Iran Denies US Impact on Ballistic Program, Regional Influence

An image distributed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards of ballistic missiles ready to be launched at an underground site.
An image distributed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards of ballistic missiles ready to be launched at an underground site.
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Iran Denies US Impact on Ballistic Program, Regional Influence

An image distributed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards of ballistic missiles ready to be launched at an underground site.
An image distributed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards of ballistic missiles ready to be launched at an underground site.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced on Thursday that its ballistic missile program and “regional influence” represented in its cross-border activities, were “red lines” and would not be affected by “the intentions, hopes and aspirations of the American rulers.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian criticized the imposition of new sanctions against an Iranian and entities with close ties to the Revolutionary Guards, specifically a unit in charge of developing ballistic missiles.

“Everything now depends on whether the United States wants to be realistic or responsible for the failure of negotiations,” Iranian agencies quoted Abdollahian as saying during a meeting with his Uzbek counterpart, Omar Razakof, in Tunxi, southeast China on Thursday.

With the Vienna negotiations faltering, the United States imposed on Wednesday sanctions on an Iran-based procurement agent and his network of companies that procured ballistic missile propellant-related materials for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The US Treasury said that the decision came after the Iranian missile attack on Erbil in Iraq and the Houthi missile attack on Saudi Arabia earlier this month.

“Today’s action follows Iran’s missile attack on Erbil, Iraq on March 13 and the Iranian enabled Houthi missile attack against a Saudi Aramco facility on March 25 as well as other missile attacks by Iranian proxies against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and are a reminder that Iran’s development and proliferation of ballistic missiles continues to pose a serious threat to international security,” the US Treasury statement read.

“This action reinforces the United States’ commitment to preventing the Iranian regime’s development and use of advanced ballistic missiles,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian E. Nelson.

“While the United States continues to seek Iran’s return to full compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, we will not hesitate to target those who support Iran’s ballistic missile program. We will also work with other partners in the region to hold Iran accountable for its actions, including gross violations of the sovereignty of its neighbors.”

On Thursday, Reuters quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as saying that Washington continues to violate the United Nations resolution that enshrines the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, despite its claims of wanting to revive the pact.

“This move is another sign of the US government’s malice towards the Iranian people, as it continues the failed policy of maximum pressure against Iran,” the spokesperson added.

In a statement, the IRGC said that its missile force and regional influence were “a red line for the Iranian people.”

It added that Iran was targeted by the American “mafia regime,” noting that “weakening and undermining Iran’s vitality and defensive and deterrent depth is one of the primary goals of the enemies in order to destroy the Iranian Republic…”



Pro-Palestinian Protest Leader Released from US Custody

Mahmoud Khalil has become a symbol of President Donald Trump's campaign to stifle pro-Palestinian student activism against the Gaza war. kena betancur / AFP/File
Mahmoud Khalil has become a symbol of President Donald Trump's campaign to stifle pro-Palestinian student activism against the Gaza war. kena betancur / AFP/File
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Pro-Palestinian Protest Leader Released from US Custody

Mahmoud Khalil has become a symbol of President Donald Trump's campaign to stifle pro-Palestinian student activism against the Gaza war. kena betancur / AFP/File
Mahmoud Khalil has become a symbol of President Donald Trump's campaign to stifle pro-Palestinian student activism against the Gaza war. kena betancur / AFP/File

Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student who was one of the most visible leaders of nationwide pro-Palestinian campus protests, was released Friday from a federal detention center.

Khalil, a legal permanent resident in the United States who is married to a US citizen and has a US-born son, has been in custody since March facing potential deportation.

"This shouldn't have taken three months," Khalil, wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, told US media outside an immigration detention center in Jena, Louisiana hours after a federal judge ordered his release, said AFP.

"(President Donald) Trump and his administration, they chose the wrong person for this," he said. "There's no right person who should be detained for actually protesting a genocide."

The Department of Homeland Security criticized District Judge Michael Farbiarz's ruling Friday as an example of how "out of control members of the judicial branch are undermining our national security."

Under the terms of his release, Khalil will not be allowed to leave the United States except for "self-deportation," and faces restrictions on where he can travel within the country.

Khalil's wife, Michigan-born dentist Noor Abdalla, said her family could now "finally breathe a sigh of relief and know that Maumoud is on his way home."

"We know this ruling does not begin to address the injustices the Trump administration has brought upon our family and so many others the government is trying to silence for speaking out against Israel's ongoing genocide against Palestinians," added Abdalla, who gave birth to the couple's first child while her husband was in detention.

Visas revoked

Since his March 8 arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, Khalil has become a symbol of Trump's campaign to stifle pro-Palestinian student activism against the Gaza war, in the name of curbing anti-Semitism.

At the time a graduate student at Columbia University in New York, Khalil was a prominent leader of nationwide campus protests against Israel's war in Gaza.

Following his arrest, US authorities transferred Khalil, who was born in Syria to Palestinian parents, nearly 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) from his home in New York to the detention center in Louisiana, pending deportation.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has invoked a law approved during the 1950s Red Scare that allows the United States to remove foreigners seen as adverse to US foreign policy.

Rubio argues that US constitutional protections of free speech do not apply to foreigners and that he alone can make decisions without judicial review.

Hundreds of students have seen their visas revoked, with some saying they were targeted for everything from writing opinion articles to minor arrest records.

Farbiarz ruled last week that the government could not detain or deport Khalil based on Rubio's assertions that his presence on US soil poses a national security threat.

The government has also alleged as grounds to detain and deport Khalil that there were inaccuracies in his application for permanent residency.

Amol Sinha, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, which is among the groups representing Khalil, welcomed the release order.

"This is an important step in vindicating Mr Khalil's rights as he continues to be unlawfully targeted by the federal government for his advocacy in support of Palestinian rights," Sinha said.