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Republican Lawmaker Denounces Twitter’s Inaction against Iran’s Threats to US Officials

US House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul. (AP file)
US House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul. (AP file)
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Republican Lawmaker Denounces Twitter’s Inaction against Iran’s Threats to US Officials

US House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul. (AP file)
US House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul. (AP file)

US House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul called on Twitter’s administration to reconsider the Iranian regime’s use of the platform to send threatening messages to US public officials.

He sent a letter to Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, expressing his concern over the matter, citing a threat to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

McCaul also highlighted how these posts violate Twitter’s abusive behavior policy and asked for Twitter’s official position on threats to US officials.

“On June 17, 2022, a Twitter account identified as belonging to Zainab Soleimani tweeted that former Secretary Pompeo should ‘Live in Fear.’ The text was accompanied by a picture of former Secretary Pompeo in a cage, with the previous quote written in what resembles blood,” the letter read.

The account and tweet remain public, he said, adding that another tweet posted on June 19 from an account affiliated with the Iranian regime stated that Pompeo should “live in fear.”

The tweet also included a picture of Pompeo with a firearm scope trained on his head, McCaul wrote, noting that the tweet was deleted, but the account is currently public.

He underlined Twitter’s abusive behavior policy, which states that direct threats against an identifiable target, such as Pompeo, are completely out of bounds.

“Users who violate such rules should be permanently banned under your company’s zero-tolerance policy.”

McCaul called on Agrawal to confirm that the mentioned content will be deleted, and that the relevant users will be permanently suspended from the platform.

He asked Agrawal to convey in writing to members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee his official rationale for inaction if he chooses not to take these steps.

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Russia Condemns ‘Irresponsible’ Talk of Nuclear Weapons for Ukraine

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a press conference of Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia October 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a press conference of Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia October 24, 2024. (Reuters)
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Russia Condemns ‘Irresponsible’ Talk of Nuclear Weapons for Ukraine

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a press conference of Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia October 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a press conference of Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia October 24, 2024. (Reuters)

Discussion in the West about arming Ukraine with nuclear weapons is "absolutely irresponsible", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, in response to a report in the New York Times citing unidentified officials who suggested such a possibility.

The New York Times reported last week that some unidentified Western officials had suggested US President Joe Biden could give Ukraine nuclear weapons before he leaves office.

"Several officials even suggested that Mr. Biden could return nuclear weapons to Ukraine that were taken from it after the fall of the Soviet Union. That would be an instant and enormous deterrent. But such a step would be complicated and have serious implications," the newspaper wrote.

Asked about the report, Peskov told reporters: "These are absolutely irresponsible arguments of people who have a poor understanding of reality and who do not feel a shred of responsibility when making such statements. We also note that all of these statements are anonymous."

Earlier, senior Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev said that if the West supplied nuclear weapons to Ukraine then Moscow could consider such a transfer to be tantamount to an attack on Russia, providing grounds for a nuclear response.

Ukraine inherited nuclear weapons from the Soviet Union after its 1991 collapse, but gave them up under a 1994 agreement, the Budapest Memorandum, in return for security assurances from Russia, the United States and Britain.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said last month that as Ukraine had handed over the nuclear weapons, joining NATO was the only way it could deter Russia.

The 33-month Russia-Ukraine war saw escalations on both sides last week, after Ukraine fired US and British missiles into Russia for the first time, with permission from the West, and Moscow responded by launching a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile into Ukraine.

Asked about the risk of a nuclear escalation, Peskov said the West should "listen carefully" to Putin and read Russia's newly updated nuclear doctrine, which lowered the threshold for using nuclear weapons.

Separately, Russian foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin said Moscow opposes simply freezing the conflict in Ukraine because it needs a "solid and long-term peace" that resolves the core reasons for the crisis.