Iran
Israel draws a new red line — at the heart of the Iranian regime
In a dramatic and unmistakable shift, Israeli leadership has drawn a new red line — not around nuclear sites or proxy militias, but around the very heart of the Iranian regime.
A Spanish former politician who survived a shooting attack said on Friday he believed Iran's government had hired hitmen to assassinate him over his links to an Iranian dissident group
Alejo Vidal-Quadras © El Independiente
A Spanish former politician who survived a shooting attack said on Friday he believed Iran's government had hired hitmen to assassinate him over his links to an Iranian dissident group
Alejo Vidal-Quadras, who was shot outside his Madrid residence last Nov. 9, provided no evidence for the assertion.
Iran's foreign ministry was not immediately available for comment, and police have not released details of an investigation under way into the attack.
Vidal-Quadras headed the conservative People's Party in the Catalonia region in the 1990s, co-founded the far-right party Vox and was a vice-president of the European Parliament between 1999 and 2014.
At his first press conference since the shooting, he said he believed "the Iranian regime" ordered the attack because of his support for the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a Paris-based coalition of dissidents that calls for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.
"Let them hear me in Tehran - they didn't achieve their goal. I've miraculously saved my life and I intend to continue this fight for the rest of my life," he said, adding he now had more motivation to do so.
He said that on the day of the attack, he was about to enter his building when someone behind him said: "Hello, sir".
He turned his head and was shot, but the movement meant the bullet entered the lower side of his jaw and was not lethal.
Vidal-Quadras was included on an Iranian sanctions list issued in October 2022 in retaliation for EU sanctions imposed after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurd arrested for allegedly flouting Iran's mandatory dress code.
Four suspects have been arrested in connection with the attack, three of them in Spain and one in Colombia.
Reporting by David Latona and Michael Gore
In a dramatic and unmistakable shift, Israeli leadership has drawn a new red line — not around nuclear sites or proxy militias, but around the very heart of the Iranian regime.
Countries around the world are taking measures to evacuate their citizens from Israel and Iran as the two nations enter the seventh day of their air war and airspace in the region remains closed.
Israel's sweeping campaign of airstrikes aims to do more than destroy Iran's nuclear centrifuges and missile capabilities. It seeks to shatter the foundations of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's government and leave it near collapse, Israeli, Western and regional officials said.
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