Trump warns Iran against retaliation, threatens cultural sites
Washington: US President Donald Trump on Sunday vowed "major retaliation" if Iran tries to avenge the killing of its key military commander Qasem Soleimani and doubled down on a threat to bomb Iranian cultural sites.
"If they do anything there will be major retaliation," Trump told reporters.
Trump, speaking on Air Force One on his way back to Washington from a vacation in Florida, also said he would impose "very big sanctions" on Iraq if it follows through on a parliament vote calling for the expulsion of US troops based in the country.
The president's rhetoric added to already spiraling tensions in the Middle East following the killing by the United States of Soleimani -- one of the most important figures in the Iranian government -- in a drone strike near Baghdad's international airport.
Trump had already threatened widespread bombing of Iran if Tehran carries out its own threats to attack US troops and interests in the region.
In his latest comments, he dismissed strong criticism of his earlier warnings that targets could include unspecified cultural sites in Iran -- a country with an ancient heritage.
"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? It doesn't work that way," he said.
Trump's reaction to the Iraqi parliament vote urging the departure of US troops also illustrated the widening fallout from the decision to kill Soleimani last week.
He said that Iraq, a US ally, would be treated like foe Iran, whose economy has been devastated by US-led sanctions, if the troops were made to exit on unfavorable terms.
"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," Trump said.
"It'll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame." Trump said the US base in Iraq was "very extraordinarily expensive." "We're not leaving unless they pay us back for it," he said. (AFP)
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ISRO's PSLV-C62 lifts off with earth observation satellite, 14 other payloads
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) (PTI): ISRO's trusted workhorse PSLV lifted off from the spaceport here on Monday, carrying an earth observation satellite along with 14 other commercial payloads for both domestic and overseas customers.
Marking the first launch of the year, the mission is part of the contract secured by NewSpace India Ltd, the commercial arm of ISRO.
The 44.4 metre tall four-stage PSLV-C62 rocket soared from the first launch pad at a prefixed time of 10.18 hours on Monday.
After a journey of 17 minutes, it is expected to place the satellites into Sun Synchronous Orbit at an altitude of about 511 km.
After the separation of all the satellites, scientists would restart the fourth stage (PS4) of the rocket to de-boost and enter a re-entry trajectory for the separation of the last satellite, the Kestrel Initial Technology Demonstrator (KID) capsule.
This process is expected to last over two hours after lift-off.
Both the PS4 stage and the KID capsule would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and make a splashdown in the South Pacific Ocean, ISRO said.
