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Terrorism is fought on the frontlines in Syria and Iraq, Rouhani said at a press conference. “That’s where the real fight is, not in Riyadh.” (AFP)

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has scoffed at joint efforts by the United States and Iran’s regional rivals to combat Islamist terrorism, dismissing President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia as “show.”

Speaking after Trump’s two-day visit to Riyadh, Rouhani said, “This summit was a show and had no political value. It is not possible to fight terrorism with precisely these kinds of shows.”

The Iranian leader, who was recently re-elected to serve a second term, also slammed a multibillion-dollar arms deal signed between the US and Saudi Arabia during the visit, arguing that this would not solve the problem either.

Terrorism is fought on the frontlines in Syria and Iraq, Rouhani said at a press conference. “That’s where the real fight is, not in Riyadh.”

On the arms deal, Rouhani added, “We don’t need that. We produce our own weapons.”

He also slammed Washington’s decision to side with the Saudis, arguing that the Islamic kingdom was undemocratic: “The Saudis have never seen a ballot box in their life and don’t know what elections are.”

Iran and Saudi Arabia are fighting multiple proxy wars in the Middle East, most notably in Yemen and Syria. In both cases, the US sides with Saudi Arabia. At the same time, US and Iranian forces are both backing the government in Iraq against Islamic State militants.

Saudi forces have been accused of using excessive force during the fight to oust rebel forces in Yemen.

Trump gave a much-anticipated speech on combatting Islamist terrorism before Arab leaders in Riyadh on Sunday.

Walking back on the Islamophobic rhetoric of his previous speeches on home soil, Trump stressed that his administration was looking to strengthen partnerships across the region, and said the war on terrorism is not a fight between faiths but “a battle between good and evil.”

He struck a confrontational tone towards Tehran – one which had been avoided by his White House predecessor, Barack Obama – accusing Iran of funding and arming extremist militants in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.

“All nations of conscience must work together to isolate Iran,” Trump said.

Rowhani retaliated by criticizing Trump’s leadership. “We still do not know what the new US government plans and wants,” he said.

The Iranian president, however, did not rule out a meeting with his US counterpart.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif also hit out at the US in a series of sarcastic tweets on Monday.

“Of all places, the US president uses this bastion of democracy and moderation to attack Iran shortly after its democratic election,” Zarif wrote on Twitter.

Iran, which held presidential elections Friday, is a sharp contrast, Zarif noted, to the inherited monarchy that rules in Saudi Arabia.

He also used his series of tweets to accuse Trump of “milking” the Saudis with the new weapons deal.

PM Theresa May says authorities believe they know identity of suicide bomber who killed 22 people in Manchester.

A bomb disposal robot is unloaded outside the Manchester Arena [Nigel Roddis/EPA]

by Al Jazeera

UK police say they have arrested a 23-year old man in connection with a suicide bomb attack in Manchester which killed 23 people, including the attacker, and wounded dozens at a concert by US pop singer Ariana Grande.

An improvised explosive device went off late on Monday as thousands of – mostly young – fans streamed out of Manchester Arena in the northern English city at the end of Grande’s performance, police said.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) armed group through its social media channels, saying “one of the caliphate’s soldiers placed bombs among the crowds”.

The deadly explosion, which caused scenes of chaos and panic, sending screaming families and children fleeing, also wounded at least 59 concert-goers, many of whom are in critical condition.

“With regards to last night’s incident at the Manchester Arena, we can confirm we have arrested a 23-year-old man in South Manchester,” Greater Manchester Police said on Twitter on Tuesday.

The news of the arrest came minutes after British Prime Minister Theresa May said police knew the identity of the suspected suicide bomber – but could not yet announce the attacker’s name.

Speaking after an emergency meeting of the country’s top security committee, May condemned what she called a “callous terrorist attack”, calling it “among the worst terrorism we have experienced in the United Kingdom”.

She also repeated an earlier police statement which said that the attacker had carried out the attack alone. Yet, it was not yet clear if others had helped in the preparation.

The attack has been described as the deadliest on Britain since four men killed 52 people in suicide bombings on London’s transport system in July 2005.

Ian Hopkins,chief constable for Great Manchester, said children were among those confirmed dead. The explosion was caused by one man “carrying an improvised explosive device, which he detonated”, Hopkins told reporters on Tuesday morning.

The attack came ahead of a June 8 general election.

Earlier on Tuesday, UK politicians said they were suspending election campaigning until further notice following the events in Manchester.

Police responded to reports of an explosion shortly after 10:35pm (21:35 GMT) at the arena, which has the capacity to hold 21,000 people, where Grande had been performing to an audience that included many children.

Police responded to reports of an explosion shortly after 10:35pm (21:35 GMT) at the arena, which has the capacity to hold 21,000 people, where Grande had been performing to an audience that included many children.

“A huge bomb-like bang went off that hugely panicked everyone and we were all trying to flee the arena,” concert-goer Majid Khan, 22, told Britain’s Press Association.

Catherine Macfarlane told the Reuters news agency the blast hit after the concert was over.

“We were making our way out and when we were right by the door there was a massive explosion and everybody was screaming,” Macfarlane said.

“It was a huge explosion – you could feel it in your chest. It was chaotic. Everybody was running and screaming and just trying to get out.”
Greater Manchester Police tweeted asking people to stay away.

“The incident took place outside the venue in a public space,” police said. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims.”

The local ambulance service said on Twitter it had taken 59 casualties from the incident and treated “a number of walking wounded on scene”.

A “precautionary controlled explosion” was carried out near the venue on a package that was believed to be a suspect device, but turned out to be “abandoned clothing, not a suspicious item”.

Manchester Arena, which opened in 1995, is the largest indoor arena in Europe, according to its website.

A spokesman for Ariana Grande’s record label said the singer was “okay”. The concert was part of Grande’s The Dangerous Woman Tour.

Grande tweeted that she was “broken” after the incident.

Paula Robinson, 48, was at the train station next to the arena with her husband when she felt the explosion and saw dozens of teenage girls screaming and running away from the arena.

Robinson took several of them to the nearby Holiday Inn Express hotel and tweeted out her phone number to worried parents telling them to meet her there. She said her phone has not stopped ringing since her tweet.

“Parents were frantic running about trying to get to their children,” she said.

Corbyn said Tuesday he is “horrified” by the events in Manchester and that his thoughts are with the families and friends of those who have died and been injured.

Corbyn also said that his party had also put campaign events on hold. The leaders of the Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party and UK Independence Party also suspended their election campaigning.

Trump’s comments linking Hamas to ‘terrorism’ show his ‘complete bias’ towards Israel, says the group’s spokesman.

Hamas says its battle is against Israeli occupation, not the West [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Hamas Movement has rejected US President Donald Trump’s comments linking it to “terrorism” in his speech in Saudi Arabia, saying it shows his “complete bias” towards Israel.

“The statement describing Hamas as a terror group is rejected and is a distortion of our image and shows a complete bias to the Zionist occupation,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in a statement on Sunday.

Barhoum dubbed the speech a “confirmation” that Trump is following the policy of previous US administrations.

Trump addressed the leaders of 55 Muslim countries in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and said they must take the lead in combating “radicalisation”.

“The true toll of ISIS [the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant], al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, and so many others, must be counted not only in the number of dead. It must also be counted in generations of vanished dreams,” said Trump in the speech.

Hamas says its battle is against Israeli occupation, not the West.

The movement presented a new political charter earlier this month that accepts the formation of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, without recognising the statehood of Israel, and says that the conflict in Palestine is not a religious one.

Trump’s speech came on the second day of a visit to Saudi Arabia, part of Trump’s first foreign tour that will take him next to Israel and occupied Palestinian Territories and then to Europe.

Palestinian activists call for protests against Trump

Meanwhile, Palestinian activists have called for a “Day of Rage” when Trump visits the West Bank on Tuesday.

The call for mobilisation was put out by a group calling itself the Supreme National Leadership Committee, which includes various Palestinian political factions, including Abbas’s Fatah movement.

The committee was set up in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli prisons.

The demonstrations are meant to draw attention to a month-long hunger strike by hundreds of prisoners being held by Israel and to protest what many Palestinians say is unfair US support for Israel.

In a statement, the group said on Sunday the Palestinian factions “affirm their rejection of the American position, which is biased in favour of the occupation”.

Trump’s visit to Israel and occupied Palestinian territories on Monday and Tuesday will be closely scrutinised as he seeks ways to restart peace efforts.