• Iran says US has “hostile” behaviour towards Iranians.
• Tehran dismisses Trump’s call for peace deal.
• US has no “moral authority” to accuse others: Iran
  

TEHRAN: Iran on Tuesday said that US President Donald Trump’s call for a peace deal with Tehran was inconsistent with Washington’s actions, referring to its strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June.

“The desire for peace and dialogue expressed by the US president is at odds with the hostile and criminal behaviour of the United States towards the Iranian people,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

In mid-June, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign on Iran, striking nuclear and military facilities as well as residential areas and killing more than 1,000 people.

The 12-day war with Israel, during which the US struck the key nuclear facilities in Iran, derailed high-level nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington.

Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks that killed dozens in Israel. A ceasefire between Iran and Israel has been in place since June 24.

During a Monday speech at the Israeli Knesset, Trump said he wanted a peace deal with Iran and that the ball was in Tehran’s court for any agreement to come to pass.

In its statement, Iran dismissed the call.

“How can one attack the residential areas and nuclear facilities of a country in the midst of political negotiations, kill more than 1,000 people including innocent women and children, and then demand peace and friendship?” the foreign ministry asked.

Trump also said “nothing would do more good” for the region than for Iran’s leaders “to stop threatening their neighbours, quit funding their militant proxies, and finally recognise Israel’s right to exist”.

Tehran struck back, calling the remarks “irresponsible and shameful” and accusing the United States of being “a leading producer of terrorism and a supporter of the terrorist and genocidal Zionist regime”.

“The United States… has no moral authority to accuse others,” Iran’s foreign ministry said.

US President Donald Trump caused a stir at the Gaza Peace Summit in Egypt on Monday when he referred to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni the only female leader on stage as “beautiful.”

The 79-year-old, who has been married three times, acknowledged mid-speech that his remark might be deemed politically incorrect.

“I’m not allowed to say it, because usually it’s the end of your political career if you do,” Trump said while discussing his peace efforts in the Middle East. “But she’s a beautiful young woman I’ll take my chances.”

Turning toward Meloni, 48, Trump added, “You don’t mind being called beautiful, right? Because you are.”

Meloni’s immediate reaction was not visible, as Trump’s back was turned to the cameras.

Trump, who has previously praised Meloni’s conservative leadership, went on to describe her as “incredible,” adding that “they really respect her in Italy she’s a very successful politician.”

The exchange quickly drew attention online, with many noting that Trump’s remarks overshadowed parts of his address on Gaza’s peace efforts.

Meloni was the only woman among around 30 leaders gathered on the stage behind Trump for the summit, where they signed a declaration pledging to help push through peace for Gaza.

Trump has previously been criticised for sexist remarks.

In September, a US appeals court upheld a jury’s $83.3-million penalty against Trump for defaming author E. Jean Carroll, whom he was found to have sexually assaulted.

Google will invest $15 billion over five years to set up an artificial intelligence data centre in India’s southern state of Andhra Pradesh, a company official said on Tuesday, for its biggest ever investment in the world’s most populous nation.

Google has committed to spending some $85 billion this year to build out data centre capacity as big tech companies spend heavily on building new data centre infrastructure as they compete to fill booming demand for AI services.

“It’s the largest AI hub that we are going to be investing in anywhere in the world outside of the United States,” Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said at a New Delhi event, adding that investment will be spread over the next five years.

“It is a part of a global network of AI centres in 12 different countries.”

The data centre campus in the port city of Visakhapatnam will have a capacity of 1 gigawatt initially, but will be scaled to “multiple gigawatts”, Kurian added.

Earlier, state officials had estimated the investment at $10 billion for the centre, which the state government has said is expected to generate 188,000 jobs.

Microsoft and Amazon have already poured billions into building data centres in India, a key growth market, in which nearly a billion users access the internet.

Indian billionaires Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani have also unveiled investments in building capacity for data centres.

AI requires enormous computing power, pushing demand for specialised data centres, enabling tech companies to link thousands of chips together in clusters.

Google parent Alphabet counts India as a key growth market where its YouTube video services have the most users, and Android phones dominate smartphone usage.

However, the US giant has been battling many antitrust challenges in India over its business practices, and also faces a lawsuit from a Bollywood couple challenging YouTube’s AI policy.