Revolutionary Guards Expect ‘Limited’ Israeli Attack

Revolutionary Guards Expect ‘Limited’ Israeli Attack
TT

Revolutionary Guards Expect ‘Limited’ Israeli Attack

Revolutionary Guards Expect ‘Limited’ Israeli Attack

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called on parliament on Tuesday to increase the defense budget due to “regional developments.”

Former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Ali Jafari predicted that Israel might launch a “small and limited” attack but warned that any Israeli mistake would trigger a “crushing” response from Iran.

Jafari told a Revolutionary Guards’ news agency that Iran’s reaction would depend on the scale of Israel’s actions.

“If Israel takes significant steps, it will face double the retaliation,” he said.

Israel is expected to respond strongly to an Iranian missile strike on Oct. 1.

Jafari, now in charge of social and cultural affairs, dismissed Israel as too small to pose a real threat to Iran.

He said any Israeli attack would be “limited and desperate,” and added that Israel would not be able to match Iran’s recent missile strike, which came in response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Jafari said that Iran’s stance “was announced earlier and is part of plans to deal with attacks and conflicts.”

He assured Iranians, saying: “The enemy won’t make any major move, and if they do, it will be a desperate effort.”

Jafari made the remarks during a memorial for senior commander Abbas Nilforoushan, who was killed in an airstrike on Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s headquarters on Sep. 27.

Tasnim news agency reported that the event was attended by Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani, his deputy Abdolreza Meskarian, and other top officials from the Revolutionary Guards and the Joint Operations Command.

Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the Revolutionary Guards’ general coordinator, said: “We are eager to open the way for jihad so that young people can join the frontlines against Israel.”

He added that while Iranian youth are ready to fight, the resistance front has not yet called for their deployment.



South Korea's Opposition Party Vows to Impeach Acting President

FILED - 04 November 2022, South Korea, Seoul: South Korean Prime Minister Duck-Soo Han meets with representatives of the South Korean and German business communities at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
FILED - 04 November 2022, South Korea, Seoul: South Korean Prime Minister Duck-Soo Han meets with representatives of the South Korean and German business communities at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
TT

South Korea's Opposition Party Vows to Impeach Acting President

FILED - 04 November 2022, South Korea, Seoul: South Korean Prime Minister Duck-Soo Han meets with representatives of the South Korean and German business communities at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
FILED - 04 November 2022, South Korea, Seoul: South Korean Prime Minister Duck-Soo Han meets with representatives of the South Korean and German business communities at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa

South Korea’s main liberal opposition party said Tuesday it will seek to impeach acting leader Han Duck-soo, as Seoul grapples with the turmoil set off when impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol made a short-lived declaration of martial law.
The country’s political parties are now tussling over how to run investigations into that decision, as well as separate allegations against Yoon's wife, The Associated Press reported.
The opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, wants independent investigators, and gave Han until Tuesday to approve bills appointing them.
Impeaching Han would further deepen political chaos and worries by neighboring countries. Han, the country’s No. 2 official, has taken over the president's powers since Yoon’s impeachment. If he’s impeached too, the finance minister is next in line.
The Democratic Party has slammed Han for vetoing several opposition-sponsored bills, including a controversial agriculture bill. It also urged Han to quickly appoint justices to vacant seats on the Constitutional Court, which is reviewing Yoon’s impeachment and will determine whether to dismiss or reinstate him.
Filling the Constitutional Court’s three empty posts could make conviction more likely, as it requires the support of six of the court’s possible full nine members.
The Democratic Party demanded that Han approve bills calling for special prosecutors to investigate Yoon for rebellion over his marital law decree, and his wife for corruption and other allegations, by Tuesday.
Han didn’t put the bills on the agendas for Tuesday’s Cabinet Council meeting, calling for the ruling and opposition parties to negotiate more.
Democratic Party floor leader Park Chan-dae responded that there's no room for negotiations about a Yoon investigation, and that his party would begin steps toward an impeachment at once.
“We’ve clearly warned that it’s totally up to Prime Minister Han Duck-soo whether he would go down in history as a disgraceful figure as a puppet of rebellion plot leader Yoon Suk Yeol or a public servant that has faithfully carried out the orders by the public,” Park told a televised party meeting.
South Korean prosecutors and other officials are separately probing whether Yoon committed rebellion and abuse of power, but he’s ignored requests by investigative agencies to appear for questioning and allow searches of his office.
Yoon’s defense minister, police chief and several other senior military commanders have already been arrested over the deployment of troops and police officers to the National Assembly, which prompted a dramatic standoff that ended when lawmakers managed to enter the chamber and voted unanimously to overrule Yoon's decree.
The governing People Power Party said that the opposition's impeachment threats are interfering with Han’s “legitimate exercise of authority." Floor leader Kweon Seong-dong, a Yoon loyalist, said the Democratic Party’s “politics of intimidation have reached their peak.”
An impeachment vote would face legal ambiguities. Most South Korean officials can be impeached with a simple majority of parliament, but impeaching the presidents takes two-thirds. The rival parties differ on which standard would apply to an acting president.
The Democratic Party controls 170 of the National Assembly's 300 seats, so it would need support from members of other parties including Yoon's own to get a two-thirds majority.
The Constitutional Court has up to six months to determine Yoon's fate. If he's thrown of office, a national election to find his successor must take place within two months.