Iran’s Velayati Incites Syrian Tribes against US Forces

Top foreign policy adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Ali Akbar Velayati. (AP file photo)
Top foreign policy adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Ali Akbar Velayati. (AP file photo)
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Iran’s Velayati Incites Syrian Tribes against US Forces

Top foreign policy adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Ali Akbar Velayati. (AP file photo)
Top foreign policy adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Ali Akbar Velayati. (AP file photo)

Top foreign policy adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Ali Akbar Velayati, received in Tehran on Saturday the leaders of several Syrian tribes from east of the Euphrates River where US troops are deployed.

Addressing his guests, he said that Iran opposes the establishment of a buffer zone in Syria and rejects any foreign meddling there or in any other country in the region.

He condemned US President Donald Trump’s remarks that American forces were in Syria to protect its oil fields, saying instead that Washington was seeking to rob this oil wealth in violation of international law, reported Russia Today.

On the drafting of a new Syrian constitution, he stressed that any change must be introduced by the Syrians themselves, not foreign countries.

Iran will confront “enemy” plots to divide the region, vowed Velayati.

Tehran has sought in recent months to recruit Syrians to its groups in the Deir Ezzour region, close to where American forces are deployed.

Meanwhile, Israel had reportedly carried out a strike against an Iranian military base in Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said earlier this week that highly explosive rockets had struck Brigade 47 that is affiliated with pro-Iran militias in Alboukamal in eastern Deir Ezzour. The source of fire remains unknown.

The group speculated that the rockets may have been dropped by drones.



Pope Had a Peaceful Night After Pneumonia Diagnosis, Vatican Says

People walk outside the Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis is admitted to continue treatment for a respiratory tract infection, in Rome, Italy, February 18, 2025. (Reuters)
People walk outside the Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis is admitted to continue treatment for a respiratory tract infection, in Rome, Italy, February 18, 2025. (Reuters)
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Pope Had a Peaceful Night After Pneumonia Diagnosis, Vatican Says

People walk outside the Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis is admitted to continue treatment for a respiratory tract infection, in Rome, Italy, February 18, 2025. (Reuters)
People walk outside the Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis is admitted to continue treatment for a respiratory tract infection, in Rome, Italy, February 18, 2025. (Reuters)

Pope Francis spent a peaceful fifth night in hospital and ate breakfast on Wednesday, the Vatican said in its latest update on the pontiff's fragile health.

Francis has the onset of double pneumonia, the Vatican said on Tuesday, complicating treatment for the 88-year-old pope who was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on February 14.

Double pneumonia is a serious infection that can inflame and scar both lungs and makes breathing more difficult.

The Vatican had said previously that the pope had a polymicrobial infection, which occurs when two or more micro-organisms are involved, adding that he would stay in hospital as long as necessary to tackle a "complex clinical situation".

The pope has been plagued by ill health in recent years, including regular bouts of flu, sciatica nerve pain and an abdominal hernia that required surgery in 2023. As a young adult he developed pleurisy and had part of one lung removed.

All the pope's public engagements have been cancelled through Sunday and he has no further official events on the Vatican's published calendar.