Khamenei Informs Assad Envoy of ‘Continued Coordination’ with Syria after Soleimani Killing

Secretary General of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani and Head of Syria’s National Security Bureau Ali Mamuk. (IRNA)
Secretary General of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani and Head of Syria’s National Security Bureau Ali Mamuk. (IRNA)
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Khamenei Informs Assad Envoy of ‘Continued Coordination’ with Syria after Soleimani Killing

Secretary General of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani and Head of Syria’s National Security Bureau Ali Mamuk. (IRNA)
Secretary General of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani and Head of Syria’s National Security Bureau Ali Mamuk. (IRNA)

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has informed head of Syria’s National Security Bureau Ali Mamluk of the continued coordination between Damascus and Tehran after the killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani.

Khamenei stressed that Soleimani’s killing “will boost the resistance’s approach and its strategic achievements in the region.”

He told Mamluk that coordination between Iran and Syria will continue until terrorism is uprooted and security and stability are restored in all Syrian territories.

Secretary General of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani expressed appreciation for Head of the Syrian regime Bashar Assad and the Syrian people’s condolences to Iran, reported IRNA.

“Americans and arrogant powers will soon understand that Soleimani’s assassination will be far more dangerous for them,” he was quoted as saying.

Mamluk had taken part on Monday in Soleimani’s funeral procession Tehran, which was led by Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani.

Mamluk conveyed Assad’s deepest condolences over the death of Soleimani.

The latter “stood by the Syrian Arab Army in its war against terrorism and its supporters and defended the values of truth and dignity against aggression and domination,” Syria’s SANA news agency quoted him as saying.

The two sides discussed joint coordination in the coming stage and emphasized that Soleimani’s death will increase the two countries’ adherence to the resistance, it reported.



Tunisia Hands Lengthy Prison Terms to Top Politicians and Former Security Officials

Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
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Tunisia Hands Lengthy Prison Terms to Top Politicians and Former Security Officials

Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)

A Tunisian court on Tuesday handed jail terms of 12 to 35 years on high-profile politicians, including opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi and former security officials, a move that critics say underscores the president's use of the judiciary to cement “authoritarian rule”.

Among those sentenced on charges of conspiring against the state in the major mass trial, were Nadia Akacha, the former chief of staff to President Kais Saied, local radio Mosaique FM said. Akacha who fled abroad received 35 years.

Ghannouchi, 84, veteran head of the Islamist-leaning Ennahda party, was handed a 14-year term.

Ghannouchi who was the speaker of the elected parliament dissolved by Saied, has been in prison since 2023, receiving three sentences of a total of 27 years in separate cases in recent months.

A total of 21 were charged in the case, with 10 already in custody and 11 having fled the country.

The court sentenced former intelligence chief Kamel Guizani to 35 years, former Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem to 35 years, and Mouadh Ghannouchi, son of Rached Ghannouchi, to 35 years. All three have fled the country.

Saied dissolved the parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree, then dissolved the independent Supreme Judicial Council and sacked dozens of judges, a move that opposition called a coup which undermined the nascent democracy that sparked in 2011 the so-called “Arab Spring” uprisings.

Saied rejects the accusations and says his steps are legal and aim to end years of chaos and corruption hidden within the political elite.

Most opposition leaders, some journalists, and critics of Saied have been imprisoned since he seized control of most powers in 2021.

This year, a court handed jail terms of 5 to 66 years to opposition leaders, businessmen and lawyers on charges of conspiring as well, a case the opposition says is fabricated in an attempt to stamp out opposition to the president.