Iran says it gave warning before attacking Israel. US says that’s not true

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (L) and US President Joe Biden. (Agencies)
Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (L) and US President Joe Biden. (Agencies)
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Updated 15 April 2024
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Iran says it gave warning before attacking Israel. US says that’s not true

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (L) and US President Joe Biden. (Agencies)
  • Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles on Saturday in a retaliatory strike against Israel
  • Washington says did have contact with Iran through Swiss intermediaries but did not get notice 72 hours in advance

WASHINGTON/BAGHDAD/DUBAI: Turkish, Jordanian and Iraqi officials said on Sunday that Iran gave wide notice days before its drone and missile attack on Israel, but US officials said Tehran did not warn Washington and that it was aiming to cause significant damage.
Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles on Saturday in a retaliatory strike after a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria.
Most of the drones and missiles were downed before reaching Israeli territory, though a young girl was critically injured and there were widespread concerns of further escalation.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Sunday that Iran gave neighboring countries and Israel’s ally the United States 72 hours’ notice it would launch the strikes.
Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry said it had spoken to both Washington and Tehran before the attack, adding it had conveyed messages as an intermediary to be sure reactions were proportionate.
“Iran said the reaction would be a response to Israel’s attack on its embassy in Damascus and that it would not go beyond this. We were aware of the possibilities. The developments were not a surprise,” said a Turkish diplomatic source.
One senior official in US President Joe Biden’s administration denied Amirabdollahian’s statement, saying Washington did have contact with Iran through Swiss intermediaries but did not get notice 72 hours in advance.
“That is absolutely not true,” the official said. “They did not give a notification, nor did they give any sense of ... ‘these will be the targets, so evacuate them.’“
Tehran sent the United States a message only after the strikes began and the intent was to be “highly destructive” said the official, adding that Iran’s claim of a widespread warning may be an attempt to compensate for the lack of any major damage from the attack.
“We received a message from the Iranians as this was ongoing, through the Swiss. This was basically suggesting that they were finished after this, but it was still an ongoing attack. So that was (their) message to us,” the US official said.
Iraqi, Turkish and Jordanian officials each said Iran had provided early warning of the attack last week, including some details.
The attack with drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles risked causing major casualties and escalating the conflict.
US officials said on Friday and Saturday they expected an imminent attack and urged Iran against one, with Biden tersely saying his only message to Tehran was: “Don’t.”

ESCALATION
Two Iraqi sources, including a government security adviser and a security official, said Iran had used diplomatic channels to inform Baghdad about the attack at least three days before it happened.
The exact timing of the attack was not disclosed at that point, but was passed to Iraqi security and military authorities hours before the strikes, allowing Baghdad to close its airspace and avoid fatal accidents.
“The government clearly understood from the Iranian officials that the US military in Iraq was also aware of the attack in advance,” said the Iraqi security official.
A senior Jordanian official said Iran had summoned Arab envoys in Tehran on Wednesday to inform them of their intention to carry out an attack, though it did not specify the timing.
Asked if Iran had also given details about the targets and kind of weapons to be used, the Jordanian source did not respond directly but indicated that that was the case.
An Iranian source briefed on the matter said Iran had informed the US through diplomatic channels that included Qatar, Turkiye and Switzerland about the scheduled day of the attack, saying it would be conducted in a manner to avoid provoking a response.
How far escalation can be avoided remains in question. Biden has told Israel the United States will not join any Israeli retaliation, the US official said.
However, Israel is still weighing its response and will “exact the price from Iran in the fashion and timing that is right for us,” Israeli minister Benny Gantz said on Sunday.

 


UAE ramps up Gaza aid ahead of Ramadan

UAE ramps up Gaza aid ahead of Ramadan
Updated 14 sec ago
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UAE ramps up Gaza aid ahead of Ramadan

UAE ramps up Gaza aid ahead of Ramadan
  • Airlift flies in 257 tonnes of aid from Fujairah on Friday
  • More than 70 trucks carrying aid from the Emirates reached Gaza this week

DUBAI: The UAE is stepping up its aid operation into Gaza ahead of Ramadan with cargo planes flying in hundreds of tonnes of essential supplies on Friday.

The airlift comes after five convoys delivering a wide range of humanitarian aid from the UAE reached the Palestinian territory this week, state news agency WAM reported.

The convoys crossing from Egypt into Gaza amounted to 73 trucks carrying more than 1,185 tonnes of aid, including food, tents and other essential supplies.

Israel’s devastating 15-month war on the territory has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians and displaced 90 percent of the population.

Since a ceasefire took effect last month, aid has surged into the territory.

On Friday, 257 tonnes of Ramadan food supplies were flown from the UAE, destined for Gaza as part of Operation Chivalrous Knight 3.

The supplies were flown from Fujairah as part of an effort between the Hamad bin Mohammed Al-Sharqi Foundation for Humanitarian Works and the Fujairah Charity Association, or FCA.

Saeed bin Mohammed Al-Raqbani, chairman of the FCA, said that the initiative aligned with the UAE’s leadership to “extend support to Palestinians and provide them with essential supplies.”

The UAE has delivered more than 37,300 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people as part of the operation.


Palestinian foreign ministry condemns Israel PM’s ‘storming’ of West Bank camp

Palestinian foreign ministry condemns Israel PM’s ‘storming’ of West Bank camp
Updated 17 min 31 sec ago
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Palestinian foreign ministry condemns Israel PM’s ‘storming’ of West Bank camp

Palestinian foreign ministry condemns Israel PM’s ‘storming’ of West Bank camp
  • The Ministry alleged Netanyahu and a group of soldiers “broke into a house” to use as a command center

RAMALLAH: The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to a West Bank refugee camp Friday, accusing him of “storming” the area amid an intense military operation in the northern occupied West Bank.
In a statement, the Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ministry criticized the “storming by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu... into the northern occupied West Bank refugee camp of Tulkarem,” alleging he and a group of soldiers “broke into a house” to use as a command center.


Morocco overturns deportation Uyghur man wanted in China

Morocco overturns deportation Uyghur man wanted in China
Updated 21 February 2025
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Morocco overturns deportation Uyghur man wanted in China

Morocco overturns deportation Uyghur man wanted in China
  • Yidiresi Aishan has been detained in the North African kingdom since 2021
  • A Rabat court “ruled in favor of his release, annulling the deportation order to China,” his lawyer, Miloud Kandil, said

RABAT: A Moroccan court overturned on Thursday a decision to deport a member of China’s Uyghur Muslim minority wanted by Beijing, ordering his release from prison, according to his lawyer.
Yidiresi Aishan has been detained in the North African kingdom since 2021, when he arrived in Casablanca from Turkiye with an Interpol arrest warrant against him though it was later rescinded.
That same year, Morocco agreed to extradite him to China, where he has been wanted by the authorities for alleged acts of terror.
A Rabat court “ruled in favor of his release, annulling the deportation order to China,” his lawyer, Miloud Kandil, told AFP.
He said his client, a father of three in his thirties, had left Morocco, without providing further details.
China accuses Aishan of “terrorist acts committed in 2017” belonging to a terrorist organization, allegations he denies.
In 2021, United Nations human rights experts urged Morocco to halt Aishan’s extradition, citing “the credible risk of grave violations of his human rights.”
Returning him to China could have exposed him to “arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance or torture,” the experts had said.
Beijing stands accused of detaining more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslims in its northwestern region, in a campaign that the United Nations has said may constitute “crimes against humanity.”
China vehemently denies the allegations, saying the policies have rooted out extremism in Xinjiang and brought about economic development.
Authorities have detained Uyghurs with overseas connections and confiscated their travel documents since a crackdown in the mid-2010s, according to researchers, campaigners and members of the Uyghur diaspora.


Hamas armed wing confirms it will release six Israeli hostages Saturday

Hamas armed wing confirms it will release six Israeli hostages Saturday
Updated 21 February 2025
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Hamas armed wing confirms it will release six Israeli hostages Saturday

Hamas armed wing confirms it will release six Israeli hostages Saturday
  • Israeli campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum published the names of the six hostages earlier this week
  • The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group said Israel will free 602 inmates from jails

GAZA CITY/ RAMALLAH: Hamas’s armed wing confirmed it will hand over Saturday six hostages held alive in the Gaza Strip as part of the ongoing ceasefire deal with Israel.
The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement on Friday that the release would occur as planned.
Israeli campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum published the names of the six hostages earlier this week, naming them as Eliya Cohen, Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Hisham Al-Sayed and Avera Mengistu.
Meanwhile, Israel will free 602 inmates from jails on Saturday as part of a hostage-prisoner swap with Hamas, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group.
Among those released, 445 are individuals from Gaza who were arrested after Hamas’ October 7 attack that sparked the war, 60 are serving long sentences, 50 are serving life sentences, and 47 were re-arrested after a 2011 prisoner exchange, Amani Sarahneh, spokeswoman for the NGO, told AFP.


South Sudan closes schools after students collapse due to extreme heat

South Sudan closes schools after students collapse due to extreme heat
Updated 21 February 2025
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South Sudan closes schools after students collapse due to extreme heat

South Sudan closes schools after students collapse due to extreme heat
  • This is the second time the country has closed schools during a heatwave in February and March
  • Civil society group says closing schools during heatwaves shows a ‘failure to prioritize the education of South Sudan’s children’

JUBA, South Sudan: South Sudan on Thursday announced the closure of all schools for two weeks due to an ongoing extreme heatwave that has caused some students to collapse.
This is the second time the country – which faces extreme effects from climate change, including flooding during the rainy season – has closed schools during a heatwave in February and March.
Deputy Education Minister Martin Tako Moi said Thursday “an average of 12 students had been collapsing in Juba city every day.”
Most schools in South Sudan have makeshift structures made with iron sheets and do not have electricity that could power cooling systems.
Environment Minister Josephine Napwon Cosmos on Thursday urged residents to stay indoors and drink water as temperatures were expected to rise as high as 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
Napwon proposed that government employees “work in shifts” to avoid heat strokes.
Education workers have urged the government to consider amending the school calendar so that schools close in February and resume in April when the temperatures decline.
Abraham Kuol Nyuon, the dean of the Graduate College at the University of Juba, told The Associated Press that the calendar should be localized based on the weather in the 10 states.
A civil society group, Integrity South Sudan, blamed the government for a lack of proper planning and contingency plans, saying that closing schools during heatwaves shows a “failure to prioritize the education of South Sudan’s children.”
The country’s health system is fragile due to political instability. Nearly 400,000 people were killed between 2013 and 2018 when a peace agreement was signed by President Salva Kiir and his rival-turned-deputy, Riek Machar.
South Sudan’s elections, scheduled for last year, were postponed for two years due to a lack of funds.
The country has been facing an economic crisis due to an interruption of oil exports after a major pipeline was raptured in neighboring war-torn Sudan. The pipeline was later repaired.