KYIV, Ukraine — A leaked recording of an exchange between an Iranian air-traffic controller and an Iranian pilot purports to show that authorities immediately knew a missile had downed a Ukrainian jetliner after takeoff from Tehran, killing all 176 people aboard, despite days of denials by the Islamic Republic. Ukraine's...
Iraqis Rally Against US Troops, Demanding They Leave
BAGHDAD — Waving national flags and banners denouncing U.S. President Donald Trump, tens of thousands of Iraqis marched peacefully through Baghdad on Friday to demand the ouster of U.S. troops from their country in a protest organized by a populist Shiite cleric. Later Friday night, two anti-government protesters were shot...
US Troops Clear Rubble From Iraq Base Days After Iran Strike
AIN AL-ASAD BASE, Iraq — U.S. troops cleared rubble and debris from a military base housing American soldiers in western Iraq on Monday, days after it was struck by a barrage of Iranian ballistic missiles in a major escalation between the two longtime foes. The Iranian attack was in retaliation...
US Dismisses Iraq Request to Work on a Troop Withdrawal Plan
BAGHDAD — Iraq's caretaker prime minister asked Washington to start working out a road map for an American troop withdrawal, but the U.S. State Department on Friday bluntly rejected the request, saying the two sides should instead talk about how to “recommit” to their partnership. Thousands of anti-government protesters gathered...
Congress Demands Answers From Trump About Soleimani Killing
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump insists that Iranian cultural sites are fair game for the U.S. military, dismissing concerns within his own administration that doing so could constitute a war crime under international law. He also warned Iraq that he would levy punishing sanctions if it expelled American troops in...
Iran Supreme Leader Weeps for General Killed by US Airstrike
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's supreme leader wept Monday over the casket of a top general killed in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad, his prayers joining the wails of mourners who flooded the streets of Tehran demanding retaliation against America for a slaying that's drastically raised tensions across the Middle East....
Valley Congressmen Split on Trump Decision to Kill Iranian General
Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani helped oversee Iran's policy of state-sponsored terrorism that killed and injured thousands of people in the Mideast, and his death from a U.S drone strike early Friday was justified — and long overdue, U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes said Friday. But U.S. Rep. Jim Costa said other...
Cox: Trump Must Consult With Congress on Middle East
President Donald Trump must consult with Congress before taking any further action in the Middle East, where tensions intensified Friday after a U.S. military drone killed Iran's top general, U.S. Rep. TJ Cox said. The Trump administration has thus far not provided Congress with either clear objectives or alternatives to...
Democrats Call US Killing of Iranian General 'Reckless'
WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Thursday that President Donald Trump has “tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox" with the targeted killing of Iran's top general in an airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport. The former vice president joined other Democratic White House hopefuls in criticizing Trump's...
Iran Vows 'Harsh' Response to US Killing of Top General
BAGHDAD — Iran vowed “harsh retaliation” for a U.S. airstrike near Baghdad's airport that killed a top Iranian general who had been the architect of its interventions across the Middle East, as tensions soared in the wake of the targeted killing. The killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds...