebanon border village on Monday, as the Israeli army said it had deployed another division to participate in operations in Lebanon.
Hezbollah fighters “bombed... a gathering of Israeli forces in the Maroun Al-Ras park with a rocket salvo,” the Iran-backed group said in a statement, after announcing separately it had targeted several areas of northern Israel and military positions across the border.

The Israeli army on Monday said it had deployed another division to participate in operations in Lebanon — making it the third troop grouping at division strength to be used in the ground fight against Hezbollah.
“The soldiers of the 91st Division began localized and targeted operational activity in southern Lebanon,” said a statement from the army.

 


“Victory in Gaza may be delayed, but it is coming” says Hamas former leader Khaled Mashaal

“Victory in Gaza may be delayed, but it is coming” says Hamas former leader Khaled Mashaal
Updated 07 October 2024
Follow

“Victory in Gaza may be delayed, but it is coming” says Hamas former leader Khaled Mashaal

“Victory in Gaza may be delayed, but it is coming” says Hamas former leader Khaled Mashaal

DUBAI: Hamas’ former leader Khaled Mashaal said what is happening in Gaza is a “holocaust” in a speech he delivered on Monday morning. 

Mashaal said the Oct. 7. attacks happened because all political horizons were closed and has achieved "strategic results" since. 

He thanked Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iran for supporting Hamas and called on Arab countries to provide financial support to Gaza.

Mashaal said Israel opened the war front in Lebanon after failing to achieve its goals in Gaza and claimed that Israel is conspiring against Jordan and Egypt.

A year after Oct. 7, Israel has opened a new front in Lebanon against Hezbollah, which has traded fire with Israel since the war in Gaza began.

“Israel is defeated although it has achieved accomplishments against Iran and Hezbollah,” added Mashaal.

Mashaal concluded by asking the people of Gaza not to despair and promised them victory soon.

Over the past year in Gaza, more than 40,000 people, including over 10,000 children, have been killed by Israel’s forces, exacting indiscriminate and disproportionate vengeance for the 1,200 Israelis killed by Hamas on Oct. 7.

Advisor to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Al-Habash said Mashaal's statements are "empty slogans that achieve nothing".

Al-Habash said "real victory is protecting our people" and added that Hamas should have moved towards unity with the Palestinian authority. 

Globally, people have hit the streets to protest against Israel’s deadly military offensives in Gaza and Lebanon.

Demonstrators expressed outrage against the Israeli aggression, demanding an end to the war in Gaza, describing the situation as “genocide,” and calling upon the global community to act.

Protests have taken place from the Middle East to Europe, the US, India, Pakistan and Far East Asia.

 


Israeli hostage forum announces death of captive held in Gaza

Israeli hostage forum announces death of captive held in Gaza
Updated 07 October 2024
Follow

Israeli hostage forum announces death of captive held in Gaza

Israeli hostage forum announces death of captive held in Gaza
  • Idan Shtivi, 28, was abducted from the site of the Nova music festival

TEL AVIV: An Israeli campaign group on Monday announced the death of a hostage held in Gaza, as the country marked the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Idan Shtivi, 28, was abducted from the site of the Nova music festival and his “body is still held captive by Hamas.”
The forum said Shtivi had just arrived at the festival site when the attack began.
“On October 7, Idan arrived at the Nova Festival in the early morning to document his friends’ performances and workshops,” the forum said in a statement.
“However, he never made it inside. When the attack began, Idan helped two strangers he had just met escape from the site. This selfless choice ultimately led to his abduction.”


Air raid sirens in central Israel after rockets fired from Gaza: army

Air raid sirens in central Israel after rockets fired from Gaza: army
Updated 07 October 2024
Follow

Air raid sirens in central Israel after rockets fired from Gaza: army

Air raid sirens in central Israel after rockets fired from Gaza: army

GAZA: Air raid sirens were activated in central Israel on Monday after rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip, the army said, as the country marked the one-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks.
“Sirens sounded in central Israel due to projectiles fired from the Gaza Strip,” said the army statement, while an AFP journalist reported several interceptions were heard in the commercial hub of Tel Aviv.

Earlier on Monday, the Israeli military said at least four projectiles were fired from the Gaza Strip just minutes after the country began to formally commemorate last year’s October 7 attacks.
“Following the sirens that sounded at 06:31 in several communities near the Gaza Strip, four projectiles were identified crossing from the southern Gaza Strip. Three of the projectiles were intercepted by the IAF (air force) and a fallen projectile was identified in an open area,” the military said in a statement.
The armed wing of Hamas said it had fired rockets into southern Israel at “enemy gatherings” at Rafah crossing, Kerem Shalom crossing and kibbutz Holit near the border with Gaza.
The Israeli military said it had also prevented an “immediate threat” from Hamas’ intentions to fire rockets.
“The IAF (air force) struck Hamas launch posts and underground terrorist infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip,” the military said.
“Furthermore, overnight, the IAF and IDF (Israeli army) artillery struck targets in the central Gaza Strip that posed a threat to IDF troops operating in the area.”
The military said sirens also sounded in the Upper Galilee area of northern Israel, with no let-up in the daily rocket fire from neighboring Lebanon, where Israeli forces are fighting Hezbollah militants.
Earlier on Monday the military said it had also intercepted two “suspicious aerial targets” that were launched from the east.