DUBAI - A wedding party contributed to a new surge in coronavirus infections in Iran, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday but insisted the country had no option but to keep its economy open despite warnings of a second wave of the epidemic.
Iran, which has been gradually relaxing its lockdown since mid-April, has reported a sharp rise of new daily infections in recent days. Thursday's toll of 3,574 new cases was the highest since February, when the outbreak was first reported.
"At one location, we witnessed a peak in this epidemic, the source of which was a wedding that caused problems for the people, health workers and losses to the economy and the country's health system," Rouhani said in a televised meeting in Tehran of a national committee tackling the outbreak. He did not say when or where the wedding took place.
New cases dipped to 2,269 on Saturday, bringing Iran's total cases to 169,425, with 8,209 deaths.
Health officials have been warning of a second wave of the outbreak, but say a reason for the surge in new cases could be wider testing. One official said about 70% of the new cases in Tehran were among those who had traveled outside the capital in recent days.
Iran has been struggling to curb the spread of COVID-19 but authorities are concerned that measures to limit public and economic life to contain the virus could wreck an economy already reeling under international sanctions.
"In these circumstances, we have no other choice," Rouhani added. "We have to work, our factories have to be active, our shops have to be open, and there has to be movement in the country as far as it is necessary."
Iranian universities reopened on Saturday after being closed for more than three and a half months, state media reported.
Nurseries will reopen next Saturday, Rouhani said. Domestic tourism travel can also resume, as well as classes on the Koran, music and languages.
From June 21, cinemas, theaters, concert and music halls can reopen but will only be allowed to be 50 percent full. More mosques will also be permitted to open, after those in the lowest-risk area reopened last month.
-reuters-
Iran on Friday announced another 122 deaths from the novel coronavirus, taking the overall toll in the Middle East's worst-hit country to 4,232.
The health ministry said 1,972 people tested positive for the COVID-19 virus in the past 24 hours, putting the total at 68,192.
"In the last 24 hours, we have unfortunately seen an increase in cases of disease in perhaps five to eight tourist provinces, including Tehran," spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told a televised news conference.
The announcement comes a day before Iran is scheduled to reopen "low-risk" businesses in a move aimed at protecting its sanctions-hit economy.
Iran announced its first coronavirus cases on February 19.
There has been speculation abroad that the real number of deaths and infections in the country could be higher.
In response to the health crisis, Iran shut schools and universities as well as cinemas, stadiums and revered Shiite Muslim shrines.
It also warned people to refrain from travel for the Persian New Year holidays that ended last week.
Agence France-Presse
DUBAI - Iran's death toll from the coronavirus outbreak rose on Saturday by more than 100 to 1,556, and the total number of people infected now exceeds 20,000, a health ministry official said.
Iran, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic outside of China, reported on Friday a death toll of 1,433 and a total number of confirmed infections of 19,644.
The total number of people diagnosed with the disease stood at 20,610 on Saturday, health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on state TV.
President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that social distancing measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak in Iran, including travel restrictions, will apply for only two to three weeks, expecting the crisis to ease by then.
Iran "has to do everything necessary to return economic production to normal," he said in comments broadcast on state TV. He also accused "counter-revolutionaries" of plotting to shut down economic production.
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TEHRAN - Iran announced on Tuesday another 135 deaths from the novel coronavirus, bringing the overall toll to 988 in one of the world's worst-hit countries.
"Reports by more than 56 laboratories indicated that we have had 1,178 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in the past 24 hours," health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised news conference.
"This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 16,169 as of today noon," he added.
Jahanpour also said 5,389 people who were infected had been discharged from hospitals "with general good health".
Tehran province recorded the highest number of new infections with 273 fresh cases.
Alborz, to the west of Tehran, was next with 116, followed by East Azerbaijan with 78.
"As of this morning, more than 15 million of our countrymen have been screened" for symptoms, he said.
The official reiterated calls for Iranians to stay at home during the outbreak and asked them to report possible symptoms on a ministry website.
The website identifies the individual using their national identity number and asks if they have symptoms such as coughing or fever.
It also asks if anyone suspected of having the virus, under treatment or recently recovered lives with them.
If the symptoms are not serious, it advises them to stay at home and tells them where the nearest healthcare center is located.
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DUBAI - The death toll from the coronavirus in Iran rose to 66 on Monday, including an official on a top council, as a World Health Organization (WHO) team headed to Tehran.
"The definite latest numbers we have are 523 new infections and 12 new deaths so the total number of those infected is 1,501 until now and the number of deaths is 66," Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi announced on state television.
Among the dead was Mohammad Mirmohammadi, a member of the Expediency Council, a body intended to resolve disputes between parliament and the Guardian Council, the Tasnim news agency reported.
Several top officials have been infected with coronavirus including Masoumeh Ebtekar, the vice president for women and family affairs, and Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi.
Government spokesman Ali Rabiei said that a closure of Iran's schools which was announced on Saturday because of the outbreak would continue through the end of this week, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Iran has the highest number of deaths from the coronavirus outside China, where the outbreak began.
A four-person WHO team is expected to arrive in Iran on Monday evening, spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said in Geneva, and will review measures to deal with the outbreak and provide technical guidance.
During a week-long visit, the team will meet health ministry representatives and visit health facilities and laboratories dealing with the response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Several countries in the region have reported coronavirus infections in people who have visited Iran. These include Kuwait, whose health ministry on Monday reported 10 new cases in the last 24 hours, all of whom had been in Iran. The Gulf Arab state has now reported 56 cases of the virus.
The United Arab Emirates sent a shipment of medical supplies, including gloves and surgical masks, to Iran on Monday, state news agency WAM reported.
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WASHINGTON - Leaders in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas rolled out bans on big gatherings, and stricter travel restrictions as cases of the new coronavirus spread around the world.
The United States on Saturday reported its first death from the disease, a Washington state man in his 50s. Two of the state's three cases have links to a nursing home, state officials said, where dozens of residents have symptoms of the disease.
US President Donald Trump and top officials said in a White House press briefing that travelers from South Korea and Italy would be subject to additional screening, and warned Americans against traveling to coronavirus-affected regions in both countries.
US Vice President Mike Pence said a ban on travelers from Iran entering the country would be expanded to include any foreign nationals who have visited Iran in the last 14 days. The United States may also restrict travel on its southern border with Mexico, officials said.
However, they encouraged Americans to travel around the country, including to states where some of the country's more than 60 cases of the disease have been recorded.
The outbreak is disrupting demand for flights and many airlines have suspended or modified services in response. After Saturday's press conference, the White House held a call with airlines to discuss new travel restrictions.
NEW CASES
Ecuador on Saturday reported its first case, in a woman who had traveled from Madrid, while Mexico reported four cases, all in people who had visited Italy.
Brazilian officials confirmed that country's second case, a patient in São Paulo who recently visited Italy.
As governments worldwide stepped up efforts to halt the spread of the virus, France announced a temporary ban on public gatherings with more than 5,000 people in confined spaces. It reported 16 new cases for a total of 73, and canceled a half-marathon of 40,000 runners scheduled for Sunday.
Switzerland said it is banning events expected to draw more than 1,000 people.
More than 700 tourists remain quarantined at a hotel in the Canary Islands, after several Italian guests there tested positive for coronavirus.
Schools and universities in Italy, which is experiencing Europe's worst outbreak of the disease, will stay closed for a second consecutive week in three northern regions. The country has reported some 900 cases and 21 deaths.
Analysts have warned that the outbreak looks set to shunt Italy's fragile economy into its fourth recession in 12 years, with many businesses in the wealthy north close to a standstill and hotels reporting a wave of cancellations.
FOCUS ON IRAN
Iraq reported five new cases of the disease, bringing its total to 13, and Qatar reported its first Saturday, leaving Saudi Arabia as the only Gulf state not to have signaled any coronavirus cases.
The majority of infections in other Gulf countries have been linked to visits to Iran or involve people who have come into contact with people who had been there.
Tehran has ordered schools shut until Tuesday and extended the closure of universities and a ban on concerts and sports events for a week. Authorities have also banned visits to hospitals and nursing homes as the country's case load hit nearly 600.
One Iranian lawmaker, elected in Feb. 21 polls, has died from the disease along with more than 40 other Iranians, and several high-ranking officials have tested positive for the virus.
Azerbaijan said on Saturday it had closed its border with Iran for two weeks to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Two Azerbaijanis who traveled to Iran have tested positive for the disease and quarantined.
Mainland China reported 573 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Feb. 29, up from 427 on the previous day, the country's health authority said. The number of deaths stood at 35, down from 47 on the previous day, and bringing the total death toll in mainland China to 2,870.
The epidemic, which began in China, has killed almost 3,000 people worldwide, the ministry said.
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DOHA - Qatar has confirmed its first case of coronavirus, state media reported Saturday after a 36-year-old Qatari woman who was evacuated to Doha from Iran tested positive.
Qatar on Thursday repatriated a number of its citizens from Iran -- which is battling the worst outbreak outside China -- and confined them to a 14-day period of quarantine, the government said.
The health ministry said the infected patient had been admitted to a hospital.
"This had been expected because of the virus's spread across the region and other countries, alongside the exponential increase in the number of cases," the health ministry said according to the Qatar News Agency.
Iran on Saturday reported nine new deaths from the novel coronavirus and 205 fresh cases in the past 24 hours, bringing its overall toll to 43 dead and 593 infected.
Gulf countries have announced a raft of measures to cut links with Iran to prevent the coronavirus spreading, after infections emerged among people returning from pilgrimages to the Islamic republic.
Saudi Arabia on Friday barred citizens from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Qatar, from entering two of Islam's holiest cities amid fears over coronavirus.
The Gulf tally stands at 45 cases of coronavirus in Kuwait, 38 in Bahrain, six in Oman and two more in the United Arab Emirates for a total of 21.
On Saturday the UAE also announced it was suspending nursery school classes, and limiting activities at other schools.
Authorities said that two planes will also be sent to Iran to collect Emiratis and other Gulf citizens trapped there after air routes were closed.
Cyclists taking part in the UAE Tour are awaiting the results of coronavirus tests from their hotel lockdown after the event was abandoned Thursday when two staff from an Italian team tested positive.
The race organizers said in a tweet Saturday that 167 of those quarantined had received negative results on coronavirus tests, but it did not say whether they were cyclists or staff members, nor how many others were awaiting results.
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DUBAI - Thirty-four people have died from coronavirus in Iran and 388 are infected by the virus, health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur announced on state television on Friday.
The vast majority of infections were in three provinces: Tehran, 128, Qom, 88, and Gilan, 65, according to a map published by the official IRNA news agency citing health ministry figures.
Iran canceled Friday prayers in the capitals of 23 of Iran's 31 provinces because of the coronavirus outbreak, state television reported on Thursday.
Tehran, the national capital, and the Shi’ite Muslim holy cities of Qom and Mashhad were among places where authorities called off Friday prayers.
Those infected in Iran include Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi and Masoumeh Ebtekar, vice president for women and family affairs.
The Islamic Republic is the only country in the Gulf region that has reported deaths from the coronavirus, which has spread from China, but people have been infected in Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
Three new cases reported on Friday in Bahrain took the total diagnosed with the coronavirus there to 36, and two new cases reported by Kuwait took the total infected there to 45.
All those infected in Bahrain and Kuwait had travelled to Iran or were contaminated by people who went there, according to officials in the two Gulf Arab states.
The United Arab Emirates has granted Iran permission to send a handful of flights to Dubai to fly Iranians home, the ISNA news agency reported, citing information from Iran's consulate in Dubai.
Saudi Arabia has reported no deaths or infections and has tightened travel restrictions to try to prevent it from spreading across its borders.
The United States asked its military in Saudi Arabia to avoid crowded venues, including malls and cinemas, as coronavirus was reported spreading in neighboring countries, according to a document from the US embassy seen by Reuters on Friday.
Oman on Friday restricted the entry of citizens from other Gulf Arab states who had previously been able to enter by showing national identification cards.
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TIKRIT, Iraq - Four people were wounded on Sunday in an attack on Balad air base in northern Iraq which houses US personnel.
The Iraqi military said in a statement that eight Katyusha rockets had been fired at the base, about 80 km (50 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, and that the four wounded included two officers.
Military sources identified the wounded as Iraqi soldiers. They said seven mortar bombs had hit the base's runway.
There was no word of any US casualties among the U.S. forces at the base.
The Iraqi military statement did not say who was behind the attack and made no mention of heightened tensions between the United States and Iran, which last Wednesday fired missiles at two military bases in Iraq which house US forces.
(Reporting by Ghazwan Hassan writing by Hesham Abdul Khalek; Editing by Susan Fenton and Timothy Heritage)
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TOKYO -- The world's shares hit a record high on Friday as a relief over de-escalation of US-Iranian tensions quickly prompted investors to bet on faster global growth, especially in the technology sector.
MSCI's broadest gauge of the world's stocks in 49 countries rose a tad to hit an all-time high and its index on Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.18 percent.
Japan's Nikkei rose 0.43 percent while Australian stocks rallied 0.67 percent to a record high.
That followed record-setting in the pan-regional STOXX 600 index in Europe and the three major stock indexes on Wall Street.
The S&P 500 gained 0.67 percent, with its technology sector rising more than 1 percent. Apple gained 2.1 percent, helped by news that the sales of its iPhones in China in December jumped more than 18 percent year on year.
Investors welcomed the report as a prelude to the upcoming visit by China's Vice Premier Liu He, head of the country's negotiation team in Sino-US trade talks, to Washington next week to sign a trade deal with the United States.
Liu will visit Washington on Jan. 13-15 and US President Donald Trump has said the so-called phase one deal will be signed on Jan. 15.
"We will have a symbolic event of Sino-US dialogue. Given the current strength of the market, it is hard not to expect this rally to continue for the time being," said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities in Tokyo.
Global shares quickly erased losses that followed missile attacks from Iran targeting US forces in Iraq, as the two countries moved to defuse the tension.
Waning worries about all-out war in the Middle East pushed down gold, safe-harbor currencies and oil.
Gold eased off to $1,552.80 per ounce from a seven-year high of $1,610.90 hit right after Iran's missile attack on Wednesday.
Against the yen, the US dollar traded at 109.52 yen , having hit a two-week high of 109.58 in US trade on Thursday.
The euro stood little changed at $1.1105, having fallen to $1.10915 in the US trade, its lowest in about 2 weeks.
Oil prices were sharply lower from their highs hit in the wake of Iran's missile attack.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell to as low as $58.66 per barrel on Thursday and last stood at $59.51, down slightly on the day, compared to Wednesday's peak of $65.65.
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OTTAWA—Canada has intelligence from multiple sources indicating a Ukrainian airliner that crashed on Wednesday near Tehran was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday.
US officials had earlier said the airliner was most likely brought down accidentally by Iranian air defenses. All 176 people on board, including 63 Canadians, were killed.
"We have intelligence from multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence. The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile," Trudeau told a news conference in Ottawa.
"This may well have been unintentional. This new information reinforces the need for a thorough investigation into this matter," he continued.
Trudeau said his government would not rest until it had obtained closure, transparency, accountability and justice.
He also said he had spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who told him that Iran would allow investigators from Kiev into the country.
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NEW YORK -- US stocks ended higher on Wednesday, but the day's uneven path showed investors' sensitivity to any signs of turmoil in the Middle East, with stocks rising on comments by President Donald Trump and paring gains on reports of blasts in Baghdad.
Trump spoke at a White House briefing after Iran's missile strikes overnight on military bases housing US troops in Iraq. The US president said the strikes had not harmed any Americans and that Tehran appeared to be standing down.
Comments earlier from Iran's foreign minister that the country did not seek an escalation and a tweet from Trump that "All is well!" also helped calm investor jitters.
Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record intraday highs, but major indexes cut their gains late in the day following reports of two blasts heard in Baghdad. After the bell, Iraq's military said two rockets had fallen inside Baghdad's Green Zone but there were no casualties.
"The measured tones coming out of the Trump administration potentially dialing back from a tit-for-tat reaction on balance is positive, but the market is going to react to minute-by-minute news of increased tensions in the Middle East," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Nasdaq registered a record high close and most S&P 500 sectors rose, while the S&P 500 energy index fell 1.7 percent as oil prices slumped.
Global markets have been rattled by concerns about rising tensions in the Middle East after the US killing of influential Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 161.41 points, or 0.56 percent, to 28,745.09, the S&P 500 gained 15.87 points, or 0.49 percent, to 3,253.05, and the Nasdaq Composite added 60.66 points, or 0.67 percent, to 9,129.24.
Among the day's decliners, Boeing fell 1.8 percent after a 737-800 jet made by the company and belonging to a Ukrainian airline burst into flames shortly after takeoff from Tehran, killing all 176 people aboard.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc slid 5.8 percent after its quarterly profit missed expectations. Shares in rival CVS Health fell 1.3 percent.
On the upside, Lennar Corp ended up 0.8 percent after the No. 2 US homebuilder beat quarterly profit estimates and forecast 2020 homes sales above analysts' estimates as lower home prices and mortgage rates drive demand.
Adding to the upbeat mood, the ADP National Employment Report showed private payrolls jumped by 202,000 jobs last month, well above the 160,000 rise expected by economists polled by Reuters.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.51-to-1 ratio
The S&P 500 posted 6258 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 118106 new highs and 149 new lows.
Volume on US exchanges was 7.78 billion shares, compared to the 7.01 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days
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Passengers' belongings are collected after a Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 crashed shortly after take-off from Iran's Imam Khomeini airport.
The crash on Wednesday, which killed all on board, comes at a tense time for both Iran and Boeing. Iran's top general Qassem Soleimani was killed in a US airstrike last week, while Boeing is still reeling from the crashes of its 737 Max airplanes.
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LONDON - The burgeoning Iran crisis has sparked oil supply worries over the Strait of Hormuz -- a vital shipping lane for a fifth of global crude -- and also over Iraq's output, analysts say.
Oil prices had surged last Friday after US President Donald Trump ordered the drone assassination of Iran's top general Qasem Soleimani, but the market stabilized on Monday and Tuesday with Middle East crude supplies unaffected.
However, on Wednesday, the oil market shifted higher once more after Tehran launched revenge attacks to target US forces in Iraq, making good on its pledge to hit back over the killing.
Iran fired missiles overnight at Iraqi bases housing the US and British military, officials in Washington and Tehran said.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab voiced concern over "reports of casualties". But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif insisted that the country does "not seek escalation or war".
Traders remain fearful nevertheless that Tehran could seek to block the Hormuz waterway -- a key artery for crude that stretches between Oman and Iran.
Hormuz, one of the world's most congested transit points, links up the region's oil producers with markets in Asia, Europe and North America.
"Supply disruptions were put at the forefront of the agenda for investors," said Mihir Kapadia, CEO of Sun Global Investments.
"These concerns have been fuelled by Friday's killing of Soleimani and it is likely Iran will try and disrupt oil exports that travel through the Straits of Hormuz.
"However ... it remains unclear as to what the next developments will be."
The US government's Energy Information Administration describes Hormuz as "the world's most important oil transit chokepoint" through which 21 million barrels of crude per day passed in 2018.
The strait had already been rocked last year by a string of attacks that Washington and its allies blamed on Iran, accusations Tehran firmly denied.
Its Western foes have also accused Iran of being behind a major attack on Saudi oil installations and Iran has in recent months also repeatedly seized tankers operating in the Gulf.
Traders remain less fearful over the loss of Iranian oil because the Islamic republic remains under punishing US sanctions that were re-imposed by Trump in 2018.
Energy Aspects analyst Christopher Haines noted traders were instead worried about oil output from Iraq -- particularly if US troops are pulled out.
America's military strategy in Iraq was thrown into confusion Monday as the Pentagon admitted a letter from a general informing the Iraqi government of an imminent US troop pullout was sent by mistake.
"There is a potential risk of disruption on Iraq, whose crude exports represent (about) 3.5 million barrels per day," Haines told AFP.
"If US troops leave, it will leave the area less secure," he added.
Iraq is currently the second biggest player in oil cartel OPEC after kingpin Saudi Arabia.
SEB analyst Bjarne Schieldrop agreed that Iraqi production could be impacted by the current crisis -- but so far no oil supplies have been affected.
"Eventual loss of supply in the Middle East may, however, be in Iraq down the road and not so much due to near term retaliations, though so far not a single drop of oil supply has been lost," he said.
Soleimani's assassination, which was carried out by a drone near Baghdad airport, sparked concern about a spreading conflict.
Europe's benchmark oil contract Brent and US counterpart West Texas Intermediate crude had initially won more than three percent each on Friday.
However, those gains fell far short of September 16, when both contacts had rocketed about 14 percent on news of attacks on Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure.
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TEHRAN, Iran—The millions who turned out across Iran to mourn General Qasem Soleimani have testified to the apparent across-the-board popularity of a figure hailed as a "living martyr" for the Islamic republic.
Rising above divisions in Iran, funeral processions for the Revolutionary Guard commander assassinated in a US drone strike last week in Baghdad drew massive crowds between Sunday and Tuesday in the cities of Ahvaz, Mashhad, Tehran, Qom and finally Kerman, his hometown.
"The last time I remember such a crowd was at Ayatollah (Ruhollah) Khomeini's funeral 30 years ago," prominent Iranian journalist Maziar Khosravi said of the turnout in the capital, referring to the founder of the Islamic republic.
The show of national unity has contrasted sharply with the downbeat mood in the country since nationwide demonstrations that were violently put down by security forces in November.
Soleimani, killed at the age of 62, had been at the center of power-broking in the region for 2 decades as chief of the elite external operations Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards.
Powerful and always presentable, yet discreet, he was also a popular figure during his lifetime, not just in death.
A survey published in 2018 by IranPoll and the University of Maryland—one of the few considered reliable by analysts—found Soleimani had a popularity rating of 83 percent, ahead of President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
ROOTS OF POPULARITY
Declared a "living martyr" by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei while still alive, Soleimani was widely regarded as a hero for his role in defeating the Islamic State jihadist group in both Iraq and Syria.
In the eyes of many Iranians, his military and strategic prowess were instrumental in warding off the multi-ethnic disintegration of neighboring countries such as Afghanistan as well as Syria and Iraq.
In a rare tribute to his status, a mosque in Qom, the spiritual capital of Shiite Iran, hoisted the red flag symbolizing the blood of martyrs that is traditionally reserved for the Islamic holy month of Muharram.
Khosravi, the journalist, noted that huge crowds from different sectors of society had also turned out to mourn and pay tribute to Soleimani in Ahvaz, capital of the down-at-heel province of Khuzestan and a hotspot in last year's protests.
Hassan Razavi, a lawyer and University of Tehran teacher, explained the roots of the general's popularity at home.
"What people liked about him is that while some other military commanders after the Iraq-Iran war shifted their life toward politics and economy, he continued his role in the military," said Razavi.
He was seen to have played a "significant role in pushing (late Iraqi dictator) Saddam Hussein's army out of the country" during the devastating war that raged between the 2 neighbors from 1980 to 1988.
"People witnessed that he never took financial advantage of his position for his personal life," the lawyer said.
And, "he was so courageous that instead of leading the war out of war rooms far from the battlefield, he was in the middle of the battlefield on the frontline with his soldiers," Razavi said.
Whereas previously he kept out of the limelight, Soleimani had in recent years become an unlikely celebrity in Iran—replete with a huge following on Instagram.
His profile shot up as the public face of Iran's intervention in the Syrian conflict from 2013, appearing in battlefield photos, documentaries—and even being featured in a music video and animated film.
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BAGHDAD — Iran attacked two bases in Iraq that house American troops with a barrage of missiles early Wednesday, Iranian official news media and US officials said, the start of what Tehran had promised would be retaliation for the killing of a top Iranian commander.
“The fierce revenge by the Revolutionary Guards has begun,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement on a Telegram messaging app channel.
US officials in Washington said that Iran had fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq where US troops are stationed. The Pentagon said it was assessing whether any American troops had been killed or injured in the strikes. US officials said there were no immediate indications of American casualties.
After the strikes, President Donald Trump, who has vowed a strong response to any Iranian attack on US targets, met at the White House with his top national security advisers, including Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to discuss possible retaliatory options.
On Twitter, a few hours later, Trump struck an upbeat tone and promised to make a statement Wednesday morning. Some aides said they believed that Trump wanted to find a way to de-escalate the crisis.
“All is well!” he wrote. “Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far!”
Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, also seemed ready to stand down, for now. “Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense,” Zarif tweeted. “We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.”
The American killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a hero at home but a terrorist to the US government, has scaled into one of the most dangerous confrontations between the countries in the 4 decades of animosity that have followed the Islamic Revolution.
Iran’s firing of ballistic missiles from inside its borders — not relying on rockets from Iranian-backed proxies — at two of the main military bases where many of the more than 5,000 US troops in Iraq are stationed was a significant escalation of force that threatened to ignite a widening conflict throughout the Middle East.
It was also a stark message from Tehran that it has the will and the ability to strike at US targets in neighboring Iraq.
“It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting US military and coalition personnel at al-Asad and Irbil,” Jonathan Hoffman, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said in a statement.
Iranian news media reported the attacks hours after Soleimani’s remains were returned to his hometown in Iran for burial amid a huge outpouring of grief and rage at the United States. The funeral procession was so huge and unwieldy that more than 50 people died in a stampede, state news media reported, forcing a delay in the burial.
Iranian officials said the attacks began at 1:20 a.m. — the time Soleimani was killed Friday by an American drone at the Baghdad International Airport.
Some Iranian officials posted images of their country’s flag on Twitter, in a pointed rejoinder to Trump, who tweeted an American flag after Soleimani was killed.
Iran’s military planners had anticipated retaliatory strikes by the United States. Key military, oil and energy sites were placed on high alert, and underground missile defense systems were prepared to counterattack, said a person familiar with the planning.
Iranian officials waited for Trump to address the nation on Tuesday night, and when he did not do so, they suspected the United States might wait to respond or not respond at all, the person said.
Two people close to the Revolutionary Guards said that if the United States did not strike, Iran would also de-escalate. But if the United States did attack, then Iran was preparing for at least a limited conflict.
Reports from US intelligence agencies of an imminent attack from Iran had intensified throughout the day, and senior officials had said they were bracing for some kind of attack against US bases in Iraq or elsewhere in the Middle East.
Over the past two days, US military and intelligence officials had closely monitored the movements of Iran’s ballistic force units — the crown jewel of the country’s arsenal. It was initially unclear whether the movements were a defensive dispersal or the preparations for a retaliatory attack. But by midday Tuesday, top U.S. officials said it had become clear that some kind of Iranian attack was coming.
As tensions mounted, the president’s top national security advisers began gathering in the White House Situation Room about 2 p.m. — about 3 1/2 hours before the attacks. Trump joined them after a previously scheduled meeting with the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Unlike after the US drone strike that killed Soleimani last week, Democratic congressional leaders were notified immediately after the Iranian strikes.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was meeting Tuesday evening with senior Democrats about Trump’s impeachment trial when she was handed a note telling her of the Iranian attack on US forces in Iraq.
“We must ensure the safety of our service members, including ending needless provocations from the administration and demanding that Iran cease its violence,” Pelosi tweeted. “America & world cannot afford war.”
Reactions to the strikes diverged sharply on Capitol Hill, with Democrats condemning the series of events that led to the escalation, and Republicans pressing Trump to project military strength.
Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the chamber’s No. 2 Democrat, used Twitter to urge lawmakers to reassert Congress’ constitutional authority over matters of war and peace.
“The escalation of violence between Iran and the United States makes the constitutional responsibility of Congress to decide whether to declare war more important than ever,” Durbin tweeted.
Rep. Michael Waltz, (Republican-Florida), a former Army Green Beret who served in Afghanistan and worked in the Pentagon under President George W. Bush, said in a brief interview Tuesday evening that he would reserve judgment about the strikes until more information became available. But, Waltz said, “the president’s been very clear, as you should be in a deterrence posture: They will impose consequences and they’ll be directly on the Iranian regime.”
One of the bases that was struck Tuesday, al-Asad Air Base, has long been a hub for US military operations in western Iraq. Danish troops have also been stationed there in recent years.
In 2017, as the US-led coalition built up the base for its campaign against the Islamic State, roughly 500 US military and civilian personnel were located there. Units stationed there consisted of a shock trauma medical unit, a targeting cell, a Navy SEAL Special Operations task force and with a company of Marines that served mostly as protection for the US side of the base. The airfield serviced drones and reconnaissance aircraft.
After the physical defeat of the Islamic State’s so-called caliphate in 2019, some troops have left the base, but it still maintains a robust presence.
The other base that was struck, in Irbil in northern Iraq, has been a Special Operations hub to hundreds of American and other allied troops, logistics personnel and intelligence specialists throughout the fight against the Islamic State. The base shares its borders with the city’s airport, which transport aircraft, gunships and reconnaissance planes have used as an anchor point for operations in both northern Iraq and deep into eastern Syria.
The Iranian missile attack came on a day that began with thousands of Iranians taking to the streets for Soleimani’s funeral procession, a public mourning marred by the deadly stampede.
The head of Iran’s emergency medical services said 56 people had died and 213 were injured, broadcaster IRIB reported on its website, as millions of people flooded the streets of Kerman, to witness the procession for Soleimani.
Witnesses said on social media and on the BBC’s Persian service that the street leading to the funeral was too narrow to handle the crowd and that some side streets had been closed off for security reasons, leaving those who were caught in the crush with no place to escape.
The overcrowding and the subsequent stampede in Kerman led officials to delay Soleimani’s burial, the state news media reported. But he was buried around midnight, as Iran prepared to launch missile attacks against American forces in retaliation for his death, said Hossein Soleimani, the editor-in-chief of the main Revolutionary Guards news website.
The general’s body had been flown to Kerman after a funeral service Monday in Tehran, the capital, where there were even bigger crowds. He had requested a burial in his hometown.
2020 The New York Times Company
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NEW YORK — Joe Biden on Tuesday delivered a forceful and detailed critique of the Trump administration’s escalation toward Iran as he sought at every turn to highlight his own commander-in-chief credentials and to evoke the stature of a president.
The former vice president, speaking from Pier 59 in New York against a backdrop of American flags, delivered a stern warning about President Donald Trump’s stewardship of international affairs and painted a grim picture of the dangerous landscape in the Middle East.
Biden cast Trump as a hypocrite who preaches an inward-looking foreign policy but operates using unsteady, bellicose tactics, and faulted the president for bringing the nation “dangerously close” to war after a US drone strike that killed one of Iran’s top military commanders, Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
“Because he refuses to level with the American people about the dangers which he has placed American troops and our diplomatic corps, personnel and civilians, as well as our partners and allies, or demonstrated even a modicum of presidential gravitas, I will attempt to do that,” said Biden, who is one of 14 candidates seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. “That starts with an honest accounting of how we got where we are.”
Hours after he spoke, Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against United States military and coalition forces in Iraq, according to US military officials.
“What’s happening in Iraq and Iran today was predictable,” Biden said at a fundraiser in the Philadelphia area Tuesday night, citing the “chaos that’s ensuing” from Trump’s approach to the region. He added, “I just pray to God as he goes through what’s happening, as we speak, that he’s listening to his military commanders for the first time because so far that has not been the case.”
One of Biden’s rivals, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, opened a rally Tuesday night at a packed house in Kings Theater in Brooklyn by telling the crowd about the Iranian strikes.
“My three brothers all served in the military,” she said. “At this moment, my heart and my prayers are with our military and with their families in Iraq and all around the world.”
“But this is a reminder why we need to de-escalate tension in the Middle East,” Warren continued. “The American people do not want a war with Iran.”
The crowd thundered in approval.
All of the leading Democratic candidates have excoriated the Trump administration over its posture toward Iran. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has used the moment to highlight his long-standing anti-war credentials — and to point out, obliquely and explicitly, Biden’s vote to authorize the war in Iraq. And former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, a military veteran, has emphasized his personal experience in a war zone.
In Biden’s telling, the chaos America now confronts — “heightened threats, chants of ‘death to America’ once more echoing across the Middle East,” with Iran and its allies “vowing revenge” — was stoked by Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal that was negotiated under the Obama administration.
He described a series of subsequent provocations and challenges for which the Trump administration, he argued, was unprepared, even as he also said that he had “no illusions about Iran,” led by a government that he said threatened US interests. But the decision to kill Soleimani “may well do more to strengthen Iran’s position in the region than any of Soleimani’s plots would have ever accomplished,” he said, arguing that Trump owed the nation answers but had delivered only “tweets, threats and tantrums.”
Soleimani was designated by the United States as a terrorist, and was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of US troops. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday that attacks orchestrated by Soleimani had been expected within “days,” adding that he “has the blood of hundreds of Americans, soldiers, on his hands and wounded thousands more,” and many Republicans, including some who are typically critical of Trump, said the action had made the nation safer. Democrats, too, including Biden, have said Soleimani should face justice. But other officials have questioned whether an attack was in fact imminent.
Biden said that if there was an “imminent threat” that warranted this “extraordinary action,” Americans should receive “an explanation and the facts to back it up.”
“At precisely the moment when we should be rallying our allies to stand beside us and hold the line against threats, Donald Trump’s shortsighted, ‘America First’ dogmatism has come home to roost,” Biden said. He went on to add, “We are alone now. We’re alone, and we’ll have to bear the cost of Donald Trump’s folly.”
On the campaign trail, Biden has emphasized his decades-long record in international affairs and extensive relationships abroad, highlighting a contrast with his rivals in the Democratic field, who have largely been focused on domestic matters throughout the race.
In New York, the setting appeared designed to conjure the White House briefing room: Biden spoke against a blue backdrop before a room full of reporters. He walked in to the clicking of multiple cameras and offered his own prescription for the path forward, calling for “clear-eyed, hard-nosed diplomacy grounded in a strategy that’s not about one-off decisions and one-upsmanship.”
“Mr. President,” he urged, “you have to explain your decision and your strategy to the American people. That’s your job as president, Mr. President. Not ‘Dear Leader.’ Not ‘Supreme Leader.’ Democracy runs on accountability, and nowhere is it more important than the power to make war and bring peace.”
Biden, who has faced renewed scrutiny of his foreign policy record and especially his Iraq War vote, also appeared to misspeak at times, referring to Iran when he apparently intended to say Iraq, and he appeared to say that the current perilous situation was “unavoidable,” when excerpts from the speech circulated before the appearance used the word “avoidable.”
Still, Biden’s advisers and allies hope that the gravity of the moment will further crystallize the importance of defeating Trump in the minds of voters, and polls continue to show that Democrats believe Biden has the best chance to do so, though other candidates have also polled strongly against the president in hypothetical head-to-head match ups.
The current crisis “just reinforces how high the stakes are in this election,” Biden said at a fundraiser earlier Tuesday, during which he also envisioned a Senate dynamic in which one could see “Mitch McConnell changing some ideas or being more — how can I say — mildly cooperative,” even as Biden also discussed the imperative for Democrats to win back the Senate, revoking McConnell’s title as majority leader.
He was not the only presidential candidate to castigate the Trump administration’s handling of foreign policy Tuesday.
Speaking Tuesday on ABC’s “The View,” Warren said that by killing Soleimani, Trump had “moved us close to the edge of war.”
“Soleimani was a bad guy,” she said, “but the question is, what’s the right response?”
“The job of the president of the United States is to keep America safer,” she added. “And having killed Soleimani does not make America safer.”
As evidence, Warren cited the withdrawal of US citizens from the region because of safety concerns and said Trump had tweeted “threats of war crimes” by threatening to strike cultural institutions.
“We need a president who actually has good judgment and is willing to follow through,” she said.
Pressed on whether she believed Soleimani to be a terrorist, Warren said: “Of course he is. He’s part of a group that our federal government has designated as a terrorist.”
As for how she would handle foreign policy in the Middle East, she said, “It is the responsibility of the commander in chief not to ask our military to solve problems that cannot be solved militarily.”
“The point is not whether or not Iran is a bad actor — they are,” she added. “But the question is: What are the right steps for the president? Use our diplomacy. Use the back channels. De-escalate and get Iran to the negotiating table.”
2020 The New York Times Company
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TEHRAN - A Ukrainian airliner carrying at least 170 people crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran on Wednesday, killing all on board, Iran state media reported.
The Boeing 737 had left Tehran's international airport bound for Kiev, semi-official news agency ISNA said.
"Obviously it is impossible that passengers" on flight PS-752 are alive, Red Crescent head Morteza Salimi told semi-official news agency ISNA, adding that 170 passengers and crew had boarded the plane.
State news agency IRNA said 167 passengers and nine crew members had boarded the aircraft, which was operated by Ukraine International Airlines.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed all those on board the plane were killed.
"According to preliminary data, all passengers and crew members are dead," he wrote on Facebook of the Ukraine International Airlines plane, which was bound for Kiev.
The Red Crescent said teams were assisted by soldiers and firefighters in the effort to recover bodies.
"After six o'clock (0230 GMT) this morning we were informed that a passenger plane crashed in the vicinity of Shahriar," said Shahin Fathi, the head of its search and rescue unit.
"All operational teams were dispatched to the area," he told state television. "Unfortunately... we haven't found anyone alive."
BODIES SCATTERED
"Everyone is helping so that we can gather all the bodies that have been scattered in a wide area," said Fathi.
Press TV, state television's English-language news broadcaster, said the plane went down in the vicinity of Parand, a city in Tehran province.
The crash was likely to have been caused by "technical difficulties", it reported, citing Ali Khashani, spokesman for Imam Khomeini International Airport.
"The plane caught fire after crashing," said Press TV.
A video aired by the state media broadcaster appeared to show the plane already on fire, falling from the sky.
American airline manufacturer Boeing tweeted: "We are aware of the media reports out of Iran and we are gathering more information."
US-IRAN TENSIONS
The crash came shortly after Iran said it fired missiles at Iraqi bases in revenge for the killing of one of the Islamic republic's top military commanders in a US drone strike on Friday.
Following the missile strikes, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was banning US-registered carriers from flying over Iraq, Iran and the Gulf after rocket attacks on US forces in Iraq.
"The (FAA) issues Notices to Airmen tonight outlining flight restrictions that prohibit US civil aviation operators from operating in the airspace over Iraq, Iran and the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman," it said in a statement.
"The FAA will continue closely monitoring events in the Middle East."
Iran launched the missiles after a US drone strike killed Qasem Soleimani, a hugely popular figure who headed the foreign operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed "severe revenge" for the assassination and declared three days of mourning following the assassination which shocked the Islamic republic.
The assassination of Soleimani set off an escalating war of words between Iran and the US.
In Tehran, President Hassan Rouhani on Monday warned Trump to "never threaten" Iran, after the US leader issued a US strike list of 52 targets in the Islamic republic.
neg-burs/dv/kir
Agence France-Presse
SHANGHAI -- Asian shares and US treasury yields plunged on Wednesday, while gold and oil shot higher after Iran fired rockets at an Iraqi airbase that hosts US military forces, stoking fears of further sharp escalations in a developing conflict.
Iran's missile attacks on the Ain Al-Asad air base and another in Erbil, Iraq, early Wednesday came hours after the funeral of an Iranian commander whose killing in a US drone strike has raised fears of a wider war in the Middle East.
In morning trade, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.5 percent. Japan's Nikkei dropped 2.5 percent and Australian shares fell 1 percent.
US crude soared 4.42 percent to $65.47 a barrel.
"We've moved on from how Iran will respond to now anticipating the US 52-pronged response as the US military forces in the region are in a heightened state of alert while likely preparing for war," said Stephen Innes, strategist at AxiTrader. "It's not going to be pretty today"
The sharp sell-off in risk assets was accompanied by steep drops in US Treasury yields as investors flocked to safety. Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes yielded 1.7188 percent, down more than 10 basis points from a US close of 1.825 percent on Tuesday.
The two-year yield dropped to 1.4581 percent compared with a US close of 1.546 percent.
The dollar also plunged against the yen, with the Japanese currency touching its strongest point against the greenback since October. The US currency was last down 0.69 percent against the yen at 107.67.
The euro gained 0.1 percent on the day to $1.1161.
The flight to safety and a falling dollar supported gold, which rocked 1.91 percent higher on the spot market to $1,603.93 per ounce.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
TEHRAN—Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday warned his American counterpart Donald Trump to "never threaten the Iranian nation," after he issued a US strike list of 52 targets in the Islamic republic.
"Those who refer to the number 52 should also remember the number 290. #IR655 Never threaten the Iranian nation," he tweeted, referring to 290 lives lost in July 1988 when a US warship shot down passenger plane Iran Air 655 in the Gulf.
Trump warned Saturday that Washington had lined up 52 targets in Iran if it attacked American personnel or assets in retaliation for a US drone strike in Baghdad that killed Iran's top commander Qasem Soleimani.
He said 52 represented the number of Americans held hostage at the US embassy in Tehran for more than a year starting in late 1979.
Trump said some of these sites are "at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD."
Later, the president tweeted again, this time warning Iran that the US will hit Iran "harder than they have ever been hit before!"
source: news.abs-cbn.com
