• Israel kills Hamas military chief, 7 others in airstrike, officials say

    Israeli leaders indicate that a new offensive against Islamic militant commanders is underway. NBC's Martin Fletcher reports.

    By Lawahez Jabari, NBC News and NBC News staff

    Updated at 10:46 p.m. ET: TEL AVIV -- The head of the militant wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement and seven others were killed as Israel launched a series of airstrikes in Gaza Wednesday, officials said.


    Hamas spokesman Fauazy Brehom told NBC News that Ahmed Jabari was killed in the attack by Israeli forces. Jabari was the most senior commander of Hamas' military wing, the Ezzidine Al-Qassam Brigades. 

    A statement from the Al-Qassam Brigades said that Israel had “opened the gates of hell.”

    President Barack Obama spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday, urging him to avoid civilian casualties. The president reiterated the United States' support for Israel's right to self-defense following rocket attacks launched from Gaza.

    Obama also spoke Wednesday with Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi because of the country's central role in preserving regional security. Obama condemned the rocket fire from Gaza into Israel and reiterated Israel's right to self-defense. The two leaders agreed on the importance of working to deescalate the situation quickly and they agreed to stay in touch in coming days.

    In a frequently updated live blog chronicling the attacks, the Israel Defense Forces claimed it had targeted "dozens" of Hamas’ medium-range underground rocket launch sites and other weapons storage facilities. The report said Israel had also intercepted 17 rockets fired from Gaza.

    "If I were a senior Hamas activist - I would look for a place to hide," IDF spokesman Brgi. Gen. Yoav (Poly) Moredechai said in a statement published online.

    Moredechai said the possibility of a ground invasion would not be ruled out, and emphasized that all options remain on the table. "Infantry brigades have been shifted in preparation for the operation," his statement read. "All options that allow us to cause seriously damage to Hamas and the other terrorist organizations are on the table."

    A statement from the Israeli embassy blamed Hamas for launching 150 rockets at Israel's south over the past week.

    Darren Whiteside / Reuters

    Smoke rises after Israeli air strikes in the northern Gaza Strip on Nov. 14. Israel launched a major offensive against Palestinian militants in Gaza on Wednesday, killing the military commander of Hamas in an air strike and threatening an invasion of the enclave that the Islamist group vowed would "open the gates of hell."

    "Israel has the right and duty to defend itself from terrorist attacks designed to kill thousands of its citizens," Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren said. "We are sending an unequivocal message that our citizens will not be hostage to terrorist missile fire and cross-border attacks. The scope of the IDF's defensive operation depends on Hamas and whether it takes the decision to cease firing missiles on our neighborhoods and homes."

    Jabari is the most senior Hamas official to have died due to Israeli military action since the killing of Saeed Seyam four years ago.

    Sources at the Kamal Adwan and Al-Shifa hospitals said a total of eight people had been killed and 80 injured.

    A statement on the IDF website said that Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz had “approved an expansive strike against terrorist organizations in Gaza.”

    Ali Ali / EPA

    Emergency services extinguish the burned out destroyed car of Qassam top leader Ahmed Jabari after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012.

    “As a part of the program, a short while ago, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck Ahmed al-Jabari and other senior officers of Hamas' Military Wing, who were involved in planning and implementing dozens of attacks, including the kidnapping of SFC [Israeli soldier] Gilad Shalit,” it said.

    The airstrike took place in central Gaza, according to the statement, which was headlined "Chief of Hamas' Military Wing Ahmed al-Jabari assassinated." The headline was later changed to "Senior Hamas operative targeted," and the statement dropped the reference to Shalit.

    The statement quoted IDF spokesman Mordechai as saying military action began following the "intolerable situation in the south of the country, and seeks to harm terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip."

    'Forward base for Iran'
    The IDF later announced it had begun "Operation Pillar of Defense." Israel confirmed there had been several airstrikes.

    Hamas Office via Reuters, file

    Ahmed Al-Jabari, top commander of Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam brigades, poses for a picture after a prisoner swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Cairo, in this October 18, 2011 file photo.

    In another update, the statement said the IDF had "targeted a significant number of long range rockets sites ... owned by Hamas. This deals a significant blow to the terror organizations' underground rocket launching capabilities and munitions warehouses that are owned by Hamas and other terror organizations."

    "The Gaza strip, has turned it into a forward base for Iran, firing rockets and carrying out terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens. The IDF will continue to target terrorist sites that are used to carry out terror attacks against Israeli citizens," it said.

    "The IDF will continue to target sites that are used for carrying out terror attacks against the citizens of Israel while improving their daily security," it added.

    An IDF statement Monday said more than 120 rockets fired from Gaza had hit Israel since Saturday and that the Israeli air force had responded with airstrikes on a number of sites. 

    Jabari had survived numerous assassination attempts in the past and had served close to a decade in an Israeli jail, according to NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin.

    He was widely considered the second most important figure within Hamas' overall structure after Khaled Mishaal, the head of the organization’s political bureau.

    Uriel Sinai / Getty Images

    Israeli children play games at a bomb shelter on Nov. 14 in Netivot, Israel. Israel Defense Forces launched aerial attacks on targets in Gaza that killed the top military commander of Hamas.

    Jabari was instrumental in negotiations about the release of Shalit, Mohyeldin said. Jabari was rarely seen in public and even more seldom filmed but he was seen accompanying Shalit to the border crossing with Egypt ahead of his handover.

    US reacts; Israeli ambassador leaves Egypt
    U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the United States "strongly" condemns the rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel.

    "There is no justification for the violence that Hamas and other terrorist organizations are employing against the people of Israel," Toner's statement read. "We call on those responsible to stop these cowardly acts immediately. We support Israel's right to defend itself, and we encourage Israel to continue to take every effort to avoid civilian casualties."

    Egypt's foreign minister called Israel's airstrikes on Gaza a dangerous escalation at a critical time for the region, and called on the Israeli government to quickly halt the offensive.

    Egypt's ruling Freedom and Justice Party condemned the killing of Jabari, and said Israel was using the military operation as a card in its own political game, ahead of elections in January. The party called on the international community and Arab states to act immediately to stop the massacre against the Palestinian people, adding that Israel's attacks were meant to create instability in the region.

    Airport sources in Egypt confirmed to NBC News that the Israeli ambassador and other Israelis were leaving Cairo Wednesday night.

    The U.N. chief also called on Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants to prevent an escalation of hostilities, urging both sides to ensure civilians will be protected, a U.N. spokesman said Wednesday.

    "The Secretary-General calls for an immediate de-escalation of tensions," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said, adding that it was a reiteration of Ban's already-stated position.

    "Both sides should do everything to avoid further escalation and they must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law to ensure the protection of civilians at all times," he told reporters.

    A Palestinian rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck a house in southern Israel today, causing damage but no injuries. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

     

    Related content:
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    Israel warns of tough response after Gaza rocket hits house
    Israel fires into Syria for second day, scores 'direct hits'

    NBC's Ian Johnston, Ayman Mohyeldin, NBC News staff and Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Israel kills 3 Hamas militants after Qatari emir leaves Gaza

    The Emir of Qatar has become the first head of state to visit Gaza since the Islamist group Hamas seized control five years ago. The visit reflects increasing ties between the Gulf state and the regime which is considered a terrorist group by the West. Lindsey Hilsum Channel Four Europe reports.

    By Reuters

    GAZA STRIP -- Israel killed three Hamas gunmen in Gaza Strip air strikes on Tuesday which the military said targeted squads preparing to launch rockets into the Jewish state.

    The air force operations followed other Palestinian attacks, including a bomb blast that wounded an Israeli army officer patrolling the Gaza border, on a day that saw the isolated, Hamas-governed enclave receive its first foreign head of state, the emir of Qatar.

    Israeli leaders had vowed retaliation for the morning bombing on Gaza's boundary fence, but Israeli television said military actions were put on hold until Qatar's Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani had left.

    Palestinians mourn militants killed by Israeli air strikes in Gaza

    The rich Persian Gulf state has had low-level diplomatic ties with Israel and hosts a major U.S. naval base.


    Hamas said three of its gunmen were killed and another three wounded in two air strike in northern Gaza. It did not comment on Israel's allegation that they had prepared rocket launches. Six other rockets were fired across the border on Tuesday, the Israeli military said, though causing no damage or casualties.

    The border bombing was claimed by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, one of several small factions in Gaza that often operate independent of the dominant Hamas.

    Armageddon scenario: US, Israel ready for huge joint drill in Iran's shadow

    Israel's policy is to hold Hamas responsible for any attacks from the territory, which the Islamist group has controlled since 2007.

    Though hostile to Israel, Hamas has mostly sought to avoid direct clashes as it shores up its rule in the face of more radical challengers and reaches out to potential allies abroad.

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  • Syria activist: Hundreds feared dead as Assad escalates airstrikes

    Ugarit News via AP

    In this image taken from video obtained Thursday, people are seen after an airstrike on a gas station in Raqqa, Syria.

    By NBC News staff and wire reports

    Scores of people were killed and wounded in a series of airstrikes— including one that hit a gas station — across Syria Thursday, according to activists.

    Mousab Azzawi, of the British-based Syrian Network for Human Rights, told NBC News that there had been a marked escalation in air attacks by forces loyal to President Bashar Assad.

    He said his group had the names of 129 people who had been killed in places such as Homs, Aleppo, Hama, Idlib and suburbs of Damascus, but that he expected the death toll to rise as they were trying to verify 82 other names of people said to have been killed.

    A Syrian activist group is claiming that at least 54 people are dead after a gas station is attacked in the northern portion of the country. NBCNews.com's Al Stirrett reports.


    An airstrike on the town of Ain Issa, about 25 miles from the Turkish border, was said by activists to have hit a gas station, killing anywhere between 10 and 150 people, according to different reports.

    Syria: Army chopper hits airliner with 200 aboard

    Azzawi said they had confirmed the names of 10 people killed in that attack and were working to verify 18 others. His group uses a network of people on the ground who attempt to confirm reports of deaths with family members or medical staff.

    "The regime today has been escalating the airstrikes on every province in the country," he said. "If you look about the map, there is no province spared today from being attacked … the regime is trying to go further on the military solution and thinking in that way he’ll be able to crack down on the rebels."

    Barrels of TNT
    Azzawi said Assad’s forces could not afford bombs, but were instead using planes to drop barrels filled with TNT explosives “in a very primitive way.”

    He said he feared the final death toll from Thursday's attacks would be 200 or 300.

    Obaida Fares, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council and a human rights activist, told NBCNews.com that they had confirmed 50 deaths in the Ain Issa attack, which he said hit the Hisham gas station.

    Report: Iran ships arms, personnel to Syria via Iraqi airspace

    He said there had been "many" airstrikes across Syria, but had not noticed a marked increase Thursday. Fares said they were still trying to confirm numbers of dead throughout the country and described the Ain Issa airstrike as "the main one."

    Rebel fighters in Syria claim to have seized another border crossing into Turkey, from the control of President Assad's government forces. But around the capital Damascus, the rebels are losing ground. Three southern suburbs have been retaken by the president's forces. ITV's Bill Neely reports from Damascus.

    Another SNC member, Obeida Nahas, added that the death toll at Ain Issa "is expected to be high, because the raid took place on the only [gas] station that had supplies and people were queuing to buy fuel.”

    NYT: Schools re-open in war-torn Syria but students stay away

    Nahas said earlier that they had heard reports from activists on the ground in Syria that up to 150 people had been killed, but added that the Syrian National Council had not been able to verify those claims.

    Another group of anti-regime activists, the Local Coordination Committees, reported intense attacks by warplanes on the gas station.  That group did not give a death toll, saying only that many people were killed or wounded. It said more than 70 wounded people were taken to a hospital in the provincial capital of Raqqa.

    NBC News' Ian Johnston, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Number 2 al-Qaida leader in Afghanistan killed in NATO airstrike

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    KABUL, Afghanistan -- The second highest al-Qaida leader in Afghanistan was killed in a weekend airstrike in the country's volatile east near the border with Pakistan, NATO-led forces said on Tuesday.

    Saudi Sakhr al-Taifi, also known as Musthaq and Nasim, was responsible for commanding foreign insurgents and directing attacks against coalition and Afghan forces, NATO said in a statement.


    He frequently traveled between Afghanistan and Pakistan, carrying out commands from senior al-Qaida leadership, supplying weapons and equipment to insurgents and transporting insurgent fighters into Afghanistan, the statement said.

    He was killed on Sunday in the Watahpur district of Kunar province after being identified with another al-Qaida militant.

    No civilians were harmed and no civilian property was damaged, the statement said.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Pakistan lawmakers to US: Stop drones and apologize for deadly airstrike

    Pakistan wants to dramatically overhaul the rules of engagement with the U.S. in an attempt to clarify relations that have deteriorated dramatically since the Osama bin Laden raid last year. In an exclusive Andrea Mitchell Reports interview, Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar explains the country's response if the U.S. refuses to ends its drone attacks.

    By Amna Nawaz, NBC News correspondent and Fakhar Rehman, NBC News producer, in Pakistan,

    Pakistan lawmakers have demanded the United States end drone strikes and offer an "unconditional apology" for an airstrike last year in which 24 local soldiers were killed.

    A parliamentary committee reviewing ties with the United States proposed 13 new "rules of engagement" Tuesday – a move likely to deepen the political divide between Washington and Islamabad.

    The NATO airstrike in November, near the Afghanistan border, left 24 Pakistani soldiers dead and prompted a crisis in the relationship between the two countries.

    Miscommunication, bad maps led to deadly NATO attack on Pakistan border post

    If the new rules are approved, it could significantly alter the future relationship between the United States and its regional ally, seen as a vital source of access to neighboring Afghanistan.

    The rules, seen by NBC News, seek an "unconditional apology" for the Nov. 26 strike and for those responsible to be "brought to justice."

    'Greater market access'
    The lawmakers also demanded "greater market access" for Pakistani exports to the U.S. and that NATO countries provide compensation for Pakistan's "human and economic losses" from the war on terror; a "deepened" and "strengthened" relationship with China and Russia; and a recommendation to "actively pursue” a joint gas pipeline project with Iran.

    “Pakistan is sending the message to the U.S -- please respect our sovereignty and listen to the voice of the people. Let wait for the recommendations to be heard and discussed by the Parliament, whatever they decide, we'll abide by," Rehman Malik, Pakistan’s interior minister, told NBC News.

    Slideshow: Pakistan: A nation in turmoil

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    Images of daily life, political pursuits, religious rites and deadly violence.

    Launch slideshow

    Senator Tahir Mashadi, a member of the ruling coalition party, said that any agreements with the United States must "be based on national integrity, national sovereignty, national honor and mutual respect."

    "As far as the United States is concerned, the free lunch is over! If they want to use our roads, if they want to use our transit facilities, they'll have to pay for them," he said.

    “The drone attacks are counter-productive, and the anti-American feeling is aroused here because of them, so it's really in the American interest to stop them," he added.

    Curbs on Afghan night raids?
    Meanwhile, Afghan President Hamid Karzai may have won a major concession from the United States following a deadly shooting spree by U.S. soldier Sgt Robert Bales, with the Obama administration considering curbs on contentious night raids.

    NYT: From 'our Bobby' to war crime suspect

    With Karzai demanding a stop to night raids hated by Afghans -- but seen by NATO as one of their most effective anti-insurgent tactics -- a U.S. official said the United States was looking at modifying them and giving Afghans more oversight.

    That would help seal agreement on a strategic pact with Karzai's government for a long-term U.S. presence in Afghanistan beyond a 2014 deadline for most NATO combat forces to withdraw, allowing advisers and possibly some special forces to stay on.

    Karzai at 'end of the rope' with US over massacre

    The Obama government was discussing options with the Afghans including a warrant-based approach or possibly allowing Afghan judges to review raids before they took place, the U.S. official said on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.

    Afghan president: Get US troops out of our villages

    Karzai this month said not only must night raids by foreign forces halt, but Afghan security forces training to take over their conduct would "not be allowed to enter private homes unless their operations were according to the state law".

    That would mean applying for a warrant, he said.

    NBC News and Reuters contributed to this report.

  • 'Escalation': Worst Gaza flare-up in months kills 14, Palestinians say

    By msnbc.com news services

    GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- The worst exchange of strikes between Israel and the Gaza Strip so far this year entered its second day on Saturday, as Israeli aircraft carried out raids that have so far killed 14 militants according to a Palestinian count, and militants responded with nearly 100 rockets.

    The flare-up began Friday with a strike on a commander who the Israelis say was planning an attack. This unleashed a fierce rocket barrage by Palestinian militants from the coastal territory toward Israel's southern border communities. One of those rockets seriously wounded an Israeli civilian and sent families scattering into bomb shelters.

    By midday Saturday, militants fired 92 rockets at Israel - far more than the total number fired from the beginning of this year until this exchange of strikes began, a military spokesman said. He spoke anonymously in line with military regulations.

    Egypt said it was trying to shackle together a cease-fire to halt the violence, but truce hopes seemed distant on Saturday.

    'Escalation'
    Gaza residents said they could hear the low whooshing noise of militants firing rockets from border areas toward Israel.

    In the skies above them Israeli drones hovered, making tinny noises. Hundreds of Palestinian mourners gathered on the streets to bury their dead. They were carried in coffins, their bodies too torn up to be wrapped up in cloth, as Muslim tradition dictates. Masked militants among them sprayed machine gun fire above their heads in angry grief.

    On Israel's southern border areas, residents were told to stay home and to refrain from holding large outdoor events on Saturday.

    Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, blamed Israel for the violence and called for Western intervention to try and halt any further escalation which threatened to complicate rife tensions along the restive Israeli-Gaza frontier and their common border with Egypt.

    "This Israeli escalation in Gaza is completely condemned and we urge the world community, and the Quartet (of Middle East power brokers), especially the United States, to put enough pressure on Israeli government to stop this escalation," Rdainah told Reuters television.

    Israel said one of the militants killed on Friday had been involved in plotting a cross-border attack from Egypt. Israeli media reports said he had also been closely involved in the 2006 capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, freed as part of a prisoner swap in October.

     An Israeli military statement said the latest airstrikes had targeted two weapons manufacturing sites. The strikes were launched in response to rocket fire from Gaza that injured four people in Israel, including one man, who is reported to be in a serious condition, it added.

    Israeli media said the seriously injured man is a worker from Thailand.

    Vow of revenge
    Militant groups in Hamas-ruled Gaza vowed to exact revenge for the killings. According to the Israeli military, more than 90 rockets have been fired at Israel since Friday, including 25 longer-range Grad rockets intercepted by Israel's "Iron Dome" missile interceptor system.

    Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) claimed responsibility for most of the rockets and mortar shells fired which they also said totaled more than 70.

    Israel launched some half a dozen airstrikes at militants in Gaza on Friday, killing 10.

    Hamas, an Iranian-backed group that refuses to recognize Israel, did not claim responsibility for any of the missile attacks on Israel, and there were no reported civilian fatalities in Gaza, factors which may keep the violence from escalating.

    However, Israel says it holds Hamas responsible for any attacks launched from its territory.

    Around six Palestinians among 17 people wounded in the Israeli attacks have been identified by medics as civilians.

    Hamas seized control of Gaza from Abbas's Fatah movement in a bloody 2007 coup, two years after Israel pulled its forces out of the territory it had captured in a 1967 war.

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    The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

  • US airstrikes in Yemen kill man suspected of connection to USS Cole bombing

    By NBC News and msnbc.com news services

    Updated at 11:17 a.m. ET: Yemeni security and military officials revised the number of suspected militants killed in a U.S. airstrike Tuesday down to four people killed, and said one of the victims was a man suspected of involvement in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole.

    Tribal officials in the southern Abyan province said the strike hit the militants late Monday as they were holding an important meeting at the school. Yemeni security officials had originally put the death toll at 15 people but later lowered that figure. They also said 12 militants were wounded in the strikes.

    They said one of the suspected militants killed was named Abdel-Monem al-Fathani who was involved in the bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 American sailors and injured 39 others. The attack on the U.S. destroyer occurred while it was in the Yemeni port of Aden for refueling.

    A Western official in Washington confirmed the U.S. carried out a strike against suspected leaders from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, saying initial indications were that five people were killed. The official did not say where the strike occurred or specify whether it was carried out by a drone or a warplane.

    Updated at 9:15 a.m. ET: U.S. airstrikes targeting leaders from Yemen's active al-Qaida branch killed 15 suspected militants, Yemeni officials said on Tuesday.

    Yemeni security and military officials said missiles struck a school and a car in Abyan province in an area between Lauder and Mood where the militants were believed to be hiding.

    NBC News also reported Tuesday that members of a Yemeni tribe had kidnapped six United Nations aid workers. They were demanding money and the release of one of their members from jail.

    According to NBC, the U.N. aid workers include a German, French, Colombian, Iraqi and Lebanese.

    A Western official in Washington confirmed the U.S. carried out a strike against suspected leaders from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, but said initial indications were that five people were killed. The official did not say where the strike occurred or specify whether it was carried out by a drone or a warplane.

    All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information.

    Also Tuesday, Yemen's information minister, Ali al-Amrani, escaped an assassination attempt in the capital Sanaa, an aide said.

    Unidentified assailants opened fire on the minister's car after the weekly cabinet meeting and then fled, Amrani's secretary, Abdel-Basset al-Qaedi, said.

    The minister was not hurt, he said.

    Updated at 2:33 a.m. ET: At least 11 people, including several alleged local al-Qaida leaders, were killed in an overnight airstrike in southern Yemen, local residents said Tuesday.

    They said an unidentified drone attacked two vehicles east of the city of Lauder in Abyan province in southern Yemen.

    A tribal leader said at least four of those killed were local al-Qaida leaders. Residents said no civilians were hurt in the airstrike.

    The United States has used drones repeatedly to attack al-Qaida militants in Yemen. Last September, a U.S. drone killed U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, described by U.S. officials as "chief of external operations" for al-Qaida in Yemen.

    Al-Qaida has exploited unrest and protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh to strengthen its hold on remote areas in southern Yemen in recent months.

    An opposition-led government has been set up in Yemen after Saleh agreed in November to transfer authority to his deputy ahead of presidential elections in February.

    But protests have continued and activists are pressing on with demands that Saleh be tried for alleged killings of demonstrators and that the government is purged of members of his family.

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    Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

  • Iran: Obama should apologize for drone 'spying operation'

    By msnbc.com staff and Reuters

    TEHRAN, Iran - President Barack Obama should apologize for sending an unmanned spy plane into Iranian territory rather than asking for it back after it was seized, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.

    Iran announced on December 4 it had downed the spy plane in the eastern part of the country, near Afghanistan. It has since shown the plane on television and said it is close to cracking its technological secrets.

    On Monday, Obama told a news conference: "We have asked for it back. We'll see how the Iranians respond." Iranian officials had already said they would not return the drone.

    Former Vice President Dick Cheney criticized Obama's handling of the situation in an interview with CNN late Monday, slamming him for refusing to take action.

    Cheney said that he was told Obama was presented with several options that included plans for recovery or destruction of the downed drone. "He rejected all of them," Cheney said.

    "He certainly could have gone in and destroyed it on the ground in an airstrike but he didn't take any of the options, he asked nicely for them to return it," he said.

    Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told a news conference Tuesday that Obama had "forgotten that our air space was violated, a spying operation conducted and international law trampled."

    Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi told the official IRNA news agency: "The U.S. spy drone is the property of Islamic Republic of Iran. Tehran will decide what it wants to do in this regard."

    Meanwhile Ahmadinejad appeared on Venezuelan state TV Tuesday and said Iran had "been able to control" the drone, CNN reported.

    "Those who have been in control of this spy plane surely will analyze the plane's system," he reportedly told VTV in Farsi.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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