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Iran Quds Force Chief Qaani is Well, to Get Medal from Supreme Leader, Adviser Says

Head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, Esmail Qaani - Reuters
Head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, Esmail Qaani - Reuters
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Iran Quds Force Chief Qaani is Well, to Get Medal from Supreme Leader, Adviser Says

Head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, Esmail Qaani - Reuters
Head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, Esmail Qaani - Reuters

The commander of the overseas arm of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards is well and will receive a medal from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei soon, the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted a senior Guards adviser on Wednesday as saying.

Two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters earlier that Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani, who travelled to Lebanon after the Sept. 27 killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike, had not been heard from since further Israeli bombings of south Beirut late last week.

"Commander Qaani is in perfect health and will receive the Fath medal from the Supreme Leader in the coming days," Ebrahim Jabbari, an adviser to Qaani, told Tasnim.

Quds Force deputy commander Iraj Masjedi had on Monday denied reports that Qaani had been harmed in the course of Israel's intensifying airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut's southern suburbs.

Iran appointed Qaani as commander of the Guards overseas military and intelligence service after the United States assassinated his powerful predecessor Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad in 2020.

Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh received the Fath medal from Khamenei on Sunday for his central role in Iran's missile strikes on Israel carried out on Oct. 1.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ukraine Eyes Peace Summit by Year-end that Includes Russia, Envoy to Türkiye Says

In this handout photo taken from video and released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023, the Russian army's 120 mm mortars fire at Ukrainian troops at an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this handout photo taken from video and released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023, the Russian army's 120 mm mortars fire at Ukrainian troops at an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
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Ukraine Eyes Peace Summit by Year-end that Includes Russia, Envoy to Türkiye Says

In this handout photo taken from video and released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023, the Russian army's 120 mm mortars fire at Ukrainian troops at an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this handout photo taken from video and released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023, the Russian army's 120 mm mortars fire at Ukrainian troops at an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Ukraine aims to organize a new peace summit by the end of this year and wants Russia to attend this time, its ambassador to Türkiye said on Wednesday, but ruled out any direct bilateral talks with Moscow at the meeting.

With Russia's invasion of Ukraine in its third year, the two countries remain far apart on how to end the war. Türkiye, China, Brazil and others have offered to mediate in the conflict or discuss peace proposals, but no progress has been made.

Ukraine is pursuing President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's "victory plan", while Russian President Vladimir Putin has said peace talks can only begin if Kyiv agrees to abandon large swaths of territory claimed by Moscow and drops its bid to join NATO.

"One of the most important goals of this summit is to reach a fair peace in Ukraine. We are not talking about a format here in which Ukraine and Russia sit across (from) each other and Ukraine listens to Russia's demands," Ambassador Vasyl Bodnar told a briefing in Ankara, via a Turkish interpreter, Reuters reported.

"What we see now is this: the international community, along with Ukraine, will sit and create a list on what steps could be taken for a fair peace in Ukraine, and they will discuss what sort of demands to ask Russia based on that list," he said.

"This will not be a direct bilateral meeting, it will most likely be in a format where third parties are also involved and (talks) are done via third parties. We hope to hold this summit by the end of the year."

Bodnar said Türkiye, which has sought to maintain cordial ties with both Ukraine and Russia during the war, would be an important attendee due to its experience in mediation of other conflicts.

While supporting Ukraine's territorial integrity, condemning the invasion, and providing it with military support, NATO member Türkiye has also opposed Western sanctions on Russia, with which it has important relations in defence, energy and tourism.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is expected to attend the Ukraine-Southeast Europe summit in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik on Wednesday. A Turkish diplomatic source said he would reiterate there Ankara's position that any peace talks must include both parties for a "fair and lasting" resolution.