Trump vetoed Israeli plan to kill Iran's leader Khamenei, US officials say
President Donald Trump vetoed an Israeli plan in recent days to kill the Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, two US officials told Reuters on Sunday.
'Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No. Until they do we're not even talking about going after the political leadership," said one of the sources, a senior US administration official.
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Al Arabiya
27 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Friends Say Minnesota Shooting Suspect Was Deeply Religious and Conservative
The man accused of assassinating the top Democrat in the Minnesota House held deeply religious and politically conservative views, telling a congregation in Africa two years ago that the US was in a bad place where most churches didn't oppose abortion. Vance Luther Boelter, 57, was at the center of a massive multistate manhunt on Sunday, a day after authorities say he impersonated a police officer and gunned down former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home outside Minneapolis. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz described the shooting as a politically motivated assassination. Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, were shot earlier by the same gunman at their home nearby but survived. Friends and former colleagues interviewed by The Associated Press described Boelter as a devout Christian who attended an evangelical church and went to campaign rallies for President Donald Trump. Records show Boelter registered to vote as a Republican while living in Oklahoma in 2004 before moving to Minnesota, where voters don't list party affiliation. Near the scene at Hortman's home, authorities say they found an SUV made to look like those used by law enforcement. Inside, they found fliers for a local anti-Trump 'No Kings' rally scheduled for Saturday and a notebook with names of other lawmakers. The list also included the names of abortion rights advocates and health care officials, according to two law enforcement officials who could not discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. Both Hortman and Hoffman were defenders of abortion rights at the state legislature. Superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Drew Evans, said at a briefing on Sunday that Boelter is not believed to have made any public threats before the attacks. Evans asked the public not to speculate on a motivation for the attacks. 'We often want easy answers for complex problems,' he told reporters. 'Those answers will come as we complete the full picture of our investigation.' Friends told the AP that they knew Boelter was religious and conservative, but that he didn't talk about politics often and didn't seem extreme. 'He was right-leaning politically, but never fanatical from what I saw –– just strong beliefs,' said Paul Schroeder, who has known Boelter for years. Boelter, who worked as a security contractor, gave a glimpse of his beliefs on abortion during a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2023. While there, Boelter served as an evangelical pastor, telling people he had first found Jesus as a teenager. 'The churches are so messed up they don't know abortion is wrong in many churches,' he said, according to an online recording of one sermon from February 2023. Still, in three lengthy sermons reviewed by the AP, he only mentioned abortion once, focusing more on his love of God and what he saw as the moral decay in his native country. He appears to have hidden his more strident beliefs from his friends back home. 'He never talked to me about abortion,' Schroeder said. 'It seemed to be just that he was a conservative Republican who naturally followed Trump.' A married father with five children, Boelter and his wife own a sprawling 3,800-square-foot house on a large rural lot about an hour from downtown Minneapolis that the couple bought in 2023 for more than a half-million dollars. He worked for decades in managerial roles for food and beverage manufacturers before seeking to reinvent himself in middle age, according to resumes and a video he posted online. After getting an undergraduate degree in international relations in his 20s, Boelter went back to school and earned a master's degree and then a doctorate in leadership studies in 2016 from Cardinal Stritch University, a private Catholic college in Wisconsin that has since shut down. While living in Wisconsin, records show Boelter and his wife, Jenny, founded a nonprofit corporation called Revoformation Ministries, listing themselves as the president and secretary. After moving to Minnesota about a decade ago, Boelter volunteered for a position on a state workforce development board, first appointed by then-Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, in 2016 and later by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. He served through 2023. In that position, he may have crossed paths with one of his alleged victims. Hoffman served on the same board, though authorities said it was not immediately clear how much the two men may have interacted. Records show Boelter and his wife started a security firm in 2018. A website for Praetorian Guard Security Services lists Boelter's wife as the president and CEO, while he is listed as the director of security patrols. The company's homepage says it provides armed security for property and events and features a photo of an SUV painted in a two-tone black and silver pattern similar to a police vehicle with a light bar across the roof and 'Praetorian' painted across the doors. Another photo shows a man in black tactical gear with a military-style helmet and a ballistic vest with the company's name across the front. In an online resume, Boelter also billed himself as a security contractor who worked overseas in the Middle East and Africa. On his trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, he told Chris Fuller, a friend, that he had founded several companies focused on farming and fishing on the Congo River, as well as in transportation and tractor sales. 'It has been a very fun and rewarding experience and I only wished I had done something like this 10 years ago,' he wrote in a message shared with the AP. But once he returned home in 2023, there were signs that Boelter was struggling financially. That August, he began working for a transport service for a funeral home, mostly picking up bodies of those who had died in assisted living facilities –– a job he described as he needed to do to pay bills. Tim Koch, the owner of Metro First Call, said Boelter voluntarily left that position about four months ago. 'This is devastating news for all involved,' Koch said, declining to elaborate on the reasons for Boelter's departure, citing the ongoing law enforcement investigation. Boelter had also started spending some nights away from his family, renting a room in a modest house in northern Minneapolis shared by friends. Heavily armed police executed a search warrant on the home Saturday. In the hours before Saturday's shootings, Boelter texted two roommates to tell them he loved them and that 'I'm going to be gone for a while,' according to Schroeder, who was forwarded the text and read it to the AP. 'May be dead shortly so I just want to let you know I love you guys both and I wish it hadn't gone this way,' Boelter wrote. 'I don't want to say anything more and implicate you in any way because you guys don't know anything about this. But I love you guys and I'm sorry for the trouble this has caused.'
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
G7 leaders gather in Canada for a summit overshadowed by Israel-Iran crisis and trade wars
KANANASKIS, Alberta: Leaders of some of the world's biggest economic are arriving in the Canadian Rockies on Sunday for a Group of Seven summit, overshadowed by an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran and US President Donald Trump's unresolved trade war. Israel's strikes on Iran and Tehran's retaliation, which appeared to catch many world leaders unawares, is the latest sign of a more volatile world. Trump in recent days vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a US official told The Associated Press, in an indication of how far Israel was prepared to go. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he had discussed efforts to de-escalate the crisis with Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as other world leaders and said he expected 'intense discussions' would continue at the summit. Trump is summit's wild card As summit host, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has decided to abandon the annual practice of issuing a joint statement, or communique, at the end of the meeting. With other leaders wanting to talk to Trump in an effort to talk him out of imposing tariffs, the summit risks being a series of bilateral conversations rather than a show of unity. Trump is the summit wild card. Looming over the meeting are his inflammatory threats to make Canada the 51st state and take over Greenland. French President Emmanuel Macron visited Greenland on Sunday for a highly symbolic stop on his way to Canada. Macron warned that Greenland is 'not to be sold' nor 'to be taken.' 'Everybody in France, the European Union thinks that Greenland is not to be sold, not to be taken,' he said during a news conference, applauded by the local crowd. 'The situation in Greenland is clearly a wakeup call for all Europeans. Let me tell you very directly that you're not alone,' Macron added. Trump is scheduled to arrive late Sunday in Kananaskis, Alberta. He will have a bilateral meeting with Carney on Monday morning before the summit program begins. 'He tends to be a bully' Leaders who are not part of the G7 but have been invited to the summit by Carney include the heads of state of India, Ukraine, Brazil, South Africa, South Korea, Australia, Mexico and the UAE. Avoiding tariffs will continue to be top of mind. 'Leaders, and there are some new ones coming, will want to meet Donald Trump,' said Peter Boehm, Canada's counselor at the 2018 G7 summit in Quebec and a veteran of six G7 summits. 'Trump doesn't like the big round table as much he likes the one-on-one.' Bilateral meetings with the American president can be fraught as Trump has used them to try to intimidate the leaders of Ukraine and South Africa. Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien told a panel this week that if Trump does act out, leaders should ignore him and remain calm like Carney did in his recent Oval Office meeting. 'He tends to be a bully,' Chrétien said. 'If Trump has decided to make a show to be in the news, he will do something crazy. Let him do it and keep talking normally.' Last month Britain and the US announced they had struck a trade deal that will slash American tariffs on UK autos, steel and aluminum. It has yet to take effect, however, though British officials say they are not concerned the Trump administration might go back on its word. Starmer's attempts to woo Trump have left him in an awkward position with Canada, the UK's former colony, close ally and fellow Commonwealth member. Starmer has also drawn criticism — especially from Canadians — for failing to address Trump's stated desire to make Canada the 51st state. Asked if he has told Trump to stop the 51st state threats, Starmer told The Associated Press: 'I'm not going to get into the precise conversations I've had, but let me be absolutely clear: Canada is an independent, sovereign country and a much-valued member of the Commonwealth.' Zelensky expected to meet Trump The war in Ukraine will be on the agenda. President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to attend the summit and is expected to meet with Trump, a reunion coming just months after their bruising Oval Office encounter which laid bare the risks of having a meeting with the US president. Starmer met with Carney in Ottawa before the summit for talks focused on security and trade, in the first visit to Canada by a British prime minister for eight years. German officials were keen to counter the suggestion that the summit would be a 'six against one' event, noting that the G7 countries have plenty of differences of emphasis among themselves on various issues. 'The only the problem you cannot forecast is what the president of the United States will do depending on the mood, the need to be in the news,' said Chrétien.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Iran says Israel strike killed IRGC intelligence chief
TEHRAN: An Israeli strike on Sunday killed the intelligence chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Mohammed Kazemi, along with two other officers, the official IRNA news agency reported. 'Three intelligence generals, Mohammad Kazemi, Hassan Mohaghegh and Mohsen Bagheri were assassinated and fell as martyrs,' the agency said, citing a Revolutionary Guards statement. The deaths of Kazemi and his deputy were also announced by Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said. Iran has vowed to 'open the gates of hell' in retaliation in what has emerged as the biggest-ever confrontation between old enemies. Kazemi was appointed as IRGC intelligence chief in mid-2022 to replace Hossein Taeb, who was dismissed as Turkiye arrested eight people working for an alleged Iranian terror cell that planned to murder Israeli tourists in Istanbul.
