The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Trump puts Tehran ‘on notice’ after missile test
Talk by Milo Yiannopoulos, Breitbart editor and face of ‘alt-right movement’, cancelled after protests; Trump threatens to cut federal funds for Berkeley
DONALD TRUMP said Thursday his administration has put Iran “on notice,’’ echoing comments from his top national security adviser that the US will act against Iran unless it stops testing ballistic missiles and supporting Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Trump and his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, didn’t elaborate on what retaliatory actions the US could pursue.
Trump tweeted, “Iran has been formally PUT ON NOTICE for firing a ballistic missile. Should have been thankful for the terrible deal the US made with them!’’
Trump added in another tweet: “Iran was on its last legs and ready to collapse until the US came along and gave it a lifeline in the form of the Iran Deal: $150 billion.’’
As part of the nuclear deal struck during the Obama administration, Iran received access to $100 billion of its own money that had been frozen in foreign bank accounts. The US did not give Iran $150 billion.
Flynn on Wednesday forcefully denounced Iran’s behaviour in his first public remarks since Trump took office. He further accused Iran of threatening US allies and spreading instability throughout the Middle East.
Iran’s acting commander of the elite Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami, responded saying Iran will “never change direction by a world power’s demand, and our missile and nonmissile power will be updated every day.” Salami added, “If our missile power was not such a power to put fear into the hearts of Americans, there is no reason for these controversies.” A CROWD protesting a far-right commentator’s appearance at the University of California at Berkeley hurled smoke bombs, broke windows and started fires Wednesday night, prompting officials to call off the event.
The decision came two hours before Wednesday’s talk by Milo Yiannopoulos, a polarising editor of Breitbart News, after some 1,500 people had gathered outside the venue.
But officials said it was a smaller group of protesters dressed in black and in hooded sweatshirts that showed up as night fell to break windows and throw smoke bombs and flares. Fires were deliberately set, the university said.
“This was a group of agitators who were masked up, throwing rocks, commercial grade fireworks and Molotov cocktails at officers,” said UC Berkeley Police Chief Margo Bennet.
Bennet said police determined at that point they couldn’t guarantee security, cancelled the event and evacuated Yiannopoulos from the building.
There were no immediate reports of arrests or serious injuries, she said.
US President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Thursday morning to comment, tweeting: “If UC Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view — NO FEDERAL FUNDS?’’
Prior to the burst of violence, hundreds of peaceful demonstrators carrying signs that read “Hate Speech Is Not Free Speech’’ had been protesting the appearance for hours.
As the evening wore on, crowds of protesters cleared away from outside the building. By 8 pm the crowd had thinned and at least 100 protesters that remained danced to a brass band playing music and marched off campus and into a main avenue.
Yiannopoulos, a 32-year-old right-wing provocateur, is a vocal supporter of Trump — nicknaming the US President “Daddy” during his election campaign — and a self-proclaimed internet troll whose comments have been criticised as racist, misogynist, antimuslim and white supremacist. He was banned from Twitter after leading a harassment campaign against Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones.
The British journalist has become one of the faces of America’s “alt-right movement”.
His visit to Berkeley was sponsored by the campus Republican club. The university has stressed it did not invite him and does not endorse his ideas but is committed to free speech and rejected calls to cancel the event.
“The event has been cancelled,’’ Yiannopoulos posted on his Facebook page. “I’ll let you know more when the facts become clear. One thing we do know for sure: the Left is absolutely terrified of free speech and will do literally anything to shut it down.”
The Berkeley College Republicans said its “constitutional right to free speech was silenced by criminals and thugs.”
“Their success is a defeat for civilised society and the free exchange of ideas on college campuses across America,’’ it said in a statement.
The university, which had requested assistance from police in nine UC campuses, sent a notice to all students earlier Wednesday that warned of crowds near the student union, where the 500-seat, sold-out event was scheduled.
Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, who previously headed Breitbart News and CNN reported that many of the protesters voiced opposition to the Republican President.
Many of Trump’s executive orders and proposed policies, including his suspension of the US refugee programme and temporary ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, have been met by largely peaceful protests that have drawn tens of thousands of people across the United States. AP