Iranian Chief of Staff Warns Opposition of Similar Fate to Saddam Hussein

Chief of Staff Mohammad Baqeri during an annual conference of Iranian diplomats in Tehran last month. (Tasnim News Agency)
Chief of Staff Mohammad Baqeri during an annual conference of Iranian diplomats in Tehran last month. (Tasnim News Agency)
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Iranian Chief of Staff Warns Opposition of Similar Fate to Saddam Hussein

Chief of Staff Mohammad Baqeri during an annual conference of Iranian diplomats in Tehran last month. (Tasnim News Agency)
Chief of Staff Mohammad Baqeri during an annual conference of Iranian diplomats in Tehran last month. (Tasnim News Agency)

Major General Mohammad Baqeri, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, said that the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) organization will have a fate that would be a lesson for the opposition.

He threatened the opposition and MEK with a fate similar to that of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

This came in parallel with Iran's Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri threatening to bring MEK for an international crimes trial, adding that up to 700 indictments are being prepared against the group.

ISNA News Agency quoted Montazeri as saying that an international criminal trial will be held for “these criminals soon”, during a recent speech for him at the headquarters of Iran's Islamic Republican Party which was bombed on June 28, 1981.

The Iranian authority accuses MEK of standing behind the explosion.

The Iranian government was targeted in the past weeks with activities that MEK claimed responsibility for including hacking Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s computer system.

Amid a struggle over power, there has been tension between MEK supporters and other Iranian opposition factions and parties.

This concurs with Iran's successful restoration of diplomat Asadollah Assadi, who was given a 20-year jail term by a court in Belgium after being convicted with a foiled bomb plot in France in 2018.

Brussels and Tehran struck a deal to swap prisoners. Three Europeans were released by Iran in return for Assadi as part of the swap in which Iran released Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele last week.

Upon the release of Assadi, Iranian officials stated that they are working on bringing back a former Iranian official who was convicted by a Swedish court for a lifetime imprisonment last year for his role in torturing and executing political prisoners from the left-wing parties including MEK in the 1980s.

Iran considers that the sentence against Hamid Noury stems from “political motives”.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and MEK group held the West responsible for the challenges they are facing. Last week, France banned a rally on July 1 called for by the NCRI.

On June 20, Albanian authorities raided a location where MEK members have been residing for a decade, as part of a deal signed following the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Amid Tirana’s denial, NCRI announced one member dead.

The Albanian authorities further revealed the confiscation of 200 computers.

Iran commemorated the chemical attack against Sardasht, in the west of the country, on June 28, 1987. Iran accuses the Iraqi air force of launching mustard gas, injuring more than 8,000.

Baqeri slammed the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein saying that he "went to hell" in the worst possible way. He assumed a similar fate for the MEK, which must be a lesson to the opposition that turned its back on the country and the nation.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in a statement that Iran wouldn’t forget or forgive the crime of Sardasht, accusing some Western countries such as Germany, the UK, France, Netherlands, and the US of providing practical support to equip the regime of Saddam Hussein with chemicals.

 



Trump Reposts Suggestion that Rubio become Next Cuba Leader

Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) react during campaign event at Dorton Arena, in Raleigh, North Carolina, US November 4, 2024. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) react during campaign event at Dorton Arena, in Raleigh, North Carolina, US November 4, 2024. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/
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Trump Reposts Suggestion that Rubio become Next Cuba Leader

Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) react during campaign event at Dorton Arena, in Raleigh, North Carolina, US November 4, 2024. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) react during campaign event at Dorton Arena, in Raleigh, North Carolina, US November 4, 2024. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/

President Donald Trump reposted a social media message on Sunday suggesting that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, born to Cuban immigrant parents, would become the next leader of Cuba.

Trump republished on his Truth Social platform a message from X user Cliff Smith on January 8 that read: "Marco Rubio will be president of Cuba," accompanied by a crying laughing emoji, AFP reported.

"Sounds good to me!" Trump commented in his repost.

The largely unknown user, whose bio refers to him as a "conservative Californian," has less than 500 followers on X.

Trump's repost comes a week after US forces seized Venezuela's authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro in an overnight operation in Caracas that killed dozens of Venezuelan and Cuban security forces.

Cuba's communist government has yet to directly respond to the US president's provocative suggestion that an American citizen could rule the island.

But shortly after Trump's post, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez insisted "right and justice are on Cuba's side."

The United States "behaves like an out-of-control criminal hegemon that threatens peace and security, not only in Cuba and this hemisphere, but throughout the entire world," Rodriguez posted on X.


UK's Former US Envoy Apologizes to Epstein's Victims, Not for His Own Ties

British Ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson walks on the day British Prime Minister Keir Starmer holds an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss Israel-Iran conflict, in London, Britain, June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy/File Photo
British Ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson walks on the day British Prime Minister Keir Starmer holds an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss Israel-Iran conflict, in London, Britain, June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy/File Photo
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UK's Former US Envoy Apologizes to Epstein's Victims, Not for His Own Ties

British Ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson walks on the day British Prime Minister Keir Starmer holds an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss Israel-Iran conflict, in London, Britain, June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy/File Photo
British Ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson walks on the day British Prime Minister Keir Starmer holds an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss Israel-Iran conflict, in London, Britain, June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy/File Photo

Britain's former US ambassador Peter Mandelson, who was dismissed over his links to Jeffrey Epstein last year, apologized on Sunday ​to the victims of the late convicted sex offender but not for his own actions.

Mandelson was fired in September over emails that came to light revealing a much closer relationship than previously acknowledged. The veteran British politician called Epstein "my best pal" and had advised him on seeking early jail release.

"I want to apologize to ‌those women ‌for a system that refused to ‌hear ⁠their ​voices and ‌did not give them the protection they were entitled to expect," Mandelson told the BBC broadcaster when asked if he wanted to say sorry for his links, Reuters reported.

Mandelson said he would only apologize for his own ties if he had known about Epstein's actions or been complicit.

"I was not ⁠culpable, I was not knowledgeable of what he was doing," he said.

"I ‌believed his story and that of ‍his lawyer, who spent ‍a lot of time trying to persuade me of ‍this ... that he had been falsely criminalized in his contact with these young women. Now I wish I had not believed that story."

Britain's government said at the time of Mandelson's dismissal that ​the depth of his ties to Epstein appeared "materially different" from what was known at the ⁠time of his appointment.

It has since named Christian Turner as its next ambassador to the US in a pivotal moment for transatlantic ties.

"Do you really think that if I knew what was going on and what he was doing with and to these vulnerable young women that I'd have just sat back, ignored it and moved on?", Mandelson added in the interview, describing Epstein as an "evil monster".

Mandelson also said he believed that, as a gay man in Epstein's ‌circle, he was "kept separate from what he was doing in the sexual side of his life".


German FM Puts Emphasis on Close Ties before US Trip

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul attends a press conference in Beijing, China December 8, 2025. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul attends a press conference in Beijing, China December 8, 2025. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
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German FM Puts Emphasis on Close Ties before US Trip

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul attends a press conference in Beijing, China December 8, 2025. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul attends a press conference in Beijing, China December 8, 2025. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul emphasized the importance of transatlantic relations on Sunday as he ​left for a trip to Washington that takes place at a delicate time due to tensions over US interests in Greenland and Venezuela.

"Never before has it been so crucial to ‌invest in ‌the transatlantic partnership in ‌order ⁠to ​remain ‌capable of shaping the world order," Wadephul said in Berlin before his departure.

He said he would address what he called "differences of opinions" between Germany and the United States during ⁠a meeting on Monday with US Secretary ‌of State Marco Rubio.

"Where ‍there are ‍differences of opinion, we want ‍to address these differences through dialogue in order to fulfil our shared responsibility for peace and security," Wadephul said.

On ​his way to Washington, Wadephul plans to stop over in Iceland ⁠on Sunday, where a meeting on Arctic security is scheduled with his Icelandic counterpart in Reykjavik.

Later on Monday, he also plans to meet UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"For Germany, reliability as an international partner clearly includes a commitment to international law and international cooperation," he said, ‌referring to the United Nations.