Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iran’s civil aviation chief denied Friday that a missile downed a Ukrainian airliner which crashed killing all 176 on board, dismissing claims of a catastrophic mistake by Tehran’s air defences. The declaration came as Tehran faced mounting international pressure to allow a “credible” investigation into the …
Read More »Trump, US lawmakers battle over war powers amid Iran tensions
Washington, United States | AFP | A defiant US President Donald Trump clashed with congressional Democrats Thursday before lawmakers hold a largely symbolic but politically charged vote to rein in his ability to take military action against Iran. With the resolution triggering a scalding debate about presidential war powers amid heightened …
Read More »US officials believe Iran accidentally shot down Ukraine airliner
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump said Thursday he had “suspicions” about the crash of a Ukrainian airliner outside Tehran as US media reported it had been mistakenly shot down by Iran. Unnamed officials told American media that Iranian air defense systems likely accidentally shot down …
Read More »Unswayed by Iran briefings, Democrats seek to check Trump war power
Washington, United States | AFP | US Democratic lawmakers pressed ahead Wednesday with plans to check President Donald Trump’s ability to take military action against Iran, despite Congress breathing a collective sigh of relief at the de-escalation of conflict with the Islamic republic. Republicans and Democrats alike expressed broad support for …
Read More »Pentagon chief: US has restored ‘level of deterrence’ on Iran
Washington, United States | AFP | US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday that the United States has reestablished some deterrence toward Iran in the wake of the January 3 drone strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad. “I think at this point with the strikes we took against …
Read More »‘We don’t retreat in face of America’: Iran president
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said the Islamic republic’s response on Wednesday to a US strike that killed one of its generals shows “we don’t retreat in the face of America”. “If America has committed a crime… it should know that it will receive a decisive response,” …
Read More »Iran’s anti-US strikes: measured, but not final response
Paris, France | AFP | Iran’s missile strikes on US troop bases in Iraq were a measured first response to Washington’s assassination of a top commander, but are unlikely to be the last act in what could be a long and asymmetrical revenge campaign, experts say. With an outpouring of emotion …
Read More »Trump backs off threat to bomb Iran’s cultural sites
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump on Tuesday backed away from his earlier insistence that he has the right to order the bombing of Iran’s cultural treasures during a war. Facing strong criticism that such attacks would be a war crime, Trump said he was “OK” with …
Read More »Trump gambles big as commander in chief
Washington, United States | AFP | As a real estate magnate and politician, Donald Trump has always loved breaking rules and putting on a show. Now in Iran he’s following the same pattern — only this time as commander in chief of the world’s biggest military. Whether negotiating skyscraper deals or …
Read More »‘Never threaten Iran,’ Iran president tells Trump
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday warned his American counterpart Donald Trump to “never threaten the Iranian nation”, after he issued a US strike list of 52 targets in the Islamic republic. “Those who refer to the number 52 should also remember the number 290. #IR655 …
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