Khamenei's adviser: Iran response to US will be military
begin quote from:https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/us-iran-soleimani-tensions-live-intl-01-05-20/h_2a1a16dea55489d0d650fdfffb46f1c0LIVE UPDATES
Iraqi officials have begun outlining steps for the withdrawal of all foreign forces, PM says
40 Posts
SORT BY
US officials tried to prevent Iraqi vote to remove troops
US officials tried to convince Iraqi leaders to prevent Sunday's parliamentary vote to expel American troops from the country, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.
US officials claimed it would be harmful for Iraq to follow through on such a move and hold the vote at all -- but ultimately the argument fell flat.
"The mood in the country was pushing for it," one source familiar with the discussions said of the vote. "This was not something that could have been avoided."
Axios was first to report the push by US officials.
What the vote means: It is too soon to know if the expulsion vote will come to fruition, due to the legal and procedural steps that would be necessary, the sources said. Iraq's council of ministers will this week have a meeting on the topic, where they will begin to determine the way forward, one of the sources explained.
President Donald Trump discusses tensions with Iran on Air Force One
During a flight from Florida to Washington on Air Force One, President Donald Trump spoke with reporters about the increasing tensions with Iran.
He reiterated his threat to target Iranian cultural sites.
They’re allowed to kill our people, they’re allowed to torture and maim our people, they’re allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people, and we’re not allowed to touch their cultural site? It doesn’t work that way,” Trump said, according to a pool report.
Asked about the prospects of retaliation from Iran after the death of Qasem Soleimani, Trump said “If it happens it happens.”
Trump also threatened sanctions against Iraq should US troops be expelled from the country. The Iraqi Parliament voted Sunday to obligate Iraq's government "to work towards ending the presence of all foreign troops on Iraqi soil."
“If they do ask us to leave, if we don’t do it in a very friendly basis. We will charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before ever,” Trump said.
Trump said the costs of maintaining an American troop presence in the country over the past years should be repaid by Iraq if the country chooses to rescind an agreement allowing them to stay.
“We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that’s there. It cost billions of dollars to build. Long before my time. We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it,” Trump said.
Lastly, Trump said he would not rule out releasing some of the intelligence that led to the US killing Soleimani.
Soleimani's daughter addresses President Trump: 'You could not match my father'
Zainab Qasem Soleimani, daughter of Qasem Soleimani, spoke with Lebanese television station al-Manar TV on Sunday, saying President Trump needs to know "his crime will never wipe out the remembrance of my father.” She added that “his martyrdom inspired rebirth in our souls.”
“You could not match my father, so you targeted him with missiles. Had you been so, you would have confronted him face-to-face,” she said.
No comments:
Post a Comment