President Joe Biden vows response as Iran denies role in US base attack
US President Joe Biden (Photo: AP/PTI)
Iran sought to distance itself from a deadly attack on a US base in Jordan by Tehran-backed militants, as President Joe Biden faced mounting pressure to respond strongly to the Islamic Republic.
“Resistance groups in the region do not accept orders from the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said yesterday. He was referring to what is often called the “axis of resistance” – a network of militias in areas from Yemen to Iraq and Gaza that are funded by Tehran and share opposition to the US and Israel.
The troops were the first Americans killed in an attack in West Asia since regional tensions were stoked by the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza last October.
Republicans accused Biden of allowing U.S. forces to become “sitting ducks,” waiting for the day when a drone or missile would evade base defenses. They say that day came on Sunday, when a single one-way drone struck near the base barracks early in the morning.
Biden, who was traveling in South Carolina, asked for a moment of silence during an appearance in the banquet hall of a Baptist church. “We had a tough day last night (Sunday evening) in the Middle East. We lost three brave souls in an attack on one of our bases,” he said. After the moment of silence, Biden added: “and we will respond.”
Hamas hostage talks constructive: White House
The White House said Monday that talks to secure another release of hostages held by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza were constructive and promising, but that much work remained to be done.
UN fires Gaza staff after Hamas link accusations
The United Nations fired several staffers at its Palestinian refugee agency over Israeli accusations that they took part in Hamas’ attack on October 7, news that prompted the US, Britain and other countries to suspend funding.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “is shocked by the news” that employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) may have been involved in the attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel, and urged the head of the agency to refer the suspects for possible prosecution, his office said in a statement Friday. The statement said there will be an “urgent and comprehensive independent review” of the agency. Biden suspended funding for the UN agency that helps Palestinian refugees over the allegations. The claims will be a black eye for UNRWA, which provides humanitarian assistance and protection to Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank.
Iran executes four alleged Israeli spies
Iran on Monday executed four men convicted of planning sabotage and alleged ties to Israel’s Mossad secret service, state media reported.
The official IRNA news agency said the men were convicted of planning to attack a factory belonging to Iran’s Defense Ministry and involved in missiles and defense equipment in the central city of Isfahan in 2022. The operation was allegedly designed by the Mossad and the four were trained by the Israeli agency in an African country before entering Iran, the report said.
The report does not say how the death sentences were carried out, but in Iran it is usually by hanging.
In 2022, Iran said its intelligence agents had dismantled a group linked to Mossad that had allegedly planned terror operations in Iran, arresting all members of the group and seizing a large quantity of weapons and explosives. Iran and Israel have been accusing each other of espionage and waging a shadow war for years.
First print: January 30, 2024 | 12:41 pm IST