 "Joe Biden")
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 fiercely against the Islamic Republic.
“Resistance groups in the region do not take orders from the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said yesterday. He was referring to what’s often called the “axis of resistance” — a network of militias in territories from Yemen to Iraq and Gaza that are funded by Tehran and share its opposition to the US and Israel.
The troops were the first Americans to die from a West Asia attack since regional tensions were inflamed by the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza last October.
Republicans accused Biden of letting American forces become sitting ducks, waiting for the day when a drone or missile would evade base defences. They say that day came on Sunday, when a single one-way attack drone struck near base barracks early in the morning.
Biden, who was travelling in South Carolina, asked for a moment of silence during an appearance at a Baptist church’s banquet hall. “We had a tough day last night (Sunday night) 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 shall respond”.
Hamas hostage talks constructive: White House
UN fires Gaza staff after Hamas-link allegations
The United Nations fired several staffers at its Palestinian refugee agency over Israeli allegations that they took part in the October 7 attack by Hamas, news that prompted the US, the UK and other countries to suspend funding.
Iran executes 4 alleged to be Israeli spies
Iran on Monday executed four men convicted of planning sabotage and alleged links with Israel’s Mossad secret service, state media reported.
The official IRNA news agency said the men were convicted of planning to target a factory in 2022 belonging to Iran’s defence ministry and involved in missile and defense equipment in the central city of Isfahan. The operation was allegedly engineered by Mossad and the four were trained by the Israeli agency in an African country before entering Iran, it said.
The report did not say how the death sentences were carried out, but in Iran it’s usually by hanging.
In 2022, Iran said its intelligence agents had dismantled a group linked to Mossad that had allegedly planned terror operations inside Iran, arresting all members of the group and confiscating a large amount of weapons and explosives. Iran and Israel have accused each other of spying and waging a shadow war for years.
First Published: Jan 30 2024 | 12:41 AM IST
