US President Donald Trump on Monday vowed that any attack by Iran would be met with a response "1,000 times greater in magnitude", after reports that Iran planned to avenge the killing of top Iranian General Qassem Suleimani in a drone strike last January.
"According to press reports, Iran may be planning an assassination, or other attack, against the United States in retaliation for the killing of terrorist leader Suleimani, which was carried out for his planning a future attack, murdering US troops, and the death & suffering..." Mr Trump said on Twitter after reports emerged on Monday of an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the US ambassador to South Africa.
In a follow-up tweet, the US President said, "Any attack by Iran, in any form, against the United States will be met with an attack on Iran that will be 1,000 times greater in magnitude."
A report published yesterday by Politico said US intelligence details an Iranian plot to assassinate ambassador Lana Marks. Unidentified US government officials told the publication that evidence of the plot had become more specific in recent weeks.
Ms Marks, a 66-year-old businesswoman who has known Mr Trump for several decades and is a member of his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, is aware of the threat against her.
She has no known ties to Iran but it is possible her friendship with the US president is a factor for the Iranian government, which operates clandestine networks in South Africa.
The plot is believed by officials to be one of several assassination attempts under consideration by the Iranian regime in retaliation for the killing of Suleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force.
Relations between Washington and Tehran have been tense since the Iranian revolution in 1979, and have spiralled since Mr Trump took office and pulled the US out of a nuclear deal between Iran and global powers in May 2018.
Washington is also pushing to extend an arms embargo on Iran that starts to progressively expire in October as well as reimposing UN sanctions on Iran.
The Iranian navy last week said it drove off American aircraft that flew close to an area where military exercises were under way near the Strait of Hormuz.
The military said three US aircraft were detected by Iran's air force radars after they entered the country's air defence identification zone.
In June last year, a US RQ-4 drone was shot down by Iran after allegedly violating Iranian airspace, a claim the US denied.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday declined to comment directly on the reported threat to Ms Marks. But he told Fox News that Iran "has engaged in assassination efforts all across the world. They have assassinated people in Europe and in other parts of the world. We take these allegations seriously".
"We make very clear to the Islamic Republic of Iran that this kind of activity – attacking any American any place at any time, whether it's an American diplomat, an ambassador, or one of our service members – is completely unacceptable," he said.
An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman on Monday claimed the report of an assassination plot was baseless and part of "repetitive and rotten methods to create an anti-Iranian atmosphere on the international stage".
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
The Way It Was: My Life with Frank Sinatra by Eliot Weisman and Jennifer Valoppi
Hachette Books
Who is Allegra Stratton?
- Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
- Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
- In October 2020 she was hired to lead No 10’s planned daily televised press briefings
- The idea was later scrapped and she was appointed spokeswoman for Cop26
- Ms Stratton, 41, is married to James Forsyth, the political editor of The Spectator
- She has strong connections to the Conservative establishment
- Mr Sunak served as best man at her 2011 wedding to Mr Forsyth
Rebel%20Moon%20%E2%80%93%20Part%20Two%3A%20The%20Scargiver%20review%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Zack%20Snyder%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sofia%20Boutella%2C%20Charlie%20Hunnam%2C%20Ed%20Skrein%2C%20Sir%20Anthony%20Hopkins%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Juliot Vinolia’s checklist for adopting alternate-day fasting
- Don’t do it more than once in three days
- Don’t go under 700 calories on fasting days
- Ensure there is sufficient water intake, as the body can go in dehydration mode
- Ensure there is enough roughage (fibre) in the food on fasting days as well
- Do not binge on processed or fatty foods on non-fasting days
- Complement fasting with plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, seafood. Cut out processed meats and processed carbohydrates
- Manage your sleep
- People with existing gastric or mental health issues should avoid fasting
- Do not fast for prolonged periods without supervision by a qualified expert
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
WITHIN%20SAND
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Moe%20Alatawi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Ra%E2%80%99ed%20Alshammari%2C%20Adwa%20Fahd%2C%20Muhand%20Alsaleh%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Who was Peter Glaser?
- Dr Peter Glaser was a Czech-born space tech pioneer who moved to the United States in 1948 where he studied mechanical engineering at Columbia.
- He is best known as the inventor of the Solar Power Satellite, a concept which he presented in the journal Science in 1968 under the title Power from the Sun: It’s Future.
- Five years later, he was granted a US patent to supply power from space, however it was considered too large to launch economically from Earth.
- It was suggested it could be constructed in space, using lunar and asteroid materials, by a team permanently based in space, but it was never put into practice.
- He was project manager for the Apollo 11 ‘Laser Ranging Retroflecter Array’ which was installed on the moon in 1969.
- He served on several Nasa committees and was inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame in 1996.
- He died in 2014, aged 87
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')
Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')
Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Awar Qalb
Director: Jamal Salem
Starring: Abdulla Zaid, Joma Ali, Neven Madi and Khadija Sleiman
Two stars
