WASHINGTON – The top commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East sharply criticized Iran on Tuesday for recent high-speed maneuvers by Iranian patrol boats in the Persian Gulf that in one case prompted a U.S. Navy ship to fire warning shots.
Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters at the Pentagon that these episodes involving the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps naval forces are worrying because they risk triggering a dangerous escalation.
“What we see with the Iranians is not particularly responsible,” Votel said. “It is provocative, in some cases; it’s unsafe. And it can lead to situations where we may not be able to de-escalate in a time before something happens.”
HONOLULU –Residents of Hawaii’s Big Island were evacuating animals and stockpiling water Tuesday, bracing for what could be the first hurricane to make landfall in the state in decades.
The National Weather Service issued a hurricane warning as the major Category 3 storm dubbed Madeline hurtled west toward the island, urging residents to rush through preparations to protect themselves and their property and expect hurricane conditions within the next 36 hours.
Hurricane Madeline is expected to weaken but likely will remain a hurricane as it passes the state, Chevalier said.
Forecasters are expecting Madeline to pass just south of the Big Island around 2 a.m. Thursday.
BEIRUT – The Islamic State group’s spokesman and chief strategist, who laid out the blueprint for the extremist group’s attacks against the West, has been killed while overseeing operations in northern Syria, the group announced Tuesday.
The Islamic State-run Aamaq news agency said Abu Muhammed al-Adnani was “martyred while surveying the operations to repel the military campaigns in Aleppo,” and vowed to avenge his death. It did not provide any further details on when or how he died.
If confirmed, it would be a major blow to the extremist group, which has been on the retreat in Syria and Iraq, where the borders of its self-declared Islamic caliphate have been steadily eroded in recent months.
Associated Press
