Washington, May 2: US Vice-President J.D. Vance has sought to cast the ousting of National Security Adviser Mike Waltz as a “promotion” to be US Ambassador to the United Nations, blaming the media for framing his departure from the top national security post as a firing.

“He wasn’t let go. He is being made Ambassador to the United Nations, which, of course, is a Senate-confirmed position. I think you can make a good argument that it’s a promotion,” Vance told Fox News’ Bret Baier on Thursday in an interview from Charleston, South Carolina.

He continued, “The media wants to frame this as a firing. Donald Trump has fired a lot of people. He doesn’t give them Senate-confirmed appointments afterwards. What he thinks is that Mike Waltz is going to better serve the administration — most importantly, the American people — in that role.”

Vance said that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s job is “safe” when asked if there are further changes coming to the President’s senior echelon of officials, and in particular if Hegseth’s job is secure.

“We’ve got total faith in Pete,” he added.

And pressed on whether the move was a direct result of Waltz’s actions in a Signal chat with top Trump administration national security officials, Vance said, “No, it’s not.”

He broadly characterised the situation as Waltz going into the National Security Council at the beginning of the administration, firing people they felt were disloyal, and bringing in “the right collection of people to actually make the National Security Council function”.

Vance went on to say, “Of course. Yeah. We fight for all our nominees,” when asked whether Trump plans to fight for Waltz during a Senate confirmation process.

He also denied the possibility that the recent move against Waltz could be connected to his involvement in Signal-gate, when the former NSA added the editor of The Atlantic magazine to a chat group of high-ranking officials discussing the Trump administration’s attack plans on the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Waltz has been under scrutiny after the Signal-gate reveled finer details of US attack on Yemen and embarrassed the administration which has made several key appointments seen as unconventional.

The former NSA had said he takes full responsibility for the episode.

The White House described the episode as a “mistake” but defended him saying the reveal caused Americans no harm.

The Pentagon inspector general is investigating the use of Signal, and he has faced criticism from Democrats and even some Republicans.

Announcing a new role for Waltz, Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio would take over Waltz’s duties on an interim role and vowed to “fight tirelessly to Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN”.

“I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States Ambassador to the United Nations. From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, his own social media platform.

Rubio will be holding two crucial positions at a time when the administration is facing multiple foreign policy challenges – grinding talks to end the Ukraine war, talks with Iran over its nuclear ambitions and global economic uncertainty after Trump’s provoked a tariff war with major trade partners.

Los Angeles, May 2: US President Donald Trump has reissued threats against Iran, saying any country or person that buys oil or petrochemicals from Iran would face immediate US sanctions, after the indirect talks between the two countries were postponed.

“All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW! Any Country or person who buys ANY AMOUNT of OIL or PETROCHEMICALS from Iran will be subject to, immediately, Secondary Sanctions,” Trump wrote on Thursday on Truth Social.

“They will not be allowed to do business with the United States of America in any way, shape, or form. Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he added.

Trump implemented what he calls a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran since taking office in January, including tougher sanctions on oil exports and threats of military action, Xinhua news agency reported.

Trump’s comments came after Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Thursday that the fourth round of indirect nuclear talks between Iran and the US, scheduled for Saturday in Rome, had been postponed at the mediator Oman’s proposal.

Baghaei reaffirmed Iran’s determination to use diplomacy to safeguard the nation’s “legitimate and legal” interests and to end the sanctions and economic pressure against Iran.

Earlier in the day, Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi announced on social media platform X that the fourth round of the Iran-US talks scheduled for Saturday had been postponed for “logistical reasons,” adding, “New dates will be announced when mutually agreed.”

“For logistical reasons we are rescheduling the US Iran meeting provisionally planned for Saturday May 3,” he wrote.

“New dates will be announced when mutually agreed.”

Al-Busaidi, who has mediated the talks through three rounds so far, did not elaborate.

Rome will see the Vatican begin its conclave next week to pick a new pope after the death of Pope Francis. Two other rounds of US-Iran talks have been held in Muscat, the capital of Oman.

The talks seek to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions the US has imposed on the Islamic Republic closing in on a half-century of enmity. The negotiations have been led by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.

The US President with his threat on social media would be going after Iran’s major economic resource. It produced an average of 2.9 million barrels a day in 2023 of crude oil, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers did limit Tehran’s program. However, Trump unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018, setting in motion years of attacks and tensions. The wider Middle East also remains on edge over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, the US continues an airstrike campaign, called “Operation Rough Rider,” that has been targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who long have been backed by Iran. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on early Thursday warned Iran over the rebels.

“Message to IRAN: We see your LETHAL support to The Houthis. We know exactly what you are doing,” he wrote.

“You know very well what the US Military is capable of — and you were warned. You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing.”

Last Saturday’s round of talks, which included experts drilling down into the details of a possible deal, also took place as an explosion rocked an Iranian port, killing at least 70 people and injuring more than 1,000 others.

Dhaka, April 30: Chinmoy Krishna Das, a prominent Hindu leader and spokesperson for the Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jot, has been granted bail by the High Court on Wednesday in an alleged sedition case.

The bench of Justice Atoar Rahman and Justice Ali Reza passed the order after a final hearing.

Earlier this year, the High Court issued a rule after hearing Das’s application for bail in the case, seeking an explanation as to why the applicant should not be granted bail.

Last week, the High Court set April 30 as the date for the rule hearing, following which the Court declared the rule absolute and delivered its verdict, Bangladesh’s leading Bengali daily Prothom Alo reported on Wednesday.

Arrested on November 25 from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on charges of sedition, Das has remained in jail despite widespread demands for his release.

Chinmoy Krishna was taken into custody by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, an act which was criticised throughout the world and exposed the crimes being committed against the Hindu community of Bangladesh.

Krishna was not only associated with the Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mohajot (BJHM), a grand national alliance of 23 religious organisations in the country, but also with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). The news of his arrest led to several protests demanding his immediate release.

The incidents of vandalism, looting, arson, land grabbing, and threats to leave the country have been repeatedly inflicted on the Hindu community after the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus was sworn in on August 8 following the fall of Awami League regime led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Even though Yunus and his religious affairs advisor A.F.M. Khalid Hossain assured that the current establishment believes in communal harmony, the communal violence, which began immediately after Hasina left Dhaka, continued to cause widespread fear, anxiety, and uncertainty among the minorities in Bangladesh, especially Hindus.

Last month, a report of the Dhaka-based human rights organisation, Ain O Salish Kendra (AsK), highlighted that there are reports of a total of 147 incidents of vandalising houses, temples, and business establishments of the Hindu community across the country.

Some 408 households were vandalised in these incidents, including 36 cases of arson. Besides, there have been reports of 113 incidents of vandalising business establishments owned by the minority community, 32 incidents of attack on temples and mosques of the Ahmadiyya sect, and 92 incidents of vandalising idols in 92 temples.

There have been several incidents of attacks on the minorities all over the country, particularly the Hindu community, after the fall of the Awami League government with their areas, including houses, business establishments, and places of worship coming under attack and even set on fire in certain instances.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of the safety and security of minorities in Bangladesh, including Hindus, during his meeting with Yunus on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok.

India has repeatedly raised concerns over the persecution of minorities in Bangladesh, hoping that the interim government in the country led by Yunus will take strong action against the perpetrators of violence.