House ready to hold special session amid Middle East tension
MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives is ready to hold a special session to map contingency plans for Filipinos in the Middle East amid brewing tension in the region.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier urged the Congress to hold a special session as tensions rise between the United States and Iran.
House Majority Leader Rep. Martin Romualdez (Leyte) said the lower chamber of Congress is waiting for
The lawmaker said
Middle East tension a major concern
"We agree with the president's pronouncement that the rising tension in the Middle East is a major concern that needs urgent legislative attention," Romualdez said in a statement.
"We are ready to clothe the executive with all the powers needed to make sure that every Filipino is safe and secure in these trying times," the lawmaker added.
Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano
Section 87, Rule XI of the House rules state that, "The Speaker, in consultation with the Majority and Minority Leaders and their Senate counterparts, may convene the House in session
During a Cabinet meeting Monday night, Duterte formed a special working committee composed of several Cabinet members to come up with plans for the evacuation of Filipinos in Iraq, Iran and nearby Arab countries.
The president also directed the Armed Forces of the Philippines to prepare its air and naval assets for the evacuation of Filipinos in the Middle East in case war breaks out between the US and Iran.
Tensions rose between Washington and Tehran after the death of Iranian general
Saudi Arabia reveals extensive damage to key oil facilities following weekend aerial strikes that were blamed on Iran, but vows to quickly restore full production even as regional tensions soar.
Yemen's Tehran-linked Huthi rebels, who announced a sudden halt to attacks on Saudi Arabia, claims the strikes on state giant Aramco's facilities in Khurais and the world's largest oil processing facility at Abqaiq.
But Washington has pointed the finger at Tehran, condemning an "act of war" which knocked out half of Saudi Arabia's oil production and on Friday prompted US President Donald Trump to sketch out the latest in a series of economic sanctions against Iran. — AFP
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday accused his US counterpart of "inciting chaos" after President Joe Biden expressed support for protests in the wake of Mahsa Amini's death in custody.
"The remarks of the American president, who is inciting chaos, terror and the destruction of another country, serve as a reminder of the eternal words of the founder of the Islamic republic, who called America the Great Satan," Raisi says, referring to the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei.
"The enemy's plot must be countered by effective measures to resolve people's problems," Raisi adds, according to a presidency statement.
Iran has been rocked by protests since 22-year-old Amini's death on September 16, three days after she was arrested by morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating the country's strict dress code for women. — AFP
Detained US citizen Baquer Namazi has been allowed to leave Iran and his son has been granted furlough from prison, a State Department spokesperson tells AFP, confirming their release.
"Wrongfully detained US citizen Baquer Namazi has been permitted to depart Iran, and his son Siamak, also wrongfully detained, has been granted furlough from prison," the spokesperson says. — AFP
President Joe Biden says the United States will place "further costs" on Iran in response to the violent crackdown against "peaceful protestors" in the country.
"This week, the United States will be imposing further costs on perpetrators of violence against peaceful protestors. We will continue holding Iranian officials accountable and supporting the rights of Iranians to protest freely," Biden says in a statement.
Biden says he is "gravely concerned about reports of the intensifying violent crackdown on peaceful protestors in Iran, including students and women, who are demanding their equal rights and basic human dignity."
"The United States stands with Iranian women and all the citizens of Iran who are inspiring the world with their bravery." — AFP
The United States rejects Iranian reports that Tehran's release of two detained Americans will lead to the unfreezing of Iranian funds abroad.
Baquer Namazi, 85, was permitted to leave Iran for medical treatment abroad, and his son Siamak, 50, was released from detention in Tehran, the United Nations said on Saturday.
Now Iran is awaiting the release of about $7 billion in funds frozen abroad, Iranian state media says.
"With the finalisation of negotiations between Iran and the United States to release the prisoners of both countries, $7 billion of Iran's blocked resources will be released," the state news agency IRNA says.
But the US State Department dismissed any such link as "categorically false."
"Baquer Namazi was unjustly detained in Iran and then not permitted to leave the country after serving his sentence, despite his repeated requirement for urgent medical attention," a department spokesperson says. — AFP
Iran's foreign minister said Sunday that Washington is "imposing new conditions" in the negotiations to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement.
"On the issue of lifting sanctions, they (the Americans) are interested in proposing and imposing new conditions outside the negotiations," state news agency IRNA quoted Hossein Amir-Abdollahian as saying.
"In the last two or three weeks, the American side has made excessive demands that contradict some paragraphs of the text," he added.
Iran has been engaged for a year in negotiations with France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China directly, and the United States indirectly in the Austrian capital to revive the deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). -- AFP
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