Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Vows US, Israel’s Demise

Commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami speaks at Sunday's rally in Tehran. (AFP)
Commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami speaks at Sunday's rally in Tehran. (AFP)
TT

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Vows US, Israel’s Demise

Commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami speaks at Sunday's rally in Tehran. (AFP)
Commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami speaks at Sunday's rally in Tehran. (AFP)

Commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami declared on Sunday that the United States and its ally Israel were on their way to their demise if they did not change their behavior.

He vowed that the “resistance front” and Iran will do everything they can to confront Israel.

He was speaking at a rally of hundreds of Iranians in central Tehran marking the 45th anniversary of the raid on the US embassy in Iran and hostage taking of its diplomats and staff in 1979.

Salami slammed the US for supporting Israel, saying they cannot “survive without the killing of Muslims and carrying out massacres against them.”

He warned Washington and Tel Aviv that the “Islamic resistance will deal the evil front a harsh response,” reported ISNA state news agency.

Despite its talk of democracy, freedom and human rights, the US is the source of unrest, crime and occupations in the world, he went on to say.

The US is not content with its own geographic borders but believes that the entire world is within its influence, and it wants to control the political will of peoples through wars, occupation and assaults, he declared.

Moreover, he blamed the US for the emergence of extremist groups, such as ISIS. “For 45 years, the US has turned the Islamic world into a war zone. It has sought to subjugate the free people in the name of freedom,” he alleged.

“The US brought backwardness and instability to Iraq and quit Afghanistan after 20 years of occupation and a cost of 85 billion dollars,” he added.

Furthermore, Salami dismissed Washington’s ability to confront Iran, saying it has failed in its “soft war against it and its political influence is waning. It is no longer capable of imposing its will or achieving victories the way it used to.”

On Lebanon, he stressed that Hezbollah “was still strong in spite of all Zionist attempts to weaken it.”

“Hezbollah will not make do with not being defeated, but it will seek to bury the Zionist regime and its followers in southern Lebanon and occupied Palestine,” he stated.

“Israel will inevitably meet its end,” he vowed.

Demonstrators at the rally in front of the former US embassy in Tehran carried Iranian, Palestinian and Hezbollah flags. Many carried banners reading “death to America” and “death to Israel” in both Persian and English and some burned Israeli and American flags.



Türkiye Ousts 3 Elected Pro-Kurdish Mayors from Office and Replaces Them with State Officials

People walk in downtown Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, November 1, 2024. (Reuters)
People walk in downtown Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, November 1, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

Türkiye Ousts 3 Elected Pro-Kurdish Mayors from Office and Replaces Them with State Officials

People walk in downtown Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, November 1, 2024. (Reuters)
People walk in downtown Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, November 1, 2024. (Reuters)

Türkiye on Monday removed three elected pro-Kurdish mayors from office over terrorism-related charges and replaced them with state-appointed officials, the Interior Ministry said.

The move, which comes days after the arrest and ouster from office of a mayor from the country's main opposition party for his alleged links to a banned Kurdish armed group, is seen as a hardening of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government’s policies toward the opposition.

It also raises questions about the prospects of a tentative new peace effort to end a 40-year conflict between the group and the state that has led to tens of thousands of deaths.

The mayors of the mainly Kurdish-populated provincial capitals of Mardin and Batman, as well as the district mayor for Halfeti, in Sanliurfa province, were ousted from office over their past convictions or ongoing trials and investigations for links to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, according to an Interior Ministry statement.

The mayors are members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, which is the third-largest party represented in Parliament. They were elected to office in local elections in March.

Last month, the leader of the far-right nationalist party that’s allied with Erdogan had raised the possibility that the PKK's imprisoned leader could be granted parole if he renounces violence and disbands his organization. His comments had sparked discussion and speculation about a potential peace effort.

Ozgur Ozel, the leader of Türkiye’s main opposition party, CHP, branded the mayors' removal from office as a “a coup” and accused Erdogan of seizing “municipalities” he could not win in the elections.

Politicians and members of Türkiye’s pro-Kurdish movement have frequently been targeted over alleged links to the PKK, which is considered a terror organization by Türkiye, the US and the European Union.

Legislators have been stripped of their parliamentary seats and mayors removed from office. Several lawmakers as well as thousands of party members have been jailed on terror-related charges since 2016.

“We will not step back from our struggle for democracy, peace and freedom,” Ahmet Turk, the ousted mayor of Mardin, wrote on the social platform X. “We will not allow the usurpation of the people’s will.”