Tel Aviv, May 21 (IANS) Three former US foreign policy officials in Donald Trump’s administration are in Israel and have met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the opposition leader, Yair Lapid.

The three aides are Robert O’Brien, who was Trump’s National Security Advisor (NSA), John Rakolta, former Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, and Ed McMullen, former Ambassador to Switzerland.

John Rakolta as the US Ambassador to the UAE was instrumental in normalizing the relationship of Israel with UAE and Bahrain and played a key role in signing the Abraham Accords.

The three are considered to be the close policy advisors of Donald Trump.

Sources in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office confirmed the visit of the three high-ranking former US officials, who are Trump’s close aides.

According to sources, the senior policy advisors have discussed with Netanyahu and Lapid the situation in Israel, the war with Hamas and the policy stand taken by the current US President Joe Biden.

It was during the period of Donald Trump as the US President between 2017 and 2021 that the capital of Israel was shifted from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — a long demand by the Israelis.

With Donald Trump being the Republican candidate for the US presidential post, he is trying to pitch himself as a much more reliable ally to Israel than Biden.

Sources in Israel’s Prime Minister’s office said that the three policy advisors of Trump have communicated to the Israeli leadership the wholehearted support of the Republican presidential candidate for the Israeli cause.

–IANS

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Tehran, May 21 (IANS) Iran’s government has decided that the country’s 14th presidential election will be held on June 28, the media reported.

The election date was determined in a meeting attended by Iran’s First Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber, currently assuming the presidency, Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, as well as Vice-President for Legal Affairs Mohammad Dehqan and representatives of the Iranian Constitutional Council and Interior Ministry, the report said on Monday.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and some members of his accompanying team, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, were confirmed dead on Monday morning as the wreckage of the helicopter carrying them was found following its crash in bad weather on Sunday near Varzaqan County, nearly 670 km away from Tehran.

According to Article 131 of Iran’s Constitution, the first Vice-President will take the helm of the executive branch if the President is unable to perform duties. Also, the interim President is duty-bound to make arrangements for the election of a new President within a maximum of 50 days, Xinhua news agency reported.

During the meeting, the participants also set the schedule for the election processes, including the formation of executive delegations, the registration of candidates, and the launch of electoral campaigns, according to IRNA.

Based on the schedule, the registration would be conducted from May 30 to June 3, following which candidates would have to conduct electoral campaigns from June 12 to 27, the report said.

According to IRNA, the Constitutional Council has initially consented to the schedule.

–IANS

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Dresden, May 21 (IANS/DPA) A lightning strike in the eastern German city of Dresden injured ten people, four of whom sustained severe injuries.

According to a fire service spokesman, two men, aged 27 and 30, were successfully resuscitated after experiencing cardiac arrest.

Amid severe weather conditions and a passing thunderstorm in Dresden, lightning struck the group on the banks of the Elbe river shortly after 5 p.m.

Three women and seven men aged between 26 and 41 were injured. Four of them suffered life-threatening injuries.

According to reports, all patients received initial emergency medical treatment and were transferred to neighbouring hospitals.

The police cordoned off the area and sent a helicopter to find any other injured people.

The emergency services called on people who had been in the area to seek immediate medical attention if they showed symptoms.

The fire brigade made a plea on Monday evening to anyone else who may have been injured, as they could not rule out that other people may have been affected and subsequently fled.

“If you are experiencing symptoms such as a racing heart, irregular heartbeat, numbness or tingling in your extremities, please see a doctor immediately!”

The German Weather Service in Leipzig had warned of severe thunderstorm activity in parts of Saxony.

For Dresden, they issued a thunderstorm risk warning of level two out of four. Police are continuing their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the accident.

–IANS/DPA

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Tehran, May 21 (IANS) Iranian Vice-President for Executive Affairs, Mohsen Mansouri, has said that the body of President Ebrahim Raisi would be buried on Thursday in the northeastern city of Mashhad.

He made the remarks on Monday while elaborating on the planned measures for the holding of the mourning ceremonies of Raisi and members of his accompanying team, who all died in a helicopter crash in the East Azerbaijan province on Sunday, according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency.

He noted that given the frequent requests by people in different provinces to attend the mourning ceremonies, the Iranian Education Ministry had cancelled all students’ exams from Tuesday to Friday, adding nationwide closure had been announced for Wednesday to better hold the mourning ceremonies, Xinhua news agency reported.

The funeral ceremonies would be held for Raisi in Tabriz, Qom, the capital Tehran, Birjand, and Mashhad from Tuesday to Thursday, and the President’s body would be buried in the holy shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad on Thursday night.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Monday declared five days of national mourning over the incident, according to a statement published on his website.

On Monday afternoon, a large number of people gathered in Tehran, mourning the tragic deaths of Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Governor of East Azerbaijan Province Malek Rahmati, and Iran’s supreme leader’s representative to East Azerbaijan Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem.

The crash occurred on Sunday in Varzaqan County as Raisi, along with his accompanying team on board three helicopters, was on his way from Khoda Afarin County, where he had attended the inauguration ceremony of a storage dam along with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev earlier on Monday, to the provincial capital Tabriz.

The members onboard Raisi’s helicopter lost their lives.

–IANS

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United Nations, May 21 (IANS) Members of the UN Security Council have observed a minute of silence to mourn the deaths of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and other passengers in the helicopter crash late last week.

At the beginning of a Security Council meeting on Monday morning, Mozambique’s UN ambassador Pedro Comissario Afonso, who chaired the meeting, asked all those present in the Security Council chamber to stand and observe a minute of silence for the tragic loss of life and to present condolences and sympathy to their families and the people of Iran, Xinhua news agency reported.

He said the minute of silence was requested by Russia, China, and Algeria.

–IANS

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