ISFAHAN, Iran (AP) — A top military commander Saturday renewed Iran's promise to retaliate after an airstrike earlier this week widely blamed on Israel destroyed Iran’s consulate in Syria, killing 12 people, including two elite Iranian generals.
Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, Iran’s joint chief of staff, told mourners gathered for the funeral of Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahdi that Iran will decide when and how to stage an “operation” to take revenge. Zahdi was the highest ranking commander slain in Monday’s attack.
“The time, type, plan of the operation will be decided by us, in a way that makes Israel regret what it did," he said. "This will definitely be done.”
The attack on an Iranian diplomatic compound was a significant escalation in a long-running shadow war between the two archenemies, and Israel has been bracing for an Iranian response.
In all, 12 people were killed in the strike: Seven Iranian Revolutionary Guard members, four Syrians and a Hezbollah militia member.
On Friday, the commander of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami, warned that “our brave men will punish the Zionist regime,” escalating threats against Israel.
Tensions have flared against the backdrop of the six-month-old Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, and raised renewed fears of a broader regional conflict. The Islamic militant group Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for 17 years, is one of Iran’s proxies, along with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Both Hezbollah and the Houthis have carried out attacks along the fringes of the Gaza war, with Hezbollah engaging in daily cross-border exchanges with Israel and the Houthis frequently targeting Red Sea shipping.
Bagheri made the comments in Isfahan, Zahedi’s hometown, about 440 kilometers (270 miles) south of the capital Tehran.
In this photo released by the official Syrian state news agency SANA, emergency service workers clear the rubble at a destroyed building struck by Israeli jets in Damascus, Syria, Monday, April 1, 2024. An Israeli airstrike has destroyed the consular section of Iran's embassy in Syria, killing a senior Iranian military adviser and roughly a handful of other people, Syrian state media said Monday. (SANA via AP)
LONDON (AP) — German tennis legend Boris Becker was discharged from bankruptcy court in London after a judge found Wednesday he had done “all that he reasonably could do” to repay creditors tens of millions of pounds.
Becker fell far short of repaying his creditors in full, but Chief Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Nicholas Briggs said it would be “perverse” not to end the case given the efforts Becker made.
“On the spectrum of bankrupts who range from ‘difficult as possible and doing everything to frustrate the trustee’s inquiries’ to ‘co-operative, providing information and delivering up assets’, Mr. Becker clearly falls on the right side of the line," Briggs wrote.
Becker, 57, was deported to Germany two years ago after serving 8 months in a London prison for illicitly transferring large amounts of money and hiding 2.5 million pounds ($3.1 million) in assets after he was declared bankrupt in 2017.
He had been convicted in a London court on four charges under the Insolvency Act, including removal of property, concealing debt and two counts of failing to disclose estate. He was acquitted of 25 other charges, including nine counts of failing to hand over Grand Slam trophies and his Olympic gold medal to bankruptcy trustees.
He was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison, but was released early under a fast-track deportation program for foreign nationals.
Becker rose to stardom in 1985 at the age of 17 when he became the first unseeded player to win the Wimbledon singles title. He went on to become the world No. 1 player, winning two titles at Wimbledon, two at the Australian Open and one at the U.S. Open.
He retired from professional tennis in 1999 and worked as a coach, television commentator, investor and celebrity poker player.
Becker blamed laziness and bad advice for his financial problems that led him to declare bankruptcy after owing creditors nearly 50 million pounds ($62.5 million) over an unpaid loan of more than 3 million pounds ($3.75 million) on his estate in Mallorca, Spain.
Attorney Katie Longstaff said at a High Court hearing last month that the joint trustees did not oppose his effort to end the case but did not support it because he still owed about 42 million pounds ($52.5 million).
Becker's lawyer, Louis Doyle, said the two sides had reached a settlement that includes a “substantial sum” the tennis great must pay. The agreement “includes the outstanding trophies,” Doyled said, adding Becker “can’t do more than he has done to bring us to this point."
FILE - Former tennis player Boris Becker arrives at Southwark Crown Court, in London, Friday, April 8, 2022. German tennis legend Boris Becker was discharged from bankruptcy court in London after a judge found on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, he had done “all that he reasonably could do” to repay creditors nearly 50 million pounds. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)
