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Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf addresses attendees at the site near Baghdad International Airport where Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike, in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
Hadi Mizban\/AP Photo\/Hadi Mizban<\/p>\n
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf visits the site where Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad International Airport, during an official visit to Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
Hadi Mizban\/AP Photo\/Hadi Mizban<\/p>\n
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf visits the site near Baghdad International Airport where Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike, in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
Hadi Mizban\/AP Photo\/Hadi Mizban<\/p>\n
Iraqi security officers stand guard at the site near Baghdad International Airport where Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike, during a visit by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
Hadi Mizban\/AP Photo\/Hadi Mizban<\/p>\n
An Iraqi security officer stands guard at the site near Baghdad International Airport where Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike, during a visit by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
Hadi Mizban\/AP Photo\/Hadi Mizban<\/p>\n
The Israeli military said Wednesday it will conduct criminal investigations into the killings of a 5-year-old Palestinian girl and her family and the separate killings of 15 paramedics, following a review of troop conduct during the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n
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Meanwhile, France announced it will expel two Iranian diplomats in response to the expulsion of French diplomats from the Islamic Republic this week. And the Iranian parliament speaker and chief negotiator landed in neighboring Iraq for a three-day visit.<\/p>\n
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Here\u2019s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East on Wednesday. Full coverage can be found here.<\/p>\n
Israel’s military plans criminal investigation into Gaza attacks<\/p>\n
The Israeli military said it would investigate the killings of 5-year-old Hind Rajab and her family members in February 2024, and the killing of 15 Palestinian medics in March 2025. Both drew international attention.<\/p>\n
The announcement followed reviews of 150 incidents of troop conduct during the war in Gaza. The military said it would not launch criminal investigations into three other attacks that killed aid workers from World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders.<\/p>\n
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Rajab was killed when Israeli troops opened fire on a vehicle that also was carrying her aunt, uncle and four cousins as they tried to flee Gaza City amid an Israeli offensive.<\/p>\n
The 15 paramedics were killed when Israeli troops opened fire on their vehicles in the southern city of Rafah, then bulldozed over the bodies and buried them in a mass grave. Troops first shot at an ambulance that was driving to retrieve casualties from an Israeli offensive, then fired on several other emergency vehicles that went out to look for the first one, according to phone footage and the sole survivor.<\/p>\n
Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill 10 as ceasefire is in doubt<\/p>\n
At least 10 people were killed Wednesday in two airstrikes in Gaza, according to local hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.<\/p>\n
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The attacks cast further doubt on whether new U.S. efforts can advance a tenuous ceasefire in the Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n
Just two days after U.S. negotiators reportedly asked Israel to draw down attacks in Gaza, Israeli troops also crossed the ceasefire line in southern Gaza and detained a Hamas police colonel at dawn, two witnesses and a Hamas official said. They spoke on condition of anonymity for their safety.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Samy Magdy and Wafaa Shurafa<\/p>\n
Iran’s parliament speaker and top negotiator visits Iraq<\/p>\n
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf arrived in Iraq for a three-day visit where he will meet with Iraqi officials and leaders of an Iran-backed political coalition.<\/p>\n
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Iran-backed Iraqi militias have launched drone attacks on U.S. military and diplomatic targets both within Iraq and abroad, piling pressure on Baghdad, which for years has delicately tried to maintain strong ties with both Washington and Tehran.<\/p>\n
Qalibaf praised the country\u2019s Tehran-backed militias, which he called the \u201cresistance in Iraq,” describing them as a \u201ckey component of the country\u2019s national power.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iraq is asking Iran to grant special status to Iraqi oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz because the country has been affected greatly by Iran’s war with the U.S. and needs to guard its economic interests, according to a statement from Iraqi Parliament Speaker Haibet al-Halbousi.<\/p>\n
Iraq relies on oil revenues for roughly 90% of its budget, and most of its oil is exported through the strait. Since the war erupted and Iran asserted control over the strait, halting most shipping traffic, Iraq has turned to alternate routes, including sending oil over land to Syria, which is less efficient and more expensive.<\/p>\n
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France and Iran expel diplomats<\/p>\n
France announced it will expel two staff members of the Iranian Embassy in France, in response to what the French Foreign Ministry described as an assault by Iranian security forces against two French diplomatic staff in the Islamic Republic last month.<\/p>\n
Iran accused the French pair of taking part in a secret meeting with \u201csuspects in a major case involving foreign infiltration and interference,\u201d Iran\u2019s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported. The French diplomats were expelled on Monday.<\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Jean-No\u00ebl Barrot slammed the Iranian authorities for not investigating what he called a \u201cpremeditated and deliberate attack.\u201d He called the allegations fabricated and said the two Iranians will leave Paris in the coming days.<\/p>\n
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Associated Press writers Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut, Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf addresses attendees at the site near Baghdad International Airport where Iranian military…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256016,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[14],"tags":[2254,34,70633,94,5637,3284,3285,3282,3283,70777],"class_list":["post-256487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iraq","tag-gaza-strip","tag-iran","tag-iran-usa-hormuz-persian-gulf-war","tag-iraq","tag-mohammad-bagher-qalibaf","tag-package-100024-ap-online","tag-package-100373-mc-complete-state-national","tag-product-30598-ap-national-news-report-a-wire","tag-product-32505-ap-online-middle-east-news","tag-wafaa-shurafa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117123416760408785","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}