US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has rejected a renewed attempt by Arab countries to force Israel to accept a ceasefire in Gaza, where the regime has been involved in an unrelenting military campaign against the Palestinians since October 7.
Blinken told foreign ministers of Jordan and Egypt in a press conference on Saturday in Amman that a ceasefire would only help the resistance movement Hamas to regroup and attack the Israeli regime.
“A ceasefire now would simply leave Hamas in place, able to regroup and repeat what it did on October 7,” he said, making a reference to an operation by Hamas which led to some 1,400 deaths among Israeli settlers and troops.
The regime has justified its indiscriminate targeting of civilians in Gaza as a response to the Hamas operation. The US and its allies in Europe have openly supported the carnage by arguing that the regime has a right to defend itself.
Blinken repeated the position on Saturday as his Egyptian and Jordanian counterparts called for an immediate halt in the fighting in Gaza and said killing thousands of civilians could not be justified as self-defense.....more
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/11/04/714017/US-Blinken-opposition-ceasefire-Gaza-Amman-meeting
US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is preparing to leave the Trump administration after what a new report has described as months of tension with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, potentially triggering another change at the army’s top echelons.
According to the Friday report by The Wall Street Journal, Driscoll is expected to step down before the end of the year and could leave his post earlier. The newspaper cited people familiar with discussions over his departure.
The Journal reported that Driscoll and his family vacated the official residence assigned to the army secretary at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall this summer, a move that could indicate he was preparing to leave the position.
The reported departure would come at a time of continuing uncertainty at the top echelons of the army.
Hegseth abruptly removed Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George in April, while Trump has not yet nominated a permanent successo....more below
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The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) warns the enemies that any act of aggression against the Islamic Republic will not go unanswered.
In a statement on Thursday, the IRGC issued a “stern warning” to the enemies after US forces launched strikes against the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas.
Following the US military attack on a point on the outskirts of Bandar Abbas Airport with aerial projectiles, the IRGC carried out new strikes targeting the US air base from which the attack originated in the wee hours of Thursday, it added.
“This response is a serious warning to the enemy that they should know the act of aggression will not go unanswered,” the IRGC emphasized.
The elite military force warned of a “more decisive” response if the enemy repeated any act of aggression.
It also said the responsibility for the consequences of any IRGC response lies with the aggressor.
The statement comes after the IRGC Navy on Thursday forced an American tanker to turn back. The tanker ...