IRAN AND SAUDILAND - TWO GLOBAL TERRORIST NATIONS THAT MUST BE PUT TO AN END FOR WORLD PEACE!
Iran President Raisi in Rare Call with Saudi Crown Prince MBS to Discuss Hamas Terror Attack on Israel
Iran President Ebrahim Raisi called Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) on Wednesday to discuss the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel in the first telephone call between the two leaders since Tehran and Riyadh resumed ties.
The two leaders’ talked as Israel carried out air strikes across the Gaza Strip in direct retaliation for the deadly invasion of the Jewish state.
Raisi and the Saudi crown prince discussed the “need to end war crimes against Palestine,” Iranian state media said, even as Iranian security officials stand accused of helping the terrorist organization Hamas plan the strike for weeks.
MBS emphasized the Kingdom is making every possible effort to engage with international and regional parties in order to halt the current escalation, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
According to SPA, the Saudi leader reaffirmed the Kingdom’s stance against targeting civilians in any way and the loss of innocent lives.
He stressed the importance of respecting the principles of international humanitarian law, reportedly expressing concern about the dire humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip and the impact on civilians.
Earlier in the day Raisi also demanded Islamic and Arab countries cooperate in confronting Israel as it responds to Hamas attacks.
File/Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, left, shakes hands with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, right, and Chinese counterpart Qin Gang in Beijing Thursday, April 6, 2023. (Iran Foreign Ministry)
“Today, all the Islamic and Arab countries and all the free people of the world must reach a serious convergence and cooperation in the path of stopping the crimes of the Zionist regime against the oppressed Palestinian nation,” Raisi told his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in a phone call, AFP reports.
Raisi stated that in order to stop the “genocide of the Palestinians by the Zionists”, Iran will coordinate with Islamic countries “as soon as possible”, the Iranian presidency website said on Thursday.
Iran, which backs Hamas, on Saturday celebrated the assault in Israel, though it insisted it was not involved in it.
Meanwhile President Joe Biden sent a warning to Iran of his own amid reports of their continued support of Hamas although he stopped short of directly implicating Iran in the attacks.
As Breitbart News reported, the China-brokered resumption of diplomatic relationships between Saudi Arabia and Iran in March came as a major milestone in Beijing’s ascension as a global power, and the corresponding sunset of American influence under President Joe Biden.
Riyadh severed ties with Tehran in 2016 after protesters invaded Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran, following Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shia scholar.
White House Refuses to Freeze Iran’s $6 Billion
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan refused on Tuesday to commit to freezing the $6 billion of Iranian funds that the United States unfroze before Hamas attacked Israel.
“You just laid out all the ways that Iran is complicit and facilitated it … is that reason enough to re-freeze the $6 billion that the U.S. helped unlock for them?” a reporter asked Sullivan during a press conference.
“We have not yet had a dollar of that $6 billion spent, and I will leave it at that,” he replied.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan talks to reporters during the daily news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Iranian security officials reportedly played a key role in planning Hamas’s surprise strike over the weekend. Iran helped plan the attack and “gave the green light for the assault at a meeting in Beirut last Monday,” senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah told the Wall Street Journal.
The Washington Post confirmed the Journal’s report. Hamas planned the attack “with key support from Iranian allies who provided military training and logistical help as well as tens of millions of dollars for weapons,” current and former Western and Middle Eastern intelligence officials told the Post.
It remains unclear what precise role Iran played in terror.
President Joe Biden’s Tuesday speech about the attack notably ended without mentioning Iran. He did mention that Hamas took American hostages.
“We now know that American citizens are among those being held by Hamas,” the president said.
“I’ve directed my team to share intelligence and deploy additional experts from across the United States government to consult with and advise Israeli counterparts on hostage recovery efforts,” he added. “Because as president, I have no higher priority than the safety of Americans being held hostage around the world.”
The Biden administration’s mild handing of Iran comes as Senate Republicans demanded the Biden administration freeze the funds after Hamas attacked Israel.
“We write today to affirm our unwavering support for Israel, our greatest ally in the Middle East, and call on the U.S. Department of State to freeze the accounts in Qatar containing $6 billion in Iranian funds that were released from South Korean accounts in September,” 18 Senate Republicans wrote President Joe Biden.
“We must stand with Israel and restrict access to these Iranian funds,” they wrote. “Iran should be placed under the most stringent sanctions admissible. Anything short of this is unacceptable and only aids in the ability of Iran and Hamas to fund these heinous acts.”
The Associated Press reports things are heating up in near the north of Israel:
The Israeli military said it shelled Syria on Tuesday after rockets hit open land in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
The military did not accuse any group of the rocket attack.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
Germany Offers Direct Military Aid to Israel, Vows Crackdown on Hamas Terrorist Support at Home
Germany became the first European country to offer direct military aid to Israel on Thursday while promising a crackdown on Hamas terrorist supporters at home.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz underlined Germany’s historical responsibility for Israel’s security as cause for the offer which has already seen the Jewish state request ammunition for its warships and military attack drones.
AP reports the Defense Ministry said it agreed to an Israeli request to use up to two of five Heron TP combat drones currently leased by the German military and were already in Israel for the training of German servicepeople.
File/Data sensors protrude from the wing of the German-supplied Eitan, the Israeli Air Force’s latest generation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), as it is displayed during a ceremony introducing it into the 210th UAV squadron. The Eitan, or Heron TP, can carry a heavy payload and its 20-hour high-altitude flying time will allow it to operate as far away as Iran. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images)
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius noted in Brussels that Israel has also requested ammunition for warships, a request that will now be discussed.
“Over 1,000 citizens of Israel have been killed in these terror acts. Thousands of them were severely injured and are fighting for their lives in the hospitals of Israel. In a country with 9 million inhabitants, that means that nearly everybody knows one of the victims,” Scholz said in a speech at the Bundestag, Germany’s lower house of parliament.
“In the whole country of Israel currently, there is mourning … Dear friends in Israel, we mourn with you and we share your suffering,” the chancellor said.
Scholz slammed the actions of Hamas and said Israel was entitled to defend itself.
“At this moment, there is only one place for Germany — the place at Israel’s side,” he told lawmakers.
“Our own history, our responsibility arising from the Holocaust, makes it a perpetual task for us to stand up for the security of the state of Israel,” he added.
Scholz noted thousands of people have demonstrated in support of Israel in recent days, but said “there were also other, shameful pictures from Germany last weekend.”
Scholz said Germany will issue a formal ban on activity by or in support of Hamas, which is already listed by the European Union as a terror group.
He said groups such as Samidoun, which was behind the weekend pastry action, will be banned.
Scholz declared there will be “zero tolerance for antisemitism” in Germany.
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