March 29 (Net): Iranian forces “are waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever,” the country’s parliament speaker Mo-hammad Bagher Qalibaf said.
Qalibaf added: “Our firing continues. Our missiles are in place. Our determination and faith have increased.”
The comments came as regional powers were meeting in Pakistan to discuss how to end the fighting in the Middle East as about 2,500 U.S. Marines arrived in the region and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels entered the month long war.
The war has threatened global supplies of oil and natural gas, sparked fertilizer shortages and dis-rupted air travel. Iran’s grip on the strategic Strait of Hormuz has shaken markets and prices.
Meanwhile, Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al Sabah said Sunday that what the region is witnessing is “systematic pattern of undermining regional stability led by Iran”, as the monthlong war continues to destabilize the region.
In a statement reported by the state-run Kuna news agency, Al Sabah said that Iran is destabilizing the region through “exploiting chaos and terrorism as tools of influence.”
Kuwait’s Armed Forces said Sunday that projectile attacks injured 10 members of its forces, and its Defense Ministry said that the warehouses of a private logistics company were hit, resulting in on-ly material damage, as the country intercepted 26 other Iranian missiles and drones over the past 24 hours.
Also on Sunday, Qatar and Bahrain said that they intercepted missiles and drones launched toward them.
In another development, nearly a thousand people gathered in central Istanbul Sunday afternoon despite heavy rains to protest the ongoing conflicts in Iran, Lebanon and Palestine.
Organized by several religious conservative NGOs, the rally featured slogans like, “Resist, Gaza will prevail” and “Muslims don’t bow to oppression,” as well as signs saying, “Killer Israel, Killer United States” and criticizing the Israeli closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
“We are here for all the oppressed in the world. Lebanon, Iran, Palestine, yesterday it was Vene-zuela, tomorrow it will probably be Cuba, we are here for all of them,” protester Mehmet Yilmaz told The Associated Press.
“When Iran launches a missile, despite claiming no one can hurt them with their Iron Dome, the Israelis all scurry into their underground holes like mice the second the sirens blare,” a protester said.
