TEHRAN, Dec. 22 (MNA) – The Zionist regime has not been able to achieve its evil goals despite enjoying the unlimited support of the US, the Iranian top diplomat said.
Plane crashes near Canela Airport, in Serra Gaúcha
Initial information indicates that the aircraft was a Piper PA-42 Cheyenne, with registration PR-NDN, but it has not yet been possible to confirm this information. At the time of the crash, the city of Canela was experiencing heavy rain, fog and reduced visibility, aeroin website reported.
Sources at the Military Police confirmed to AEROIN that the aircraft crashed and that it hit a store and a hotel. So far, one fatal victim has been located, but there are no details as to whether it was one of the plane’s occupants or someone on the ground.
The place where the waterfall falls is Avenida das Hortênsias, which connects Canela to Gramado, the two most famous cities in the Serra Gaúcha, and which are very popular with tourists this year for the traditional Christmas celebrations.
Preliminary data from the AirNay Radar platform indicate that the aircraft with registration PR-NDN took off from Canela at 9:12 am, made a right turn in an initial climb, but soon after entered a descending trajectory, reaching a descent rate of 3,000 feet (914 m) per minute, until the signal was lost by the local tracker, the report added.
MA/PR
Two US Navy pilots shot down over Red Sea in apparent ‘friendly fire’ incident, US military says
The incident came as the US military conducted airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Both the pilots are safe.
Published Date – 22 December 2024, 08:48 AM
US AIrForce fighter craft: representational image
Dubai: Two US Navy pilots were shot down over the Red Sea in an apparent “friendly fire” incident, the US military said Sunday. Both pilots were recovered alive, with one suffering minor injuries in the incident.
The incident came as the US military conducted airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels, though the US military’s Central Command did not elaborate on what their mission was at the time.
“The guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18, which was flying off the USS Harry S. Truman,” Central Command said in a statement.
Iranian embassy staffer assassinated by terrorists in Damascus
The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry has condemned the shooting death of its local embassy staffer in the Syrian capital of Damascus, when terrorists opened fire on the vehicle he was in.
On Saturday, Esmaeil Baghaei extended his condolences to the Iranian nation and the bereaved family of Seyed Davoud Bitaraf over his assassination by “terrorist elements” on December 15.
The diplomat vehemently denounced the act of terror, stating that the body of Bitaraf had been found, identified and transferred to Iran in recent days.
Baghaei also reminded Syria’s new transitional government of its responsibility to identify and punish the perpetrators of the crime.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is seriously pursuing the matter through various diplomatic and international channels in an appropriate manner,” he said.
Speaking at a weekly press briefing in the capital Tehran on Monday, Baghaei said the reopening of the Iranian embassy in Syria is “high on the agenda,” adding that the diplomatic mission will resume its activities once the “necessary conditions” are met.
“The reopening of the embassy in Damascus requires preparations, the most important of which is ensuring the security and safety of the embassy and its staff,” the Iranian diplomat said.
He did not provide a specific timeline, but added that Iran will work toward the objective “as soon as the necessary conditions are provided.”
Militants, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), stormed and ransacked the Iranian embassy in Damascus following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s government on December 8.
Iran strongly condemns new US aggression against Yemen
In a statement on Sunday, Baghaei strongly condemned US airstrikes on targets in Sanaa.
“The US’s aggressive and repeated attacks on Yemen are not only a flagrant violation of the principles and norms of international law and the United Nations Charter, but also violate the norms and principles of international humanitarian law and amount to a war crime,” said the spokesman.
Praising the honorable support and solidarity of the Yemeni people with the oppressed Palestinian nation, which is because of the Yemenis’ firm faith and belief in supporting the oppressed against occupation and genocide, Baghaei called for serious action by the Islamic world and regional countries, as well as the United Nations, against the aggressive actions of the United States, Britain, and the Zionist regime against Yemen.
The US military said on Sunday that it had conducted airstrikes on Saturday on targets in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a.
MNA
Iran MPs approve FTA bill with Eurasia in principle
On Sunday, the parliament reviewed its Economic Commission’s report on the bill for the free trade agreement, and the lawmakers ratified the bill in principle.
According to the bill, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Iran and the EAEU and its member states includes a preamble, 147 articles, and 6 annexes, as well as authorization for the exchange of documents.
Iran and EAEU reached a preferential trade agreement in 2018, which came into effect on October 27, 2019. The union previously signed an interim agreement on free trade with Iran on March 14, 2022.
The volume of trade between Iran and the EAEU increased by 11% in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period last year.
The EAEU is an intergovernmental economic association comprising Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia.
MA/ISN1403100200862
Nine killed, many injured as Israel bombards refugee camp in Gaza
In another incident, Palestinian killed by an Israeli drone in the Khirbet al-Adas area, north of the city
Published Date – 22 December 2024, 09:04 AM
Israeli soldiers stand guard on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing as reporters tour the area where aid is awaiting pickup in the Gaza Strip. — Photo:AP
Gaza: At least nine people were killed in Israeli shelling on the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian sources. Israeli warplanes targeted in the morning a gathering of Palestinians west of the al-Shati refugee camp on Saturday, said Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for Civil Defence in Gaza.
Basal told Xinhua that seven people were killed and some others injured in the strike, all of whom were taken to the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City. Medical workers also recovered a body and a number of wounded persons after an Israeli airstrike on a house in the vicinity of al-Ta’min school in central Gaza, according to Basal. Meanwhile, in southern Gaza’s Rafah, medics said that a Palestinian was killed by an Israeli drone in the Khirbet al-Adas area, north of the city, Xinhua news agency reported.
Sources and eyewitnesses reported the Israeli army has been blowing up residential buildings in the al-Janina neighbourhood, east of Rafah, since morning hours. The Israeli army has not commented on these incidents. Also on Saturday, Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, warned of the seriousness of the situation inside the hospital.
“Shells landed Friday on the third floor and at the doors. Fortunately, there were no casualties reported. However, it caused terror and fear among the wounded and children,” Abu Safiya said. “Until now, we have not received all the necessary electricity, water, and oxygen supplies,” he complained. Abu Safiya noted that the Israeli army “has not agreed to allow the entry of all the required medical supplies, and medical staff are prevented from entering.”
The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 45,227, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Saturday.
Iran condemns ‘violent’ attack on Christmas market in Germany
The spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned a “violent” car attack at a crowded Christmas market in Germany that left several dead and dozens injured.
Esmaeil Baghaei on Saturday expressed sympathy with the families of the victims and hoped for a swift recovery for all the injured.
At least five people were killed and over 200 injured after a black BMW barreled through the crowd at high speed in the German city of Magdeburg, located about 130 kilometers southwest of Berlin, on Friday when the market was filled with customers.
Police arrested a Saudi psychiatry doctor, 50, at the scene. He lived in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday condemned the “terrible, insane” car-ramming attack on the crowded Christmas market.
In a statement on Friday on social media platform X, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed “solidarity with the German people and the families of the victims.”
It “affirmed its rejection of violence.”
Ayatollah Sistani opposes dissolution of PMF
The Iraqi government has received numerous requests from various international and regional entities to disband the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and surrender their weapons, according to sources who spoke anonymously in an interview with Al-Akhbar on Sunday.
A source informed the Lebanese newspaper about the two visits made by Mohamed Al Hassan, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq, to Najaf for meetings with Ayatollah Sistani.
The purpose of the second visit was to ask Ayatollah Sistani to issue a religious order (fatwa) regarding the separation and dissolution of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) or its integration with other security ministries, the source said, adding that this request was significant because Ayatollah Sistani’s previous fatwa was instrumental in forming the PMF. However, the prominent Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani, declined to meet with the UN Secretary-General’s representative.
The source, who is close to the Iraqi government, said that the demand for the dissolution of the Popular Mobilization Forces is driven by Western interests, noting that these kinds of issues are not new, particularly being raised by the United States, which has consistently expressed its dissatisfaction with Iraqi resistance groups.
The other Iraqi source reported that Ayatollah al-Sistani met with Mohammed al-Hasan for the first time to discuss the regional situation and Iraq’s interests.
In the second meeting held a few days ago, Ayatollah al-Sistani declined to meet with the UN Secretary-General’s representative. Instead, he sent his son Mohammed Ridha al-Sistani, to welcome him.
According to the source, this indicates that during the first meeting, the UN envoy urged Ayatollah al-Sistani to consider dissolving the Popular Mobilization Forces, noting that Ayatollah al-Sistani chose not to meet with al-Hasan during the second visit suggesting his opposition to this proposal.
MNA/IRN
Iran dismisses US accusations against Mohammad Reza Nouri
The US Department of Justice has recently claimed that Mohammad Reza Nouri, an allegd member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), played a role in murder of a US citizen in Iraq but Iran has rejected the accusations.
In that regard, the director general of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for American Affairs rejected the accusation, saying that these claims have been made based on a political mentality against Iran, which is brought up without any logical reason or evidence. He further said such allegations are considered as violation of fundamental human rights.
By understanding the macro and permanent interests of their nations, regional countries will prevent a new round of divisiveness and disruption in their relations, the director general added.
The United States claims that Mohammad Reza Nouri was an Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) member in Iraq who killed a US citizen in that country in 2022.
The Department of Justice released the charges, accusing Mohammad Reza Nouri of orchestrating the killing of Stephen Troell in Baghdad in retaliation for the US assassination of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
Nouri remains in Iraq, where he was arrested and subsequently convicted for his role in the killing, the US Justice Department said.
MNA
