Iran Updates: Trump vows to hit Iran “hard” tonight, Hegseth says U.S. willing to “negotiate with bombs” if needed
The United States, United Kingdom, Australia and 18 other countries have called on Iran to halt its “lethal plotting and other malign actions” across Europe, North America and Australia.
In a joint statement published Wednesday, the group of countries, which includes Canada, France, and several other European nations, said Iran had a long-standing relationship with “international and local criminal groups,” adding “their use of these groups is deplorable.”
“Attempts to kill, kidnap, harass, intimidate, or otherwise attack people on our soil, undermines national sovereignty and international norms,” read the bulletin. “These actions must stop immediately.”
The group attributed the nefarious activities to Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps; its Quds Force, which runs foreign operations; and the country’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security.
It also condemned “the recent campaign of attacks across Europe targeting Jewish communities, Iranian journalists, and U.S. interests, claimed by Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya and supported by their intermediaries.”
The seemingly Iran-aligned Ashab al-Yamin group, whose name translates to The Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Righteous, has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on Jewish communities in the U.K. and Europe in the last few months.
In an interview with CBS News in March, a representative of the group said, “We’ll keep threatening U.S. and Israeli interests worldwide until we’ve avenged every child in Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, and the resistance nations.”
The full list of signatories to the joint statement is: United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden.
Germany and Spain, whose leaders have recently fallen out with President Trump over the war, did not sign the letter.
