Description
Added on the 25/06/2019 15:31:38 - Copyright : Wochit
The White House says it had "warned" Iran after President Joe Biden said Tehran was threatening a significant attack on Israel over a strike that destroyed an Iranian consulate building in Damascus. SOUNDBITE
The United States does not want a war with Iran but must respond to an "escalatory" drone strike in Jordan that killed three troops, the White House says. "We are not looking for a war with Iran," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby tells reporters, adding however that the attack "was escalatory, make no mistake about it, and it requires a response." SOUNDBITE
The White House denies that the unfreezing of $6 billion of Iranian funds to help secure the release of five US citizens was effectively a ransom payment. "This is not a payment of any kind. It's not ransom," says White House national security spokesman John Kirby, pushing back against criticism of the deal. SOUNDBITE
According to Business Insider, aides say that President Donald Trump was detached, "mentally unreachable," and and ignored their pleas during the storming of the US Capitol building on Wednesday. An official told The Washington Post that the president has "this notion that he's been treated unfairly." People close to Trump said that they were "certain the president wanted this and is enjoying it." The violent attack forced members of Congress to hide and flee temporarily from the Capitol, while in the process of certifying Joe Biden's election victory. Trump stayed in the White House and defended his supporters, while refusing to condemn the violence. Trump's aides urged him to issue a strong statement against the rioters' violence, but he was "ignoring these entreaties." An official described Trump as "a total monster," and others were "avoiding him like the plague."
The White House is desperate to announce the authorization of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. Mark Meadows has reportedly pressured FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn to announce the emergency authorization by the end of the day on Friday. Citing a report in the Washington Post, Business Insider reports that Meadows gave Hahn an ultimatum. Hahn either moves up the announcement or submit his resignation. This comes after President Donald Trump went after the agency on Twitter earlier in the morning, calling it "a big, old, slow turtle." Hahn denied the Post's report shortly after it was published, calling it "untrue." The White House declined to comment.
An Iranian diplomat and three others have gone on trial in Belgium. The case is noteworthy because the three men and one woman are accused of planning a terrorist attack on a rally where Rudy Giuliani was the keynote speaker. Prosecutors say the targeted event was a rally held in Villepinte, France, on June 30, 2018. Fortunately, a tip from Mossad thwarted the attack. According to Business Insider, Iran's Assadollah Assadi was not in the dock--having claimed diplomatic immunity. Maryam Rajavi, leader of the exiled Iranian opposition group known as MEK, was the main target of the attack. If the powerful bomb had exploded, it could have exploded in a packed crowd of 25,000. Other prominent public figures who attended, included Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the US House of Representatives.
|
Support : Technical 
- Content 
- Editors 
