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HONG KONG: The slim World Cup qualification hopes of both China and Qatar could finally end this week while Iran could become the first Asian nation to book their place in next year's finals in Russia.

Carlos Queiroz's team take on Uzbekistan in Tehran on Monday evening knowing a win over the Central Asian nation will ensure the Iranians qualify for the World Cup for the second time in a row, the first time the country will have secured a place at back-to-back tournaments.

The Iranians lead Group A by four points from South Korea with the Uzbeks in third, a further point adrift of Iran with three games remaining.

The Chinese sit in fifth and take on fourth-placed Syria in the Malaysian city of Malacca on Tuesday with coach Marcello Lippi knowing his side must win to retain any possibility of qualification for the nation's first World Cup since 2002.

"It is totally within our capabilities to defeat Syria," said Lippi after seeing his side beat the Philippines 8-1 in a friendly in Guangzhou on Wednesday evening.

"If we lose to Syria both at home and away, then we deserve to be eliminated. If we don't want to give up now, no matter what we have to take down Syria."

The Syrians, who have defied the odds to remain in contention for a place in Russia and have eight points from seven games, won the previous match between the teams prior to Lippi's arrival as coach in November.

China sit on five points and retain a mathematical possibility of taking second place in the group from South Korea, but Lippi and his team need Uli Stielke's side to slip up in Doha when they take on a Qatar team who also need to win.

The Qataris, who will host the 2022 finals, have just four points and cannot finish in one of the top two spots that guarantee an automatic berth in Russia. They can, however, climb up to third, which secures a place in a series of playoffs.

In Group B, Japan can put daylight between themselves and second placed Saudi Arabia with victory over already eliminated Iraq in Tehran on Tuesday.

Japan currently sit level on 16 points with the Saudis and Australia, who defeated the Bert van Marwijk-coached Saudis 3-2 in Adelaide on Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates, under new coach Edgardo Bauza from Argentina, must win in Bangkok against Thailand to keep their hopes alive of a first World Cup appearance since 1990.

(Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)

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China, Qatar face elimination as Iran look to Russia - Channel NewsAsia

wbur

Comey testifies. A new FBI Director nominated. Iran terror attack. Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

James Comey above all this week, in testimony on Capitol Hill, and the question: Did the President of the United States attempt to obstruct justice in conversation with the former director of the FBI? The whole country seemed to be listening. In the UK this week, a stunning election result puts Britain and its Brexit in trouble. In the Mideast, a row over Qatar, and terror in Tehran. Weve got Trump on infrastructure. Reality Winner. Bill Cosby on trial. This hourOn Point: Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines. -- Tom Ashbrook

Lisa Desjardins, correspondent for the PBS NewsHour. (@LisaDNews)

Michael Crowley, senior foreign affairs correspondent for POLITICO.(@michaelcrowley)

Jack Beatty,On Point news analyst. (@JackBeattyNPR)

POLITICO:Comey blasts White House for lies, plain and simple -- "Fired FBI Director James Comey used a blockbuster appearance before the Senate on Thursday to accuse the Trump administration of slandering him with its explanations of his abrupt dismissal, but also said he did not believe President Donald Trump or his aides asked him to stop the broad probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election."

New York Times:Who is Christopher Wray? Trumps F.B.I. Pick Is Said to Be Low-Key and Principled "Mr. Wray is a safe, mainstream pick from a president who at one point was considering politicians for a job that has historically been kept outside partisanship. A former assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush, Mr. Wray is likely to assuage the fears of F.B.I. agents who worried that Mr. Trump would try to weaken or politicize the agency."

Tehran Times:Twin terror attacks hit Irans parliament, Imam Khomeini shrine -- "Iran's parliament and the mausoleum of Imam Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Revolution, were targeted on Wednesday morning by two simultaneous gun and suicide bomb assaults. The attacks unfolded as a number of gunmen stormed the main gate of the parliament building in central Tehran and opened fire. At the same time, a shooting spree targeted Imam Khomeinis shrine about 25 kilometers away in south Tehran."

Comey Hearing

Lisa Desjardins: "It was quite a hearing, and it had a lot of billing to live up to. I think it did that. I counted 259 questions in just over two and half hours yesterday, so that was more than one a minute. It was essentially a marathon at a sprinter's pace, if that makes sense. And I think what came across from that was more of an overall impression of the direction of the clouds, if you will, over President Trump ... There were some very large red flags that rose higher yesterday, but overall Republicans prosecuted their case against Mr. Comey, trying to bring up the point that, well obstruction of justice may not be something when a president says he 'hopes' you can see to do something. It has to be more clear than that. And Mr. Comey, while he said he felt he was being directed to do something, stressed that it was a feeling he had. This hasn't cleared the bar for obstruction of justice yet, Democrats are still making that case, but Republicans were happy that it seemed to fall short, at least so far.

Michael Crowley: "The Trump team and the Republican party have been hitting back on Comey pretty hard, and I would say given the terrible hand they've been dealt here, relatively effectively. Overall, Comey comes across as a sincere, credible, devoted now-former public servant. And I think that in a vacuum, if you didn't have partisan allegiances, I think most Americans, it's hard to imagine, would not find him incredibly compelling and credible. But there has been this organized counter-attack against his testimony that I think is probably scoring some points, certainly giving something for Republicans and Trump's core supporters to hang on to.

It has to worry them that this crack is going to widen and perhaps engulf them.

Jack Beatty: "This president has shown throughout the campaign, and certainly since his inauguration, that he has a almost wanton disregard for the truth, whether it's lying or dissembling or deceit whatever you want to call it, there's numerical markers for this. And Mr. Comey went right at that that is the character flaw in the president that makes defending him a very difficult proposition. And that has to, at some level, worry Republicans. Yes, I think Michael is right, they're rallying around as far as they can, but it has to worry them that this crack is going to widen and perhaps engulf them.

Britain Election Upset

Michael Crowley: "It really is a surreal turn of events in British politics, which has been chaotic for several years now, and what we're left with is kind of a scrambled egg. And I think people are still sorting through it and trying to figure out what emerges ... This backfired spectacularly on Theresa May, and what we can't be sure of is what role Donald Trump might have played here. Donald Trump, who is very unpopular in the UK and across Europe. May, of course, very early in Trump's presidency, went to the White House. They had a very chummy meeting, they rather famously held hands as they walked along the back of the White House outside the rose garden ... There are just all kinds of tides and currents happening in European politics right now, that I think we don't fully understand, and which are just causing chaos across the Western world.

There are just all kinds of tides and currents happening in European politics right now, that I think we don't fully understand, and which are just causing chaos across the Western world.

Trump's 'Infrastructure Week'

Lisa Desjardins: "We don't what kind of impact this would have on, say, taxes. Is he planning to use tax incentives to try and encourage businesses? That would have a major effect, potentially, on the deficit. There is no actual formal plan yet, there are just sort of bullet points that we've heard from the White House about what they would like to do. I think more than anything I don't want to rain on the infrastructure parade, because it is something that everyone recognizes as a need, and Democrats and Republicans both would like to work on but the truth is that congress is so backed up and so unable, right now, to find the votes for major issues, including health care and then tax reform, that it's not clear at all when a major infrastructure plan could get on the agenda.

Listen to our recent show on Trump's infrastructure plan.

This program aired on June 9, 2017.

Originally posted here:
Week In The News: Comey Hearing, Trump Tumult, Terror In Iran - WBUR

Tehran - Iran voiced its opposition on Saturday to an announcement by Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region that it will organise a vote on independence later this year.

"Iran's principal position is to support the territorial integrity of Iraq," foreign ministry spokesperson Bahram Ghasemi said.

"The Kurdistan region is part of the Iraqi republic and unilateral decisions outside the national and legal framework, especially the Iraqi constitution... can only lead to new problems."

Iraqi Kurdish leaders announced on Wednesday that they will organise an independence referendum on September 25, not only in their three-province autonomous region but also in other historically Kurdish-majority areas they have long sought to incorporate in it.

Iran worries about separatism among its own Kurds, most of whom live in areas along the border with Iraq.

Deadly clashes

Rebels of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) launch sporadic attacks into Iran from rear-bases in Iraq, triggering sometimes deadly clashes with the security forces.

After an upsurge attacks in 2011, Iranian troops launched a cross-border incursion, forcing KDPI to retreat deeper into Iraq.

The federal government in Baghdad is deeply opposed to the referendum plan of the regional government in Arbil, as is neighbouring Turkey, which has a large and restive Kurdish minority of its own.

Washington has expressed concern that it could distract from the joint fight against the Islamic State group by stoking tensions between the Kurds, and Arabs and Turkmen in northern Iraq.

"An integrated, stable and democratic Iraq guarantees the interests of the whole people [of Iraq] from all ethnic and religious groups," Ghasemi said.

"Today, Iraq more than ever needs peace and national unity and differences between Arbil and Baghdad must be resolved within the framework of dialogue and in compliance with Iraq's constitution."

24.com encourages commentary submitted via MyNews24. Contributions of 200 words or more will be considered for publication.

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Iran opposes Iraqi Kurdish independence vote - News24

Police officers run to take position around Iran's parliament building in Tehran after an assault by several attackers. Four attackers reportedly reached the building's interior, and an explosion was heard, although it was unclear whether it was a suicide bomb or a grenade. Ali Khara/AP hide caption

Police officers run to take position around Iran's parliament building in Tehran after an assault by several attackers. Four attackers reportedly reached the building's interior, and an explosion was heard, although it was unclear whether it was a suicide bomb or a grenade.

Two teams of attackers used gunfire and explosives to strike Iran's parliament and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran on Wednesday, according to state media. The twin attacks killed at least 12 people and wounded 42 others.

"Deputy Interior Minister Hossein Zolfaqari said that the terrorists had entered the parliament in [women's] dress," Iran's state news agency reports. It adds that a female assailant detonated herself outside the mausoleum.

The Iranian Intelligence Ministry says it foiled a third attack and is asking people to avoid public transportation, state broadcaster IRIB reports.

The Islamic State, via its Amaq News Agency, claimed responsibility for the attacks, NPR's Alison Meuse reports.

In addition to the dual attacks claimed by ISIS on the parliament building and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini Iranian intelligence says it foiled a third attack. Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images hide caption

In addition to the dual attacks claimed by ISIS on the parliament building and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini Iranian intelligence says it foiled a third attack.

Alison translated the extremist group's message to: "Fighters from the Islamic State have attacked the Khomeini shrine and the parliament building in central Tehran."

The message quotes an ISIS "security source," which Alison says is typical for such claims.

In an unusual move, the group also released a short video that it said was taken by one of the attackers inside parliament. In it, a gunman is seen leaving an office area where a man lies wounded and not moving on the floor. A security siren and gunfire are heard as men yell in Arabic.

At the parliament building, four attackers reached the interior, where they shot at security guards, according to IRIB. It says one of the attackers exploded a suicide vest inside the building, though other local news agencies said the explosion may have been caused by grenades thrown by the attackers.

The second attack at the shrine of Khomeini, the nation's first supreme leader came within an hour of the assault on the legislature. Assailants reportedly killed a security guard and wounded 12 other people, and a suicide bomber also detonated an explosive vest. Four attackers were said to have targeted the shrine.

Despite the violence at Iran's parliament Wednesday morning, lawmakers returned to business by the afternoon. Officials say the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps helped security forces control the situation.

"As you know, some coward terrorists infiltrated a building in Majlis [Parliament], but they were seriously confronted," Speaker Ali Larijani said. "This is a minor issue but reveals that the terrorists pursue troublemaking."

The U.S. State Department offered condolences to victims and their families, saying in a statement, "The depravity of terrorism has no place in a peaceful, civilized world."

Iran is deeply involved in the fight against ISIS, both in Iraq and Syria, and along with Russia is a major backer of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

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Twin Attacks Hit Iran's Parliament And Khomeini Mausoleum ...

When terrorists strike Iran, they usually target the Sistan-Baluchistan province on the countrys border with Pakistan.

It was there in April that Jaish al-Adl, a Sunni Muslim insurgent group, killed 10 Iranian border guards. Between 2013 to 2015, the group killed at least 22 other border guards in a bid to call attention to religious discrimination against Irans Sunni population.

Terrorist attacks in major Iranian cities are rare, which is one reason the near-simultaneous assaults Wednesday in Tehran were so remarkable.

They struck at the heart of the capital the parliament building and the shrine of the founder of the Islamic Republic leaving 17 people dead and dozens more injured. Islamic State quickly claimed responsibility for what would be its first successful terrorist operation on Iranian soil.

Irans Intelligence Ministry said five of the assailants were Iranians who had left the country to join the militant group, then returned last year, according to the state news agency.

So how has the Iranian government generally managed to avoid violence on such a scale?

For starters, demographics. The majority of Iranians are Shiite Muslims.

That makes them prime targets for Islamic State militants, who are Sunnis and consider Shiites to be apostates. But it also makes it difficult for the extremist group to successfully recruit Iranians to carry out attacks in their homeland.

About 9% of Iranians are Sunni, but most live in impoverished hinterlands. It is difficult for them to carry out attacks in more populated areas because of the travel, expense and logistics involved.

Iran also has a strong grip on domestic security. The police force, state Basij militia and border guards are deployed throughout the country, including the sensitive border region where many Sunnis live. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also has its own counter-terrorism unit responsible for gathering intelligence and carrying out covert operations within the country and abroad.

After Islamic State rose to prominence in 2014, Iran had to come up with a new counter-terrorism strategy, according to Ariane Tabatabai, an assistant professor of security studies at Georgetown University

Iran noticed the Islamic State was more brutal and had a clear anti-Shiite and anti-Iran agenda, she said.

Part of Irans strategy included a military offensive in Iraq and Syria to prevent fighting from spilling over into Iran. Iran sends military advisors to Iraq to help fight Islamic State and money and equipment to Syria to prop up President Bashar Assad.

In March 2016, the Iranian parliament voted to increase its counter-terrorism and cybersecurity budget with the aim of increasing surveillance to identify potential Islamic State operatives. Not long after, Iranian officials said they had prevented 1,500 Iranians from joining Islamic State and uncovered and stopped a terrorist operation that was planning attacks on 50 different targets in Tehran.

Iran also runs a propaganda campaign aimed at deterring Sunnis from radicalization.

It puts out messages both domestically and across its borders to counter Islamic States use of Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites to recruit fighters. While the militant group plays up sectarian divides to appeal to Sunni minorities who face discrimination, Iranian propaganda downplays religious differences.

Iran is reaching out to people beyond its border to say that the Islamic State is not actually Islamic and that there is no difference between Sunnis and Shiites, Tabatabai said. Iran has had a tough time selling that message to people, but its trying.

In March, Islamic State released a 36-minute video message in Persian urging Irans Sunni population to attack the countrys Shiite-led government.

Its unclear whether that inspired any of the assailants in the attack this week. But it is clear that Iran is a desirable target for the extremists.

This attack shows us how Iran is no longer immune, said Vali Nasr, dean of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Attacks that we have seen in other Middle East cities and Western capitals [are] now happening in Tehran. Citizens cannot trust it wont happen again.

melissa.etehad@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter @melissaetehad

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Islamic State rarely carries out terrorist attacks in Iran ...