#General Qasem Soleimani

[bloodycoolfrye]

Among the Martyrs of today's explosion Kerman, Iran...💔

We all know who is behind this!🤡 The diaper wearers couldn't do shit in Gaza except commit a historic GENOCIDE so they decided to kill more civilians but with a different nationality as if 20000 people was not enough...what's 100 more, right??

But let me tell you, we're not dispirited!

Sad yes, stricken with grief yes, finally understanding a thousandth of the pain of our Gazan brothers and sisters yes, but Israel is messing with the wrong people in history.

Tell them :Iran is the nation of Imam Hussain, Iran is the nation of Martydom, you fools!

KILL US! WE BECOME MORE ALIVE!🔥

[bloodycoolfrye]

☝🏻...وای اگر خامنه ای حکم جهادم دهد

▶️ Les Iraniens à Kerman condamnent la frappe aérienne meurtrière israélienne contre le consulat iranien à Damas

[komsomolka]

In July, the Iraqi Central Bank halted all foreign transactions in Chinese Yuan, succumbing to intense pressure from the US Federal Reserve to do so. The shutdown followed a brief period during which Baghdad had allowed merchants to trade in Yuan, an initiative intended to mitigate excessive US restrictions on Iraq’s access to US dollars. While this Yuan-based trade excluded Iraq’s oil exports, which remained in US dollars, Washington viewed it as a threat to its financial dominance over the Persian Gulf state. [...]

Since the signing of Executive Order 13303 (EO13303) by President George W Bush on 22 May 2003, all revenues from Iraq’s oil sales have been funneled directly into an account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. EO13303, titled “Protection of the Development Fund for Iraq and Other Property in Which Iraq Has an Interest,” has been renewed annually by every US president, including Joe Biden in 2024. This executive order essentially places control over Iraq’s oil revenues under the discretion of the US President, leaving Baghdad with limited control over its resources and earnings. [...]

Whenever Washington feels that Iraq is not compliant with US regional goals, these fund transfers can be delayed or reduced. In January 2020, for instance, after the Iraqi Parliament voted to expel US troops following the assassination of Iranian Quds Force General Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) Deputy Commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the Trump administration threatened to freeze Iraq’s access to its oil revenues. [...] The country’s inability to control its own funds has prevented long-term reconstruction and development, forcing it to rely on international loans. [...]

Iraq ceased to be under occupation, at least formally, when it signed the “Strategic Cooperation Framework” agreement with the US in 2008, which says that American forces are present in Iraq only at the request of the Iraqi government.

Attempts by the UN to restore Iraq’s control over its finances have largely failed. In 2010, UNSC Resolution 1956 demanded the closure of the DFI by no later than 30 June 2011 and the transfer of all proceeds to the Iraqi government. Despite these clear legal directives, the DFI account remains under US control at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in defiance of the UN Security Council resolution. Worse yet, enduring US dominance over Iraq’s financial resources has deeply exacerbated the corruption and dysfunction plaguing the country. [...]

Today, both the US Administration of Joe Biden and the Iraqi government led by Mohammad Shia al-Sudani – which has not taken steps to free Iraq’s sovereign funds – can be considered in violation of United Nations Resolution 1956 issued in 2010.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

"If Kamala wins, only death and destruction await because she is the candidate of endless wars,” declaimed Donald Trump at a rally in Michigan, on the Friday before the election. “I am the candidate of peace.” In a typically ridiculous rhetorical flourish, Trump added: “I am peace.” Nevertheless, despite the ridiculousness, the president-elect in recent weeks succeeded in connecting with plenty of of anti-war voters tired of the United States’ “forever wars”. He went to Dearborn, the “capital” of Arab America, attacked Kamala Harris for campaigning with the pro-war Cheneys, and came away with an endorsement from a local imam who called him the “peace” candidate. In fact, I have lost count of the number of leftists who have told me in recent months: “Trump didn’t start any new wars.” Sorry, what? Trump spent his four years in the White House escalating every single conflict that he inherited from Barack Obama. Many have forgotten that Trump bombed the Assad government in Syria twice; dropped the “mother of all bombs” on Afghanistan; illegally assassinated Iranian general Qasem Soleimani on Iraqi soil; armed Saudi Arabia’s genocide in Yemen; and made John Bolton his national security adviser. Few are even aware that Trump launched more drone strikes in his first two years in office than Obama, dubbed “the drone president”, did across eight years in office. But this time, we were told, it would be different. This time Trump meant it. No more war! No more neocons! Some took heart from Trump’s very public rejection of arch-hawks Mike Pompeo and Nikki Haley. Others signal-boosted efforts by RFK Jr, Don Jr and Tucker Carlson to block neoconservative figures from joining the new Trump-Vance administration. “I’m on it,” bragged Trump’s eldest failson. [...] But this is the Trump playbook: run as a dove, govern as a hawk. It’s what he did in 2016 and again this year. Attack neocons; get elected; hire neocons. So “Donald the dove”, as Maureen Dowd of the New York Times once put it? If only. Whether it is on domestic policy or foreign policy, Trump remains a conman. Don’t take my word for it. Take his new secretary of state’s.

Mehdi Hasan for The Guardian on Donald Trump's deceitful lie that he is "anti-war" (11.13.2024).

Mehdi Hasan wrote an opinion piece in The Guardian debunking the nonsensical “Donald The Dove” crap that falsely pitches Donald Trump as “anti-war”, when in reality, he is as pro-war as it gets.

[sayruq]

At least 103 Iranians killed and over 141 injured in the deadliest terrorist attack in decades. The United States and Israel deny being involved in the deadly explosions but all we know better

[bloodycoolfrye]

"ISRAEL IS DEFENDING ITSELF"🤬🤡

ISRAEL! YOU'RE GOING DOWN MF💀

🤬84 CITIZENS dead and 211 wounded for now...

[the moment explosions rocked the Iranian city of Kerman where mourners gathered to commemorate the 4th martyrdom anniversary of Gen. Soleimani]

🇮🇷 🧨💥🚑☠️ 🚨

💥EXPLOSIONS ROCK KERMAN, IRAN, THE BURIAL SITE OF QASSAM SOLEIMANI ON ANNIVERSARY OF ASSASSINATION💥

Explosions rocked the burial site of assassinated Iranian General Qassam Soleimani on the anniversary of his assassination by the United States Wednesday.

According to reports, upwards of 103 were killed and another 141 wounded in Kerman, Iran when two explosions rocked a ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of Qassam Soleimani's assassination by U.S. forces.

Medical sources said they expect the death toll to rise as ambulance services transported the dead and wounded to hospital, with the Deputy head of Iran's emergency services, Babak Yektaparast, emphasizing that many of the injured are in critical condition.

Iranian State-News service IRNA said the first explosion occured about 700 meters from Soleimani's burial site, while a second explosion occured about a kilometer away.

Tasnim news agency is reporting that two bags loaded with explosives were remotely detonated, causing the explosions.

The first explosion took place at approximately 2:50pm local time, with the second explosion taking place roughly 10 minutes later.

Iran's Red Crescent Society announced three of their rescue personnel were killed in the second explosion. Some were also injured when the crowd rushed to escape after the explosions.

In response to the explosions, Iran's Minister of the Interior, Ahmad Vahidi the Iranian News Network that a "crushing" response will soon be given to the culprits.

#source

#videosource

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[beardedmrbean]

The FBI in Miami has warned of an Iranian assassin that is wanted in connection to assassination targets against former and current public officials, such as those involved in former President Donald Trump's administration.

The FBI field office in Miami shared a wanted notice for Majid Dastjani Farahani on Friday.

"Majid Dastjani Farahani, an Iranian intelligence officer, is wanted for questioning in connection with the recruitment of individuals for various operations in the United States, to include lethal targeting of current and former United States Government officials as revenge for the killing of IRGC-QF Commander Qasem Soleimani," the FBI stated.

"Farahani also reportedly recruited individuals for surveillance activities focused on religious sites, businesses, and other facilities in the United States," the FBI said. "Farahani acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security."

The announcement by the FBI comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. Earlier this year, three U.S. Service members were killed at a military base in Jordan. President Joe Biden announced that "radical, Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq," were responsible, prompting speculation on Iran's role in the incident.

According to the BBC, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaan denied Tehran was behind the attacks, saying that Iran is "not involved in the decision-making of resistance groups."

However, in 2022, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made a speech in which he blamed Trump and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for the killing of Soleimani.

"If Trump and Pompeo are not tried in a fair court for the criminal act of assassinating General Soleimani, Muslims will take our martyr's revenge," Raisi said, according to Reuters. "The aggressor, murderer and main culprit—the then-President of the United States—must be tried and judged under the (Islamic) law of retribution, and God's ruling must be carried out against him."

In December 2023, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against Farahani and another Iranian intelligence officer Mohammad Mahdi Khanpour Ardestani.

"Both Farahani and Ardestani have recruited individuals for various operations in the United States, to include lethal targeting of current and former U.S. Government officials as revenge for the death of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force Commander Qasem Soleimani," the Treasury Department said. "Farahani and Ardestani also recruited individuals for surveillance activities focused on religious sites, businesses, and other facilities in the United States,"

[thomasthetankieengine]

"Historically illiterate", huh?

I mean, there are plenty of people on this site who are old enough to have actual memories of the Bush Administration, many of which were extremely negative, but sure!

As for "Trump is less evil than Cheney", lol. The Trump administration assassinated the Iranian general, Qasem Soleimani, in January 2020 and almost provoked a war with Iran, but it ended after Iran shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, killing all of those on board.

Things did not escalate, not because of anything the Trump administration did, but because cooler heads amongst Iran's leadership and the US Congress prevailed.

In other words, Trump was super eager to start another Middle Eastern war that would probably would have gone even worse than Iraq or Afghanistan (because Iran is twice as big and has twice the population and because it has allies, whereas Iraq and Afghanistan were pariah states) you can bet there would be a shitload of war crimes.

However, looking through the archives of slothattorney's blog, he seems to have been blissfully unaware all throughout January 2020 of how close the US came to war with Iran. Which figures.

Someone else pointed this out to him, but of course, he failed to get the point they were trying to get across: that Trump wanted to be a warmonger like Cheney, but failed at it.

[partisan-by-default]

The US intelligence community has “observed Tehran working to influence the presidential election, probably because Iranian leaders want to avoid an outcome they perceive would increase tensions with the United States,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said in a statement.

The recent Iranian influence activity has come in the form of “covert social media accounts and related activity,” the official from ODNI said at a media briefing when CNN asked for examples of the activity.

Iran’s preference for a US presidential candidate has not changed since 2020, the ODNI official said. In the 2020 election campaign, Iran “carried out a multi-pronged covert influence campaign intended to undercut former President Trump’s reelection prospects,” according to a declassified US intelligence report.

Russia’s preferences for the presidential race also haven’t shifted since 2020, when Moscow conducted a range of influence operations in support of Trump and aimed at denigrating Joe Biden, the ODNI official said.

“Iran does not engage in any objectives or activities intended to influence the U.S. election,” the Iranian Permanent Mission to the United Nations said in a statement to CNN. “A significant portion of such accusations are characterized by psychological operations designed to artificially pep up election campaigns.”

As president, Trump ordered the killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, and withdrew from a multilateral deal aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear program. Iran has vowed revenge for Soleimani’s death.

[nicklloydnow]

On Today’s Episode of World War III

“On Tuesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed our worst suspicions concerning the pace of Iran’s nuclear weaponization program. “Iran,” it concluded, “has increased the rate at which it is producing near weapons grade uranium in recent weeks, reversing a previous slowdown that started in the middle of this year.”

According to the IAEA, Iranian enrichment of Uranium-235 to near weapons-grade level had increased to an estimated 9 kilograms per month by the end of November. It takes just five times that amount of uranium, enriched to 90 percent, to sustain a nuclear chain reaction for one nuclear bomb.

Presently, it is believed that Iran has enriched at least 128.3 kilograms of Uranium-235 to 60 percent, and 567.1 kilograms to 20 percent. Do the math based on Iran Watch’s estimates of its current centrifuge capacity, and Iran is now capable of enriching sufficient mass to 90 percent for three nuclear bombs in less than one week. Tehran could have a fourth bomb in one to two weeks more, and a fifth within roughly one month’s time.

(…)

We are in a very different world now than when that deal was first made. Moscow and Beijing are actively engaged in the equivalent of an ideological World War III against the U.S. that is increasingly turning kinetic. Iran has repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to undermine U.S. diplomacy and national security interests throughout the Middle East.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was behind the funding and planning of Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel. Tehran’s plunging of Gaza into war undermined U.S. efforts to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, and Iran-sponsored militias including Hezbollah and the Houthis are actively attacking U.S. military and naval forces in Iraq, Syria, Red Sea, and Gulf of Aden.

As his country nears a nuclear breakout, Khamenei is only becoming bolder. On Dec. 23, the Pentagon reported that the Chem Pluto, a chemical tanker sailing from Saudi Arabia to India, was struck in the Indian Ocean “by a drone launched from Iran.” Iranian threats against the West and Europe are also starting to come fast and furious. On Christmas Eve, Tehran threatened to close the Straits of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea.

Iran will become bolder still if allowed to achieve nuclear status. We are on borrowed time now, rapidly approaching the point wherein a kinetic response will be the only option remaining.

(…)

On the Doomsday Clock, it is already five minutes and counting past midnight in Armageddon. Unless the White House acts now, Iran’s status as a nuclear power will be a fait accompli.”

“More than 100 people were killed and scores injured Wednesday in two blasts that struck the central Iranian city of Kerman, emergency services said. Thousands of mourners had gathered there to commemorate Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani on the fourth anniversary of his assassination in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq in 2020.

A spokesman for the country’s emergency department was quoted by Iran’s state-run news agency as saying 103 people were killed and 188 were injured.

The deputy governor of Kerman, the slain general’s hometown, said the incident was a “terrorist attack,” according to Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). The explosions occurred about a half-mile from Soleimani’s burial place, on a road to the graveyard, the agency reported.

(…)

The blasts Wednesday came amid intensifying involvement by Iranian-backed militant groups in a confrontation with Israel and its principal backer, the United States, during Israel’s war in Gaza.”

“Hamas on Tuesday accused Israel of killing Saleh al-Arouri, a top leader of the group, along with two commanders from its armed wing, the Qassam Brigades. Mr. al-Arouri is the senior-most Hamas figure to be killed since Israel vowed to destroy the organization and eliminate its leadership after a deadly Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7.

Mr. al-Arouri was assassinated in an explosion in a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, marking the first such assassination of a top Hamas official outside the West Bank and Gaza in recent years. It comes as officials across the region are worried about the war in Gaza igniting a wider conflagration.

(…)

“No one is safe if they had any hand in planning, raising money for or carrying out these attacks,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal discussions. Citing Israel’s vow to hunt down the perpetrators of the Oct. 7 attack wherever they are, the official added, “This is just the beginning, and it’ll go on for years.”

(…)

Mr. al-Arouri played a key role in Hamas’s relationships with its regional allies and in increasing Hamas’s military capabilities, according to regional and Western officials. A longtime Hamas operative, he was one of the founders of the group’s armed wing and was linked to a number of attacks on Israeli civilians, including the kidnapping and killing of three teenagers in the West Bank in 2014, which he called a “heroic operation.”

(…)

Mr. al-Arouri worked with Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s chief in Gaza, in recent years to link the group’s military wing more closely to Iran, which, regional security officials say, most likely helped the group develop some of the capabilities it used in the Oct. 7 attack. Israel has accused Mr. Sinwar of helping to plot the assault, which officials say killed about 1,200 people and saw 240 others abducted to Gaza.

(…)

Israel for decades has made assassinations of its enemies in other countries a key part of its defense strategy. In the past two weeks, Iran has accused Israel of assassinating two Iranian generals in Iraq and Syria who liaised with the regional militant groups backed by Iran. Israel has also carried out high-profile assassinations of senior Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists in Iran and Syria, including Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, and Col. Sayad Khodayee, a commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.”

[eretzyisrael]

ISRAEL REALTIME — "Connecting the World to Israel in Realtime"

⚠️ Israel remains on heightened alert as it awaits Iran's response to the recent elimination of Brigadier General Mousavi, a senior IRGC officer. Mousavi, responsible for overseeing arms shipments to terrorists in Syria and Lebanon, marks the highest-ranking Iranian official to be killed since Qasem Soleimani. The IDF is actively preparing for potential missile threats from Syria and Lebanon, anticipating possible retaliation following the elimination of the senior Iranian commander. Israeli intelligence suggests that Iran had increased its efforts to supply arms to terrorist forces in the days leading up to Mousavi's demise, which occurred as a result of three missiles.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

The UK’s charity regulator is investigating videos of antisemitic speeches given by former Iranian generals to British students, as well as footage of "death to Israel" chants at the British premises of an Islamic charity.

UK officials probe Iran generals' antisemitic talks to students https://t.co/8GJvEReZt2 — BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 22, 2024

Two of the videos being investigated by the UK’s Charity Commission show talks by members of the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), with one of them describing an apocalyptic war with Jews and Holocaust denial.

The videos, which the BBC saw and verified, were recorded in 2020 and 2021 and show three events. Two were live-streamed speeches by former and active commanders of the IRGC, while the other was an in-person event inside the Kanoon Towhid Islamic Center in western London, commemorating Iran’s top military commander, General Qasem Soleimani. 

Soleimani was killed in a US air strike in 2020. Chants of "death to Israel" were heard during the in-person event, but it wasn’t clear or known who was saying them. There is also other evidence of an IRGC commander giving online talks to British students, where the commander bragged about his role in training Hamas fighters before the October 7 attacks in Israel that claimed the lives of over 1,200 Israelis.

This is former IRGC commander Gen Saeed Ghasemi - he falsely claims the holocaust never happened and urges students to join an apocalyptic war. pic.twitter.com/oT5jMZZ6Bb — Ed Thomas (@EdThomasNews) January 23, 2024

The Islamic Students Associations of Britain (ISA) and its affiliates promoted the online talks in advance, and these events took place in Kanoon Towhid Islamic Center, which was used as a meeting place. Unlike mainstream Muslim student groups in the UK, the ISA was founded to promote the philosophy and ideology of Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran’s first supreme leader and the founder of the Islamic Republic.

Kanoon Towhid is also owned by the Al-Tawheed (TUCF) Charitable Trust, which has already been investigated by the Charity Commission after reports of the event honoring Soleimani, whom the British government sanctioned for his links to terrorism. The commission is investigating the videos seen and verified by the BBC, including one footage of this event.

Orlando Fraser, chairman of the Charity Commission, has previously warned that charities must not "become forums for hate speech" or extremism. The commission has the authority to investigate, sanction, or even close down charities that violate regulations.

This is ridicuously shocking. How does this go under the radar? — Melanie Amini (@TheMelAmini) January 23, 2024

Alicia Kearns, a Conservative MP for Rutland and Melton who also serves as chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee in Parliament, described the speeches as a “brazen act of radicalization," adding that the IRGC should be added to the government’s list of proscribed terrorist groups in the UK, which would make it illegal to be an IRGC member or show support for the IRGC.

In one Instagram Live recording from Iran, which was live-streamed in September 2020 and has been viewed about 1,500 times, IRGC commander Hossein Yekta said universities have become "the battlefront" and urged students to become "soft-war officers.” 

The other video of an online talk from January 2021 glorified the death of Soleimani. Seen by thousands of people, the video shows former IRGC commander Gen Saeed Ghasemi comparing Soleimani’s death to the movie Terminator 2, saying that after Soleimani was killed, the broken pieces would come back together, stronger than ever before. 

I thought “absolute free speech” in universities was paramount, and that students had to learn to be resilient when faced with “opposing views” or am I misremembering the last ten years or so? — Robin Chud (@MisterDanielBro) January 23, 2024

Ghasemi also falsely claimed that the Holocaust was "a lie and a fake" and talked about an apocalyptic war that British students could join to "bring an end to the life of the oppressors and occupiers, Zionists and Jews across the world."

"God willing, myself and you good students in Europe will be written in the beautiful list of the soldiers of the resistance from tonight." Ghasemi also added.

Lastly, the Instagram Live from 2020 was hosted by Mohammad Hussain Ataee, a British citizen in Yorkshire who was previously the secretary of the Islamic Students Associations of Britain. Although he is no longer the organization's secretary, he still serves as the secretary of the Union of Islamic Students Associations of Europe, an umbrella body that includes the British organization. Although Ataee, who was granted an audience with Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei last year, said the allegations against him were false, he did not answer further questions from the BBC.

==

#ThisIsIslam

[azspot]

If Trump ends up in court because he paid his attorney to pay off a former girlfriend, justice will not have been done. The nonsense indictment will be a failure, not a victory. Trump will never face jail time for kidnapping Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab or assassinating Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. His predecessors understand the importance of defending the big crimes. But January 6 and other antics put Trump on the outs with the rest of the elite gang. He gets no protection and could make history in a way that he never dreamed of.

20 Years After Iraq, Corporate Media Defends US War Crimes But Obsesses Over Trump Trivialities

[undefeatednils]

They also affect countries that aren't likely to follow US right-wing policy. After all, the US also has a history of directly interfering into the affairs of other countries, and Democratic administrations are, as a general trend, less likely to do so/far less aggressive about it than Republican administrations.

Democrats are also less bellicose. Yes, if you look at the Obama administration, there was a vile increase in drone warfare, plus the whole Libya matter, but it also involved attempts at reproachment with Cuba and Iran.

Trump escalated drone warfare even further, plus he was a key backer of Juan Guaidó during the Venezuelan presidential crisis of 2019 and he nearly got the US into a war with Iran when he ordered the assassination of Qasem Soleimani in January 2020.

Harris/Walz is far more likely to not escalate further with China than Trump (or Biden), potentially ending the trade war that Trump began, based on Walz's positions and statements.

[news365timesindia]

[ad_1] The US Department of Justice on Friday charged an Iranian citizen who was tapped by Iran to allegedly assassinate Donald Trump before the presidential election. Farhad Shaker, 51, of Iran, was charged as an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump, according to United States Department of Justice statement. “The charges announced today expose Iran’s continued brazen attempts to target US citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump, other government leaders and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. The Justice Department has charged an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump. “We have also charged and arrested two individuals who we allege were recruited as part of that network to silence and kill, on US soil, an American journalist who has been a prominent critic of the regime. We will not stand for the Iranian regime’s attempts to endanger the American people and America’s national security,” read the statement. Farhad Shakeri, Carlisle Rivera, also known as Pop, 49, of Brooklyn, New York; and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, of Staten Island, New York, were charged in a criminal complaint in connection with their alleged involvement in a plot to murder a US citizen of Iranian origin in New York. Rivera was arrested in Brooklyn, New York, and Loadholt was arrested in Staten Island, New York. Shakeri remains at large and is believed to reside in Iran. Rivera and Loadholt made their initial appearance in the Southern District of New York yesterday and were ordered detained pending trial. “There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as Iran,” Attorney General Merrick B Garland said. “Actors directed by the Government of Iran continue to target our citizens, including President-elect Trump, on US soil and abroad. This has to stop,” US Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York said. As per the statement, Iran targets the US and its allies in a bid to avenge the death of the then-Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force (IRGC-QF), Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by a US drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020. Shakeri is an IRGC asset who immigrated to the United States as a child and was deported in or about 2008 after serving 14 years in prison for a robbery conviction. In recent months, Shakeri has used a network of criminal associates he met in jail in the United States to supply the IRGC with operatives to conduct surveillance and assassinations of IRGC targets, the statement said. Ahead of the 2024 US presidential elections, a reported gunfire incident disrupted former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, CBS News reported. Following the incident, Trump was immediately escorted off stage by US Secret Service agents. [ad_2] Source link

[news365times]

[ad_1] The US Department of Justice on Friday charged an Iranian citizen who was tapped by Iran to allegedly assassinate Donald Trump before the presidential election. Farhad Shaker, 51, of Iran, was charged as an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump, according to United States Department of Justice statement. “The charges announced today expose Iran’s continued brazen attempts to target US citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump, other government leaders and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. The Justice Department has charged an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump. “We have also charged and arrested two individuals who we allege were recruited as part of that network to silence and kill, on US soil, an American journalist who has been a prominent critic of the regime. We will not stand for the Iranian regime’s attempts to endanger the American people and America’s national security,” read the statement. Farhad Shakeri, Carlisle Rivera, also known as Pop, 49, of Brooklyn, New York; and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, of Staten Island, New York, were charged in a criminal complaint in connection with their alleged involvement in a plot to murder a US citizen of Iranian origin in New York. Rivera was arrested in Brooklyn, New York, and Loadholt was arrested in Staten Island, New York. Shakeri remains at large and is believed to reside in Iran. Rivera and Loadholt made their initial appearance in the Southern District of New York yesterday and were ordered detained pending trial. “There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as Iran,” Attorney General Merrick B Garland said. “Actors directed by the Government of Iran continue to target our citizens, including President-elect Trump, on US soil and abroad. This has to stop,” US Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York said. As per the statement, Iran targets the US and its allies in a bid to avenge the death of the then-Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force (IRGC-QF), Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by a US drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020. Shakeri is an IRGC asset who immigrated to the United States as a child and was deported in or about 2008 after serving 14 years in prison for a robbery conviction. In recent months, Shakeri has used a network of criminal associates he met in jail in the United States to supply the IRGC with operatives to conduct surveillance and assassinations of IRGC targets, the statement said. Ahead of the 2024 US presidential elections, a reported gunfire incident disrupted former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, CBS News reported. Following the incident, Trump was immediately escorted off stage by US Secret Service agents. [ad_2] Source link