US-Iran crisis: Iran eyes Trump’s property portfolio as a million people attend Soleimani’s funeral procession
A senior Iranian has published a list of properties owned by US President Donald Trump as the two nations make threats over possible military targets.
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A top adviser to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has signalled that a terror attack could be carried out on American properties owned by US President Donald Trump in the wake of the killing of General Soleimani.
Hasameddin Ashena tweeted a link to a Forbes article listing large Trump estates throughout the US, indicating that his multi-billion dollar estate is in the crosshairs.
— Hesameddin Ashena (@hesamodin1) January 5, 2020
The menacing tweet implies that Iran intends to target Mr Trump’s $A4.5 billion real estate empire, making things a lot more personal than the President may be comfortable with, The Sun reports.
It came as an estimated one million people turned out in Tehran for Soleimani’s funeral and a new video emerged apparently showing Soleimani’s body being flown back to Tehran in the economy section of a plane.
Ashena’s tweet linked to Forbes’ latest estimate of Trump’s financial situation that lists nine properties in New York that have a combined estimated value of $A2.2 billion.
The list includes Mar-a Lago estate, Trump Tower and 40 Wall Street as well as Trump International hotels in Washington, Las Vegas and Chicago.
It also lists his golf courses and the two private aeroplanes he has left from his disastrous Trump airline.
Both sides seem to have various properties in mind for their next target should the other make a move.
Mr Trump doubled down on his threat to target Iranian cultural sites, saying Iran cannot “kill our people” without fear of retribution.
“They’re allowed to kill our people. They’re allowed to torture and maim our people. They’re allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people. And we’re not allowed to touch their cultural site?” Mr Trump asked aboard Air Force One on his way back to Washington, DC.
“It doesn’t work that way.”
Mr Ashena was at pains yesterday to clarify that Tehran is not against the American people, but against Mr Trump himself.
He said: “We have ZERO problems with the American people. We even achieved deals with previous US administrations.
“Our sole problem is Trump. In the event of war, it is he who will bear full responsibility.”
Meanwhile, senior Democrat Nancy Pelosi announced that she plans on taking measures to potentially curb President Trump’s ability to conduct military operations against Iran.
“This week, the House will introduce and vote on a War Powers Resolution to limit the President’s military actions regarding Iran,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to fellow Democrats.
“It reasserts Congress’s long-established oversight responsibilities by mandating that if no further Congressional action is taken, the Administration’s military hostilities with regard to Iran cease within 30 days.”
The first War Powers Resolution was passed in 1973 in an effort to prevent presidents from using the military without congressional approval.
On Saturday, the White House sent Congress formal notification of the drone strike under the War Powers Act, a senior administration official told The Associated Press.
ONE MILLION FARWELL SLAIN LEADER
Iran’s supreme leader wept over the casket of Soleimani, 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.
The funeral for Soleimani drew a crowd said by police to be in the millions in the Iranian capital, filling thoroughfares and side streets as far as the eye could see.
Although there was no independent estimate, aerial footage and Associated Press journalists suggested a turnout of at least one million, and the throngs even were visible on satellite images of Tehran.
Authorities later brought his remains and those of the others to Iran’s holy city of Qom, turning out another massive crowd.
It was an unprecedented honour for a man viewed by Iranians as a national hero for his work leading the Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force.
The US blames him for the killing of American troops in Iraq and accused him of plotting new attacks just before his death.
Soleimani also led forces in Syria backing President Bashar Assad in a long war.
Soleimani’s daughter, Zeinab, directly threatened the US military in the Middle East while also warning President Donald Trump, whom she called “crazy.”
“The families of the American soldiers … will spend their days waiting for the death of their children,” she said to cheers.
Her language mirrored warnings by other Iranian officials who say an attack on US military interests in the Middle East looms. Iranian state TV and others online shared a video that showed Trump’s American flag tweet following Soleimani’s killing turn into a coffin, the “likes” of the tweet replaced by over 143,000 “killed.”
SLAIN GENERAL’S BODY FLOWN ECONOMY BACK TO IRAN
The remains of Soleimani were apparently placed in a cardboard box and flown out of Iraq across rows of passenger seats, new video shows.
The recording shot aboard a Mahan Air flight and posted on Twitter appears to show Soleimani’s coffin and those of others killed in the attack on an Airbus from Mashhad to Mehrabad Airport in Tehran — as a tribute video plays on one of the plane’s screens.
Babak Taghvaee, who describes himself as a defence analyst and freelance writer, posted the video on Twitter.
#BREAKING: An Airbus A300-603R of #MahanAir transported corpses of Qasem #Soleimani & Abu-Mahdi Al-Muhandis from #Mashhad to #Mehrabad Intl Airport, #Tehran. Their coffins were put on the passenger seats instead of being loaded in cargo/baggage compartments! pic.twitter.com/NnmKBvL8KB
— Babak Taghvaee (@BabakTaghvaee) January 5, 2020
Corpse of Qasem #Soleimani, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and others arrived at Qadr Air Base of #IRGC Aerospace Force in #Mehrabad International Airport of #Tehran. EP-MNG is an Airbus A300B4-603 of #MahanAir which was used to transfer the corpses from #Mashhad to #Tehran tonight. pic.twitter.com/CR5QUiY5Ka
— Babak Taghvaee (@BabakTaghvaee) January 5, 2020
The New York Post reports that Soleimani’s coffin was laid across rows of passenger seats instead of transported in the cargo hold.
The coffins bear the images of Soleimani, the leader of the elite Quds Force, and Abu-Mahdi Al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iranian-supported militia group in Iraq.
Both men were among those killed in the drone strike at Baghdad International Airport.
Soleimani’s casket was met by thousands of mourners as it was paraded through the streets of Mashhad before being transported to Tehran.
Soleimani’s remains will be taken to his hometown of Kerman for burial.
IRAN SCRAPS COMMITMENT TO NUKES DEAL
The growing fallout from the US strike saw Tehran abandon its nuclear limits and Iraq’s parliament vote to expel American troops.
Iran warned it would target the White House, as a eulogist at a televised funeral for Major General Qasem Soleimani issued a $115 million bounty for US President Donald Trump.
Two rockets also hit near the US embassy in Iraq’s capital, the second night in a row that the Green Zone was hit and the 14th time over the last two months that US installations were targeted.
Iran’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement brings it closer to building an atomic bomb and if Iraqi leadership enforces the removal of US troops it will deal a significant blow to efforts to fight Islamic State.
Mr Trump reacted with fury to the push from Iraq, a current ally of America, to oust US troops.
“If they do ask us to leave, if we don’t do it in a very friendly basis. We will charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before ever,” he told reporters on Air Force One.
“It’ll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame.”
He also doubled down on his threat to target up to 52 significant Iran targets, including cultural and religious sites.
“They’re allowed to kill our people? They’re allowed to torture and maim our people? They’re allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people? And we’re not allowed to touch their cultural sites? It doesn’t work that way,” he said.
Mr Trump also said he would “strike back … perhaps in a disproportionate manner” if Iran launched military action.
“Soleimani was a monster responsible for THOUSANDS of American deaths, and the world is a better place without him in it,” he said in a statement.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also defended the strike, declaring Soleimani “was a bad guy and it was time to take him out”.
“We would have been culpably negligent had we not taken this action,” he said.
“The American people would have said that we weren’t doing the right thing to protect and defend American lives.”
Soleimani and a top Iraq militia leader were killed on Friday by a US rocket strike on their convoy near Baghdad international airport.
The leader of the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Soleimani was one of the Middle East’s most powerful actors and co-ordinated terror attacks as far afield as Thailand and India.
Considered one of America’s top terrorist targets, he was a revered figure in Iran and his death prompted immediate calls for revenge.
During a eulogy at his televised funeral, a speaker announced a bounty of A$115 million, or US$80 million, for Mr Trump.
“Iran has 80 million inhabitants. Based on the Iranian population, we want to raise $80 million, which is a reward for those who get close to the head of President Trump,” the eulogist said, according to the Saudi broadcaster, Al Arabiya.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani yesterday said his government would no longer observe limits on fuel enrichment. Tehran will also step back from limiting size of its uranium stockpiles and increase research and development.
In Iraq, parliament voted to get foreign military out of the country, including more than 5000 US troops who have been helping the Iraq army fight Islamic State.
It was not immediately clear how such a withdrawal, which would need to be ratified by the government, would work and the US was seeking further details.
A State Department spokesman said the US was “disappointed” by the move and strongly urged Iraq to reconsider.
“We believe it is in the shared interests of the United States and Iraq to continue fighting ISIS together,” the spokesman said.