Tehran Calls Yemeni Uprising Against It ‘Conspiracy’

 Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
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Tehran Calls Yemeni Uprising Against It ‘Conspiracy’

 Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Senior Iranian officials announced Tuesday their support for the killing of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh by the militia of pro-Iranian Houthi and described the Yemenis’ confrontation with the militias a "conspiracy.”

Commander of Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) commented on Killing Saleh in Yemen, “Thanks God, the conspiracy in Yemen was nipped in the bud” while Top Adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei Ali Akbar Velayati said that “he got what he deserved”.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, for his part, did not comment directly on Saleh’s death and only made accusations against the Coalition for Supporting Legitimacy in Yemen for its military operations, directing implicit threats to the coalition states.

Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Al Jaber attacked Iran and said it exports death to Yemen.

In his interview with Asharq Al-Awsat on Tuesday, Jaber said that Houthi insurgents are now left with nothing but the support of their own militias as “the Yemeni people have chosen their state, tribe and Arabism above Iranian expansionism.”

Saleh's death came two weeks after Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari’s first official announcement of providing "advisory" support to Yemen.

He acknowledged that his country “provides support at the request of the Yemeni authorities and government to the Houthis, and our support is mainly advisory and moral.”

Jafari's remarks come following repeated Iranian retaliation for the charge of being responsible for the ballistic missiles and heavy and medium weapons fired by Houthi militias on Saudi Arabia and Yemen and threatening international navigation in the Red Sea.

Iran calls its military presence in Syria and Iraq “advisory.”

Contrary to what Tehran says, Deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards Hossein Salami said: "The ground forces of the Revolutionary Guards have demonstrated their capabilities in Syria."

In his remarks, Jafari referred to the export of the Iranian revolution to Syria, Bahrain and Yemen, adding that they "benefited from the Iranian experience."



UK Deputy Prime Minister Resigns over Tax Error

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner exits a vehicle in Downing Street in London, Britain, March 26, 2025. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner exits a vehicle in Downing Street in London, Britain, March 26, 2025. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo
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UK Deputy Prime Minister Resigns over Tax Error

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner exits a vehicle in Downing Street in London, Britain, March 26, 2025. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner exits a vehicle in Downing Street in London, Britain, March 26, 2025. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo

UK deputy prime minister Angela Rayner resigned Friday after an independent inquiry found that she fell short of the standards expected of government ministers over a tax error on a recent house purchase.

Rayner, who acknowledged on Wednesday that she didn't pay enough tax on her purchase of an apartment in Hove, on England’s south coast, conceded that she should have sought more specific advice, while stressing that the report found that she had acted in good faith.

“I take full responsibility for this error," she said in her resignation letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “I would like to take this opportunity to repeat that it was never my intention to do anything other than pay the right amount.”

In response, Starmer voiced his sadness, but said that Rayner had made the right decision to stand down, The AP news reported.

“I have nothing but admiration for you and huge respect for your achievements in politics,” Starmer wrote. The handwritten letter signed off “with very best wishes and with real sadness.”

Rayner will remain a U.K. lawmaker on the back benches. She referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards, Laurie Magnus, on Wednesday, who delivered his report to Starmer on Friday.

Though Magnus concluded that Rayner had “acted with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service,“ he said that “with deep regret” she had breached the ministers’ code of conduct.

In the U.K., levies are charged on property purchases, with higher charges due on more expensive homes and secondary residences. Reports have suggested that Rayner saved 40,000 pounds (nearly $54,000) by not paying the appropriate levy, known as a stamp duty, on her 800,000-pound ($1 million) purchase.

Rayner, 45, had sought to explain that her “complex living arrangements” related to her divorce in 2023 and the fact that her son has “lifelong disabilities” underlay her failure to pay the appropriate tax.

In her resignation letter, Rayner said she also had to “consider the significant toll that the ongoing pressure of the media is taking on my family.”

Rayner’s journey from teenage single mother to trade union official to lawmaker and deputy prime minister is a rarity in British politics.

Her no-nonsense attitude and plain-speaking manner have been a distinct — and politically useful — contrast to the more pragmatic, lawyerly Starmer and she will be hard to replace. She had the ability to connect with sections of the public that Starmer had struggled with since he became prime minister.

Rayner, who held the housing brief in the Labor government, had often railed against those who deliberately underpay tax, particularly those in the preceding Conservative administration, which Labor replaced in July 2024.

Her previous comments had opened her up to charges of hypocrisy, particularly from current Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who said that Rayner's position had been “untenable for days.”

“The truth is simple, she dodged tax," Badenoch said in a video posted on social media. “She lied about it.”

Rayner is a hugely popular member of the Labor Party and was widely tipped to be a potential successor to Starmer. In addition to resigning as deputy prime minister, Rayner quit as deputy leader of the party, meaning that members will have to select someone new.

Starmer is undertaking a shuffle of his Cabinet following Rayner's resignation. He will be hoping that the political agenda can now move on after days of speculation surrounding Rayner's future.

His Labor government has seen its support fall sharply since it won last year's election following a string of missteps, particularly on welfare reform, and ongoing concerns about immigration.


Trump Says India and Russia Appear 'Lost' to 'Deepest, Darkest China'

US President Donald Trump attends an event to announce that the Space Force Command will move from Colorado to Alabama, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, September 2, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
US President Donald Trump attends an event to announce that the Space Force Command will move from Colorado to Alabama, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, September 2, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
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Trump Says India and Russia Appear 'Lost' to 'Deepest, Darkest China'

US President Donald Trump attends an event to announce that the Space Force Command will move from Colorado to Alabama, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, September 2, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
US President Donald Trump attends an event to announce that the Space Force Command will move from Colorado to Alabama, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, September 2, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

US President Donald Trump on Friday said India and Russia seem to have been "lost" to China after their leaders met with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, expressing annoyance at New Delhi and Moscow as Beijing pushes a new world order.

"Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!" Trump wrote in a social media post accompanying a photo of the three leaders together at Xi's summit in China.

Asked about Trump's post, India's foreign ministry told reporters in New Delhi that it had no comment. The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment, and representatives for the Kremlin could not be immediately reached, Reuters reported.

Xi hosted more than 20 leaders of non-Western countries for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Putin and Modi were see holding hands at the summit as they walked toward Xi before all three men stood side by side.

Trump has chilled US-India ties amid trade tensions and other disputes. Trump this week said he was "very disappointed" in Putin but not worried about growing Russia-China ties.

Trump has been frustrated at his inability to convince Russia and Ukraine to reach an end to their war, more than three years after Russian forces invaded Ukraine.

He told reporters on Thursday night at the White House that he planned to talk to Putin soon.


Police: Most of Those Killed in Lisbon Streetcar Derailment Were Foreigners

View of the site where a tourist streetcar derailed and crashed in Lisbon, Portugal, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
View of the site where a tourist streetcar derailed and crashed in Lisbon, Portugal, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
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Police: Most of Those Killed in Lisbon Streetcar Derailment Were Foreigners

View of the site where a tourist streetcar derailed and crashed in Lisbon, Portugal, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
View of the site where a tourist streetcar derailed and crashed in Lisbon, Portugal, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Police in Portugal said Friday that 11 of the 16 people killed when a streetcar derailed were foreigners, as an initial investigative report examining what caused the popular Lisbon tourist attraction to crash was expected to be released.

The dead included five Portuguese nationals, three British citizens, two Canadians, two South Koreans, one American, one French, one Swiss and one Ukrainian, The Associated Press quoted police as saying in a statement.

A German man also thought to have died in Wednesday’s crash was found to be in a Lisbon hospital, police said. It didn't provide an explanation for the error.

The list of nationalities was published following forensic identification.

The distinctive yellow-and-white Elevador da Gloria, which is classified as a national monument, was packed with locals and international tourists Wednesday evening when it came off its rails. Sixteen people were killed and 21 others were injured.

Multiple agencies are investigating what Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has described as "one of the biggest tragedies of our recent past.”

The government’s Office for Air and Rail Accident Investigations said that it has concluded its analysis of the wreckage and would issue a preliminary technical report Friday. It wasn't clear how revealing the report would be.

Chief police investigator Nelson Oliveira said that a preliminary police report, which has a broader scope, is expected within 45 days.

The streetcar's wreckage was removed from the scene overnight and placed in police custody.