Washington, Dec 28:
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by telephone with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan and discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and Sweden’s accession to NATO, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Wednesday.
“Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Fidan continued their discussion on the timing of Sweden’s NATO accession, the Israel-Hamas conflict and the importance of increasing the speed and scale of humanitarian assistance to Gaza,” Miller said.
On Friday, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution on facilitating deliveries of humanitarian aid into Gaza. However, the United States vetoed a Russian-proposed amendment calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
Fidan said earlier that efficient deliveries of much-needed humanitarian assistance to Gaza must be ensured.
On Tuesday, the foreign affairs committee in the Turkish Parliament approved Sweden’s bid for membership in NATO. The next step in the ratification process is a full vote by parliament and the final step is approval by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Iran vows revenge
Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) vowed Wednesday to take “tough” revenge on Israel for killing a senior Iranian commander in Syria.
Ramezan Sharif, a spokesman for the IRGC, made the comments at a press conference in the capital Tehran, where he denounced Israel’s Monday missile attack on Damascus that killed Seyyed Razi Mousavi, the Iranian Students’ News Agency reported.
Sharif added that the IRGC would take “tough revenge on Israel this time too,” as it had done after previous incidents.
Mousavi was one of the IRGC’s veteran commanders who served as a “military adviser” in Syria and a comrade of the late Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad airport in January 2020, according to IRGC statements.
Iranian Ambassador to Damascus Hossein Akbari told the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network on Monday that Mousavi was hit by three missiles while he was alone at his home at 4:10 p.m. local time (1310 GMT) after returning from work.
Earlier this month, the IRGC said two of its members were killed by Israeli forces “while conducting an advisory mission in Syria’s Islamic resistance front.” Iran says it has an advisory role in Syria and is there at the invitation of Damascus. Israel has repeatedly targeted what it says are Iran-linked positions in Syria.
