Rouhani: US Policies Important, Not Who Becomes President

FILE PHOTO: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a cabinet meeting, in Tehran, Iran, April 1, 2020. Official Presidential Website/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a cabinet meeting, in Tehran, Iran, April 1, 2020. Official Presidential Website/Handout via REUTERS
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Rouhani: US Policies Important, Not Who Becomes President

FILE PHOTO: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a cabinet meeting, in Tehran, Iran, April 1, 2020. Official Presidential Website/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a cabinet meeting, in Tehran, Iran, April 1, 2020. Official Presidential Website/Handout via REUTERS

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday the result of the US election was not important for the country's clerical rulers, but that the next president in Washington should respect international treaties and laws.

"For Tehran, the next US administration's policies are important and not who wins the US election," Rouhani said in a televised cabinet meeting.

Democratic challenger Joe Biden has promised to rejoin Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six powers if Iran returns to compliance with it.

President Donald Trump abandoned the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy. In retaliation, Iran has gradually reduced compliance with the deal's terms.

"We want to be respected, not subject to sanctions (by the United States). No matter who wins the US election ... For us, policies and principles are important," Rouhani said.

Trump has said he wants to strike a new deal with Tehran that would address Iran's missile program and support for regional proxies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

Iran has ruled out any negotiations unless Washington first returns to the accord.



Somali Militants Target Presidential Convoy in Bomb Attack, President Safe

A police tow-truck leaves the scene of an explosion near the Presidential Palace, also known as Villa Somalia, in the Hamar Jajab district of Mogadishu, Somalia March 18, 2025. REUTERS/Feisal Omar
A police tow-truck leaves the scene of an explosion near the Presidential Palace, also known as Villa Somalia, in the Hamar Jajab district of Mogadishu, Somalia March 18, 2025. REUTERS/Feisal Omar
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Somali Militants Target Presidential Convoy in Bomb Attack, President Safe

A police tow-truck leaves the scene of an explosion near the Presidential Palace, also known as Villa Somalia, in the Hamar Jajab district of Mogadishu, Somalia March 18, 2025. REUTERS/Feisal Omar
A police tow-truck leaves the scene of an explosion near the Presidential Palace, also known as Villa Somalia, in the Hamar Jajab district of Mogadishu, Somalia March 18, 2025. REUTERS/Feisal Omar

Al Shabaab militants targeted Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in a bomb attack on his motorcade as it was traveling through the capital Mogadishu on Tuesday, the group said.

Two senior government and military officials told Reuters that Mohamud was safe following the attack, and presidential adviser Zakariye Hussein wrote in a post on X that he was “good and well on his way to the front lines.”

Soldiers and local residents who witnessed the attack confirmed that the president's convoy had been hit.

A Reuters journalist at the scene saw the bodies of four people killed in the assault near the presidential palace.

“Our fighters targeted a convoy of vehicles carrying Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as they were leaving the presidential palace and heading to the airport,” al Shabaab said in a statement posted on the al Qaeda-linked group's Telegram channel.

While al Shabaab regularly carries out attacks in Somalia as part of its decades-long campaign to topple the government, Tuesday's attack was the first to directly target Mohamud since 2014, during his first term in office, when they bombed a hotel where he was speaking.

Hours after the attack on Tuesday, state media showed images of the president in the Adan Yabal district of Somalia's Middle Shabelle region, where government forces are battling a three-week-old al Shabaab offensive.

Meanwhile, more than 120 militants were killed and their bases were destroyed after the Somali army, with the help of international partners, launched strategic airstrikes within the Jilib town in the Middle Jubba.

On Tuesday, the Somali news agency, SONNA, said during the operation in Jilib, the army managed to control al Shabaab strongholds, killing 20 terrorist field commanders and destroying several militia bases.

“The operation targeted critical sites, including the district headquarters, a guerrilla command center, training camps, and an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) manufacturing facility,” the Army said.