Comoros President Slightly Injured in Knife Attack, Spokesperson Says

Comoros President Azali Assoumani addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 20, 2023. (Reuters)
Comoros President Azali Assoumani addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 20, 2023. (Reuters)
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Comoros President Slightly Injured in Knife Attack, Spokesperson Says

Comoros President Azali Assoumani addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 20, 2023. (Reuters)
Comoros President Azali Assoumani addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 20, 2023. (Reuters)

Comoros President Azali Assoumani was slightly injured in a knife attack on Friday, the archipelago nation's government spokesperson said, adding that the attacker has been taken into custody.

The incident occurred around 2 p.m. (1100 GMT) in Salimani Itsandra, a town just north of the capital Moroni, a local source told Reuters.

"President Azali Assoumani was slightly injured with a knife during the funeral of a great sheikh of the country. His injuries are not serious and he has returned home," government spokesperson Fatima Ahamada told Reuters.

The motive for the attack was not immediately clear.

The source from the town of Salimani Itsandra added that the attacker is a former policeman in his 20s.



Iran Stops Indirect Talks with US in Oman

This handout picture provided by the Oman News Agency shows Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi (R) receiving Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Muscat on October 14, 2024. (Photo by Salem AL-Shukeili / Oman News Agency / AFP) /
This handout picture provided by the Oman News Agency shows Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi (R) receiving Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Muscat on October 14, 2024. (Photo by Salem AL-Shukeili / Oman News Agency / AFP) /
TT

Iran Stops Indirect Talks with US in Oman

This handout picture provided by the Oman News Agency shows Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi (R) receiving Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Muscat on October 14, 2024. (Photo by Salem AL-Shukeili / Oman News Agency / AFP) /
This handout picture provided by the Oman News Agency shows Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi (R) receiving Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Muscat on October 14, 2024. (Photo by Salem AL-Shukeili / Oman News Agency / AFP) /

Iran has stopped indirect talks with the United States in Oman as tensions remain high over a possible Israeli retaliatory strike on Tehran over an earlier missile attack, the Iranian foreign minister said Monday.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi made the comment to Iranian state media while still in Muscat, Oman.

“For the time being, the Muscat process is stopped because of special situation in the region,” Araqchi said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. “We do not see any ground for the talks until we can pass the current crisis.”

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Iran under new President Masoud Pezeshkian has been signaling it wants to negotiate with the US for sanctions relief. Since then-President Donald Trump pulled America out of the nuclear accord, Tehran has begun enriching uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels and increasing the size of its stockpile. However, US intelligence agencies and officials insist Iran has not begun an effort to build a nuclear weapon.

Meanwhile, Israel has threatened a major retaliatory strike over Iran’s ballistic missile attack earlier this month, the second-such direct assault on Israel by Iran since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.