Iranian Commander Urged Escalation against US Forces at Iraq Meeting, Sources Say

Blast walls of a sleeping quarters for US soldiers are seen at Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar province, Iraq January 13, 2020. (Reuters)
Blast walls of a sleeping quarters for US soldiers are seen at Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar province, Iraq January 13, 2020. (Reuters)
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Iranian Commander Urged Escalation against US Forces at Iraq Meeting, Sources Say

Blast walls of a sleeping quarters for US soldiers are seen at Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar province, Iraq January 13, 2020. (Reuters)
Blast walls of a sleeping quarters for US soldiers are seen at Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar province, Iraq January 13, 2020. (Reuters)

A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander urged Iraqi Shiite militias to step up attacks on US targets during a meeting in Baghdad last week, three militia sources and two Iraqi security sources familiar with the gathering said.

American forces in Iraq and Syria were attacked several times following the visit by an Iranian delegation led by Revolutionary Guards intelligence chief Hossein Taeb, which came after deadly US air strikes against Iran-backed militias at the Syrian-Iraqi border on June 27.

While encouraging retaliation, the Iranians advised the Iraqis not to go too far to avoid a big escalation, three militia sources briefed on the meeting said.

The Iranians did, however, advise them to widen their attacks by retaliating against US forces in Syria, according to one of the three militia sources, a senior local militia commander briefed on the meeting.

The flare-up comes as significant differences cloud diplomatic efforts to revive the Iranian 2015 nuclear agreement, which was abandoned by former US President Donald Trump but which Iran wants reinstated to allow it to resume key exports of oil.

A senior official in the region, who was briefed by Iranian authorities on Taeb’s visit, said that Taeb met several Iraqi militia leaders during the trip and conveyed “the supreme leader’s message to them about keeping up pressure on US forces in Iraq until they leave the region”.

Since the US air strikes, attacks on US troops and personnel or bases where they operate have intensified in Iraq and widened to eastern Syria.

Iran’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters for this article, and officials at the Revolutionary Guards public relations office were not immediately available for comment.

Iran’s UN envoy this month denied US accusations that Tehran supported attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria, and condemned US air strikes on Iranian-backed militants there.

There was no immediate response from the Iraqi government or the prime minister’s office to questions about the meeting.

The sources to whom Reuters spoke did so on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.

US-Iranian rivalry
Iraq has been a theater of US-Iranian rivalry since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The Shiite militias have been waging a sustained and increasingly sophisticated campaign against US forces which, after withdrawing in 2011, returned to Iraq in 2014 at the head of a coalition to fight the ISIS group.

But the attacks, including explosives-laden drones, have gone up a gear since the US air strikes, which Iran-aligned militias say killed four of their members.

The two Iraqi security sources close to the activities and operations of the groups said the Iranians handed their Iraqi allies aerial maps of US positions in eastern Syria at the July 5 meeting.

The Pentagon said it was deeply concerned about the attacks, including a July 7 rocket barrage on the Ain al-Asad air base in which two American service members were wounded.

A senior Guards figure, Taeb is a mid-ranking Shiite cleric seen by insiders and analysts of Iranian politics as close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The senior official in the region said Khamenei had sent Taeb to Iraq after visits there by Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani, appointed last year as head of the Guards’ expeditionary branch, the Quds Force, had failed to yield an escalation.

An Iraqi government official said it appeared Iran was seeking to use its allies in Iraq to apply pressure for a return to the nuclear deal, under which harsh US sanctions would be lifted in return for curbs on Iran’s atomic activities.

A senior Iranian diplomat said Taeb’s visit to Baghdad indicated that Khamenei was getting directly involved in Iraq affairs after the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, a previous Quds Force head, in a US drone strike in Iraq early last year.

A spokesman for one of the Iranian-backed militia groups hit by the US air strike last month confirmed that the recent attacks were carried out by the Iraqi Islamic Resistance, a reference to the Shiite Iran-backed groups.

“The military escalation against the American forces will continue until all their combatant forces leave Iraq,” Kadhim al-Fartousi, the spokesman for the Kataib Sayyed al-Shuhada faction, told Reuters.

Saad al-Saadi, a senior official in the political office of the Iranian-backed group of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, said if the Americans continued to strike at militias, then more effective attacks on US forces could be expected anywhere in Iraq and Syria.

The meeting was held in Baghdad’s upscale Jadiriya neighborhood in a villa just across the river Tigris from the US embassy, two of the local militia commanders said.

Iran and the United States began indirect negotiations in Vienna in early April to restore the nuclear deal. No date has been set for further talks, which adjourned on June 20.

Some Western and Iranian officials have said the talks are a long way from a conclusion, as disagreements on which US sanctions should be lifted and on the nuclear commitments that Iran has to make and when still remain in place.



Pence Says ‘Different Times Call for Different Leadership’ in Video Launching 2024 Presidential Bid 

Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks to local residents during a meet and greet, Tuesday, May 23, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP)
Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks to local residents during a meet and greet, Tuesday, May 23, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP)
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Pence Says ‘Different Times Call for Different Leadership’ in Video Launching 2024 Presidential Bid 

Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks to local residents during a meet and greet, Tuesday, May 23, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP)
Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks to local residents during a meet and greet, Tuesday, May 23, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP)

Former Vice President Mike Pence promised "the best days of the greatest nation on earth are yet to come" in a video released Wednesday formally launching his campaign for the Republican nomination for president.

"Different times call for different leadership," Pence says in the video, released via Fox News and Twitter hours ahead of a kickoff event in Des Moines. "Today our party and our country need a leader that’ll appeal, as Lincoln said, to the better angels of our nature."

While it would be "easy to stay on the sidelines," he adds, "that’s not how I was raised. That’s why today, before God and my family, I’m announcing I'm running for president of the United States."

Pence is staking his presidential hopes on Iowa as he launches a campaign that will make him the first vice president in modern history to take on his former running mate.

Pence's campaign will also test the party's appetite for a socially conservative, mild-mannered and deeply religious candidate who has denounced the populist tide that has swept through his party under former President Donald Trump. And it will show whether Pence still has a political future after Jan. 6, 2021, with a large portion of GOP voters still believing Trump's lies that the 2020 election was stolen and that Pence had the power to reject the results.

Pence and his advisers see Iowa — the state that will cast the first votes of the GOP nominating calendar — as key to his potential pathway to the nomination. Its caucus-goers include a large portion of evangelical Christian voters, whom they see as a natural constituency for Pence. They also think Pence, who represented Indiana in Congress and as governor, is a good personality fit with the Midwestern state.

"We believe the path to victory runs through Iowa and all of its 99 counties," said Scott Reed, co-chair of a super PAC that launched last month to support Pence's candidacy.

Iowa has typically been seen as a launching pad for presidential candidates, delivering momentum, money and attention to hopefuls who win or defy expectations. But recent past winners including Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee have failed to ultimately win the nomination.

And Pence faces steep challenges. He enters the race as among the best-known Republican candidates in a crowded GOP field that now includes Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

But Pence — seen by Trump critics as complicit with his most indefensible actions and maligned by Trump loyalists as a traitor — is also saddled with high unfavorable ratings.

A CNN poll conducted last month found 45% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said they would not support Pence under any circumstance. Only 16% said the same about Trump.

Pence’s favorability has also slipped in Iowa, according to The Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll.

Shortly after leaving office, in June 2021, 86% of Iowa Republicans said they had a favorable view of Pence. But the Register’s March Iowa Poll showed that figure had dropped to 66%. The poll also found Pence with higher unfavorable ratings than all of the other candidates it asked about, including Trump and DeSantis, with 26% of Republicans polled saying they have a "somewhat" or "very" unfavorable view of him.

And just 58% of Iowa evangelicals said they had favorable feelings toward Pence — a particularly disappointing number, given his campaign's strategy.

But Pence, who has already visited Iowa more than a dozen times since leaving office, has also received a warm welcome from voters during his trips. During a "Roast and Ride" event over the weekend that drew a long list of 2024 candidates, Pence stood out as the only candidate to actually mount a Harley and participate in the event’s annual motorcycle ride. When he arrived at a barbecue at the state fairgrounds, he moved easily from table to table, warmly greeting and chatting with attendees.

But there remains lingering skepticism of Pence among many Republican voters who adhere to the baseless but persistent conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen. Many who cling to the falsehood believe Pence was complicit in the plot to deny Trump a second term because he refused Trump’s pressure campaign to reject the Electoral College vote when he presided over a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump's supporters violently stormed the building.

Pence advisers say they recognize the challenge and intend to explain to voters directly that Pence was adhering to his constitutional duty and never had the power to impact the vote in his ceremonial role.

"I think it’s something you have to walk straight through," said his longtime adviser Marc Short.

Beyond Jan. 6, his team sees their primary goal as reintroducing Pence to a country that largely knows him as Trump's second-in-command. They want to remind voters of his time in congressional leadership and as governor and are planning a campaign heavy with town halls, house parties and visits to local diners and Pizza Ranch restaurants — more intimate settings that will help voters get to know him personally.

"People have seen Mike Pence the vice president. I think what people are going to see is Mike Pence the person," said Todd Hudson, the speaker of the House in Indiana and a longtime Pence friend who has signed on to help with outreach to state legislators. "I’m super excited for people to get to know the Mike Pence that I know, who's funny, who's just a wonderful person... the more relaxed Mike Pence."

Reed believes there is a strong desire in the party for a candidate like Pence who espouses Reagan-style conservatism, including traditional social values, hawkish foreign policy and small government economics.

"We think this nomination fight is going to be an epic battle for the heart and soul of the conservative, traditional wing of the Republican Party. And Pence is going to campaign as a classic conservative. His credentials are unmatched," he said.

Unlike Trump and DeSantis, Pence has argued that cuts to Social Security and Medicare must be on the table and has blasted those who have questioned why the US should continue to send aid to Ukraine to counter Russian aggression.

"We are not going to try to out-Trump Pence. Everybody else is," Reed said. "Pence is the only candidate running not to be Trump’s VP."


Western Countries Warn Iran against Lack of Cooperation with IAEA

Photo distributed by the International Atomic Energy Agency of the opening session of its quarterly meeting on Tuesday.
Photo distributed by the International Atomic Energy Agency of the opening session of its quarterly meeting on Tuesday.
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Western Countries Warn Iran against Lack of Cooperation with IAEA

Photo distributed by the International Atomic Energy Agency of the opening session of its quarterly meeting on Tuesday.
Photo distributed by the International Atomic Energy Agency of the opening session of its quarterly meeting on Tuesday.

Western powers have warned Tehran that its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency is “significantly lacking” and “far short of the expectations”, following an agreement between the UN agency and Tehran last March.

The European Union expressed its concerns about the increasing risk of a nuclear proliferation crisis in the Middle East as a result of Iran’s escalation of its nuclear program.

Laura Holgate, US Ambassador to the Vienna Office of the United Nations and to the IAEA, told the Board of Governors of the IAEA meeting this week: “Iran’s level of cooperation remains significantly lacking overall, and far short of the expectations outlined by the Board in November.

Holgate pointed to a resolution passed by the Board of Governors in November condemning Iran’s behavior and calling for “immediate and urgent” cooperation.

In March, the Director of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, announced that an agreement was reached with Iran for cooperation and the re-installation of surveillance cameras. But since then, Tehran has only allowed the agency to install surveillance cameras at one site and surveillance equipment at two, which Grossi described as “slow progress.”

The US ambassador also expressed her concern about the increase in Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium by 60 percent, saying: “No other country in the world today utilizes uranium enriched to 60 percent for the purpose Iran claims. We again call on Iran to end this deeply troubling activity that runs counter to the behavior of all other states worldwide. Iran argues it is unfairly targeted by others. The reality remains that Iran continues to single itself out through its own actions. Iran should cease its nuclear provocations that pose grave proliferation risks.”

France, Britain and Germany, issued a statement expressing similar concern, and stressed that there was no “civilian justification” for enriching uranium at such a high rate.

“The risk of a nuclear proliferation crisis in the region has further increased as a result of Iran’s escalating nuclear trajectory. The EU remains committed to the JCPOA. We regret that Iran has not made the necessary decisions and not taken the necessary steps. On the contrary, it continues to significantly escalate its nuclear program,” the statement read.

It added: “Iran’s actions, which have no credible civilian justification in Iran’s declared nuclear program, carry very significant proliferation-related risks. These actions, which raise grave concerns about Iran’s intentions, include continued and accelerated accumulation of enriched uranium, far beyond JCPOA thresholds for quantity and level of enrichment, including a sharp rise of material at 20%, as well as at 60% which is of particular proliferation concern. The stockpile of HEU enriched at up to 60 per cent has increased by almost 30% since the last quarterly report.”

For his part, the European Union ambassador in Vienna, Stephan Klement, warned of the increasing risk of a nuclear proliferation crisis in the Middle East as a result of Iran’s escalation of its nuclear program.

He said on Twitter that the EU “strongly urges Iran to reverse its alarming nuclear trajectory. We call on Iran to return immediately to its non-proliferation commitments...”


Kakhovka Dam’s Destruction Leaves Many Without Normal Access to Drinking Water, Says Zelenskiy

A woman cries as she is evacuated from a flooded neighborhood in Kherson, Ukraine, Wednesday, June 7, 2023 after the Kakhovka dam was blown up. (AP)
A woman cries as she is evacuated from a flooded neighborhood in Kherson, Ukraine, Wednesday, June 7, 2023 after the Kakhovka dam was blown up. (AP)
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Kakhovka Dam’s Destruction Leaves Many Without Normal Access to Drinking Water, Says Zelenskiy

A woman cries as she is evacuated from a flooded neighborhood in Kherson, Ukraine, Wednesday, June 7, 2023 after the Kakhovka dam was blown up. (AP)
A woman cries as she is evacuated from a flooded neighborhood in Kherson, Ukraine, Wednesday, June 7, 2023 after the Kakhovka dam was blown up. (AP)

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine had left hundreds of thousands of people without normal access to drinking water.

Floodwaters in southern Ukraine were expected to crest on Wednesday and tens of thousands of civilians were fleeing areas affected by the dam's collapse on Tuesday, which Zelenskiy blamed on Russia. Moscow blamed it on Ukraine.

"The destruction of one of the largest water reservoirs in Ukraine is absolutely deliberate ... Hundreds of thousands of people have been left without normal access to drinking water," Zelenskiy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Officials said that parts of the Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions in the south and southeast of Ukraine would suffer from disrupted water supplies.

"The top priority now is to provide water to the regions affected by the Russian terrorist attack", Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov wrote on Twitter.

Ukraine's Agency for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure said the government had decided to provide 1.5 billion hryvnias ($41 million) for construction of a pipeline with a capacity of about 300,000 cubic meters of water per day.

The total length of the new water pipeline would be 87 km (54 miles), the agency said.

The health ministry warned of potential health hazards because of chemicals in the water, and urged residents to drink only bottled and safe water, and to use safe water when cooking.


Russian-Installed Official Accuses Ukraine of Shelling Region Affected by Flooding 

A local resident stands with his bicycle in a flooded street in the town of Kherson, following flooding caused by damage sustained at the Kakhovka HPP dam, on June 6, 2023. (AFP)
A local resident stands with his bicycle in a flooded street in the town of Kherson, following flooding caused by damage sustained at the Kakhovka HPP dam, on June 6, 2023. (AFP)
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Russian-Installed Official Accuses Ukraine of Shelling Region Affected by Flooding 

A local resident stands with his bicycle in a flooded street in the town of Kherson, following flooding caused by damage sustained at the Kakhovka HPP dam, on June 6, 2023. (AFP)
A local resident stands with his bicycle in a flooded street in the town of Kherson, following flooding caused by damage sustained at the Kakhovka HPP dam, on June 6, 2023. (AFP)

The Russian-installed governor of part of Ukraine's Kherson region controlled by Moscow said on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces were still shelling it despite widespread flooding caused by the destruction of the area's huge Nova Kakhovka dam.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the claim by Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed governor. There was no immediate response to the allegation from Ukraine.

"Ukrainian armed forces continue shelling. The shelling is more chaotic than targeted. Sometimes infrastructure is damaged," Saldo told Russia's Rossiya 24 state TV channel.

He said Russia should respond by "maximizing the destruction" of Ukrainian military hardware deployed on the right (west) bank of the Dnipro river, which Ukraine controls.

Moscow controls the left (east) bank.

Kherson is one of four Ukrainian regions that Russia claimed to have unilaterally annexed last year, a move rejected as illegal by Kyiv and the West. Russia does not fully control any of the four regions and was forced to retreat from the west bank of the Dnipro last November.

About 42,000 people are at risk from flooding in Russian- and Ukrainian-controlled areas along the Dnipro after the Nova Kakhovka dam collapsed.

Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the destruction of the dam, which has sent floodwaters across a war zone and forced thousands to flee. Some independent experts say the dam may have collapsed due to earlier damage and intense pressure on it.


Tens of Thousands at Risk from Flooding After Ukraine Dam Collapse 

Streets are flooded in Kherson, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jun 6, 2023 after the walls of the Kakhovka dam collapsed overnight. (AP)
Streets are flooded in Kherson, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jun 6, 2023 after the walls of the Kakhovka dam collapsed overnight. (AP)
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Tens of Thousands at Risk from Flooding After Ukraine Dam Collapse 

Streets are flooded in Kherson, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jun 6, 2023 after the walls of the Kakhovka dam collapsed overnight. (AP)
Streets are flooded in Kherson, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jun 6, 2023 after the walls of the Kakhovka dam collapsed overnight. (AP)

About 42,000 people are at risk from flooding in Russian- and Ukrainian-controlled areas along the Dnipro River after a dam collapsed, as the UN aid chief warned of "grave and far-reaching consequences".

Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the collapse of the massive dam on Tuesday, which sent floodwaters across a swathe of Ukraine's war zone and forced thousands to flee.

Ukraine said Russia committed a deliberate war crime in blowing up the Soviet-era Nova Kakhovka dam, which powered a hydroelectric station. The Kremlin blamed Ukraine, saying it was trying to distract from the launch of a major counteroffensive that Russia says is faltering.

UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told the Security Council that the dam breach "will have grave and far-reaching consequences for thousands of people in southern Ukraine on both sides of the front line through the loss of homes, food, safe water and livelihoods".

"The sheer magnitude of the catastrophe will only become fully realized in the coming days," he said.

No deaths were initially reported, but US spokesperson John Kirby said the flooding had probably caused "many deaths".

Ukrainian officials estimated about 42,000 people were at risk from the flooding, which is expected to peak on Wednesday.

In Kherson city, about 60 km (37 miles) downstream from the dam, water levels rose by 3.5 meters (11-1/2 feet) on Tuesday, forcing residents to slog through water up to their knees to evacuate, carrying plastic bags full of possessions and small pets in carriers.

"Everything is submerged in water, all the furniture, the fridge, food, all flowers, everything is floating. I do not know what to do," Oksana, 53, said when asked about her house.

Buses, trains and private vehicles were marshalled to carry people to safety in about 80 communities threatened by flooding.

In Kherson, cracks of incoming artillery sent people trying to flee running for cover. In the evening, Reuters reporters heard four incoming artillery blasts near a residential neighborhood where civilians were evacuating.

Residents in flooded Nova Kakhovka on the Russian-controlled bank of the Dnipro told Reuters that some had decided to stay despite being ordered out.

"They say they are ready to shoot without warning," said one man, Hlib, describing encounters with Russian troops.

The Kazkova Dibrova zoo on the Russian-held riverbank was completely flooded and all 300 animals were dead, a representative said via the zoo's Facebook account.

"More and more water is coming every hour. It's very dirty,"

Yevheniya, a woman in Nova Kakhovka, said by telephone.

The United States said it was uncertain who was responsible, but the deputy US ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, told reporters it would not make sense for Ukraine to destroy the dam and harm its own people.

The Geneva Conventions ban targeting dams in war because of the danger to civilians.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address that his prosecutors had approached the International Criminal Court about the dam. Earlier, he said on Telegram that Russian forces blew up the power plant from inside.

"Residents are sitting on the roofs of their homes waiting to be rescued ... This is a Russian crime against people, nature and life itself," Oleksiy Kuleba, a senior official on Zelenskiy's staff, said on Telegram.

The dam supplies water to a wide area of southern Ukrainian farmland, including the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula, as well as cooling the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

Satellite images taken on Tuesday afternoon by Maxar Technologies showed houses and other buildings submerged, many with only their roofs showing.

Maxar said the images of more than 2,500 square km (965 square miles) between Nova Kakhovka and the Dniprovska Gulf, southwest of Kherson city on the Black Sea, showed numerous towns and villages flooded.

The UN nuclear watchdog said the Zaporizhzhia plant, upriver on the reservoir, should have enough water to cool its reactors for "some months" from a separate pond.

As Kyiv prepares for its long-awaited counteroffensive, some military analysts said the flooding could benefit Russia by slowing or limiting any Ukrainian advance along that part of the front line.

In a boost for Ukraine's military, Zelenskiy said he had received "a serious, powerful" offer from countries ready to provide F-16 fighter jets.

"Our partners know how many aircraft we need," Zelenskiy was quoted as saying in a statement on his website. "I have already received an understanding of the number from some of our European partners ... It is a serious, powerful offer."

Kyiv now awaited a final agreement with its allies, including "a joint agreement with the United States," Zelenskiy said.

It is not clear which of Ukraine's allies are ready to provide it with the jets.


Milley Says Fighting in Ukraine Has Increased, Will Continue for Lengthy Time

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff US General Mark A Milley attends a ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, as part of the 79th anniversary of the World War II "D-Day" Normandy landings, in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, on June 6, 2023. (AFP)
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff US General Mark A Milley attends a ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, as part of the 79th anniversary of the World War II "D-Day" Normandy landings, in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, on June 6, 2023. (AFP)
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Milley Says Fighting in Ukraine Has Increased, Will Continue for Lengthy Time

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff US General Mark A Milley attends a ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, as part of the 79th anniversary of the World War II "D-Day" Normandy landings, in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, on June 6, 2023. (AFP)
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff US General Mark A Milley attends a ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, as part of the 79th anniversary of the World War II "D-Day" Normandy landings, in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, on June 6, 2023. (AFP)

US Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Mark Milley said Tuesday that fighting in Ukraine has increased, but he cautioned against reading too much into each day’s operations.

“There’s activity throughout Russian-occupied Ukraine and fighting has picked up a bit,” Milley said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press at the American Cemetery in Normandy, France — the final resting place of almost 9,400 troops who died 79 years ago during the allied D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944.

Milley said it was up to Ukraine to announce whether its counteroffensive campaign has formally begun, but he said Ukrainian troops are ready for this fight.

“It’s our estimation that the Ukrainian military is well prepared for whatever they do — they choose to fight in the offensive fight or in the defense,” he said. "They’re well-prepared.”

But he also warned that as time goes on the fighting will vary.

“Like the Battle of Normandy or any other major battle, warfare is a give and take,” Milley said. “There will be days you see a lot of activity and there will be days you may see very little activity. There will be offensive actions and defense actions. So, this will be a back-and-forth fight for a considerable length of time.”

The US and allies and partners have been pouring billions of dollars in military weapons into Ukraine and have set up a wide range of combat training so Kyiv's forces can maintain that equipment and prepare for the long-anticipated counteroffensive.

Milley spoke as Ukrainian forces are widely seen to be moving forward with a new surge of fighting in patches along more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) of front line in the east and south. The troops were moving to end what has been a winter-long battlefield stalemate and punch through Russian defensive lines in southeast Ukraine after 15 months of war.

Punctuating that fighting was the stunning collapse Tuesday of a dam in southern Ukraine, triggering floods, endangering crops in the country’s breadbasket and threatening drinking water supplies. Both sides blamed the other, as they scrambled to evacuate residents.

The surge in fighting comes after a long winter of preparation. Nearly weekly at times, the US and allies pumped millions of rounds of artillery and other ammunition into Ukraine, along with increasingly lethal air defense systems, including Patriot missile batteries, tanks, drones and other weapons.

Looking back over the past year, Milley said Ukrainian forces defended their country well from the start of the invasion in February through the middle of the summer, and then did two successful offensive operations in Kharkiv and Kherson. Milley said he believes the training and weapons supplied by the allies over the winter have prepared Ukraine for the coming fight.

“A lot of training went into that, a lot of supplies, a lot of ammunition was provided by other countries to include the United States,” said Milley. “They’ve been training now we think pretty well in combined arms operations. So I think they’re prepared for what they think they need to do, no matter what type of operation they run.”

Standing in front of rows of white crosses at the cemetery, Milley spoke just a few minutes after he and other top US and allied military leaders laid wreaths and saluted the gathering of the last surviving World War II veterans attending the ceremony. The veterans, some of whom had stormed Omaha Beach, were almost all in their late 90s. But as Taps played, many rose from their wheelchairs to stand for the tribute.

Reflecting on their fight, Milley said there is a thread of similarity in the wars.

“You can’t really compare that campaign to what’s happening in size and scale and scope ... in Ukraine. But the purpose is very similar, which is the Ukrainians, obviously, their objective is to liberate the Russian-occupied Ukraine,” Milley said.


US Slaps Sanctions on Iranian Targets in Action over Tehran’s Missile, Military Programs

The Department of the Treasury's seal outside the Treasury Department building in Washington on May 4, 2021. (AP)
The Department of the Treasury's seal outside the Treasury Department building in Washington on May 4, 2021. (AP)
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US Slaps Sanctions on Iranian Targets in Action over Tehran’s Missile, Military Programs

The Department of the Treasury's seal outside the Treasury Department building in Washington on May 4, 2021. (AP)
The Department of the Treasury's seal outside the Treasury Department building in Washington on May 4, 2021. (AP)

The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on over a dozen people and entities in Iran, China and Hong Kong, accusing the procurement network of supporting Iran's missile and military programs as Washington ramps up pressure on Tehran.

The US Treasury Department in a statement said the network conducted transactions and facilitated the procurement of sensitive and critical parts and technology for key actors in Iran’s ballistic missile development, including Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, which is under US sanctions.

Among those hit with sanctions was Iran's defense attaché in Beijing, Davoud Damghani, whom the Treasury accused of coordinating military-related procurements from China for Iranian end-users.

“The United States will continue to target illicit transnational procurement networks that covertly support Iran’s ballistic missile production and other military programs,” Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, said in the statement.


Fire in the Area of Tehran’s Bazaar Contained, No Casualties Reported 

A fire broke out in a glue warehouse in the Seyed Vali bazaar, located in Tehran's Grand Bazaar. (ISNA)
A fire broke out in a glue warehouse in the Seyed Vali bazaar, located in Tehran's Grand Bazaar. (ISNA)
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Fire in the Area of Tehran’s Bazaar Contained, No Casualties Reported 

A fire broke out in a glue warehouse in the Seyed Vali bazaar, located in Tehran's Grand Bazaar. (ISNA)
A fire broke out in a glue warehouse in the Seyed Vali bazaar, located in Tehran's Grand Bazaar. (ISNA)

A fire that broke out in a glue warehouse in the Seyed Vali bazaar, located in Tehran's Grand Bazaar, has been contained, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported on Tuesday.

No casualties have been reported so far or further details given.


Iran Presents its First Hypersonic Ballistic Missile

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
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Iran Presents its First Hypersonic Ballistic Missile

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo

Iran presented what officials described as its first domestically-made hypersonic ballistic missile on Tuesday, the official IRNA news agency reported, an announcement likely to heighten Western concerns about Tehran's missile capabilities.

Iranian state media published pictures of the missile named Fattah at a ceremony attended by President Ebrahim Rahisi and commanders of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Corps, Reuters said.

"The precision-guided Fattah hypersonic missile has a range of 1,400 km and it is capable of penetrating all defense shields," Amirali Hajizadeh, the head of the Guards' aerospace force, was quoted as saying by Iranian state media.

Hypersonic missiles can fly at least five times faster than the speed of sound and on a complex trajectory, which makes them difficult to intercept. Last year, Iran said it had built a hypersonic ballistic missile which can maneuver in and out of the atmosphere. State TV said Iran's Fattah missile can target "the enemy's advanced anti-missile systems and is a big generational leap in the field of missiles".

"It can bypass the most advanced anti-ballistic missile systems of the United States and the Zionist regime, including Israel's Iron Dome," Iran's state TV said.

Fattah's top speed reached mach 14 levels (15,000km/h), it added.

Despite US and European opposition, Iran has said it will further develop its defensive missile program. However, Western military analysts say Iran sometimes exaggerates its missile capabilities.

Concerns about Iran's ballistic missiles contributed to then-US President Donald Trump's decision in 2018 to ditch Tehran's 2015 nuclear pact with six major powers.

Trump reimposed US sanctions on Iran after exiting the nuclear pact, leading Tehran to resume previously banned nuclear work and reviving US, European and Israeli fears that Iran may seek an atomic bomb. Iran has consistently denied any such ambition. Indirect talks between Tehran and US President Joe Biden's administration to salvage the nuclear deal have stalled since last September. Israel, which Iran refuses to recognize, opposes efforts by world powers to revive Tehran's nuclear deal and has long threatened military action if diplomacy fails.


Protests in France as Unions Make Last-ditch Bid to Resist Higher Retirement Age

Protesters march during a demonstration in Nantes, western France, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez)
Protesters march during a demonstration in Nantes, western France, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez)
TT

Protests in France as Unions Make Last-ditch Bid to Resist Higher Retirement Age

Protesters march during a demonstration in Nantes, western France, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez)
Protesters march during a demonstration in Nantes, western France, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez)

French unions are seeking to reignite resistance to President Emmanuel Macron’s higher retirement age with what may be a final surge of nationwide protests and scattered strikes Tuesday.

A third of flights were canceled at Paris’ Orly Airport because of strikes, and about 10% of trains around France were disrupted. Some 250 marches, rallies and other actions are planned around the country on the 14th day of national protest since January over the pension reform, The Associated Press said.

Macron’s move to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 — and force the measure through parliament without a vote — inflamed public emotions and triggered some of France’s biggest demonstrations in years.

But the intensity of anger over the pension reform has ebbed since the last big protests on May 1, and since the measure became law in April. Some see Tuesday's actions as a last big show of opposition for the movement.

Macron says the reform was needed to finance the pension system as the population ages. Unions and left-wing opponents say the changes hurt poorer workers and have argued for higher taxes on the wealthy and employers instead.

Organizers of Tuesday's protests hope to rally support ahead of a possible parliamentary debate Thursday on a bill to repeal the new retirement age.

Legislators from centrist opposition group LIOT proposed the bill to put back the retirement age to 62. While Macron's centrist party doesn't have a majority in the National Assembly, it has allied with the conservative Republicans party to push back the opposition's efforts.