Khamenei: Biden's Visit Indicates Israel is Falling Apart

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaking to a group of officials (Khamenei website)
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaking to a group of officials (Khamenei website)
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Khamenei: Biden's Visit Indicates Israel is Falling Apart

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaking to a group of officials (Khamenei website)
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaking to a group of officials (Khamenei website)

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said the visit of US President Joe Biden and other Western leaders to occupied territories indicates they fear the Zionist regime was falling apart.

Khamenei said the US manages the war, describing Washington as "a definite accomplice of the Zionist criminals."

Agence France Presse quoted Khamenei as saying the hands of the US "were tainted with the blood of the oppressed, children, patients, women, and others."

"The United States is in some way directing the crime being committed in Gaza."

Khamenei was speaking before a group of officials and commanders of the armed forces in his third speech since the outbreak of the war between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip.

On October 10, Khamenei denied his country's involvement in the massive attack launched by Hamas against Israel but renewed his country's support for armed Palestinian groups.

Khamenei underlined that "the occupying regime is taking revenge on the people of Gaza because of the blows it received from the Palestinian fighters," adding: "Victory belongs to the Palestinian nation both in this matter and in the future."

Later, President Ebrahim Raisi repeated the same accusations, saying the US was complicit in the crimes of Israel.

Hours after Khamenei's speech, Revolutionary Guard Deputy Commandant for Operations Abbas Nilforoushan said CENTCOM is responsible for managing Israel's affairs.

Tasnim agency quoted Nilforoushan as describing the al-Aqsa Flood operation as a mini-resistance operation to remove the Zionist entity, adding that after the Zionists fled the occupied territories, CENTCOM took over.

Iran and Western powers have exchanged warnings of expanding the war. Tehran has said that continued bombing of the Gaza Strip would lead to an expansion of the war.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that Washington would act swiftly and decisively if Iran or its proxies attacked US personnel anywhere.

Iran's Defense Minister Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani responded quickly, saying his country would give a decisive, strong response to any miscalculation or mistake by enemies.

Earlier this week, Reuters quoted two unnamed Iranian officials as saying Iran's rulers can't afford a direct involvement in the conflict while struggling to quell mounting dissent at home, driven by economic woes and social restrictions.

"For Iran's top leaders, especially the supreme leader, the utmost priority is the survival of the Islamic Republic," a senior Iranian diplomat said.

"That is why Iranian authorities have used strong rhetoric against Israel since the attack started, but they have refrained from direct military involvement, at least for now."



UN Chief and Pope Call for Nations to End the Use of Antipersonnel Land Mines

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)
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UN Chief and Pope Call for Nations to End the Use of Antipersonnel Land Mines

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)

The UN head, Pope Francis and others called Monday for nations to end the production and use of land mines, even as their deployment globally grows.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a message to delegates at the fifth review of the International Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Convention, that 25 years after it went into force some parties had renewed the use of antipersonnel mines and some are falling behind in their commitments to destroy the weapons.

“I call on states parties to meet their obligations and ensure compliance to the convention, while addressing humanitarian and developmental impacts through financial and technical support,” Guterres said at the opening of the conference in Cambodia.

“I also encourage all states that have not yet acceded to the convention to join the 164 that have done so. A world without anti-personnel mines is not just possible. It is within reach.”

In a statement read on behalf of Pope Francis, his deputy Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that antipersonnel land mines and victim-activated explosive devices continue to be used. Even after many years of hostilities, “these treacherous devices continue to cause terrible suffering to civilians, especially children.”

“Pope Francis urges all states that have not yet done so to accede to the convention, and in the meantime to cease immediately the production and use of land mines,” he said.

The treaty was signed in 1997 and went into force in 1999, but nearly three dozen countries have not acceded to it, including some key current and past producers and users of land mines such as the United States, China, India, Pakistan, South Korea and Russia.

In a report released last week by Landmine Monitor, the international watchdog said land mines were still actively being used in 2023 and 2024 by Russia, Myanmar, Iran and North Korea. It added that non-state armed groups in at least five places — Colombia, India, Myanmar, Pakistan and the Gaza Strip — had used mines as well, and there were claims of their use in more than a half dozen countries in or bordering the Sahel region of Africa.

At least 5,757 people were killed and wounded by land mines and unexploded ordnance last year, primarily civilians of whom a third were children, Landmine Monitor reported.

Landmine Monitor said Russia had been using antipersonnel mines “extensively” in Ukraine, and just a week ago, the US, which has been providing Ukraine with anti-tank mines throughout the war, announced it would start providing Kyiv with antipersonnel mines as well to try and stall Russian progress on the battlefield.

“Antipersonnel mines represent a clear and present danger for civilians,” Guterres said in his statement. “Even after fighting stops, these horrifying and indiscriminate weapons can remain, trapping generations of people in fear.”

He praised Cambodia for its massive demining efforts and for sharing its experience with others and contributing to UN peacekeeping missions.

Cambodia was one of the world's most mine-affected countries after three decades of war and disorder that ended in 1998, with some 4 million to 6 million mines or unexploded munitions littering the country.

Its efforts to rid the country of mines has been enormous, and Landmine Monitor said Cambodia and Croatia accounted for 75% of all land cleared of mines in 2023, with more than 200 square kilometers (80 square miles).

Prime Minister Hun Manet joined the calls for more nations to join the Mine Ban Treaty, and thanked the international community for supporting Cambodia's mine clearance efforts. He said they have reduced land mine casualties from more than 4,300 in 1996 to fewer than 100 annually over the last decade.

“Cambodia has turned its tragic history into a powerful lesson for the world, advocating against the use of anti-personnel mines and highlighting their long-term consequences,” he said.