Canadian White Nationalist who Killed Muslim Family Gets Life Sentence

FILE PHOTO: Flag-wrapped coffins are seen outside the Islamic Center of Southwest Ontario, during a funeral of the Afzaal family that was killed in what police describe as a hate-motivated attack, in London, Ontario, Canada June 12, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Flag-wrapped coffins are seen outside the Islamic Center of Southwest Ontario, during a funeral of the Afzaal family that was killed in what police describe as a hate-motivated attack, in London, Ontario, Canada June 12, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio/File Photo
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Canadian White Nationalist who Killed Muslim Family Gets Life Sentence

FILE PHOTO: Flag-wrapped coffins are seen outside the Islamic Center of Southwest Ontario, during a funeral of the Afzaal family that was killed in what police describe as a hate-motivated attack, in London, Ontario, Canada June 12, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Flag-wrapped coffins are seen outside the Islamic Center of Southwest Ontario, during a funeral of the Afzaal family that was killed in what police describe as a hate-motivated attack, in London, Ontario, Canada June 12, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio/File Photo

A Canadian white nationalist who deliberately ran over and killed four members of a Muslim family in 2021 was given a life sentence on Thursday with no chance of parole for 25 years, domestic media reported.
Nathaniel Veltman, 23, had been found guilty of first-degree murder last November for an attack that shocked Canada. He showed little reaction to the decision, the London Free Press newspaper reported.
The judge in the case said Veltman's attack represented an act of terrorism, the first time that the term has been used to describe white nationalist violence.
Veltman, driving a pick-up truck, ran over five members of the Afzaal family, originally from Pakistan, in the Ontario town of London when they were out for an evening walk in June 2021.
The victims were Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, their 15-year-old daughter Yumnah, and Afzaal's 74-year-old mother Talat.
The couple's nine-year-old son suffered serious injuries. Shortly after the assault, Veltman said: "I did it. I killed those people."
Veltman pleaded not guilty to the charges of murder, Reuters reported. His defense, citing what it called Veltman's mental challenges, said the actions amounted to a lesser charge of manslaughter.
"I find the offender's actions constitute terrorist activity," the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation cited Justice Renee Pomerance as saying as she pronounced her sentence.
It was the worst attack against Canadian Muslims since a man gunned down six members of a Quebec City mosque in 2017.
Prosecutors noted Veltman had written a manifesto entitled "A White Awakening" in which he outlined hatred of Islam and opposition to mass immigration and multiculturalism.



Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi announced he intends to visit Tehran through a letter he addressed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iranian Mehr Agency reported that Grossi sent a congratulatory message to the Iranian president-elect, which stated: “I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you on your election win as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“Cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been at the focal attention of the international circles for many years. I am confident that, together, we will be able to make decisive progress on this crucial matter.”

“To that effect, I wish to express my readiness to travel to Iran to meet with you at the earliest convenience,” Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Grossi as saying.

The meeting – should it take place - will be the first for Pezeshkian, who had pledged during his election campaign to be open to the West to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue.

Last week, American and Israeli officials told the Axios news site that Washington sent a secret warning to Tehran last month regarding its fears of Iranian research and development activities that might be used to produce nuclear weapons.

In May, Grossi expressed his dissatisfaction with the course of the talks he held over two days in Iran in an effort to resolve outstanding matters.

Since the death of the former Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisi, the IAEA chief refrained from raising the Iranian nuclear file, while European sources said that Tehran had asked to “freeze discussions” until the internal situation was arranged and a new president was elected.