Iranian security forces purportedly fire live ammunition to disperse protesters despite Trump's warning

Videos emerged online Monday that purportedly show Iranian police and security forces firing live ammunition to disperse demonstrators protesting against the Islamic Republic after the country mistakenly downed a Ukrainian airline plane shortly after takeoff from Tehran.
There was no immediate report in Iranian state-run media on the incident near Azadi, or Freedom, Square in Tehran, but, if true, could be seen as an act of defiance against President Trump who warned the regime against the use of deadly force.
Trump late Sunday tweeted in Farsi that a combination of protests and sanctions have "choked off" Iran and said Tehran will be forced to the negotiation table.
Trump insisted that he "couldn’t care less" if the regime negotiates, but he appeared to lay down non-negotiable issues that included the development of nuclear weapons and the use of deadly force against protesters.
"Don't kill your protesters," he tweeted.
Videos were sent to the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran and later verified by The Associated Press. They show a crowd of demonstrators fleeing as a tear gas canister landed among them. People cough and sputter while trying to escape the fumes, with one woman calling out in Farsi: “They fired tear gas at people! Azadi Square. Death to the dictator!”
Another video shows a woman being carried away in the aftermath as a blood trail can be seen on the ground. Those around her cry out that she has been shot by live ammunition in the leg.
“Oh my God, she’s bleeding nonstop!” one person shouts. Another shouts: “Bandage it!”
Photos and video after the incident show pools of blood on the sidewalk.
Hossein Rahimi, the head of the Tehran police, said in a statement seen by Reuters that police "absolutely did not shoot" due to orders to show restraint.
The tweet in Farsi appears to be an attempt by Trump to speak directly to the Iranian people. Tehran has experienced upheaval after the missile strike on a Ukrainian airline flight out of the country's capital that the country called a mistake. Still, the mishap was seen as an international display of military ineptitude.
Many of the country’s protesters chanted "death to the Dictator," referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Trump, who says he is not interested in ousting the Iranian regime, reinstated economic sanctions on Iran after withdrawing from the nuke deal. He said it gave Tehran too many economic benefits without doing enough to prevent Iran from eventually developing a nuclear weapon.
Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh,  the head of the Revolutionary Guard's aerospace division, said his unit accepts "full responsibility.” Iranian officials had earlier denied that it had shot down the jet.
Alam Saleh, an Iran expert, told the Wall Street Journal that the state’s legitimacy has been “severely challenged by the people.”
Trump, hours earlier, again warned Tehran not to kill protesters, saying, “Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching. More importantly, the USA is watching."
Karen Pierce, British ambassador to the United Nations, echoed Trump's message to Iran.
"The important thing is that... the Iranian government needs to listen to its people and it needs to de-escalate the current situation... that's in their hands," Pierce said Sunday on "America's News HQ."
Fox News' Yael Halon and the Associated Press contributed to this report

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Cartoons

Democrats for Iran.

Thanks to Obama and the Democrats.

What the Supreme Leader does to Protestors.

Iran braces for protests after admitting plane shootdown

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s security forces deployed in large numbers across the capital on Sunday, expecting more protests after its Revolutionary Guard admitted to accidentally shooting down a passenger plane at a time of soaring tensions with the United States.

Riot police in black uniforms and helmets massed in Vali-e Asr Square, Tehran University and other landmarks as calls circulated for protests later in the day. Revolutionary Guard members patrolled the city on motorbikes and plainclothes security men were also out in force. People looked down as they walked briskly past the police, hoping not to draw attention to themselves.

The plane crash early Wednesday killed all 176 people on board, mostly Iranians and Iranian-Canadians. After initially pointing to a technical failure and insisting the armed forces were not to blame, authorities on Saturday finally admitted to accidentally shooting it down in the face of mounting evidence and accusations by Western leaders.

Iran downed the Ukrainian flight as it braced for retaliation after firing ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq housing U.S. forces. The ballistic missile attack, which caused no casualties, was a response to the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s top general, in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad.

Iranians have expressed anger over the downing of the plane and the misleading explanations from senior officials in the wake of the tragedy. They are also mourning the dead, among whom were a large number of young people with promising futures who were studying abroad.

“Even talking about it makes my heart beat faster and makes me sad,” said Zahra Razeghi, a Tehran resident. “I feel ashamed when I think about their families.”

“The denial and covering up the truth over the past three days greatly added to the suffering and pain of the families, and me,” she added.

Another individual, who only identified himself as Saeed, said the largely state-run media had concealed the cause of the crash for “political reasons.”

“Later developments changed the game and they had to tell the truth,” he said.

Hundreds of students gathered at Tehran’s Shahid Beheshti University on Sunday to mourn the victims and protest against authorities for concealing the cause of the crash, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported. They later dispersed peacefully.

A candlelight ceremony late Saturday in Tehran turned into a protest, with hundreds of people chanting against the country’s leaders — including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — and police dispersing them with tear gas. Protests were also held in the city of Isfahan and elsewhere.

Police briefly detained the British ambassador to Iran, Rob Macaire, who said he went with the intention of attending the vigil and did not know it would turn into a protest.

“Can confirm I wasn’t taking part in any demonstrations!” he tweeted. “Went to an event advertised as a vigil for victims of #PS752 tragedy. Normal to want to pay respects — some of victims were British. I left after 5 mins, when some started chanting.”

He said he was arrested 30 minutes after leaving the area.

Britain said its envoy was detained “without grounds or explanation” and in “flagrant violation of international law.”

“The Iranian government is at a cross-roads moment. It can continue its march towards pariah status with all the political and economic isolation that entails, or take steps to deescalate tensions and engage in a diplomatic path forwards,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later tweeted that Macaire was arrested “as an unknown foreigner in an illegal gathering.”

Araghchi said when police informed him that a man was arrested who claimed to be the British ambassador he didn’t believe them. But he said that once he spoke to Macaire by phone he realized it was him, and that the ambassador was freed 15 minutes later.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, a member of Iran’s parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, nevertheless accused the ambassador of organizing protests and called for his expulsion.

Dozens of hard-liners later gathered outside the British Embassy, chanting “Death to England” and calling for the ambassador to be expelled and for the closure of the embassy. Police stood guard outside the facility.

Iranian media meanwhile focused on the admission of responsibility for the crash, with several newspapers calling for those responsible to apologize and resign.

The hardline daily Vatan-e Emrouz bore the front-page headline, “A sky full of sadness,” while the Hamshahri daily went with “Shame,” and the IRAN daily said “Unforgivable.”

Mehdi Karroubi, an opposition activist under house arrest, lashed out at Khamenei himself.

“You, as the commander in chief of the armed forces, are directly responsible for this,” he said in a statement. “If you were aware and you let military and security authorities deceive people, then there is no doubt you lack the attributes of constitutional leadership.”

Criticism of the supreme leader is punishable by up to two years in prison.

Tensions with the United States eased after the ballistic missile attack, when President Donald Trump declined to respond and welcomed Iran’s apparent decision to stand down.

The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, traveled to Iran for talks with senior officials. Qatar hosts a large U.S. military base and shares an offshore gas field with Iran. It has often served as a mediator between the two countries, which have no diplomatic relations.

Syria’s Prime Minister Imad Khamis was also leading a high-level delegation to Iran, which includes the defense and foreign ministers. Syrian state media described it as an “important visit” in light of recent events, without elaborating. Iran is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad in his country’s civil war, and Soleimani had mobilized militias and coordinated military aid.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was also traveling to Iran, with plans to visit Saudi Arabia the following day.

Lindsey Graham calls War Powers Act 'blatantly unconstitutional,' says Mike Lee and Rand Paul 'so wrong' on Iran

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called the War Powers Act "unconstitutional" during an interview Saturday on "Justice with Judge Jeanine," and claimed Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., are wrong to support curbing President Trump's military authority.
"Congress has the power to declare war. That doesn't mean the commander in chief can't use military force to protect the country without Congress," Graham told Jeanine Pirro. "We've had military engagements hundreds of times. What the president did is he took out [Gen. Qassem] Soleimani who was planning another attack against American forces in Iraq who were lawfully present. He has all the authority he needs to protect troops in the field."
"The War Powers Act is blatantly unconstitutional," he added. "You cannot have 535 commanders in chief. Can you imagine what our nation would look like if Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Rand Paul, and AOC [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]... that we couldn't defend the nation unless they all agree? That would be impossible."
The House of Representatives voted in favor of the War Powers Resolution, also known as the War Powers Act, on Thursday, in an attempt to limit President Trump’s military action toward Iran.
The resolution passed, 224-194, mostly along party lines, but both parties had some defectors: eight Democrats voted against the measure and three Republicans voted in favor of it. Independent Rep. Justin Amash, who left the Republican Party last year, also voted in favor of the measure.
Graham on Saturday also criticized Paul and Lee for opposing the drone strike that killed the Iranian earlier this month and said they are out of their depth on the issue.
"I like them both and if I had an eye problem I would call Rand Paul. He's a great eye doctor but I would not ask him for commander in chief advice," he said. "Mike Lee's a great guy. But all I can tell you is that they're so wrong. Their foreign policy is more like Bernie Sanders -- less like Ronald Reagan, less like Donald Trump."
"A commander in chief can use force to protect the nation, without 535 people signing on to it," Graham added. "I said this when [Barack] Obama was president. I said it when [Bill] Clinton was president. If you don't like what the commander in chief is doing, as a member of Congress, cut off funding. We have the power of the purse but we cannot make military decisions."
Fox News Andrew O'Reilly contributed to this report 

Ocasio-Cortez says she's a 'proud' Democrat, even though she won't pay party 'dues'

The ex bartender thinks everything should be free, even the Democrat party dues :-)

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez insisted she's a "proud" Democrat despite protesting a Democratic Party arm and withholding $250,000 in "dues" aimed at retaining the House majority.
“I’m a Democrat, I’m proud to be on this team. I’m proud to be part of the Democratic majority,” Ocasio-Cortez told Fox News in an interview Friday amid criticism she should quit the party and become an independent if she won't be a "team player."
As evidence that she's willing to work for the party, Ocasio-Cortez pointed to the more than $300,000 she’s raised directly for progressive Democrats, including incumbents in swing districts. That effort, she said, is for "preserving and expanding the Democratic majority."
Fox News reported Friday that the New York Democrat has been catching heat for failing to pay her $250,000 in dues to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) in protest of a policy that she says "blacklists" vendors for working with insurgent primary challengers, such as herself.
“I don't see the sense in giving a quarter-million dollars to an organization that has clearly told people like me that we're not welcome," Ocasio-Cortez said in defending her decision.
The youngest female ever elected to Congress also took issue with the amount of money the DCCC wanted her to pay from her campaign coffers.
“It’s pretty nuts -- $250,000 for a freshman member. Can you imagine being 30 years old and getting a bill for $250,000? I still have $20,000 in student loan debt," she said.
All House Democrats are assigned "dues" to pay to the DCCC to help the party win elections and retain the majority. Amounts range from $1 million for Speaker Nancy Pelosi to $150,000 for newer members or less prolific fundraisers. Republicans have a similar system.
Ocasio-Cortez said she respects people who do pay up and that she's not trying to shut down the DCCC.
But she takes issue with a party arm that "want(s) to take my money, but push me out, or push candidates like me out" who are challenging the establishment.
Ocasio-Cortez, with her nationwide stardom, is expected to raise more than $5 million in 2019 for her reelection campaign.
Instead of cutting a check to the Democratic Party, she is building her own grassroots fundraising network to finance progressive candidates by soliciting online donations directly for them.
She argues her actions are aimed at improving the party by lessening the influence of big corporations and lobbyists and giving other upstart candidates a real shot.
“This is a place that should be for everyone,” Ocasio-Cortez said outside the Capitol complex on Friday. “It should be for working people. It should be for everyday people who aren’t connected to big money.”
In her latest move to challenge the Democratic Party establishment, Ocasio-Cortez on Saturday launched a new PAC to raise money for political newcomers and took a swipe at the DCCC in doing so.
“When progressive, working-class candidates look at running for office, organizations like the DCCC dissuade them," the announcement said. "We need voices that will lift up those candidates, not shoot them down. That's why we're founding the Courage to Change PAC."
Galling to some in the Democratic Party is that two of the candidates she’s financed so far are challengers to sitting Democratic members of Congress: Reps. Dan Lipinski of Illinois and Henry Cuellar of Texas. Traditionally, members of Congress don't actively work to unseat their party colleagues.
“I would hope in the spirit of teamwork that we don't see any further incursions with other members," said Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y. "I would hope at least it stops there."
But Ocasio-Cortez signaled she's not letting up.
Two outside groups that are ideologically aligned with Ocasio-Cortez -- Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats – have already endorsed many more primary challengers. They are hoping to topple Reps. Lacy Clay of Missouri, Eliot Engel of New York, Joyce Beatty of Ohio, Richard Neal of Massachusetts and more.
Ocasio-Cortez said there's a “distinct possibility” she'll be backing more primary challengers, though she said of the two groups: “I don’t anticipate our endorsements will overlap 100 percent."
Because the majority of congressional districts are drawn to be solidly Democratic or solidly Republican, the one chance for competition comes in a primary race, she said.
"Seventy percent of Americans live in a safe blue seat, or a safe red seat, which means the only choice that they have realistically is in their primary election," she said. "The idea that we should take democracy away from people is one that I fundamentally disagree with.”
By pressing for more primaries nationwide, Ocasio-Cortez said she understands that she’ll be at risk for Democratic challengers, too.
"I'm comfortable with that," she said. “I want to earn my seat every two years. I want to earn the right to have this job.”
Some Democrats have complained that AOC is not a team player and her efforts to “purify” the caucus could cost Democrats the House majority by ousting moderate Democrats in swing districts. Ocasio-Cortez recently grumbled that the Democratic Party can “be too big of a tent” if she and former Vice President Joe Biden are considered the same party.
A CNN opinion columnist this week even said Ocasio-Cortez should try ditching the party altogether.
Asked if she’s considering becoming an independent like Sen. Bernie Sanders -- whom she backs for president -- or whether the Democratic Party still serves her, Ocasio-Cortez said: “Being a Democrat, it is a service. It does serve me."
"I think I’m an independent thinker within the Democratic Party for sure. I do things that are unusual and unorthodox," AOC added.
Being an independent voice is important when so many people are "sick "of the two parties and special interests controlling government, she said.
“Washington is so much about Republican versus Democrat," Ocasio-Cortez said. "We don’t realize that some of the largest plurality of voters in America are neither."
She added: "They identify as independent. It doesn’t mean that they are moderate. It doesn’t mean that they are half Democrat and half Republican. It means that they think a lot of the system is BS.”

Iranian female Olympian defects, calls out regime's 'hypocrisy' as she exits country permanently

Iran’s only female Olympic medalist has reportedly defected, posting a goodbye letter to Iran on Saturday, calling out the government's "hypocrisy" as she announced she had permanently left the country.
"Should I start with hello, goodbye, or condolences?" Taekwondo athlete, Kimia Alizadeh, 21, posted on her Instagram in Farsi, Agence France-Presse reported.
Alizadeh did not disclose where she was going, but Iran's ISNA news agency reported she had gone to the Netherlands, according to AFP. The Iranian report quoted Alizadeh's coach as saying the athlete was injured and did not show up for trials ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
The Olympian's announcement came just a day after Iranian officials admitted to downing a Ukrainian passenger plane, killing 176 people minutes after takeoff from Tehran’s international airport early Wednesday due to “human error,” thinking it was a military aircraft.
She accused the Iranian government of “lying” and “injustice” toward Iranian athletes, adding all she wants is "Taekwondo, security and a happy and healthy life," according to AFP.
Alizadeh won a bronze medal in Taekwondo at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
She said she wore everything the government asked her to wear, referring to the head covering all Iranian female athletes must wear, and wrote she "repeated everything they told me to say...None of us matter to them."

​​​​​​​Kimia Alizadeh Zenoorin of Iran celebrates after defeating Nikita Glasnovic of Sweden during a women's Bronze Medal Taekwondo contest at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Aug. 18, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Getty Images)

Iranian parliamentarian Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh decried "incompetent officials,” saying the country had allowed “human capital to flee,” AFP reported.
He compared Alizadeh to Alireza Firouzja, an Iranian chess prodigy who now lives in France after becoming a grandmaster at age 14.
In a Twitter message, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus hailed Alizadeh's decision.
#KimiaAlizadeh, Iran's only female Olympic medalist, has rejected the regime's oppression of women," Ortagus wrote. "She has defected for a life of security, happiness, and freedom. #Iran will continue to lose more strong women unless it learns to empower and support them."
ISNA reported Alizadeh plans to try to compete in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo but wouldn't represent Iran.
Alizadeh promised the Iranian people she would always remain a “child of Iran.”

Syrian Bashar Assad Putin Cartoons

Stupid UN.

Russia scores victory for ally Syria in UN vote cutting aid

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, center, visit the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020. Putin has traveled to Syria to meet with President Bashar Assad, a key Iranian ally. The rare visit Tuesday comes amid soaring tensions between Iran and the United States following the U.S. drone strike last week that killed a top Iranian general who led forces supporting Assad in Syria's civil war. (Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia scored a victory for its close ally Syria on Friday, using its veto threat to force the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution significantly reducing the delivery of cross-border humanitarian aid and cutting off critical medical assistance to over one million Syrians in the northeast.

Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Karen Pierce accused Russia of playing politics with humanitarian aid for the first time in the nearly nine-year Syrian conflict, and “playing dice with the lives of Syrian people in the northeast.”

U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft accused Russia of “triumphantly” supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad’s goveernment “to starve its opposition.” And she warned: “Syrians will suffer needlessly ... (and) Syrians will die as a result of this resolution.”

The resolution adopted by the U.N.’s most powerful body reduces the number of crossing points for aid deliveries from four to just two, from Turkey to the mainly rebel-held northwest as Russia demanded. It also cuts in half the year-long mandate that has been in place since cross-border deliveries began in 2014 to six months, as Moscow insisted.

The vote capped months of contentious negotiations and came on the day the current mandate for cross-border aid deliveries to Syria expires. It also reflected the deep divisions that have prevented the Security Council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, from taking any significant action to end the Syrian conflict.

The resolution that was finally voted on by the 15-member council, received 11 “yes” votes and 4 abstentions from Russia, China, the United States and United Kingdom.

Indonesia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Muhsin Syihab, who voted in favor of the resolution, said afterward he believed all council members were “equally unhappy.”

Germany, Belgium and Kuwait, backed by the U.S., Britain, France and other council nations, initially wanted to add a fifth crossing point and extend the mandate for a year. But to meet Russia’s demands and avoid a total cutoff of cross-border aid they watered-down their resolution to two points for six months.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said last month that cross-border aid was meant to be a temporary response to the Syrian conflict and the situation on the ground has changed. He said the Jordan crossing point hasn’t been used “for a lengthy period of time” and the volume through the Iraqi crossing “is insignificant ... and could be done from Syria” so only the Turkish crossing points are needed — points he reiterated on Friday.

By contrast, the U.N. humanitarian office said it has been supporting 4 million Syrians through cross-border aid deliveries — 2.7 million in the northwest and 1.3 million in the northeast.

According to the U.N., 40 percent of all medical, surgical and health supplies to the northeast, along with water and sanitation supplies, are delivered through the Al Yarubiyah crossing point in Iraq.

U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told the Security Council in November that the U.N. provided 1.1 million people with food through cross-border deliveries in October, double the number in January.

“There is no alternative to the cross-border operation,” he stressed. “There is no Plan B.”

Many countries that voted for the resolution expressed disappointment that more crossing points weren’t included, but said they did so to save lives in Idlib province and other opposition areas in the northwest.

Germany’s U.N. Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, who co-sponsored the resolution, stressed “the heavy price” it came with. He appealed to Russia to get more than eight trucks with medical aid waiting at the now-closed Iraqi border crossing at Al Yarubiyah into northeast Syria.

Craft, the U.S. ambassador, said all U.N. officials agree that the humanitarian situation in Syria is worsening, and she called the watered-down resolution demanded by Russia “shocking, comprehensive indifference to human suffering.” She said: “In abstaining, we are lending a voice to four million Syrians entering the heart of winter.”

Pierce, the British ambassador, said: “We won’t vote to stop vital aid from reaching Syria, but neither will we vote in favor of a resolution that reduces aid provision to vulnerable populations and puts lives at risk.”

Nebenzia said he abstained even though Russia got just two crossing points from Turkey — Bab al-Salam and Bab al-Hawa — and a six-month extension because Moscow didn’t agree with everything in the German and Belgium sponsored resolution.

China’s U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun said Beijing has always had “reservations” about cross-border humanitarian deliveries to Syria. He called for “the will of its government” to be respected in such deliveries, a point Nebenzia also stressed.

But Pierce said cross-border deliveries do not require consent from the Syrian government.

Nebenzia said aid is getting into the northeast, where Syrian Kurds established an autonomous zone in 2012 and were U.S. partners on the ground in fighting the Islamic State extremist group. A Turkish offensive in October against Syrian Kurdish militants led the U.S. to abandon its Kurdish allies, both countries drawing strong criticism.

Nebenzia said Russia supported a provision in the resolution requesting Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to report to the Security Council by the end of February “on the feasibility of using alternative modalities for the (Iraqi) border crossing of Al Yarubiyah in order to ensure that humanitarian assistance, including medical and surgical supplies, reaches people in need throughout Syria through the most direct routes.”

The resolution also calls on U.N. humanitarian agencies “to improve monitoring of the delivery and distribution of United Nations relief consignments and their delivery inside Syria.”

Syria’s U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari told the council that since the beginning of the conflict, the government “has made efforts to deliver aid without any discrimination” and its priority is to improve the humanitarian situation in the country.

Pierce responded saying Britain will be pursuing Syria’s aid deliveries to its own people in the future, “and we will be holding what he said to account.” She said she will also take Jaáfari’s words “as a commitment” to allow humanitarian organizations access to Syria to distribute humanitarian assistance to people most in need.