World

Gunmen in Iraq wound two trying to stop Soleimani memorial

Gunmen in Iraq on Saturday shot and wounded two protesters who disrupted an anniversary commemoration of the death of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, a security source said.

Soleimani, who headed the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, was killed on January 3, 2020 in a US drone strike in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

He was killed along with his Iraqi lieutenant, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy leader of the pro-Iran Hashed al-Shaabi, a coalition of former paramilitary groups now integrated into the Iraqi state security apparatus.

Tehran and its Middle East allies have in recent days held a series of emotional commemorations to mark the second anniversary of the assassinations.

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According to the security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, some “150 to 200 demonstrators” stormed the ceremony in the Iraqi city of Kut, some 160 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad.

The protesters tried to “prevent” the commemoration, moving in just before it was due to begin and tearing down portraits of Soleimani and Muhandis, he said.

“Members of an armed faction opened fire and wounded two demonstrators,” the source said, without giving further details.

Sajjad Salem, an independent member of parliament linked to an anti-government protest movement that began in October 2019, posted a video on Facebook showing armed men in a square, with gunshots ringing out.

Salem said the video showed shots being fired by members of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq force, a key component of the Hashed.

The commemoration was suspended and security forces have deployed heavily though Kut, an AFP reporter said.

Detractors of the Hashed accuse it of acting on behalf of Iran, which wields considerable cross-border influence in Iraq, and accuse it of crushing the protests that began in 2019.

In recent days, the US-led coalition fighting the ISIS group in Iraq has come under fire, including from rockets, but with no reported casualties.

Washington has blamed those attacks on “Iran-backed groups”.

The US said at the time that Soleimani was planning imminent action against US personnel in Iraq, a country long torn between the competing demands of its principal allies Washington and Tehran.

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World

Pro-Iranian forces in Syria warn they can respond to further US strikes

Pro-Iranian forces in Syria said in an online statement late Friday that they have a “long arm” to respond to further US strikes on their positions, after tit-for-tat strikes in Syria over the last 24 hours.

The statement, signed by the Iranian Advisory Committee in Syria, said US strikes had left several fighters dead and wounded, without specifying their nationality.

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“We have the capability to respond if our centers and forces in Syria are targeted,” the statement said.

Biden vows ‘forceful’ response to Iranian attacks on US troops in Middle East

World

US warns China’s promises often empty as Honduras wavers on Taiwan

China often makes promises in exchange for recognition that remain unfulfilled, the de facto US embassy in Taipei said on Saturday as Honduras moves ahead with ending its long-standing ties with Taiwan in favor of China.

The Honduran foreign minister travelled to China this week to open relations after President Xiomara Castro said her government would move to forge ties with Beijing, Honduras being one of only 14 countries to formally recognize Taiwan.

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At stake is China’s growing footprint in Central America, once a steadfast base for Taiwan and where the United States is worried about Beijing’s expanding influence in its backyard.

China views Taiwan as one of its provinces with no right to state-to-state ties, a view the democratically elected government in Taipei strongly disputes.

The American Institute in Taiwan said that while Honduras’ possible severing of ties with Taipei in favor of Beijing was a sovereign decision, China does not always follow through on its promises.

“It is important to note the PRC often makes promises in exchange for diplomatic recognition that ultimately remain unfulfilled,” a spokesperson said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

“Regardless of Honduras’ decision, the United States will continue to deepen and expand our engagement with Taiwan in line with our longstanding one China policy,” the spokesperson added.

Taiwan is a reliable, likeminded, and democratic partner, and its partnerships globally provide “significant and sustainable benefits to the citizens of those countries”.

“We strongly encourage all countries to expand engagement with
Taiwan and to continue to stand on the side of democracy, good governance, transparency, and adherence to the rule of law.”

China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but it has previously said its relations with Taiwan’s former diplomatic allies have brought them real benefits.

The Honduras drama is happening ahead of a high-profile visit by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen to the United States and Central America next week. Tsai is expected to meet US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles at the end of the trip.

The United States also has no official ties with Taiwan but is the island’s most important international backer and arms supplier.

Neither China nor Honduras has announced they have established diplomatic relations.

Diplomatic sources in Taipei say this is a departure from previous practice whereby an announcement on severing ties with Taiwan in favour of China normally happens very fast, with Taipei getting only maybe a few hours notice beforehand.

Honduras demanded $2.5 bln in Taiwan aid before China announcement: Source

World

Biden says China ‘hasn’t yet’ delivered arms to Russia

US President Joe Biden on Friday said he believed China has not sent arms to Russia after President Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine.

“I’ve been hearing now for the past three months (that) China is going to provide significant weapons to Russia… They haven’t yet. Doesn’t mean they won’t, but they haven’t yet,” he told a news conference during a visit to Canada.

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“I don’t take China lightly. I don’t take Russia lightly,” he added, while also suggesting that reports of their rapprochement had probably been “exaggerated.”

Conversely, Biden stressed the strong ties among Western democracies, saying “if anything’s happened, the West has coalesced significantly more.”

He pointed to US security alliances in the Pacific region such as the Quad which also includes Australia, India and Japan and as well as AUKUS with Australia and Britain.

During a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow this week, Russia and Beijing for their part hailed “the special nature” of their relations.

But while China’s leader pledged a trade lifeline and some moral support, more conspicuous was that he did not commit to providing arms for Russia’s depleted forces in Ukraine, a move that would have invited Western sanctions on China.

There was also no long-term Chinese commitment to buy vast quantities of Russian gas that is no longer flowing to Europe.