Iran has sent a new request to Interpol to issue an international warrant for United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump over ordering a drone strike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani on January 3. The request also contains warrants for 47 more U.S. officials purportedly involved in the general’s assassination last year.

“Iran is very seriously following up on pursuing and punishing those who ordered and executed this crime”, Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said.

This is the second time Tehran has requested the arrest of Trump and other American officials over their involvement in “murder and terrorism”. It made its first attempt on June 29, issuing Interpol a “red notice” for Trump.

However, the global policing body rejected the warrant request on the grounds that it does not deal with matters related to politics, military, religion or racial issues.

It is unclear if Interpol will change its stance in the light of the fact that Trump is leaving office in a little over two weeks.

Read Also: Trump talks up killing, insults Soleimani at campaign rally

 

Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani was killed on January 3, 2020 in a U.S. drone strike as he was leaving Baghdad International Airport in a car. The general arrived in the country on a secret diplomatic mission – to relay a message to Saudi Arabia offering to restore botched diplomatic ties.

The assassination was harshly condemned by Tehran and had placed both countries on the verge of military confrontation, as the Islamic Republic vowed to avenge Soleimani’s death.

Several weeks after the murder, Iran launched a barrage of rockets at two military camps in Iraq hosting American troops. While the attack did not result in any fatalities, it left several US servicemen mildly injured.

In the face of the upcoming first anniversary of Soleimani’s killing, Tehran has renewed its vow of a proper response over the assassination, suggesting it might even take place on US territory. However, no violence emerged on 3 January 2021, although Iran has not abandoned its promises.

 

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have announced the Al-Ula agreement to restore ties with Qatar.

Saudi Arabia will reopen its land borders with Qatar, three years after it and its allies cut land, sea and air access to the country over alleged links to Iran-backed terrorist outfits.

The Al-Ula Declaration that will be signed at this summit “affirms the importance of the solidarity and stability in the Gulf, Arab and Islamic countries and strengthens the bonds of friendship and brotherhood among our countries and peoples in order to serve their aspirations,” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said.

“Today, we are in utmost need to unite our efforts to advance our region and confront the challenges that surround us, particularly the threats posed by the Iranian regime’s nuclear program, its ballistic missile program, its destructive sabotage projects as well as its terrorist and sectarian activities adopted by Iran and its proxies to destabilize the security and stability in the region,” he added.

“These actions put us in a position to call the international community to work seriously in order to stop these programs and projects that threaten regional and international peace and security. “

Ivanka Trump tweeted the news, claiming credit to the Trump administration.

“Breaking: Saudi Arabia, Qatar & other Gulf states to sign U.S. / Kuwait brokered deal to end the Gulf rift. MAJOR achievement in the Middle East by @realDonaldTrump team under leadership of Jared Kushner and @AviBerkow! This follows a slew of historic Middle East peace deals” she tweeted,

Earlier yesterday, Qatar’s ruling emir arrived in Saudi Arabia and was greeted with an embrace by the kingdom’s crown prince on Tuesday, following an announcement that the kingdom would end its year’s long embargo on the tiny Gulf Arab state.

The decision to open borders was the first major step toward ending the diplomatic crisis that has deeply divided U.S. defence partners, frayed societal ties and torn apart a traditionally clubby alliance of Arab states.

The arrival of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to the kingdom’s ancient desert city of Al-Ula was broadcast live on Saudi TV. He was seen descending from his plane and being greeted with a hug by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The diplomatic breakthrough comes after a final push by the outgoing Trump administration and fellow Gulf state Kuwait to mediate an end to the crisis. It wasn’t until late Monday on the eve of the summit and just ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s swearing in that the major step to ending the spat was announced.

 

The timing was auspicious: Saudi Arabia may be seeking to both grant the Trump administration a final diplomatic win and remove stumbling blocs to building warm ties with the Biden administration, which is expected to take a firmer stance toward the kingdom.

Qatar’s only land border has been mostly closed since June mid-2017, when Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain launched a boycott of the small but influential Persian Gulf country. The Saudi border, which Qatar relied on for the import of dairy products, construction materials and other goods, opened briefly during the past three years to allow Qataris into Saudi Arabia to perform the Islamic hajj pilgrimage.

It was unclear what concessions Qatar had made regarding a shift in its policies.

At heart have been concerns that Qatar’s close relations with Turkey and Iran have undermined regional security. Egypt and the UAE view Qatar and Turkey’s support of the Muslim Brotherhood as a security threat and have deemed the group a terrorist organization. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are primarily concerned with Qatar’s close ties with regional foe Iran.

Those simmering tensions came to a boil in the summer of 2017, when the four countries announced their boycott of Qatar and cut all transport and diplomatic links with it. The move separated families who’d intermarried with Qataris and ended years of visa-free travel for Qataris in parts of the Gulf. It also pushed Qatar diplomatically closer to Turkey and Iran, which both rushed to Doha’s aid with food and medical supplies in the first days of the embargo. Patriotic fervor swept through Qatar in support of Sheikh Tamim’s resolve.

Gas-rich Qatar also took an economic hit from the boycott, and its national airline was forced to take longer and more costly routes. It was unclear how the embargo would impact its ability to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The boycotting countries made a list of demands on Qatar that included shuttering its flagship Al-Jazeera news network and terminating Turkish military presence in Qatar, which is also home to a major U.S. military base. Qatar has outright rejected the demands and has denied supporting extremists.

 

 

 

 

Today’s fight over a long-shot effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election is dividing Republicans, including those from the same state, as opposition grows to the plan.

Several Republican senators formally announced yesterday that they will oppose challenging the Electoral College results, meaning GOP senators in at least five states will split when Congress convenes its joint session today, where lawmakers will count the votes, a pro-forma exercise that in previous years has taken a matter of minutes.

GOP Sens. John Cornyn (Texas), Jim Inhofe (Okla.) and Jerry Moran (Kansas) each said that they will not support efforts to challenge President-elect Joe Biden’s win in key battleground states.

That puts them at odds with GOP Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas), James Lankford (Okla.) and Roger Marshall (Kansas), who have each pledged to support objections absent the formation of a commission to conduct a 10-day audit.

Cornyn — who is close to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and previously described plans to challenge the election as a “futile exercise” — released a statement yesterday saying he would not support challenges to the Electoral College results in the absent of “substantial, new evidence.”

“The challenges must be decided on the merits and nothing else. The Constitution and federal law gives us a roadmap to follow and we should follow it. But allegations alone will not suffice. Evidence is required,” he said.

Moran warned that a “vote to reject these state-certified electoral votes would be to act outside the bounds of the Constitution, which I will not do.” And Inhofe, who was recently reelected, said that constitutionally his job is to “ensure the electors are properly certified and count the electoral votes, even when I disagree with the outcome.”

In addition, the Electoral College fight is dividing Republicans in Missouri where Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) was the first GOP senator to say they will object but Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a member of GOP leadership who is up for reelection in 2022, has said he will not join any objections citing his role helping oversee Wednesday’s session.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) was one of the 10 senators to back Cruz’s effort, but fellow Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy (La.) signed onto a bipartisan statement released on Sunday urging senators to support the election results and move on.

 

It’s unclear if they will be the only splits. McConnell urged his caucus to oppose objecting and is expected to vote no himself but Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has been mum on whether or not he will object.

Under the rules governing Congress’s joint session, if a member of the House and the Senate both object the session is paused and lawmakers go to their respective chambers to debate the issue for up to two hours. For a challenge to the results to be successful, it needs the support of both the House and Senate, guaranteeing any objection today will fail.

Though 13 GOP senators have endorsed challenging the election results, a growing number are coming out against the effort. At least 24 GOP senators are expected to vote no. More than a dozen others are publicly undecided but many are expected to break in favor of upholding Biden’s win.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who is up for reelection in 2022, became one of the latest senators to announce they would oppose challenging the Electoral College results.

“As I read the Constitution, there is no constitutionally viable means for the Congress to overturn an election wherein the states have certified and sent their Electors,” Scott said in a statement yesterday.