Iranian Commander Says Death of All US Leaders Would Not Avenge Soleimani Killing

The scene of the drone strike that killed Soleimani. (AP)
The scene of the drone strike that killed Soleimani. (AP)
TT

Iranian Commander Says Death of All US Leaders Would Not Avenge Soleimani Killing

The scene of the drone strike that killed Soleimani. (AP)
The scene of the drone strike that killed Soleimani. (AP)

The killing of all American leaders would not be enough to avenge the death of Iranian military commander General Qassem Soleimani, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards general said.

Soleimani was killed in January 2020 by the US military while on a visit to Iraq. Iran vowed a "crushing revenge" on all those responsible for his assassination.

"If all American leaders are killed, this will still not avenge the blood of Soleimani. We have to follow Soleimani's path and avenge him through other methods," Mohammad Pakpour, ground forces commander of the Revolutionary Guards, said.

Soleimani was Iran's most powerful military commander, leading Tehran's operations across the Middle East. He was killed at Baghdad airport in a strike ordered by then US President Donald Trump.

Pakpour's comments come as Iran and world powers try to tackle stumbling blocks in talks in Vienna on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, which have stalled.

One of the unresolved issues is whether Washington would remove the Revolutionary Guards from the US Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list, as demanded by Tehran in order for the deal to be revived.



Traffic on French High-Speed Trains Gradually Improving after Sabotage

Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)
Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)
TT

Traffic on French High-Speed Trains Gradually Improving after Sabotage

Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)
Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)

Traffic on France's TGV high-speed trains was gradually returning to normal on Saturday after engineers worked overnight repairing sabotaged signal stations and cables that caused travel chaos on Friday, the opening day of the Paris Olympic Games.

In Friday's pre-dawn attacks on the high-speed rail network vandals damaged infrastructure along the lines connecting Paris with cities such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west and Strasbourg in the east. Another attack on the Paris-Marseille line was foiled, French rail operator SNCF said.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility.

"On the Eastern high-speed line, traffic resumed normally this morning at 6:30 a.m. while on the North, Brittany and South-West high-speed lines, 7 out of 10 trains on average will run with delays of 1 to 2 hours," SNCF said in a statement on Saturday morning.

"At this stage, traffic will remain disrupted on Sunday on the North axis and should improve on the Atlantic axis for weekend returns," it added.

SNCF reiterated that transport plans for teams competing in the Olympics would be guaranteed.