Nuclear Iran

[Jimbuna]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmPpCGWOqT8

[Jimbuna]

Iran vows to keep backing Hezbollah during regional tensions linked to Israel-Hamas war


BEIRIUT (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister vowed after arriving in Beirut on Friday to keep supporting the militant Hezbollah group, saying Lebanon’s security affects that of Iran and the region.

Hossein Amirabdollahian was welcomed by representatives of Lebanon’s Hezbollah as well as the militant Palestinian group Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Iran, a main backer of the militant groups, has been calling on the U.S. to pressure Israel to stop its offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah began attacks along Lebanon’s border with Israel on Oct. 8 after 17 years of relative calm, a day after Hamas launched its attack on southern Israel that triggered the ongoing war. Hezbollah officials have said they will stop attacking Israeli military posts when Israel’s attack on Gaza ends.

“Hezbollah and the resistance in Lebanon have courageously and wisely carried out their deterring and effective role,” Amirabdollahian told reporters at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport.

He said Iran will continue “its strong support to the resistance in Lebanon, as we consider Lebanon’s security as the security of Iran and the region.”

Amirabdollahian is scheduled to meet Lebanese officials and hold talks with Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

Shortly before he arrived in Beirut, Syrian state media reported that the country’s air defense units shot down two drones near Damascus, the capital. State TV quoted a military statement as saying the drones came from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The Syrian military statement gave no further details.

An opposition war monitor reported an airstrike hit an air base in Damascus’ western neighborhood of Mazzeh, without saying if there were casualties. It added that the strike occurred shortly after an Iranian cargo plane landed at the base.

Thousands of Iran-backed fighters are in Syria, where they have been fighting alongside Syrian government forces in the nearly 13-year civil war.

Israel rarely acknowledges its actions in Syria but has said it targets bases of Iran-allied militant groups. It has also targeted members of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Syria, including a high-ranking general in December.
https://apnews.com/article/lebanon-iran-hezbollah-amirabdollahian-hamas-1255f8a9daef7a54da95b2c8a32c4120

[Jimbuna]

US seizes massive stash of Iranian weapons headed for Houthi rebels


US forces operating in the Arabian Sea have seized a massive arsenal of Iranian weapons that were bound for Houthi rebels in Yemen, officials said Thursday. The weapons were found on January 28.

The weaponry included medium-range ballistic missile components, explosives, unmanned underwater/surface vehicle (UUV/USV) components, military-grade communication and network equipment, anti-tank guided missile launcher assemblies, and other military components.

A statement from CENTCOM described the haul as 'lethal aid originating in Iran.' According to the command, the shipment was in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2216.

'This is yet another example of Iran's malign activity in the region. Their continued supply of advanced conventional weapons to the Houthis is in direct violation of international law and continues to undermine the safety of international shipping and the free flow of commerce,' CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla.

As of Wednesday, the carrier strike group, which includes the cruiser USS Eisenhower, USS Philippine Sea, the destroyers USS Mason and Gravely, and additional U.S. Navy assets in the region including the destroyers USS Laboon and USS Carney have conducted more than 95 intercepts of drones, anti-ship ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles and made more than 240 self-defense strikes on more than 50 Houthi targets.

On Tuesday, Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said that Israeli ships have been unable to pass through the Gulf of Aden over the last week. 'The Americans and the British failed to secure the passage of any ship heading to Israel. They were unable to protect these ships. They can no longer protect even American-British ships, and this is a real and major victory for us,' he said said in a televised speech.

Houthi militants, who control Yemen's most populous regions, have repeatedly fired on international commercial ships since mid-November. Their targets have been vessels with commercial ties to the United States, Britain or Israel, according to shipping and insurance sources.

'The Israeli, American and British agenda seeks to bring an end to the Palestinian issue,' al-Houthi said. Houthi operations in the Red Sea, he said, were 'legitimate (ones) to help support the people of Gaza and lift the siege being imposed on them.'
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/us-seizes-massive-stash-of-iranian-weapons-headed-for-houthi-rebels/ss-BB1ikcAg?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=b617311e232646ee9c5f4c7981865d44&ei=30#image=10

[Jimbuna]

Yemen's Houthi rebels fire missiles at British ship in Gulf of Aden

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis fired naval missiles at the British ship 'LYCAVITOS' in the Gulf of Aden, the group's military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech today.

British maritime security firm Ambrey said that a bulk carrier suffered minor damage today after being targeted by an explosive projectile some 100 nautical miles east of Yemen's port city of Aden.

The damage was caused by shrapnel that caused a diesel leak, Ambrey said in its advisory note, making clear the explosion occurred some 100 miles away and did not directly impact the carrier. The crew members were unharmed, it added.
Separately the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said today it had received a report of an explosion near a vessel some 85 nautical miles east of Aden.

It is not clear if either of the attacks refer to the one on 'LYCAVITOS'.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/yemen-s-houthi-rebels-fire-missiles-at-british-ship-in-gulf-of-aden/ar-BB1il0AX?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=ff91804b0f63474b889bdcbf33557c63&ei=25

[Jimbuna]

U.S. sanctions Iran Central Bank subsidiary for U.S. tech procurement and violating export rules


WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Wednesday imposed sanctions on three people and four firms — across Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey — for allegedly helping to export goods and technology purchased from U.S. companies to Iran and the nation’s central bank.

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said the procurement network transferred U.S. technology for use by Iran’s Central Bank in violation of U.S. export restrictions and sanctions.

Some of the materials acquired by the Central Bank of Iran were items classified as “information security items subject to national security and anti-terrorism controls” by the Commerce Department, Treasury says.

Included in the sanctions package is Informatics Services Corp., an Iranian subsidiary of Iran’s Central Bank that most recently developed the Central Bank Digital Currency platform for the bank; a UAE-based front company, which acquired U.S. tech for the Central Bank of Iran and the front company’s CEO, as well as a Turkey-based affiliate firm that also made purchases that ended up in Iran.

“The Central Bank of Iran has played a critical role in providing financial support to” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard and militant group Hezbollah, said Treasury Under Secretary Brian E. Nelson, adding that they are the “two key actors intent on further destabilizing the Middle East.”

“The United States will continue to use all available means to disrupt the Iranian regime’s illicit attempts to procure sensitive U.S. technology and critical inputs,” he said.

The sanctions block access to U.S. property and bank accounts and prevent the targeted people and companies from doing business with Americans.
https://apnews.com/article/iran-hezbollah-sanctions-treasury-e8ebc0cb83e2bb73eb60f3e2d9af72f1

[Otto Harkaman]

European Red Sea Naval Task Force Set To Launch Monday

Operation Aspides is a defensive task force created by the European Union to counter Houthi attacks on shipping.

As the Iranian-backed Houthi militia continues attacking ships in the Red Sea region, another international protective task force is set to begin operations on Monday.

Created by the European Union, Operation Aspides (Greek for shield) will be commanded by Italy and headquartered in Greece. It is unclear at the moment how many nations will provide assets, but the German Navy’s Type 124 Sachsen class air-defense frigate FGS Hessen set sail Feb. 8 from Wilhelmshaven to join Aspides, according to Janes. Greece, France and Italy have also agreed to participate, according to EU News, but it is unclear whether that means providing ships, aircraft or both.

https://www.twz.com/uploads/2024/02/17/HessenTop1.jpg

https://www.twz.com/news-features/european-red-sea-naval-task-force-set-to-launch-monday

[Jimbuna]

Italy and France eh?

Best of luck to all involved.

[Reece]

They'll have plenty of stocks of food and wine though! :yep:

[Jeff-Groves]

For some reason I think the white flags are not gonna stop the missles.
:hmmm:

[Jimbuna]

'Catastrophic' attack on British ship leaves it at risk of sinking, Houthis claim

The Rubymar sustained "catastrophic" damage after being hit by a missile on Sunday, military spokesperson brigadier general Yahya Saree claimed.

In a statement posted on X on Monday, he said the ship "came to a complete halt" after the attack and its crew were forced to abandon the vessel.

It had been travelling through the Bab al Mandab Strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The spokesman said: "During the operation, we made sure the ship's crew exited safely.

"As a result of the extensive damage the ship suffered, it is now at risk of potential sinking."
The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency also said a vessel was damaged by an explosion 35 nautical miles south of Yemen, forcing its crew to abandon ship.

While it did not identify the ship, the agency said it was damaged following "an explosion in close proximity to the vessel".

A spokesperson said authorities were investigating and added: "Military authorities report crew have abandoned the vessel. [The] vessel [is] at anchor and all crew are safe."

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesman said: "Clearly we condemn any attacks by the Houthis against commercial civilian ships.

"HMS Diamond and HMS Richmond continue to patrol the Red Sea to help protect commercial shipping and, as the PM has said, we will not hesitate to act to protect freedom of navigation and lives at sea."

British maritime security firm Ambrey confirmed the Rubymar is a UK-registered, Belize-flagged and Lebanese-operated cargo ship, and said it had been on its way to Bulgaria after leaving Khorfakkan in the United Arab Emirates.

It is the latest in a string of attacks on shipping in and around the Red Sea, which has caused widespread disruption to trade routes, forcing firms to reroute to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/catastrophic-attack-on-british-ship-leaves-it-at-risk-of-sinking-houthis-claim/ar-BB1iwA0U?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=7a10991e9da14bdea70f590018ae6c62&ei=19

[mapuc]

In a livestream yesterday on YT which was mainly about Cruising I asked if the will be any changes in cruise lines sailing through Suez and the Red Sea due to the problem there.

Every cruise lines has change and are avoiding this area.The Red Sea.

Markus

[Jimbuna]

^ Quite understandable but a real shame. I've sailed through Suez and Red Sea on a few occasions and it really is a beautiful experience.

[Jimbuna]

US and UK carry out fresh strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen

The Pentagon says US and UK fighter planes have carried out strikes on 18 Houthi sites in Yemen - the fourth such joint operation by the allies.

The US says Saturday's strikes were directed against storage facilities, drones, air defence systems, radars and a helicopter of the militant movement.

The UK says the allies acted to "further degrade" Houthi capabilities.

There have been sustained attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis on shipping in the important Red Sea trade route.

The Houthis - who control large swathes of Yemen including the capital Sanaa - have been targeting vessels they say are linked to Israel and the West in response to the continuing Israel-Gaza war.

Global supply chains are now facing severe disruption and rising costs as a result of some of the biggest shipping companies diverting journeys away from the Red Sea - one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

In a joint statement, the Pentagon said that Saturday's "necessary and proportionate strikes specifically targeted 18 Houthi targets across eight locations in Yemen associated with Houthi underground weapons storage facilities, missile storage facilities, one-way attack unmanned aerial systems, air defence systems, radars, and a helicopter.

"These precision strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Houthis use to threaten global trade, naval vessels, and the lives of innocent mariners in one of the world's most critical waterways."

The statement said "the Houthis' now more than 45 attacks on commercial and naval vessels since mid-November constitute a threat to the global economy, as well as regional security and stability, and demand an international response".

The strikes were carried out "with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand", the statement added.

Shortly afterwards, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin stressed that America "will not hesitate to take action, as needed, to defend lives and the free flow of commerce in one of the world's most critical waterways".

Separately, UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said "it is our duty to protect lives at sea and preserve freedom of navigation".

"That is why the Royal Air Force engaged in a fourth wave of precision strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen".

The US military said earlier in the day that it had destroyed seven Houthi mobile anti-ship missiles that were being prepared for strikes.

Earlier this week, the crew of a Belize-flagged, British-registered cargo vessel abandoned ship off Yemen after it was hit by missiles fired by the Houthis.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68395173

[Otto Harkaman]

Iran Production of Near Bomb-Grade Uranium Falls for First Time

Iran reduced its stockpile of near bomb-grade uranium over the past three months, a move that could ease some fear over a wider Middle East conflict as Tehran’s allies trade fire with US forces. Nuclear inspectors from the United Nations watchdog told diplomats Monday that Iran’s level of highly-enriched uranium has dropped 5% since November, compared with a 5% increase during the previous quarter.

https://ground.news/article/iran-production-of-near-bomb-grade-uranium-falls-for-first-time_d367f9

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FGWEDkxWYAEhHqX.jpg

[Jimbuna]

Iran calls for nuclear disarmament of Israel

“The international community must take this threat seriously and make a decisive decision to confront the unprecedented threat posed by this occupying, apartheid, and discriminatory regime to global peace. This occupying regime has become so emboldened by the support of the United States and some Western countries that it shamelessly threatens both the oppressed people of Gaza and the countries of the region with nuclear weapons,” warned Iran’s Foreign Minister while addressing a high-level disarmament conference at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Israeli cabinet has suggested the use of nuclear weapons against Palestinians in Gaza multiple times during the past months. That’s while since October 7, the regime has carpet-bombed the entirety of Gaza, leveling at least 70% of the strip’s infrastructure and buildings. Its deadly military campaign has also left behind a vast carnage of over 30,000 Palestinian civilians, with the rest of the population now grappling with famine and disease.

“The world must acknowledge that nuclear weapons in the hands of such a regime constitute the most serious and urgent threat to humanity. It is necessary to dismantle all the nuclear arsenals of this regime and subject all its nuclear installations to the inspections and mechanisms of the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Hossein Amir Abdollahian added.

The top Iranian diplomat also criticized Washington’s untrammeled support for the regime, saying the U.S. has been scuppering regional countries’ efforts aimed at making West Asia a nuclear-weapon-free zone.

Israel is estimated to have at least 90 nuclear warheads, with fissile material stockpiles of over 200. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has never inspected any of the regime’s nuclear sites despite repeated calls from countries in West Asia.
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/495423/Iran-calls-for-nuclear-disarmament-of-Israel

[Reece]

Iran can blow it out of their pants!! :yep:

[Jimbuna]

Iran can blow it out of their pants!! :yep:

If pushed hard enough Israel might just push it out of Irans pants :)

[Reece]

Go Israel go!! :Kaleun_Thumbs_Up:

[Jimbuna]

Iran 'gives Hezbollah the green light to escalate attacks along Israel's northern border' and launch 'large-scale assault' amid warnings of an 'October 7, part two'

Iran has reportedly given Hezbollah the green light to escalate attacks along Israel's northern border.

The country allegedly ordered the terror group to launch a 'large-scale assault' on Israel in a new wave of terror described in Israeli media as 'October 7, part two'.

Iran's order was made after it became aware of Israeli plans to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the Jerusalem Post reports.

The regime under leader Ali Khamenei fears that southern Lebanon 'will be next', mirroring US warnings that the Israeli military is planning to launch a ground operation in Lebanon in late spring or early summer.

Thus far Israel exchanged near-daily missile fire with Hezbollah, hitting locations in Lebanon - but the IDF has refrained from a full-out ground invasion.

US administration and intelligence officials fear a ground incursion could be next if diplomatic efforts to push Hezbollah back from Israel's northern border fail.

'We are operating in the assumption that an Israeli military operation is in the coming months,' a senior official in Biden's government told CNN.

Hezbollah allegedly called for the meeting with Iran after 'information was obtained' that Israel was due to launch a ground assault and the secretary-general of the terror group, Hassan Nasrallah, asked for 'complete freedom in how he intends to attack'.

Meanwhile Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned on Tuesday that Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas could use the upcoming Muslim holiday month of Ramadan to provoke Palestinians in the West Bank and Muslims across the region to escalate tensions and attack Israel.

Hamas-ally Hezbollah has been fighting with the Israeli army since war erupted between Israel and Hamas in October, displacing tens of thousands of Lebanese and Israeli residents from their homes.

Just last night Israeli strikes killed two people in Lebanon's south, according to Lebanon's state-run national news agency.

There was also fire in the other direction, as Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement Wednesday morning that it targeted two Israeli military sites with two barrages of 'Grad rockets'.

The attack from south Lebanon came in 'response to Zionist massacres against civilians in the Gaza Strip and the assassination of martyred leaders and their brothers in the southern suburbs' of Beirut, the statement by the agency added.

The Israeli military said in a statement that 'approximately 10 launches which crossed from Lebanon into northern Israel were identified', adding that sirens had sounded in north Israel's Kiryat Shmona area.

Air defences 'successfully intercepted a number of the launches,' the statement said, adding that the army 'struck the sources of the fire in Lebanon'.

Israeli police reported property damage in the Kiryat Shmona area but no wounded.

A strike in January, which a United States defence official said was carried out by Israel, killed Hamas's deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri and six terrorist group members in Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold - the most high-profile Hamas figure to be killed during the war.

This month, security sources said a senior Hamas officer had survived an assassination attempt south of Beirut.

The escalating cross-border exchanges since October 8, the day after the Israel-Hamas war erupted, have stoked fears of all-out war on Israel's northern border with Lebanon.

The exchanges have killed at least 286 people on the Lebanese side, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also at least 44 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

At least 24 fighters from Palestinian groups including 10 from Hamas are also among the dead.

On the Israeli side, 10 soldiers and six civilians have been killed, according to the Israeli army.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13139947/iran-hezbollah-green-light-attacks-israel-border-october-7.html

[Jimbuna]

UK ship attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels sinks in the Red Sea

A UK-registered cargo ship has sunk in the Red Sea after it was hit in an attack by Yemen’s Houthis.

The Rubymar was attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels and sunk in the Red Sea after days of taking on water, officials said Saturday.

The ship had been drifting after the attack in February. It marks the first ship sunk by the Houthis amid their monthslong attacks on shipping in the vital waterway.

Yemen’s internationally recognized government, as well as a regional military official, confirmed the ship sank. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as the information had not been cleared for publication.

The Rubymar’s Beirut-based manager could not be reached for comment.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/uk-ship-attacked-by-yemen-s-houthi-rebels-sinks-in-the-red-sea/ar-BB1jdgF8?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=2662f04306194fe184418e2ef5afd0d1&ei=18

[Reece]

https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Houthi-Ship-attack_WIDE-THUMB-CLEAN-1709112888.jpg?resize=1800,1063

[em2nought]

Toxic fertilizer spewing into the Red Sea? Great! :arrgh!:

[Jimbuna]

Houthi attack sinks ship - US military warns of risks for Red Sea

As a result of the sinking of the bulk carrier MV Rubymar in the Red Sea, which was carrying over 40,000 tons of fertilizer and was attacked by Yemeni Houthi rebels nearly two weeks ago, an environmental hazard is emerging in the waters. Additionally, there is a risk of collision with the underwater environment for other vessels, according to Twitter (X) of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM).

The American military noted that yesterday, March 2nd, at approximately 2:15 a.m., the commercial vessel Rubymar sank. The ship was flying the flag of Belize and was owned by the United Kingdom. This vessel was hit by an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Houthi rebels supported by Iran on February 18th.
"The ship had been slowly taking on water since the unprovoked attack," the statement informs.

As reported by CENTCOM, approximately 21,000 metric tons of ammonium phosphate-sulfate fertilizer, which the vessel was transporting, pose an environmental hazard in the Red Sea.

"As the ship sinks it also presents a subsurface impact risk to other ships transiting the busy shipping lanes of the waterway," added the US military.

The statement also emphasizes that Iran-backed Houthi rebels pose "a heightened threat to global maritime activities."

"The United States and coalition partners remain committed to safeguarding freedom of navigation, striving to enhance the safety and security of international waters for merchant shipping," added in CENTCOM.

Preceding events

Earlier on Saturday, March 2nd, Western media reported that the vessel Rubymar had sunk in the Red Sea after being attacked by Yemeni Houthi rebels. This marked the first ship to go down following the militants' attack.

It was noted that after sustaining damages, the vessel drifted uncontrollably in the Red Sea before sinking. The ship's crew was evacuated. The damage to the vessel resulted in a fuel leak, posing a serious threat to the ecology. Specifically, a kilometer-long oil slick formed around the ship.

US operation in response to Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea

Recall that since November 2023, Yemeni Houthi attacks on trading vessels with ties to Israel have persisted in the Red Sea. In early January, the US and UK launched powerful strikes against Houthi-related targets in Yemen in response to the militants' ongoing attacks on civilian ships in the Red Sea.

On January 28th, it was reported that a Houthi drone in the Red Sea attacked a British military vessel, and the following day, the Yemeni Houthis claimed to have attacked an American destroyer. However, the Pentagon refuted the militants' claim.

Prior to this, on February 6th, it was reported that a British cargo ship was attacked by Houthis in the Red Sea. On February 7th, Houthis launched six anti-ship ballistic missiles from Yemen toward two commercial vessels in the southern part of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. They did not cause any damage to the vessels, and one missile was intercepted and shot down by US military forces. Two days later, US military forces launched a series of strikes against Houthi cruise missiles and surface drones in Yemen.

Additionally, on February 26th, Houthis again attacked a tanker in the Gulf of Aden flying the American flag. Several days prior, they conducted an attack in the Red Sea on a US humanitarian aid ship.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/houthi-attack-sinks-ship-us-military-warns-of-risks-for-red-sea/ar-BB1jfcMm?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=591324dd31e345e9b732ef7abe6d3d2e&ei=30

[Jimbuna]

Ship caught fire after missile hit it, Swiss operator confirms

A Swiss shipping operator has confirmed a missile hit its container ship yesterday, causing a fire.

MSC said its Sky II was struck 85 miles southeast of Aden in Yemen while sailing from Singapore to Djibouti.

"The missile caused a small fire that has been extinguished while no crew were injured," MSC said.

"She is currently continuing her journey to Djibouti and will arrive today for further assessment."

Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto said Houthi forces had attacked the Liberian-flagged vessel.

"I am not aware that either Switzerland, Liberia or Djibouti have ever participated in any way in the ongoing conflict in Gaza," Crosetto said on X, seemingly in reference to the Houthis' claims that they only attack ships affiliated with Israel, the US or UK.

[em2nought]

Seems like drilling for oil in your own vast reserves of your own country might just be better for the environment than getting your fix from the Middle East. :D

[ET2SN]

Ship caught fire after missile hit it, Swiss operator confirms

A Swiss shipping operator has confirmed a missile hit its container ship yesterday, causing a fire.

MSC said its Sky II was struck 85 miles southeast of Aden in Yemen while sailing from Singapore to Djibouti.

"The missile caused a small fire that has been extinguished while no crew were injured," MSC said.

"She is currently continuing her journey to Djibouti and will arrive today for further assessment."

Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto said Houthi forces had attacked the Liberian-flagged vessel.

"I am not aware that either Switzerland, Liberia or Djibouti have ever participated in any way in the ongoing conflict in Gaza," Crosetto said on X, seemingly in reference to the Houthis' claims that they only attack ships affiliated with Israel, the US or UK.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Liberia#/media/File:Flag_of_Liberia.svg

Jim, remember what the Liberian flag looks like? :03:

[Jimbuna]

Three killed in Houthi missile attack on cargo ship in Gulf of Aden


Three crew members have been killed in a Houthi missile strike on a cargo ship off southern Yemen, its owners and the US say - the first deaths caused by the group's attacks on merchant vessels.

The Barbados-flagged True Confidence was abandoned after Wednesday's attack, which inflicted significant damage.

Two of the sailors who died were Filipinos and the other was Vietnamese.

The Houthis say their attacks are in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

A military spokesman for the Iran-backed group claimed it targeted True Confidence because it was "American" - something the owners denied.

The US military's Central Command (Centcom) condemned the Houthis' "reckless attacks", which it said had "disrupted global trade and taken the lives of international seafarers".

Hours after the attack, US forces conducted strikes on two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Yemen, which Centcom said presented an imminent threat to US Navy ships in the region. Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported that two strikes targeted the airport in the Red Sea city of Hudaydah.

The attack on True Confidence occurred around 12:30 (09:30 GMT) on Wednesday, when the bulk carrier was in the Gulf of Aden, about 50 nautical miles (93km) south-west of the city of Aden, according to its owners.

The vessel was manned by a crew of 20, comprising one Indian, four Vietnamese and 15 Filipino nationals. Three armed guards - two from Sri Lanka and one from Nepal - were also on board.

A Centcom statement said the 183m-long bulk carrier was hit by an anti-ship ballistic missile launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen.

It published an aerial photograph showing significant damage to the bridge and accommodation at the stern of the stricken vessel, on the port side.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said that before the attack True Confidence had been contacted over VHF radio by a group calling itself the "Yemeni navy" and told to change course.

Nearby vessels then reported a loud bang and a large plume of smoke.

The Indian Navy's spokesperson said INS Kolkata, a destroyer deployed in the region as part of a US-led naval taskforce, arrived at the scene on Wednesday afternoon and rescued 21 crew members using a helicopter and boats.

Indian sailors provided critical medical aid to the injured and evacuated them to Djibouti on Wednesday evening, the spokesperson added.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68490695

[Otto Harkaman]

https://youtu.be/fxaRAu0Y2Ck?si=rPU00LusdUMGLt_t

https://youtu.be/27zG3GNxmdI?si=_ekKlUbk53SYgoMu

[Otto Harkaman]

There are several confirmed sources that indicate that Iran is supplying the Houthi rebels in Yemen with missiles and other weapons. Here are some of them:

- **DIA report**: The Defense Intelligence Agency released an unclassified report in February 2024 that provides a comparative analysis of publicly available images of Iranian missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles to those displayed and employed by Houthi forces in Yemen. The report states that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) has been providing the Houthis with a growing arsenal of sophisticated weapons and training since 2014⁴.
- **UK evidence**: Britain presented evidence in January 2024 that Iran is supplying advanced weapons to the Houthis, after finding images of tests conducted at the headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards in Tehran on the hard drive of an unmanned aircraft seized by the Royal Navy⁶.
- **U.S. Navy admiral**: Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, said in an interview with CBS News in February 2024 that Iran has been resupplying, advising, and providing target information to the Houthis for a decade. He said that the Houthis have been using anti-ship ballistic missiles that have never been used in a conflict before⁵.

These sources show that Iran is enabling the Houthi attacks across the Middle East, threatening freedom of navigation and international commerce in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. 🚢🚀

Source: Conversation with Bing, 3/8/2024
(1) DIA report confirms the Houthis’ use of Iranian missiles and unmanned .... https://www.dia.mil/News-Features/Articles/Article-View/Article/3662325/dia-report-confirms-the-houthis-use-of-iranian-missiles-and-unmanned-aerial-veh/.
(2) UK Presents Evidence Linking Iran in Houthi Weapon Supply. https://www.voanews.com/a/uk-presents-evidence-linking-iran-in-houthi-weapon-supply/6961928.html.
(3) U.S. Navy three-star admiral discusses the mission to stop Houthi Red .... https://www.cbsnews.com/news/houthi-attacks-red-sea-us-navy-response-60-minutes/.
(4) Iranian, Houthi naval attacks escalate. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/iran-creating-multi-front-war-with-israel-as-houthi-s-naval-attacks-escalate/ar-BB1juWmG.
(5) Houthi missile kills 3 sailors in Gulf of Aden. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/houthi-missile-kills-3-sailors-in-gulf-of-aden/ar-BB1jv9q6.
(6) Houthi missile attack kills 3 crew members in Yemen rebels' first fatal assault on shipping. https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-destroyer-shoots-missile-drones-launched-yemens-houthi-107829276.
(7) undefined. https://www.dia.mil/Military-Power-Publications.

[Otto Harkaman]

The current sanctions on Iran are imposed by various entities, including the United States, the United Nations, the European Union, and other countries. Here is a brief overview of some of the major sanctions:

- **U.S. Sanctions**:
- The United States has imposed sanctions on Iran since 1979, following the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The sanctions have been expanded and modified over the years, targeting various sectors and activities of the Iranian regime, such as nuclear and ballistic missile programs, human rights abuses, terrorism, and regional destabilization.
- The U.S. sanctions block Iranian government assets in the United States, ban nearly all U.S. trade with Iran (except food and agricultural commodities, medicine, medical supplies, and humanitarian-related goods), and prohibit foreign assistance and arms sales to Iran. The sanctions also impose secondary sanctions on non-U.S. persons and entities that engage in certain transactions with Iran or designated Iranian persons and entities.
- The U.S. sanctions were partially lifted in 2016, following the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a multilateral agreement that aimed to limit Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. However, in 2018, the United States withdrew from the JCPOA and re-imposed the sanctions that had been waived or suspended under the agreement. The U.S. sanctions were further expanded in 2019 and 2020 to cover Iran's financial sector, metals industry, oil exports, and other sources of revenue¹².

- **U.N. Sanctions**:
- The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has imposed sanctions on Iran since 2006, in response to Iran's failure to comply with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the UNSC resolutions on its nuclear program. The sanctions include an arms embargo, a ban on Iran's ballistic missile activities, travel bans and asset freezes on designated individuals and entities, and restrictions on Iran's nuclear-related and dual-use items and technology transfers.
- The U.N. sanctions were lifted in 2016, as part of the JCPOA implementation. However, in 2020, the United States attempted to invoke the "snapback" mechanism of the JCPOA, which would restore all the previous U.N. sanctions on Iran. The U.S. move was rejected by the other parties to the JCPOA and the majority of the UNSC members, who argued that the United States had no legal standing to trigger the snapback after withdrawing from the agreement³⁴.

- **E.U. Sanctions**:
- The European Union has imposed sanctions on Iran since 2007, in support of the U.N. resolutions and the international efforts to address Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile issues. The E.U. sanctions include an arms embargo, a ban on Iran's ballistic missile activities, travel bans and asset freezes on designated individuals and entities, and restrictions on Iran's nuclear-related and dual-use items and technology transfers. The E.U. sanctions also target Iran's oil and gas sector, financial sector, transportation sector, and other areas of concern.
- The E.U. sanctions were lifted in 2016, as part of the JCPOA implementation. The E.U. has remained committed to the JCPOA and has opposed the U.S. withdrawal and re-imposition of sanctions. The E.U. has also established a special mechanism, known as INSTEX, to facilitate legitimate trade with Iran and circumvent the U.S. sanctions. However, the E.U. has also expressed concerns over Iran's breaches of its JCPOA commitments and its regional activities, and has imposed additional sanctions on Iran for human rights violations and involvement in terrorist plots⁵ .

- **Other Countries' Sanctions**:
- Several other countries have also imposed sanctions on Iran, either in coordination with the U.S., the U.N., or the E.U., or independently. These countries include Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The sanctions vary in scope and severity, but generally target Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, human rights abuses, terrorism, and regional destabilization. Some of these countries have also lifted or eased their sanctions in accordance with the JCPOA, while others have followed the U.S. lead and re-imposed or expanded their sanctions .

These are some of the current sanctions on Iran. For more information, you can visit the websites of the relevant authorities, such as the U.S. Department of State¹, the U.N. Security Council³, the E.U. External Action Service⁵, or the respective governments of other countries. 🌎🔒

Source: Conversation with Bing, 3/8/2024
(1) Iran Sanctions - United States Department of State. https://www.state.gov/iran-sanctions/.
(2) Iran Sanctions | Office of Foreign Assets Control. https://ofac.treasury.gov/sanctions-programs-and-country-information/iran-sanctions.
(3) United States sanctions against Iran - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_sanctions_against_Iran.
(4) July 20, 2023 U.S. Sanctions on Iran - CRS Reports. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12452.
(5) International sanctions against Iran - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_sanctions_against_Iran.

[Jimbuna]

Houthi spokesperson confirms drone attacks on US war destroyers

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have confirmed reports the group targeted US war destroyers early this morning.

In a televised speech, the group's military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the Houthis targeted bulk carrier Propel Fortune in the Gulf of Aden, adding they targeted "a number of US war destroyers at the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden with 37 drones".

The Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea since November in what they say is a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians during the war in Gaza.

Earlier, the US Navy said its ships and aircraft shot down 15 uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) by Yemen's Houthis in the Red Sea area between 4am and 6.30am.

[Jimbuna]

US-British forces strike Houthi targets in Yemen, Houthi outlet says

ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - Yemen's port city of Hodeidah and other western coastal areas were hit on Monday by a dozen airstrikes attributed to a U.S.-British coalition defending ships in the Red Sea, according to Al Masirah, the main Houthi-run television news outlet.

The strikes follow the first civilian fatalities and vessel loss since the Iran-aligned Houthis began attacking commercial shipping in November. They also coincide with the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, a period of fasting for Muslims.

Al Masirah did not specify which targets, if any, had been hit, but said four of the strikes had been on the port of Ras Issa.

Despite reprisals from the U.S.-British coalition and other navies, the Houthis have escalated their campaign of attacks on commercial vessels in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, which they say is in solidarity with the Palestinians under attack in Gaza in Israel's war with Hamas.
The Houthis killed three crew of the Barbados-flagged, Greek-operated True Confidence on Wednesday in an attack off the port of Aden.

That came days after the sinking of the cargo ship Rubymar, which went down about two weeks after being hit by a Houthi missile on Feb. 18.

Many ships are now making the longer, more expensive trip around Africa's Cape of Good Hope to avoid the dangerous route through the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea and the Suez Canal - sharply raising shipping costs.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/us-british-forces-strike-houthi-targets-in-yemen-houthi-outlet-says/ar-BB1jIhzj?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=82f2ffb376d246a5a3a03ed73d79ab85&ei=22

[Jimbuna]

Report claims Yemen’s Houthis have a hypersonic missile, possibly raising stakes in Red Sea crisis


DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim to have a new, hypersonic missile in their arsenal, Russia’s state media reported Thursday, potentially raising the stakes in their ongoing attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways against the backdrop of Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The report by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited an unnamed official but provided no evidence for the claim. It comes as Moscow maintains an aggressively counter-Western foreign policy amid its grinding war on Ukraine.

However, the Houthis have for weeks hinted about “surprises” they plan for the battles at sea to counter the United States and its allies, which have so far been able to down any missile or bomb-carrying drone that comes near their warships in Mideast waters.

The Houthis’ main benefactor, Iran, claims to have a hypersonic missile and has widely armed the rebels with the missiles they now use. Adding a hypersonic missile to their arsenal could pose a more-formidable challenge to the air defense systems employed by America and its allies, including Israel.

“The group’s missile forces have successfully tested a missile that is capable of reaching speeds of up to Mach 8 and runs on solid fuel,” a military official close to the Houthis said, according to the RIA report. The Houthis “intend to begin manufacturing it for use during attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, as well as against targets in Israel.”

Mach 8 is eight times the speed of sound.

Russia has maintained close ties with Iran, relying on Iranian bomb-carrying drones to target Ukraine. Russian state media, particularly its Arabic-language services, have closely reported on Yemen’s yearslong civil war that pits the Iran-backed Houthis against forces of the internationally backed Yemeni government, supported by a Saudi-led coalition.

Hypersonic weapons, which fly at speeds higher than Mach 5, could pose crucial challenges to missile defense systems because of their speed and maneuverability.

The danger from a hypersonic missile depends on how maneuverable it is. Ballistic missiles fly on a trajectory in which anti-missile systems like the U.S.-made Patriot can anticipate their path and intercept them. The more irregular the missile’s flight path, such as a hypersonic missile with the ability to change directions, the more difficult it becomes to intercept.

China is believed to be pursuing the weapons, as is America. Russia claims it has already used them on the battlefield in Ukraine. However, speed and maneuverability isn’t a guarantee the missile will successfully strike a target. Ukraine’s air force in May said it shot down a Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missile with a Patriot battery.

In Yemen, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the Houthi rebels’ secretive supreme leader, boasted about the rebels’ weapons efforts at the end of February.

“We have surprises that the enemies do not expect at all,” he warned at the time.

A week ago, he similarly warned: “What is coming is greater.”
https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthi-hypersonic-missile-red-sea-e2bc170ff4470712f314fbb80bf24716

[Jimbuna]

Iran, Russia and China will show off their marine capabilities in a joint naval drill


Iran will begin a joint naval drill with Russia and China in the northern part of the Indian Ocean, state media reported Tuesday.

Iran has stepped up its military cooperation with Beijing and Moscow in response to regional tensions with the United States, including by supplying military drones to Russia before the European nation invaded Ukraine in 2022. Visits to Iran by Russian and Chinese naval representatives have also increased in recent years.

A report by state TV quoted the drill's spokesperson, Adm. Mostafa Tajaddini, as saying that “Marine Security Belt 2024” will begin later Tuesday in 17 thousand square kilometers (6,600 square miles) of the water. The drill is aimed at “fostering security and multilateral cooperation,” as well as showing the allies' good will and naval capacities.

He said that the three nations' drill — their fourth since 2019 — was also meant to improve trade, confront “piracy and terrorism, support to humanitarian activities, exchange of information in the field of rescue,” among other goals.

The report said Oman, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and South Africa would be observers in the drill.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/iran-ap-russia-china-tehran-b2511202.html

[Jimbuna]

Indian military recaptured cargo ship from Somali pirates: 17 crew members rescued

Indian Navy, with the assistance of special forces, recaptured a cargo ship from the Somali pirates and rescued 17 crew members, informs Reuters.

It is reported that all 35 pirates on board the cargo ship Ruen under the Maltese flag surrendered. The military also inspected the vessel for illegal weapons, ammunition, and contraband. Ruen was hijacked by pirates last year.

According to Indian military sources, the ship could have been used as a floating base for the capture of other cargo vessels off the coast of Somalia. The hijacking of Ruen marks the first successful hijacking involving Somali pirates since 2017 when aggressive measures by international naval forces halted a series of seizures in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
In recent months, India has deployed at least 12 military ships east of the Red Sea to ensure maritime security. As previously stated by Indian Navy representatives, since December 1, military forces have recorded at least 17 cases of hijacking attempts, attempted hijackings, and suspicious approaches to ships.

Earlier, the Indian Navy evacuated the crew of the vessel True Confidence, which had previously been attacked by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. It is reported that 20 crew members and three armed guards on board were taken to a hospital in Djibouti by an Indian military ship.

On March 6, the British Embassy in Yemen reported the shelling of the vessel True Confidence flying the flag of Barbados. The diplomatic mission stated that at least two sailors were killed in the attack. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that True Confidence allegedly belongs to Americans.

Two of the deceased were Filipino citizens, and the third was Vietnamese. It is noted that during the attack, two more Filipinos also suffered serious injuries.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/indian-military-recaptured-cargo-ship-from-somali-pirates-17-crew-members-rescued/ar-BB1k1YPK?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=7573dc5471274eedb1b21fd81c3cdc78&ei=16

[Jimbuna]

Houthi rebels in Yemen say they will continue sinking British ships

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis vowed on Sunday to continue targeting British ships in the Gulf of Aden following the sinking of a UK-linked vessel.

The US military confirmed on Saturday that the Rubymar had sunk after being struck by an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Yemeni Houthi militants on February 18.

"Yemen will continue to sink more British ships, and any repercussions or other damages will be added to Britain's bill," Hussein al-Ezzi, deputy foreign minister in the Houthi-led government, said in a post on X.

"It is a rogue state that attacks Yemen and partners with America in sponsoring ongoing crimes against civilians in Gaza."

Houthi militants have repeatedly launched drones and missiles against international commercial shipping since mid-November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians against Israel's military actions in Gaza.

Their Red Sea attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa, and stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread to destabilise the wider Middle East.

The US and Britain began striking Houthi targets in Yemen in January in retaliation for the attacks on Red Sea shipping.

The 172m-long Rubymar was flagged in Belize and operated by a Lebanese firm.

Its registered owner is Golden Adventure Shipping, with an address in the British port of Southampton.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/houthi-rebels-yemen-sink-british-ships-rubymar-b1142838.html

[Otto Harkaman]

Who are the Houthi leaders?

The Houthi movement, also known as Ansar Allah (Supporters of God), is a significant player in the Yemeni civil war. Here’s what we know about them:


Hussein al-Houthi: The movement’s late founder, Hussein al-Houthi, launched “Believing Youth,” a religious revival movement for a centuries-old subsect of Shia Islam called Zaidism. The Zaidis ruled Yemen for centuries but were marginalized under the Sunni regime that came to power after the 1962 civil war.
Abdul Malik al-Houthi: Hussein al-Houthi’s brother, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, is the current leader of the Houthi movement. He took over after Hussein was killed in 2004. Abdul Malik al-Houthi remains an enigmatic figure, and many say they have never laid eyes on him in person (https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/19/middleeast/red-sea-crisis-explainer-houthi-yemen-israel-intl/index.html).

The Houthi movement has been involved in the ongoing conflict in Yemen, and their attacks have recently escalated in the Red Sea, impacting global shipping and oil companies (https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/19/middleeast/red-sea-crisis-explainer-houthi-yemen-israel-intl/index.html).

Who are the leaders of the Yemen government?

As of April 7, 2022, the leadership structure in Yemen has undergone significant changes. Here are the key points:


Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi: Formerly the president of Yemen, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi ceded his authority to a Presidential Leadership Council. This council now exercises the powers of both the president and vice president. The council is led by Rashad al-Alimi, a former interior minister under President Saleh (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Yemen).
Mahdi al-Mashat: However, it’s essential to note that the Houthi Supreme Political Council’s chairman, Mahdi al-Mashat, contests the Hadi faction’s claim to the presidency. Al-Mashat is only recognized by Iran (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Yemen).

In summary, the Yemeni government’s leadership is currently vested in the Presidential Leadership Council, with Rashad al-Alimi at the helm, while Mahdi al-Mashat disputes this claim (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Yemen).

[Jimbuna]

Portsmouth centre sees rise in Middle East shipping distress calls

The Royal Navy's facility for handling international shipping emergencies has experienced an "unprecedented" increase in reported incidents.

The UK Maritime Trade Organisation control centre at Portsmouth acts as a 999 call centre for ships in distress.

It has seen a near fivefold increase in its calls since Houthi rebels began targeting ships with links to the UK and US in November 2023.

More than 40 ships have been attacked in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) was originally set up in Dubai in 2001 to act as a hub for handling distress calls from international shipping in the Middle East.

It was moved to Portsmouth, Hampshire, in 2014.

The Royal Navy operation now employs a civilian team of 15 watch-keepers and three managers covering calls 24 hours a day from shipping in the southern Red Sea, Bab al Mandeb and the Gulf of Aden.

The civilian handlers take emergency calls from ships' masters from all nationalities, co-ordinate rescue responses and circulate warnings to other shipping.

Lt Cmdr Joanna Black said it dealt with up to seven "very complex" incidents per day.

She said: "We are dealing with missile attacks on merchant shipping, UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] attacks and harassment.

"We also see small boat harassment and possible resurgence of Somali-based piracy and even interference with VHF comms."

In the fourth quarter of 2023, the UKMTO put out 71 warnings and advisories, took part in 40 exercises and drills, handled 27 emergency events such as medical incidents and breakdowns and handled 225,178 emails.

The Red Sea is the fastest sea route between Asia and Europe.

Large shipping firms, including Mediterranean Shipping Company and Maersk, have diverted vessels to the much longer route around Africa's Cape of Good Hope and then up the west side of the continent.

Shipping costs have increased after Houthis attacked commercial vessels traveling through the Red Sea following the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict in October.

The Iran-backed group said it was targeting ships linked to Israel, the US and the UK in support of Hamas.

The US and the UK responded with air strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

Darren Longhurst, a watchkeeper who used to serve in the Royal Navy, said: "There's been a couple of hairy moments - obviously you can't physically see it, but when you can hear them in the background when you're talking to the master and everything is going off, the adrenalin starts going then."

Lt Cmdr Black said the team's role was to provide a "clear interface" with ships at sea.

"A lot of the ships masters and security officers we are talking to don't have English as a first language, they are civilians in a very frightening, incredibly stressful situation," she said.

"Our team need to deal with that, much like 999 call operators, to understand and establish the truth and support, reassure and inform those people in distress that help is on its way."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-68617802

[Exocet25fr]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de5L-iO5HfM

[Jimbuna]

Yemeni Houthi movement secures safe Red Sea passage for Russian and Chinese ships

Representatives of the Yemeni Houthi movement were in discussions with diplomats from Russia and China regarding the security of their fleet passing through the Red Sea. The fighters were to guarantee that their ships would not be the target of attacks. In Oman, a meeting occurred with diplomats from Russia and China and Mohammed Abdel Salam, a leading political figure of the Yemeni Houthi fighters - Bloomberg reported, citing sources who witnessed the talks. The fighters guaranteed that attacks on Chinese and Russian ships would not be conducted, allowing them to safely pass through the Red Sea. In return, the Houthis are hoping for political support, such as at the UN, to block further resolutions against the movement. Since mid-November 2023, Yemeni Houthi rebels have been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea. They claim to target only those associated with Israel and, more recently, with the United States and the United Kingdom, aiming to pressure the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu.

China and Russia are concerned

According to Bloomberg, to avoid Houthi attacks, some ships passing through the Red Sea indicate their ties to China more explicitly, such as stating that all crew members are Chinese instead of the usual destination port. Despite this, in mid-January, Wang Yi, the head of Chinese diplomacy, called for an end to the harassment of civilian ships and attacks on them, advocating for the maintenance of the free flow of global industrial chains, supply chains, and the international trade order. Russian interests were also harmed during these attacks. As reported on money.pl, at the end of January, the fighters targeted a British tanker owned by the trading giant Trafigura Group, carrying Russian oil, marking an unexpected setback for the Kremlin and heightening fears of further disruptions on the route through the Red Sea. The attacks are disrupting trade on the route, which until recently accounted for 12 percent of global trade. Ships must now take a longer route circling Africa from the south. Egypt is also affected, as traffic through the Suez Canal has decreased.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/yemeni-houthi-movement-secures-safe-red-sea-passage-for-russian-and-chinese-ships/ar-BB1kiSL6?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=65eb43ad0324455db8896d41fdad6104&ei=11

[Jimbuna]

China, Russia and Iran put on show of force with Mideast naval drills

Warships from China, Russia and Iran have held live-fire exercises in a key Middle Eastern waterway this week as the three partners put on a show of force in the volatile region, according to reports in state-run media.

The drills near the Gulf of Oman, involving more than 20 ships from the three countries, are “aimed at strengthening maritime cooperation and safeguarding regional peace and stability,” a statement from the Chinese Defense Ministry said, echoing similar language from Iran and Russia.

China’s navy sent a guided-missile destroyer and guided-missile frigate to the exercises, Russia dispatched the cruiser Varyag from its Pacific Fleet, and Iran contributed a range of vessels, including frigates and fast-attack boats, according to state-run media.

Scheduled to run through Friday, the exercises are in their sixth incarnation since 2018, Russian state news agency TASS reported.

But they coincide with the most turbulent time the region has seen over those six years, noted Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency.

“The joint exercise comes at a time of heightened tensions in the region,” it said, citing the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, “which has threatened to spiral into a wider regional conflict.”

The Gaza conflict has already spread to international waters in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, where Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have fired missiles and drones at international military and commercial vessels.

Iranian Rear Adm. Amrollah Nozari said the exercises cover 17,000 square kilometers (6,500 square miles) of sea in an area of strategic importance to the whole world.

“This area includes three of the world’s five strategic straits, located in the northern Indian Ocean region, which is a crucial hub for energy and trade traffic globally,” Nozari is quoted as saying by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

The Iranian report also noted that the nation’s navy was introducing new vessels to this year’s exercises, “equipped for extended ocean missions” and armed with advanced domestically developed weaponry, though it did not specify what those weapons were.

Iran is a key supporter of both Hamas in Gaza and the Houthi rebels. Many of the munitions used by both groups are believed to come from Tehran.

Iranian munitions, including its Shahed aerial drones, have also become an important part of Russia’s arsenal in its war on Ukraine.

Meanwhile, ties between China and Russia have deepened following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, sparking deep suspicion in the West, including over concerns about Beijing’s position as Moscow’s key economic lifeline.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/13/middleeast/china-russia-iran-navy-drills-intl-hnk/index.html

[Jimbuna]

Houthis strike Chinese ship in Red Sea despite safe passage assurances

The Iran-backed Houthi terror group struck a Chinese ship amidst its blockade of the Red Sea, despite previously giving assurances that Chinese vessels would be given safe passage.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, the Yemeni Houthi militia launched four anti-ship ballistic missiles into the Red Sea in the vicinity of M/V Huang Pu, a Panamanian-flagged, and Chinese-owned and operated oil tanker, US Central Command (Centcom) reported.

Soon after, a fifth ballistic missile was detected as having been fired toward M/V Huang Pu. The ship issued a distress call but did not request assistance, sustaining minimal damage with no casualties reported.

However, the attack comes just days after Chinese and Russian officials met Mohammed Abdel Salam, the Houthi spokesman, in Oman to negotiate immunity from the blockade in one of the world’s most critical trade routes.
“The Houthis attacked the MV Huang despite previously stating they would not attack Chinese vessels,” Centcom said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

China is a key economic partner to Iran, which has been heavily sanctioned for its nuclear program, rights abuses and support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It is also the biggest consumer of Iranian gas, along with Russia.

In exchange for giving Russian and Chinese ships safe passage, the Houthis were reportedly assured that they would be given support in key votes such as the UN Security Council, though publicly Beijing has called for a halt to their action in the Red Sea.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/houthis-strike-chinese-ship-in-red-sea-despite-safe-passage-assurances/ar-BB1krsY1?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=14acf50b7b064bcbbac8a48337c683f9&ei=15

[Jimbuna]

US Navy aircraft carrier faces relentless battle against Houthi attacks

It's not just merchant ships being targeted by the Houthis in the Red Sea. The US carrier strike group trying to protect them has also been under constant threat too.

The BBC is the first British media to visit the USS Dwight D Eisenhower since it began this mission in November.

"This is deadly stuff," says Captain Dave Wroe, who commands the four US Navy destroyers which provide the extra protection for the carrier.

It arrived soon after Yemen's Houthi's began to target merchant vessels - they say in response to Israel's assault on Gaza.

Captain Wroe lists the threats they've been facing over the past four months: anti-ship ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned surface vessels, and now unmanned underwater vessels, or UUVs, all loaded with explosives.

UUVs are the latest threat. He says the F-18 jets on board the carrier have recently destroyed UUVs, before they could be launched.

Captain Wroe says the Houthis have posed the greatest challenge to the US Navy in recent history.

"This is the most since World War Two," he says. That was the last time the US operated in an area where they could be fired upon every day.

The tempo of operations on the aircraft carrier itself has also been unrelenting - with dozens of sorties being flown round the clock.

We watch as the deck crew direct the F-18s with luminous sticks, which they use to manoeuvre the jets round the flight deck at night.

Up in the carrier's flight control tower, Commander George Zintac, known as the Air Boss, is having to choreograph their movements - with a jet either launching or landing in just over a minute.

He's been in the US Navy for more than 30 years, but says "this is probably the most flying I've done on a deployment - everyday we're flying a tonne".

In daylight you can see what they've been doing. On the side of each cockpit they've painted the silhouettes of the bombs they've dropped, the radar stations destroyed, and the drones they've shot down from the air. They've already fired more than 300 bombs and missiles.

Row after row of more munitions are lined up in the hangar, ready for loading.

From the USS Eisenhower, or Ike as she's called by the crew, you can still see a few large merchant ships - tankers and bulk carriers sailing in the distance. But they're fewer in number.

Normally, the Red Sea carries around 20% of the world's maritime trade. It's the key route to Europe through the Suez Canal. It's less vital to America, but they're the ones doing the most to try to restore freedom of navigation.

But even with the presence of a US carrier strike group, the Red Sea remains extremely dangerous waters.

While we're on board we're told the Houthis have fired another ballistic missile, traveling at more than three times the speed of sound. The crews on the US destroyers have just minutes to track them and shoot them down. On this occasion it's well out of range and the missile falls into the water.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68595451

[Jimbuna]

Russian warships enter the Red Sea, navy says

Several Russian warships have passed the Bab al-Mandab Strait into the Red Sea, the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet said on Thursday, amid attacks by Yemen's Houthis on merchant shipping.

The Zvezda TV channel, owned by the defense ministry, quoted the fleet as saying the Russian cruiser Varyag and the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov were taking part in the voyage.

Houthi terrorists in Yemen have repeatedly attacked ships passing through the Bab al-Mandab Strait in the Red Sea since November in support of Palestinians, the terror organization claims.
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-794129

[Otto Harkaman]

The new routes of the Russian fleet: two warships are in the Red Sea, then they will enter the Mediterranean
by Gianluca Di Feo

The “Varyag” and “Maresciallo Shaposhnikov” indicate Moscow’s willingness to return to show its muscles. Meanwhile, three other boats are crossing the Sicilian Channel

https://www.repstatic.it/content/nazionale/img/2024/03/29/172839849-035b22f8-743c-4b67-abf1-34caf9a9b5a4.jpg
https://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2024/03/29/news/flotta_russa_mar_rosso_e_mediterraneo-422397855/?utm_source=ground.news&utm_medium=referral

The "Varyag" refers to the **Russian cruiser Varyag (1983)**, which is a Slava-class guided missile cruiser currently in active service with the Russian Navy¹. It was originally named "Chervona Ukraina" and is now the flagship of the Pacific Fleet. The cruiser has a displacement of 11,490 tons and is equipped with various armaments, including anti-ship missiles and surface-to-air missiles.

On the other hand, "Maresciallo Shaposhnikov" likely refers to the **Russian frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov**, which is a modernized Udaloy-class destroyer reclassified as a frigate⁶. Commissioned in 1985, it serves in the Russian Pacific Fleet and was named after Boris Shaposhnikov, a Soviet military officer and Marshal of the Soviet Union. The frigate underwent a refit in 2017 and is equipped with updated weapon systems and sensors, including cruise missiles and anti-submarine rocket launchers.

Both vessels are significant components of Russia's naval capabilities in the Pacific region.

https://youtu.be/PaVcm4w0Dgs?si=YRlqq3bYfuodYvO4

(1) Russian cruiser Varyag (1983) - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_cruiser_Varyag_%281983%29.
(2) Russian frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_frigate_Marshal_Shaposhnikov.

[Jimbuna]

Russian, Chinese ships assured safe passage in Red Sea, Houthis claim

AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s Houthis promised Russia and China that their ships would not be targeted as they transited the Red Sea, a senior figure from the group said on Sunday, a day after it reportedly fired five missiles at a Chinese-owned oil tanker.

In an interview with Al-Masirah TV on Sunday, Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, a member of the Supreme Political Council, said the Iran-backed militia called the Russian and Chinese embassies in Yemen and sent delegations to both countries to guarantee their ships’ safe passage.

“There are communications with the Russians and Chinese and they were reassured through their embassies and through the brothers who went there,” he said.

He did not say how Moscow or Beijing reacted to the guarantees or the missile strike on the Chinese ship.

Since November, the Houthis have seized a commercial ship and launched hundreds of drones, missiles and remotely operated boats against foreign commercial and navy vessels in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden.

They claim to target only vessels with links to or bound for Israel in a bid to pressure the country into allowing essential humanitarian aid, such as food and water, to enter the Gaza Strip.

The US Central Command said the Houthis on Saturday fired five ballistic missiles at M/V Huang Pu, a Chinese-owned and operated oil tanker sailing under the Panamanian flag, which caused only “minimal damage.” A fire was quickly extinguished and there were no injuries to the crew.

According to MarineTraffic, a website that provides information about ships’ positions and destinations, the Houthis targeted the tanker, which had set sail from Russia, despite it issuing a message that it had a Chinese owner and crew.

Despite reports by the US Central Command and international maritime agencies of attacks on ships, the Houthis’ military spokesperson Yahya Sarea has not appeared on the group’s media to claim credit for any strikes since March 19.

Al-Houthi dismissed the latest statement by the UN Security Council urging the Houthis to cease their attacks on ships and vowed to continue until Israel ended its blockade of Gaza.

“We don’t care what the Security Council says and if we did we wouldn’t have launched any operation in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab and the Indian Ocean,” he said.

Meanwhile, Yemeni government officials and human rights advocates have condemned the Houthis for killing civilians in the besieged city of Taiz.

On Sunday, residents said 17-year-old Amjed Mahmoud Al-Kasah was killed and Ali Ahmed Al-Sheikh, 30, was injured when a Houthi sniper opened fire in the Al-Zahra area of the city.

A photograph of the teenager was widely shared on Yemeni social media as people denounced the Houthis for murdering civilians and holding Taiz under siege.

Ishraq Al-Maqtari, a local activist, said the UN-brokered ceasefire that went into effect in April 2022 had not brought an end to the Houthi bombardment of residential areas.

“No one understands the reality about the ceasefire better than the people of #Taiz, particularly those who live close to the front lines in #Cairo, #Salah, #Al-Mudhaffar, and #Maqbanah,” she said on X.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2482696/middle-east

[Jimbuna]

Israeli air strike destroys Iranian consulate in Syria - state media

An Israeli strike has destroyed the Iranian consulate building in Syria's capital, Damascus, killing and wounding several people, Syrian authorities say.

A senior Revolutionary Guards commander Brig-Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi was among the dead, Iranian state media reported.

Pictures showed smoke and dust rising from the multi-storey building, which was next to the Iranian embassy on a highway in the western Mezzeh district.

The Israeli military said it did not comment on foreign media reports.

The Syrian defence ministry said Israeli aircraft targeted the consulate building from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights at about 17:00 local time (14:00 GMT).

Syrian air defences shot down some of the missiles they launched, but other missiles made it through and "destroyed the entire building, killing and injuring everyone inside", the ministry added.

The ministry said work was under way to recover the bodies and rescue the wounded from underneath the rubble, without giving any information about their identities.

Iranian state TV reported that those killed included Brig-Gen Zahedi, whom it identified as a senior commander of the Revolutionary Guards' overseas operations arm, the Quds Force. Several diplomats were among the dead, state TV said.

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that the 63-year-old was "active in the Quds Force" from 2008 to 2016 and served as commander of the Revolutionary Guards in Syria and Lebanon.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of sources on the ground in Syria, reported that eight people were killed - a high-ranking leader of the Quds Force, two Iranian advisers and five members of the Revolutionary Guards.

Israel has carried out hundreds of attacks on Iranian-linked targets in Syria in the past few years, but very rarely acknowledges the strikes.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68708923

[Otto Harkaman]

US on high alert for Iran attack in region after Israeli strike in Syria: Report

The US and Israel are preparing for a potential attack from Iran, believed to be "inevitable" by senior officials.
The US warned Iran against targeting American assets, claiming no prior knowledge of the strike on Iran's embassy complex.
Iran vowed revenge after an Israeli strike in Damascus killed Iranian commanders, escalating tensions in the region.
https://ground.news/article/b176040f-e75b-4cb4-83ed-3b097a34dedb

https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/q_auto/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/589298
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said that seven Iranian military advisers died in the strike, including Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in its Quds Force.
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-795592

[em2nought]

If you were Captain Nemo you could have some hellacious fun right now pitting everyone against one another. :har:

Somebody torpedoed my oil tanker!

I guess having a President who isn't even competent enough to stand trail can do the same thing.

[Skoaler]

God help us... Stuff is going wrong?

[Jimbuna]

German Frigate Neutralizes Houthi Missile Threat in Red Sea Mission


Operating in the Red Sea as part of an EU mission, the German frigate "Hessen" neutralized a missile fired by Houthi rebels towards a commercial ship, reported the German news agency DPA, citing British military sources.

The target of the Houthi rebels' missile attack was a commercial ship located in the Red Sea about 111 kilometres southwest of the Yemeni port of Hodeida.

Thanks to the actions taken by the German frigate "Hessen", one of the fired missiles was neutralized, while the other missed the target. The commercial ship was not damaged and is safely continuing its journey to the destination port.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/german-frigate-neutralizes-houthi-missile-threat-in-red-sea-mission/ar-BB1ldMYG?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=7de60fe82a3849539eaa2b65194cfbaa&ei=12

[Otto Harkaman]

What do the Houthi gain from the Red Sea conflict?

The Houthi movement derives several gains from their involvement in the Red Sea conflict:


Popular Support in Yemen:

By firing missiles at Israel or Israeli targets in the Red Sea, the Houthis earn popular support within Yemen.
This support helps them consolidate their authority, which originated from their 2015 coup against the Yemeni government (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/fed-up-with-war-yemenis-fear-new-conflict-after-houthi-red-sea-attacks/ar-AA1lMdyh)1 (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/fed-up-with-war-yemenis-fear-new-conflict-after-houthi-red-sea-attacks/ar-AA1lMdyh).


Political Leverage on the Global Stage:

Beyond the Middle East, the Houthis have secured political gains globally.
They recently reached an agreement with Russia and China to guarantee safe passage for Russian and Chinese shipping.
In return, these countries offer increased political support for the Houthi cause on the world stage (https://maritime-executive.com/editorials/why-houthi-attacks-in-the-red-sea-are-likely-to-persist-they-re-popular)2 (https://maritime-executive.com/editorials/why-houthi-attacks-in-the-red-sea-are-likely-to-persist-they-re-popular).


Demonstrating Military Capability:

The Houthis’ ability to employ Iranian weapons to interfere with and potentially shut down shipping in the Red Sea showcases their military capability.
This demonstration serves as a strategic message to regional and international actors.
Despite years of Saudi and Emirati airstrikes, the Houthis have maintained their behavior and territorial control (https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/ending-the-houthi-threat-to-red-sea-shipping/)3 (https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/ending-the-houthi-threat-to-red-sea-shipping/).



In summary, the Houthis gain both domestic and international advantages through their actions in the Red Sea, positioning themselves as a significant player in regional and global affairs.

[Otto Harkaman]

How has the Red Sea conflict affected regional trade and shipping routes?

The Red Sea conflict has significantly impacted regional trade and shipping routes. Let’s explore the consequences:


Disruptions to Global Commerce:

The Red Sea is a vital waterway for international trade, connecting the Indian Ocean to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea.
Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea have caused major disruptions to commercial shipping.
These disruptions threaten a key maritime route essential for a significant share of global container traffic and over $1 trillion in annual merchandise (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2024/02/red-sea-attacks-trade-experts-houthi-shipping-yemen/)1 (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2024/02/red-sea-attacks-trade-experts-houthi-shipping-yemen/).


Immediate Contraction in Market Capacity:

Since November 2023, the Houthi group has targeted commercial vessels in the Red Sea, leading to over 33 attacks.
In response, the US and EU have spearheaded Operations Prosperity Guardian and Aspis to safeguard navigation and trade flows.
However, challenges persist due to the Houthis’ deployment of drones, missiles, and vessel tracking capabilities.
As a result, there has been an immediate contraction in market capacity and a surge in shipping rates (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2024/02/red-sea-attacks-trade-experts-houthi-shipping-yemen/)1 (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2024/02/red-sea-attacks-trade-experts-houthi-shipping-yemen/).


Rerouting and Increased Costs:

Avoiding the Red Sea means abandoning one of the most common global shipping routes from Asia to Europe.
Approximately 40% of Asia-Europe trade normally transits the Red Sea.
Ships that shun the Red Sea must instead sail around the Horn of Africa, which can cost $1 million more round trip in additional fuel costs (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2024/02/red-sea-attacks-trade-experts-houthi-shipping-yemen/)2 (https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/how-houthi-attacks-red-sea-threaten-global-shipping).


Surge in Shipping Rates:

The Suez Canal, which handles about 30% of global container trade, has seen disruptions due to the Red Sea crisis.
Shipping costs have increased significantly, causing prices on some routes—particularly from Asia to Europe—to surge nearly five-fold.
This impacts global trade networks and economic stability (https://www.jpmorgan.com/insights/global-research/supply-chain/red-sea-shipping)3 (https://www.jpmorgan.com/insights/global-research/supply-chain/red-sea-shipping).



In summary, the Red Sea conflict has disrupted trade, increased shipping costs, and forced companies to reroute their vessels, affecting supply chains and global commerce (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2024/02/red-sea-attacks-trade-experts-houthi-shipping-yemen/)1 (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2024/02/red-sea-attacks-trade-experts-houthi-shipping-yemen/)2 (https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/how-houthi-attacks-red-sea-threaten-global-shipping)3 (https://www.jpmorgan.com/insights/global-research/supply-chain/red-sea-shipping).

[Jimbuna]

US May Revoke Houthi Terrorist Label If They Stop Red Sea Ship Attacks

The US said it would consider revoking its recent designation of Yemen's Houthis as terrorists if the Iran-backed militants cease their shipping attacks in and around the Red Sea.
"My hope is that we can find diplomatic off-ramps," Tim Lenderking, President Joe Biden's special envoy for Yemen, told reporters in an online press briefing on Wednesday. "To find ways to deescalate and allow us to pull back, eventually, the designation and of course to end the military strikes on Houthis' military capability."

The comments suggest Washington is once more leaning on diplomacy after a nearly three-month-long campaign of airstrikes against Houthi facilities in Yemen. Those have failed to stop the group's missile and drone attacks against merchant vessels and warships, though the US says it has managed to degrade the Houthis' military capabilities.
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-may-revoke-houthi-terrorist-label-if-they-stop-red-sea-ship-attacks-5396896

[Jimbuna]

US says sent Iranian arms, ammo bound for Houthis to Ukraine

The United States has given Ukraine small arms and ammunition that were seized while being transferred from Iranian forces to the Houthis in Yemen, the US military said Tuesday.

The transfer last week came as Ukraine suffers from significant shortages of ammunition and US Republican lawmakers block new aid, but it does not address Kyiv’s need for key items such as artillery and air defense munitions.

“The US government transferred over 5,000 AK-47s, machine guns, sniper rifles, RPG-7s and over 500,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces” on Thursday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on social media.

“These weapons will help Ukraine defend against Russia’s invasion” and are enough material to equip a brigade, it said.

The arms and ammunition were seized between May 2021 and February 2023 from four “stateless vessels” as they were being transferred from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to the Houthis in Yemen, CENTCOM said.

The Houthis have been targeting ships in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea since November 2023 in attacks they say are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza - a major international security challenge that threatens a major shipping lane.

“Iran’s support for armed groups threatens international and regional security, our forces, diplomatic personnel, and citizens in the region, as well as those of our partners. We will continue to do whatever we can to shed light on and stop Iran’s destabilizing activities,” CENTCOM said.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2024/04/09/us-says-sent-iranian-arms-ammo-bound-for-houthis-to-ukraine-

[Jimbuna]

Israel threatens to strike Iran directly if Iran launches attack from its territory


JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s foreign minister threatened Wednesday that his country’s forces would strike Iran directly if the Islamic Republic launched an attack from its territory against Israel.

His comments came amid heightened tensions between the rival powers following the killings of Iranian generals in a blast at the Iranian consulate in Syria earlier this month.

“If Iran attacks from its territory, Israel will respond and attack in Iran,” Israel Katz said in a post on X in both Farsi and Hebrew.

Earlier Wednesday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reiterated a promise to retaliate against Israel over the attack on its consulate in Damascus.

Tehran holds Israel responsible for the strike that leveled the building, killing 12 people. Israel has not acknowledged its involvement, though it has been bracing for an Iranian response to the attack, a significant escalation in their long-running shadow war.

The strike killed Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior figure in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard who led the group’s elite Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria until 2016. The 11 others who died included six Revolutionary Guard members, four Syrians and a Hezbollah militia member.

Israel has attacked scores of Iranian-linked targets in Syria over the years with the apparent intent of disrupting arms transfers and other cooperation with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran. The Israeli army rarely comments on these attacks. Since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began six months ago, there have been near-daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border.

Gaza’s Hamas rulers, who triggered the war by attacking southern Israel on Oct. 7, are also backed by Iran. Tehran also backs an umbrella group of Iraqi militias targeting U.S. military bases and positions in Syria and Iraq, known as The Islamic Resistance of Iraq.

Khamenei made the remarks at a prayer ceremony celebrating the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, saying the strike on its consular was akin to an attack on Iranian territory.

“When they attacked our consulate area, it was like they attacked our territory,” Khamenei said, in remarks broadcast by Iranian state TV. “The evil regime must be punished, and it will be punished.”

Neither Katz nor the Ayatollah elaborated on the way they would retaliate.

Khamenei also criticized the West, particularly the U.S. and Britain, for supporting Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza.

“It was expected they (would) prevent (Israel) in this disaster. They did not. They did not fulfil their duties, the Western governments,” he said.

Iran does not recognize Israel.
https://apnews.com/article/iran-israel-retaliation-killed-general-b2e8625500409405c9dc88731063fa71

[Reece]

Can't someone accidentally nuke Iran?? :D

[Jimbuna]

WW3 fears as Iran to launch 'high-precision missile' attack on Israel in DAYS, US intelligence warns

A major Iranian attack using high-precision missiles and drones could strike Israel within days, according to US intelligence.

Prominent Israeli military and government figures could be in the crosshairs as US and Israeli intelligence suggests strikes by Iran and its proxies are imminent, an anonymous source familiar with the intelligence told Bloomberg.

The potential attack may happen in the coming days, they said. US officials reportedly gave Israel the warning as it helps the country plan and share intelligence assessments. The US and Israeli reports came to a chilling conclusion: it’s more a case of when they strike, not if, with the potential to significantly broaden the conflict as fighting surpasses six months.

Tehran has been threatening retaliation since Israel’s April 1 precision missile attacks which killed two top Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG) generals and five officers near the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria. It included Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the leader of the IRGC’s elite Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, vowed that Israel “will be punished” for its “mistake” of bombing the consulate building. He slammed the “evil regime” in an address during Eid al-Fitr prayers in Tehran, which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Israeli government and military facilities may be targeted but civilian facilities will be spared, Israel’s Western allies said. Israel has told allies it is waiting for this attack to take place before launching another ground offensive against Hamas in Rafah in Gaza. It is not clear how soon that operation may begin.

Intelligence indicates an attack from Iran and its proxies might come from Israel’s north, where militant group Hezbollah, Tehran’s ally, based in Lebanon is currently located. If Iran hits Israeli soil, Israel will hit Iranian soil, they’ve publicly threatened.

"If Iran attacks from its own territory, Israel will respond and attack in Iran," Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, said in a post on X on Wednesday. Contingency and evacuation plans are reportedly in the works following requests from Israeli authorities about emergency supplies and satellite phones, the intelligence official said.

While US officials slammed a potential ground offensive in Rafah and pushed for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire, president Joe Biden says America's commitment to Israel's security is "ironclad" as the threat from Iran and its proxies loom.

“We also want to address the Iranian threat to launch a significant – they’re threatening to launch a significant attack in Israel,” Biden said at a press conference in Washington on Wednesday. “As I told Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu, our commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad. Let me say it again, ironclad – all we can to protect Israel’s security.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/ww3-fears-as-iran-to-launch-high-precision-missile-attack-on-israel-in-days-us-intelligence-warns/ar-BB1lrbqX?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=e891985f12b1403d9a4859b421decee5&ei=20

[Jimbuna]

Argentine court blames Iran and Hezbollah for deadly 1994 Jewish center bombing


BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina’s highest criminal court reported a new development Thursday in the elusive quest for justice in the deadliest attack in the country’s history — the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center headquarters — concluding Iran had planned the attack and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group had executed the plans.

In a ruling obtained by The Associated Press, Argentina’s Court of Cassation deemed Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, responsible for the bombing in Buenos Aires that leveled the community center, killing 85 people, wounding 300 and devastating Latin America’s biggest Jewish community. The court said the attack came in retaliation for Argentina reneging on a nuclear cooperation deal with Tehran.

Alleging Iran’s “political and strategic” role in the bombing, the Argentine court paved the way for victims’ families to bring lawsuits against the Islamic Republic. In the past three decades, Iran has not turned over citizens convicted in Argentina. Interpol arrest warrants have led nowhere.

“The significance of these grave human rights violations for the international community as a whole invokes a state’s duty to provide judicial protection,” the ruling said, declaring the bombing of the Argentine Jewish Mutual Aid Association community center a “crime against humanity.”

The court decision came as no shock. Argentina’s judiciary has long maintained Iran was behind the attack, chilling relations between the countries — particularly after the collapse of a joint investigation. Iran has denied involvement. A spokesperson for Hezbollah, Israel’s archenemy on its northern border, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

What some said they found shocking, rather, was the court’s failure to provide concrete evidence of Iran’s direct involvement or shed new light on the case after 30 years of setbacks and scandals.

“I would never rule Iran out, it’s certainly on the list of suspects, but let’s do something specific to rule it in,” said Joe Goldman, who co-authored a book about the winding investigations into the Jewish community center attack as well as bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires that killed more than 20 people in 1992. “That would be a serious investigation that we haven’t seen.”
https://apnews.com/article/argentina-1994-jewish-center-bombing-iran-investigation-36b4f9cbe20900d39d8f28477589a444

[em2nought]

WW3 fears as Iran to launch 'high-precision missile' attack on Israel in DAYS, US intelligence warns

I wonder if the democrat cartel would get us into a war with Iran just to get the boost in popularity that wartime presidents have historically had in the past? :hmmm:

I hope they realize that fighting a war using people who don't even want to keep score while playing Scrabble might not be a great idea. :D

[Jimbuna]

I wonder if the democrat cartel would get us into a war with Iran just to get the boost in popularity that wartime presidents have historically had in the past? :hmmm:

I hope they realize that fighting a war using people who don't even want to keep score while playing Scrabble might not be a great idea. :D

Nothing would surprise me where any politician or political party was involved.

[Jimbuna]

U.S. moves forces in the Middle East to prepare for 'imminent' Iranian strike on Israel: Pentagon sends aircraft carrier that can intercept missiles to the Red Sea in warning to Tehran


The U.S. has moved more forces in the Middle East to prepare for what officials believe could be an 'imminent' strike by Iran on Israel.

The Pentagon is beefing up its presence in the region and the USS Dwight Eisenhower has been sent into the Red Sea in a warning to Tehran and to protect American personnel should the violence spill over, multiple reports suggest.

U.S. officials fear that hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles could be used in a retaliation for an April 1 strike on a building adjacent to the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria.

The USS Dwight Eisenhower could and would be able to intercept missiles and drones fired by Iran.

The White House on Friday wouldn't go as far as to say that an attack was 'imminent,' instead calling the threat 'viable.'

'We still deem the potential threat by Iran here to be real, to be viable, certainly credible and we're watching it as closely as we can,' White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Friday on a Zoom call.

Kirby added that the U.S. was in 'constant communication with our Israeli counterparts about making sure that they can defend themselves against those kind of attacks.'

The NSC spokesperson gave no details on the potential timing of such an attack.

'I really don't want to get into armchair quarterbacking this thing in a public way in terms of the conversations we're having or what we're seeing in the intelligence picture,' Kirby said.

On Thursday, the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem did not explicitly mention Iran but issued a warning to government workers.

'Out of an abundance of caution, U.S. government employees and their family members are restricted from personal travel outside the greater Tel Aviv, … Jerusalem, and Be’er Sheva areas until further notice,' the security alert read.

The April 1 attack in Damascus killed two senior members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and five other officers, Iran said.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that senior Pentagon officials were frustrated that the U.S. did not get a heads up from Israel before conducting an airstrike on the Iranian site.

Three unnamed U.S. officials told the paper said Defense Secretary Lloyd Ausin and other senior defense officials believed Israel should have informed the Pentagon ahead of the attack because of the strike's implications for U.S. servicemembers in the region.

Had the U.S. gotten a heads up, the Pentagon would have been able to heighten defense capabilities in order to withstand Iranian retaliation, the sources said.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/u-s-moves-forces-in-the-middle-east-to-prepare-for-imminent-iranian-strike-on-israel-pentagon-sends-aircraft-carrier-that-can-intercept-missiles-to-the-red-sea-in-warning-to-tehran/ar-BB1lwPX4?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=3eec5d55295947b68a1ae60026029ce7&ei=19

[Otto Harkaman]

https://youtu.be/IFtc20U-B6M?si=r3f9HJLFc9qbS0Jj

[mapuc]

Something tells me that Iran wouldn't attack Israel, instead they will attack Israeli interest in the middle east.

For once I hope I'm right.

Markus

[Jimbuna]

Iran downplays war rhetoric leaving US intelligence to warn of attacks on Israel

If Iran is on the brink of war with Israel, and possibly the US, astonishingly little is being done by the regime to prepare its people for the coming struggle. That may be because Iran does not want an all-out conflict.

Even Iranian reporters have noticed the silence and how the rhetoric of imminent war is largely being stoked by US intelligence officials in Washington. One Iranian reformist newspaper had five reports on a possible imminent attack on Israel, including predictions of hundreds of cruise missiles raining down on Israel, entirely based on US news outlets such as CBS, CNN, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

US intelligence was entirely correct before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and if it is again today, the least that can be said is that Iran is simply not joining the war of narratives. The sabre-rattling has by Iranian standards been low key.
That may be because Tehran does not want to give any clue to its plans, but that comes with domestic risks, even in such an authoritarian society.

The seizure of an Israeli-owned container ship, the MSC Aries in the strait of Hormuz on Saturday, is important in that it strengthens a trade blockade against Israel. But the action as yet does not match the barrage of missiles the US media had been predicting.

Similarly, Iran is downplaying multiple instructions to foreign citizens to leave either Iran or Israel, and reports that embassies such as the Dutch embassy in Tehran is to close are being denied

The lead item on the Iranian Students news agency on Saturday morning was about a clampdown on bad driving, and many of the Tehran Friday prayers eschewed attacks on the US in favour of religious themes or urging the police to go ahead on Saturday with the plan to fully enforce the compulsory hijab on Iranian women in the streets of Tehran.

Speculation about Iran’s wrestling contestants for the Paris Olympics occupies space. Apart from that, the continued slide in the Iranian rial and how it fuels poverty and inflation animates public debate.

The relative air of normality in Tehran struck some dissident commentators such as the political analyst Ahmad Zeidabadi. He said the US media and some in the Iranian government seemed involved in a collective countdown to war, but all the official news channels continued as normal. In the streets of springtime Tehran, he said: “The possibility of war was not the concern for the people who crowded around the water to watch the dancing fountains! It’s as if they usually don’t follow the news related to mutual threats between Iran and Israel or don’t take them seriously!

“The few people who were interested in talking about it believed that at most something like the attack on the American base in al-Asad would happen [the Iraqi airbase housing US troops that was attacked after the killing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps chief Qassem Suleimani]. As a result no serious US reaction would follow. My suggestion that repeating that kind of ‘reprisal’ this time may not be acceptable to the hardline supporters of the government and make things worse in terms of dignity – they considered it unimportant!”

The low-key approach may be because the Iranian regime does not want to stir an atmosphere of fear. Equally, leaving the enemy guessing, while the Israeli public listen out for air raid warnings is a small victory in itself.

But it seems more likely the muted propaganda reflects the regime’s desire to contain its reprisal for the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus so the conflict does not subsequently spiral out of control. A population whipped up into war fever will hardly help dampen popular demand for more conflict.

Voices that doubt the war’s wisdom are being allowed a hearing on social media. Nosratollah Tajik, a former Iranian ambassador in Jordan, said: “The goals of those interested in expanding the war are clear, but the government and analysts should not exaggerate the attack on the consulate, which is not Iran’s territory! Israel has already invaded and carried out operations on Iranian soil. Iran’s current interests do not lie in expanding the war in the Middle East. It is a fatal miscalculation.”

Mohsen Abdollahi, a Tehran university professor, warned any expansion of Iran’s attack, and especially the threat of one on civilian areas, will completely change the situation against the Iranian government and will mobilise the existing global consensus against Israel against us.

Other dissidents said Iran’s theory of fighting war outside Iran’s walls and fighting through proxies has ended.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/iran-downplays-war-rhetoric-leaving-us-intelligence-to-warn-of-attacks-on-israel/ar-BB1lyKyi?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=eb6260877dc0471aad59020a79f27270&ei=34

[Jimbuna]

Israeli war cabinet minister warns Iran ‘This incident is not over’ yet

https://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/news/world/israeli-war-cabinet-minister-warns-iran-this-incident-is-not-over-yet/video/dbcfaa92d58c7252a8255dace898ff0c

[Jeff-Groves]

Hey Iran!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev-fWsnz0FE

[em2nought]

Biden to Iran Don't Looking forward to his next word to Iran, I'm thinking Bad :har:

[Jimbuna]

Iran is blamed for 'stirring the pot of religious prejudice' by stoking school blasphemy protests in Britain

Iran is 'stirring the pot of religious prejudice' by stoking protests outside schools and on the streets of the UK, a new report has warned British intelligence services.

MI5 must reinstate 'counter-subversion operations' to deal with the threat posed by Tehran, according to think tank Policy Exchange's report.

It highlighted a series of protests condemning apparent instances of blasphemy, linking them to the alleged influence of the Islamic Republic regime on British Muslims.

Two of the cases it discussed were the 2021 Batley Grammar School protests and the demonstrations over The Lady Of Heaven film in 2022, which Policy Exchange said 'serve as an indication that de facto blasphemy codes can be enforced on the streets if protesters commit to doing so'.
Dr Paul Stott, head of security and extremism at the think tank, told The Times that Iran has 'encouraged an atmosphere which anything that smacks of blasphemy leads to intimidation'.

The report further said that Iran is threatening Britain's security and values by sending radical regime-sponsored clerics to a 'nerve centre' in west London.

The hardline Islamic Republic of Iran has spent decades 'curating a politico-religious infrastructure in Britain' focused on the Islamic Centre of England (ICEL) – a registered UK charity based in a converted cinema in Maida Vale, a study by Policy Exchange found.

It suggests Iran is using the centre as a base from which to 'undermine our values and impose blasphemy codes'.

It says the director of ICEL is appointed by Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, suggesting the centre 'is not merely some dry, arid religious institution' but rather 'sits at the centre of a substantial network of Iranian influence operations within this country'.

ICEL, which states its charitable purpose as advancing the religion of Islam and education and the provision of social and religious welfare facilities, is at the centre of a statutory inquiry by the Charity Commission.

The watchdog launched its inquiry in November 2022 after issuing the charity with an official warning in 2020 when two events at the centre 'eulogised' Iranian military commander General Qasem Soleimani, who was subject to UK sanctions and killed in a US air strike.

A string of senior clerics trained by and loyal to the Iranian regime have been able to travel freely between Tehran and London – even when Iran has imprisoned British citizens such as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – the report, entitled 'Tehran calling: The Iranian threat to the UK', said.

The UK has a long-standing policy of issuing visas for Iranian clerics to work in Britain, it says, claiming 100 such visas were handed out between 2005 and 2022.

The report also hit out at MI5 for apparently abandoning its 'core task' of counter-subversion at a time when Iran is trying 'to influence political, religious, educational or cultural organisations, or shape contemporary protest movements, to its own ends'.

It adds: 'The idea that Iran may be seeking to influence British Muslims, and that it may be someone's job to stop this, has not been openly articulated by the Security Service.'

Policy Exchange urged the Home Secretary to order the Home Office and Security Service to take urgent action to counter Iranian subversion in the UK.

It also called for a crackdown on issuing UK visas to hardline clerics and Iranians coming to work at ICEL and any associated institutions.

Report author Dr Paul Stott said: 'Iran challenges our security, but it also threatens the UK's social cohesion and our values. Allowing it to build and sustain an infrastructure in this country is madness.

'We need to get much smarter in our response, and that starts with proper control of the visa system.'
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/iran-blamed-for-stirring-the-pot-by-stoking-school-protests-in-uk/ar-BB1lCtqZ?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=364fe1c073bb4dc5bee15dc3c4ca4047&ei=35

[Dargo]

Intel From Saudi Arabia, UAE Helped Defend Israel Against Iranian AttackWith the world waiting for Israel’s response to the Iranian drone and missile attack launched against it over the weekend, more details are emerging of the multinational efforts to counter those strikes, which saw almost all threats successfully intercepted. It’s emerged now that several Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, passed on vital intelligence about Iran’s attack plans, as well as real-time tracking data, which, in turn, helped thwart Tehran’s assault. Citing Egyptian, Saudi, and U.S. officials, the Wall Street Journal today reported that intelligence provided by Gulf states — including radar tracking information — was vital to the air defenders’ success... https://www.twz.com/news-features/intel-from-saudi-arabia-uae-helped-defend-israel-against-iranian-attack-report

[mapuc]

One thing seems clear-They do not have many friends in the region

What about close by countries outside Middle East like Pakistan, Afghanistan etc?

Markus

[ET2SN]

Try Google-ing "Sunni" and "Shia". :yep:

[mapuc]

Try Google-ing "Sunni" and "Shia". :yep:

:salute::up:

Markus

[mapuc]

Found this interactive map

https://franpritchett.com/00maplinks/overview/sunnishia/sunnishiamax.jpg

Markus

[Dargo]

Found this interactive map

https://franpritchett.com/00maplinks/overview/sunnishia/sunnishiamax.jpg

MarkusBasically it is a dispute about the successor of the Prophet Muhammad after his dead in 632 a very old Islamic schism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia%E2%80%93Sunni_relations

[Skybird]

Try Google-ing "Sunni" and "Shia". :yep:
Also, there are predominantly three big ethnicities involved in Islam in the Middle (and not so middle anymore) East: Persians, Turks, and Arabs. And they all do not like each other, they all have hacked away at each other at various times in history. And regarding such events people in these places have very long memories. One could say that the past seems to be more important for many of them than the present. Or that the past is their present.


They really got stuck long time ago, and are stuck until today. Endless references to the past are omnipresent.

[em2nought]

One thing seems clear-They do not have many friends in the region

Markus
The terrorists have friends on the San Francisco Bay Bridge, in Dearborn Michigan, & in NYC :o

[mapuc]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxZzQQBAdn4&ab_channel=Military%26History

Markus

[em2nought]

I think Iran just wants us to pay for a bunch of shiny new ballistic missiles, so they got rid of the old crappy ones. Of course the American taxpayer will be paying for shiny new stuff for both sides. :D I guess the printing presses will be busy printing greenbacks, I imagine they never stop running. :har:

[Jimbuna]

Moscow pledges fighter jets and air defences to Iran amid conflict


Russian military officials have quietly been supporting Iran with weapons and information as the crisis in the Middle East escalates, it has emerged.

A strategic alliance between the two hostile nations, reports the Washington Post, has seen Russia supply an array of artillery to Iran, including prized anti-aircraft launchers and drones.

The reported deals are evidence of a concerning dynamic between the two nations, which experts warn show Iran is growing in strength and negotiating power as it barrels towards war.
'It’s no longer the patron-client dynamic, where Russia holds all the leverage,' said Hanna Notte, director of the Eurasia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

'The Iranians are accruing benefits from this change. The nature of their relationship has gone beyond just getting things. There’s knowledge transfer, there’s intangible gains.'

Experts warned that the growing relationship between Russia and Iran took a large step forward in 2022, when Iran agreed to help bolster the invasion of Ukraine.

This agreement saw Iran supply thousands of battlefield drones and missiles, a move that the Kremlin has reportedly been interested in reciprocating.

Russia has vowed to support Iran with air defense technology and advanced fighter jets, particularly as it is facing the possibility of counter strikes from Israel in the wake of its halted attack on Tel-Aviv last week.

Intelligence officials and weapons experts told the Washington Post that the supply of weapons to Iran make it a far more formidable military in modern warfare if it has an enhanced ability to shoot down planes and missiles.

Such a capability was shown in full force following Iran's strikes on Israel, as international allies helped shoot down almost all drones heading to the nation.

In particular, Iran is said to covet Russia's S-400 anti-aircraft launchers, which military analysts say are able to detect and destroy stealth fighter jets operated by Israel and the United States.

According to the outlet, a Russian arms dealer was caught inviting a delegation of Iranians to tour one of his weapons factories, named NPP Start, in March 2023.

The factory was under US sanctions for supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and its hosting of the Iranian delegation was not known until February.

That month, a hacker group shared stolen Iranian emails that saw Russians describe the meeting as an exhibition for 'scientific and technical potential and production capabilities.'

While it is not clear whether any weapons were bought in that trip, analysts have seen it as a clear intention that the relationship between the two nations is already forged as they head deeper into conflict.

According to the cited anonymous experts, this collaboration will extend beyond anti-aircraft launchers, and may also include the co-production of military drones inside Russia.

It may also include the sharing of anti-jamming technology, and information sharing over weapons deployment against forces in Ukraine.

The emerging dynamic between Russia and Iran may also be enhancing Iran's air force, which had been seen as falling behind other world militaries.

The Iranian air force is primarily made up of rebuilt US and Soviet jets from before 1979, however intelligence officials warned that Russia has been 'advancing' a deal to supply Su-35 fighter jets.

The fighter jets would be a significant upgrade on Iran's fleet, however the officials reportedly said there is no evidence they have received them yet, which may be due to a delay in payment.

Russia may also be looking to support Iranian efforts to increase its supply of spy satellites, and help build rockets to send more into space, the intelligence officials reportedly said.

The potential step up in Iranian military might comes as the nation continues to barrel towards war with Israel, including sending hundreds of drones and missiles in retaliation for an Israeli strike on its consulate in Damascus on April 1.

The strike in Damascus killed two Iranian generals, leading Iran to send its counterstrike directly from its homeland instead of via proxies in a dramatic escalation.

US officials have reportedly stressed the need for restraint from Israel in response, however IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi warned Monday that Iran 'will be met with a response.'
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/moscow-pledges-fighter-jets-and-air-defenses-to-iran-amid-conflict/ar-BB1lH4GL?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=4ffd93c6bd464e9583ad17adee2d79e8&ei=16

[Jimbuna]

Israeli war cabinet to meet for third time on response to Iran's attack

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel's war cabinet was set to meet for the third time in three days on Tuesday, an official said, to decide on a response to Iran's first-ever direct attack, amid international pressure to avoid further escalating the conflicts in the Middle East.

Military chief of staff Herzi Halevi had promised that Saturday night's launch of more than 300 missiles, cruise missiles and drones from Iran into Israeli territory "will be met with a response", but gave no details.

While the attack caused no deaths and little damage, thanks to the air defences and countermeasures of Israel and its allies, it has increased concerns that violence rooted in the Gaza war is spreading, and fears of open war between the long-time foes.
Iran launched the attack in retaliation for an airstrike on its embassy compound in Damascus on April 1 attributed to Israel, but signalled that it did not seek further escalation.

President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the weekend that the United States, Israel's main protector, would not participate in an Israeli counter-strike.

Together with European allies, Washington instead strove on Tuesday to toughen economic and political sanctions in an attempt to persuade Israel to abstain from violent retaliation.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he was "leading a diplomatic attack", writing to 32 countries to ask them to place sanctions on Iran's missile programme and follow Washington in proscribing its dominant military force, the Revolutionary Guard Corps, as a terrorist group.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. would use sanctions, and work with allies, to keep disrupting Iran's "malign and destabilizing activity".

EU foreign ministers scheduled a video meeting on the Middle East for Tuesday.

Last autumn, Germany campaigned with France and other EU partners to extend an existing European Union sanctions regime against Iran that targets drone production.

Its foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said on Tuesday that several EU members had now promised to look again at extending those sanctions, announcing that she would head to Israel within hours to discuss how to prevent an escalation.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday that the Group of Seven major democracies was working on a package of measures against Iran; Italy, which has the G7 presidency, suggested any new sanctions would target individuals.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/israeli-war-cabinet-to-meet-for-third-time-on-response-to-iran-s-attack/ar-BB1lIdQ2?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=053f07a3bfe54002b6c5f542af14b4d4&ei=14

[Otto Harkaman]

I think they will hit hard, because all the BS of restraint means nothing in the Middle East.

[em2nought]

Israel should make a little strike that gets all those haters out in the streets, and then hit those streets. :03:

[Jimbuna]

Israeli war cabinet puts off third meeting on Iran's attack to Wednesday

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A third meeting of Israel's war cabinet set for Tuesday to decide on a response to Iran's first-ever direct attack was put off until Wednesday, as Western allies eyed swift new sanctions against Tehran to help dissuade Israel from a major escalation.

Military chief of staff Herzi Halevi had promised that Saturday night's launch of more than 300 missiles, cruise missiles and drones from Iran at Israeli territory "will be met with a response", but gave no details.

While the attack caused no deaths and little damage thanks to the air defences and countermeasures of Israel and its allies, it has increased fears that violence rooted in the six-month-old Gaza war is spreading, with the risk of open war between long-time adversaries Iran and Israel.

Iran launched the attack in retaliation for an airstrike on its embassy compound in Damascus on April 1 attributed to Israel, but has signalled that it now deems the matter closed.

An Israeli government source said the war cabinet session scheduled for Tuesday had been put off until Wednesday, without elaborating.

President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the weekend that the United States, Israel's main protector, would not participate in an Israeli counter-strike.

Together with European allies, Washington instead strove on Tuesday to toughen economic and political sanctions against Iran in an attempt to steer Israel away from massive retaliation.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he was "leading a diplomatic attack", writing to 32 countries to ask them to place sanctions on Iran's missile programme and follow Washington in proscribing its dominant military force, the Revolutionary Guard Corps, as a terrorist group.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. would use sanctions, and work with allies, to keep disrupting Iran's "malign and destabilising activity".

She told a news conference in Washington that all options to disrupt Iran's "terrorist financing" were on the table, and that she expected further sanctions against Iran to be announced in coming days.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, speaking in Brussels after an emergency video conference of EU foreign ministers, said some member states had asked for sanctions against Iran to be expanded and that the bloc's diplomatic service would begin working on the proposal.

Borrell said the proposal would expand a sanctions regime that seeks to curb the supply of Iranian drones to Russia so that it would also include the provision of missiles and could also cover deliveries to Iranian proxies in the Middle East.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said earlier on Tuesday that several EU members had promised to look again at extending sanctions, adding she would head to Israel within hours to discuss how to prevent an escalation.

'CALM HEADS'

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Netanyahu in a call on Tuesday that escalation in the Middle East was in nobody's interest and would only worsen insecurity in the region, so it was "a moment for calm heads to prevail", Sunak's office said.

Sunak had said on Monday the Group of Seven major democracies was working on a package of measures against Iran. Italy, which has the G7 presidency, suggested any new sanctions would target individuals.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani told state TV on Monday night that Tehran's response to any Israeli counterattack would come in "a matter of seconds, as Iran will not wait for another 12 days to respond".

The prospect of Israeli retaliation has alarmed many Iranians already enduring economic pain and tighter social and political controls since major protests in 2022-23.

Since the war in Gaza began in October, clashes have erupted between Israel and Iran-aligned groups based in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

Israel said four of its soldiers were wounded hundreds of metres inside Lebanese territory overnight, the first known Israeli ground penetration into Lebanon since the Gaza war erupted, although it has regularly traded fire with the heavily armed Lebanese Hezbollah militia.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby declined on Monday to say whether Biden had urged Netanyahu in talks on Saturday night to exercise restraint in responding to Iran.

"We don't want to see a war with Iran. We don't want to see a regional conflict," Kirby told a briefing.

Some analysts said the Biden administration was unlikely to seek to sharpen sanctions on Iran's oil exports due to worries about a big spike in oil prices and angering top buyer China.

In a call between the Chinese and Iranian foreign ministers, China said it believed Iran could "handle the situation well and spare the region further turmoil" while safeguarding its sovereignty and dignity, according to Chinese state media.

Iran's weekend attack caused modest damage in Israel and wounded a 7-year-old girl. Most missiles and drones were shot down by Israel's Iron Dome defence system and with help from the U.S., Britain, France and Jordan.

In Gaza itself, where more than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive according to Gaza health ministry figures, Iran's action drew applause.

Israel began its campaign against Hamas, the Iranian-backed Palestinian militant group that runs Gaza, after the militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages, by Israeli tallies.

Iran's attack prompted at least a dozen airlines to cancel or reroute flights, with Europe's aviation regulator still advising caution in using Israeli and Iranian airspace.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/israeli-war-cabinet-puts-off-third-meeting-on-iran-s-attack-to-wednesday/ar-BB1lJoT1?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=b23d046452d6457785b5f7038d553572&ei=12

[em2nought]

Meanwhile back in the states Biden's FBI spies on Americans waving American flags, but no worries about Americans chanting "Death to America" and bringing traffic to a halt in the middle of bridges. You'd think they'd be a little concerned with events occurring around bridges as of late. :hmmm:

[Otto Harkaman]

How well could Iran defend itself against a potential Israeli attack?

Israel’s war cabinet has met several times to debate a course of action to complement a diplomatic push against Iran since Saturday’s unprecedented direct attacks on Israel, with Israeli army chief of staff Herzi Halevi saying a military response is certain.

Iran operates a wide variety of missile defence batteries at different ranges that aim to defend against aerial strikes.
https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-02-17T113648Z_332568293_RC2OWA991US3_RTRMADP_3_IRAN-MISSILES-1713084065.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/17/how-well-could-iran-defend-itself-against-a-potential-israeli-air-strike

[Jimbuna]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzf_oTJ2nCc

[Jimbuna]

German warship ends mission against Houthi militants in Red Sea

AGerman warship ended its mission protecting merchant shipping from Houthi militants in Yemen and departed from the Red Sea early on Saturday morning.

The frigate was part of the EU's defensive naval mission Aspides and was deployed in the Red Sea at the end of February to protect merchant ships from attacks by the militants in Yemen, who are protesting against the war in Gaza.

The Red Sea is home to the most important sea route from Asia to Europe, which runs through the Suez Canal.

Houthi militants, allied with Iran, want to force an end to the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip.

The frigate, with a crew of 240 on board, completed the mission at 5:50 am (0350 GMT) and left the area of operations, the Bundeswehr said.
The crew on the Hessen repeatedly shot down drones launched by the militants in the German Navy's first mission of its kind.

The vessel was deployed on February 23 after a series of attacks on merchant vessels. Major shipping companies began avoiding the Red Sea, part of the shortest sea route between Asia and Europe, impacting the global economy.

The German Defence Ministry said the vessel safely escorted 27 merchant ships through the area of operation.

In four cases, Houthi drones and missiles were successfully countered, the ministry said.

In total, the frigate covered more than 11,000 kilometres in the area of operation.

The crew provided medical first aid on two occasions, for a soldier from a partner nation and for a crew member of a merchant ship.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/german-warship-ends-mission-against-houthi-militants-in-red-sea/ar-AA1nld3B?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=9833d2ca85244b25fc10594260095e14&ei=26

[Reece]

Good on em, they'll be glad to see their loved ones back home!! :up:

[Jimbuna]

Just a shame they still didn't have Bismarck or Tirpitz to lob a few 15" shells their way.

[Reece]

Wouldn't that be a sight!! :yep:

[em2nought]

As a couple of nations, it must be nice to have another nation as your sugar daddy to pay for the expensive toys you make play war with. :D

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1N4RRrV3c_8/VQnwScccE7I/AAAAAAAAEb4/dpe13Ly-Nbg/s1600/Uncle%2BSugar.png

[Jimbuna]

As a couple of nations, it must be nice to have another nation as your sugar daddy to pay for the expensive toys you make play war with. :D

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1N4RRrV3c_8/VQnwScccE7I/AAAAAAAAEb4/dpe13Ly-Nbg/s1600/Uncle%2BSugar.png

What couple of nations might that be?

[em2nought]

What couple of nations might that be?

At least with Israel they spend some of it here, not so with Iran. Unless Iran buys F-14 parts on the black market or something. :hmmm:

[Dargo]

At least with Israel they spend some of it here, not so with Iran. Unless Iran buys F-14 parts on the black market or something. :hmmm:Do not want to be the party pooper, but Russia just started to transfer SU34 jets to Iran.

[em2nought]

Do not want to be the party pooper, but Russia just started to transfer SU34 jets to Iran.

So Iran is paying our pallets of greenbacks to Russia for jets. :hmmm: Hurray!

[Jimbuna]

Israel Iran attack: Damage seen at air base in Isfahan

Satellite imagery released over the past 24 hours has revealed evidence of probable damage at an Iranian air base following an Israeli strike in the early hours of Friday morning.

BBC Verify has analysed two images showing part of an air-defence system at an airfield in Isfahan was damaged.

US officials say Israel carried out a missile strike although there has been no official Israeli confirmation.

Tensions between the bitter rivals intensified in recent weeks.

An earlier, suspected Israeli strike on an Iranian consulate in Syria at the beginning of the month was followed by a retaliatory attack by Iran on Israel on 13 April.

Ever since news of Friday's Israeli strike in Isfahan - the cradle of Iran's nuclear programme - there has been speculation about the likely target and extent of the damage.

Iran says the attack involved drones that were neutralised by air defences.

While it remains unclear what weapon or weapons were used in the attack, satellite imagery has detected evidence of damage at the air base.

BBC Verify made this assessment through analysis of optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite imagery captured over Isfahan on Friday.

Optical imagery will be familiar to anyone who regularly uses tools like Google Earth - essentially a photograph of the land below.

SAR technology uses radio waves to build an image of the Earth's surface. One advantage it has over more conventional satellite technology is its ability to capture images at night or through cloud.

The imagery it collects is rendered in black and white but at high resolution.

It therefore cannot detect changes in colouration on the ground - such as burn marks - but can display material damage to structures, vehicles etc.

One such image captured by Umbra Space on 15 April shows an S-300 air defence system located at the north-western corner of the Shikari air base.

The system comprises several vehicles equipped with radar, distinctive missile launchers and other equipment.

An Umbra Space image captured after Friday's strike shows damage and debris around one component - probably a radar - which has also shifted position slightly.

Other vehicles have been moved away from the site.

This assessment was confirmed by an optical satellite image captured by Planet which, despite low resolution, shows a scorch mark at the same location.

This mark was not evident in images captured on 11 and 15 April.

The military base itself does not show any signs of material damage in the available imagery, but further analysis of higher resolution optical captures will be required to make that conclusion.

As yet there is no available imagery from Isfahan's nuclear facilities.

The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency has said there was "no damage to Iran's nuclear sites".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68866548

[Dargo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COBDSmx9QDw

[Jimbuna]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3MfV8zibOk

[Jimbuna]

Iran unveils newly upgraded missile system capable of wiping out US fighter jets

Iran has unveiled its newest missile system said to be capable of bypassing US defence systems by taking out its stealth jets.

The country has produced an update to its Bavar-373 long-range air defence system, which officials claim can intercept the American jets.

The original model has been used by Iran since 2019, and its long-range surface-to-air capabilities have drawn comparisons to the US's Patriot missile system.

The enhanced system was unveiled during an April 17 military parade. The Special Operations Forces Report (SOFREP) called it "a significant development for Iran's defence industry, showcasing both its growing self-sufficiency and its aspirations for a more advanced air defence network".
Iran claimed that the updated Bavar-373 "matches or even surpasses" the capabilities of Russia's S-400 missile system - capable of intercepting cruise missiles - which SOFREP called a "bold claim".

It wrote: "Additionally, Iranian sources report that the upgraded Bavar-373 boasts enhanced target detection and tracking abilities, allowing it to identify up to 100 aerial targets simultaneously and engage multiple threats with its Sayyad-4B missile armament.

"Despite the need for cautious interpretation, the unveiling of the upgraded Bavar-373 underscores a critical point: Iran's defence sector is demonstrably maturing."

The missile system reportedly has a range exceeding 186 miles at altitudes of 75 miles, and SOFREP argued that the timing of Iran unveiling it was no coincidence.

The news comes are tensions continue to simmer between Iran and Israel after a strike on the Iranian embassy in Syria, blamed on Israel.

In response, Iran launched its own strikes on the country on April 13, but these were mostly intercepted by Israel and its allies.

SOFREP said unveiling the updated missile last week could send "a potent message of deterrence aimed at potential adversaries, particularly in the context of the Middle East's complex geopolitical landscape."

It added: "Though potentially tempered by international sanctions, these collaborations have provided Iran with valuable technology transfer and expertise in areas like missile technology and air defence systems."
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/iran-unveils-newly-upgraded-missile-system-capable-of-wiping-out-us-fighter-jets/ar-AA1ntsQd?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=7dbf73e24f694ca6e0ce5ea350255c83&ei=64

[Reece]

Someone just nuke the turds!! :nope:

[Jimbuna]

Can't disagree with you there but I reckon we both know that won't happen.

[Jimbuna]

BREAKING Iran is 'weeks away' from having enough uranium to make nuclear bomb, warns IAEA boss

Iran is just "weeks away" from having enough enriched uranium to devlop a nuclear bomb, the International Atomic Energy Agency boss has chillingly warned.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/iran-is-weeks-away-from-having-enough-uranium-to-make-nuclear-bomb-warns-iaea-boss/ar-AA1nvq8x?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=7dbf73e24f694ca6e0ce5ea350255c83&ei=52

[Dargo]

BREAKING Iran is 'weeks away' from having enough uranium to make nuclear bomb, warns IAEA bossI saw this warning months ago, dunno how many days a IAEA week has. :D

[Dargo]

You cannot die for singing about freedom... O my god, they can. The Islamic Republic has sentenced rapper Toomaj Salehi to death for singing protest songs and echoing the voice of the Iranian people.

[Jimbuna]

I saw this warning months ago, dunno how many days a IAEA week has. :D

Quite a few I suspect :yep:

[Jimbuna]

Houthi rebels attack two US destroyers in Red Sea with devastating drone strike

Houthi rebels in Yemen have attacked two US destroyers and two vessels in the Red Sea with drone strikes.

The militants also targeted the MSC Orion in the Indian Ocean, the Iran-aligned group's military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a press conference.

Monday's attack happened off the coast of Mokha, Yemen, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. The ship sustained damage in the attack, the UKMTO said, though its crew was safe and heading to its next port of call. The agency urged vessels to exercise caution in the area.

There was "an explosion in close proximity to a merchant vessel," the UKMTO said. "Vessel and crew are reported safe."

The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge any attack, though suspicion fell on the group. It typically takes the rebels several hours to claim their assaults.

It follows more than 50 strikes on ships and seized one vessel seizure since November. Another boat was also sunk, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.

Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a U.S.-led airstrike campaign in Yemen. Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat.

American officials have speculated that the rebels may be running out of weapons as a result of the U.S.-led campaign against them and after firing drones and missiles steadily for months.

However, the rebels have renewed their attacks in the past week. Early Sunday morning, the U.S. military shot down five drones in the air over the Red Sea, its Central Command said.

The drones "presented an imminent threat to U.S., coalition, and merchant vessels in the region," Central Command said in a statement.

The Houthis on Saturday claimed they shot down another of the U.S. military's MQ-9 Reaper drones, airing footage of parts that corresponded to known pieces of the unmanned aircraft.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Bryon J. McGarry, a Defense Department spokesperson, acknowledged to The Associated Press on Saturday that "a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 drone crashed in Yemen." He said an investigation was underway, without elaborating.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/houthi-rebels-attack-two-us-destroyers-in-red-sea-with-devastating-drone-strike/ar-AA1nSUz7?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=0196cb64bb8243d0fb3e598682f9cba0&ei=9

[Jimbuna]

Portuguese-flagged ship is hit far in Arabian Sea, raising concerns over Houthi rebel capabilities

JERUSALEM (AP) — A Portuguese-flagged container ship came under attack by a drone in the far reaches of the Arabian Sea, corresponding with a claim by Yemen's Houthi rebels that they assaulted the ship there, authorities said Tuesday.

The attack on the MSC Orion, occurring some 600 kilometers (375 miles) off the coast of Yemen, appeared to be the first confirmed deep-sea assault claimed by the Houthis since they began targeting ships in November. It suggests the Houthis — or potentially their main benefactor Iran — may have the ability to strike into the distances of the Indian Ocean as the rebels previously threatened in their ongoing campaign over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The attack happened last Friday, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center, which operates as part of the U.S.-led Combined Maritime Forces in the Mideast. After the attack, the crew discovered debris apparently from a drone on board, the center said.
The ship “sustained only minor damage and all crew on board are safe,” the center said. Ship-tracking satellite data analyzed by The Associated Press put the container ship, bound for Salalah, Oman, in the area of the attack on Saturday.

The MSC Orion has been associated with London-based Zodiac Maritime, which is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group. It was operating on behalf of the Mediterranean Shipping Co., a Naples, Italy-based firm. Zodiac referred questions to MSC, which did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

The Joint Maritime Information Center assesses “that MSC Orion was likely targeted due to (its) perceived Israeli affiliation,” the center said in a report.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for Yemen's Houthi rebels, claimed the attack on the Orion early Tuesday. He did not explain why it took the rebels days to acknowledge the attack.

The attack immediately raised questions about how the Houthis could have carried out an assault hundreds of kilometers (miles) from the shores of Yemen on a moving target. Their primary area of attack so far has been in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connect the two waterways key for international trade. Those are close to Yemen's shoreline — unlike the site of the MSC Orion attack.

The Houthis are not known to operate an expeditionary naval fleet, nor do they have access to satellites or other sophisticated means of controlling long-distance drones.

Iran, which has been supplying the Shiite rebels in their yearslong war in Yemen, has been assessed by the West and experts to have been behind at least one complex attack claimed by the Houthis — the 2019 attack on Saudi Arabia's oil fields that temporarily halved the kingdom's energy production. Iran also routinely operates military vessels in the Arabian Sea and just seized the Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries and its crew just before its unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel on April 13.

Iranian state media uniformly reported the Houthis' claim of carrying out the attack on the Orion. Iran's mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment.

The Houthis say their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are aimed at pressuring Israel to end its war against Hamas in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.

The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration. Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat.

Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a U.S.-led airstrike campaign in Yemen. The rebels have renewed their attacks in the past week.

The Houthis on Saturday also claimed they shot down another of the U.S. military’s MQ-9 Reaper drones, airing footage of parts that corresponded to known pieces of the unmanned aircraft. The U.S. military acknowledged the drone crashed, but said an investigation was ongoing.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/portuguese-flagged-ship-is-hit-far-in-arabian-sea-raising-concerns-over-houthi-rebel-capabilities/ar-AA1nWj4s?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=50fe76865a9048978afd06818d5d202b&ei=17

[Dargo]

Iranian media report an accident involving President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter. According to state television, the aircraft made a “hard landing” after "an incident". What exactly happened remains unclear, nor is it known if there are any casualties. Rescue workers are trying to get to the helicopter but are hampered by poor weather conditions in the area, AP news agency reported.

The president was flying in a convoy of three helicopters. According to Iranian state television, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was also aboard the helicopter that had the accident. The incident happened near the town of Jolfa in East Azerbaijan province, close to the border with Azerbaijan. Raisi had opened a dam in the province earlier in the day.

[Ostfriese]

Both Iranian President Raisi and Iranian Foreign Minister Abdollahian together with seven other people aboard the helicopter died in the crash Dargo mentioned in the previous posting.


Both had a lot of influence in Iran, and Raisi was often mentioned as the most likely successor to Ayatollah Khameni, Iran's supreme leader. Even though Raisi and Abdollahian had less power than their western counterparts their deaths result a substantial power vacuum in Iran.

[em2nought]

Both Iranian President Raisi and Iranian Foreign Minister Abdollahian together with seven other people aboard the helicopter died in the crash Dargo mentioned in the previous posting.


Both had a lot of influence in Iran, and Raisi was often mentioned as the most likely successor to Ayatollah Khameni, Iran's supreme leader. Even though Raisi and Abdollahian had less power than their western counterparts their deaths result a substantial power vacuum in Iran.

Well, that's a good start! :up:

[Shadowblade]

Both Iranian President Raisi and Iranian Foreign Minister Abdollahian together with seven other people aboard the helicopter died in the crash Dargo mentioned in the previous posting.


Both had a lot of influence in Iran, and Raisi was often mentioned as the most likely successor to Ayatollah Khameni, Iran's supreme leader. Even though Raisi and Abdollahian had less power than their western counterparts their deaths result a substantial power vacuum in Iran.


just sending a nice song for that ride:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LstTLdxKevM

[Skybird]

This man has waded knee-deep in the blood of his people, probably hundreds of death sentences on his record, torture and support for international terrorism not even counted... Burn in hell, mister. Not a single tear from me. And I don't understand why the press has only had this story as its main headline since yesterday.

[Von Due]

https://www.theonion.com/iranian-president-stoned-to-death-with-mountain-1851488487

[em2nought]

https://www.theonion.com/iranian-president-stoned-to-death-with-mountain-1851488487

:har:

[ET2SN]

https://www.theonion.com/iranian-president-stoned-to-death-with-mountain-1851488487


:D:har:

Sky, it only happened yesterday. If they reported it a week before the crash, that would have stunk.

[Shadowblade]

I was reading about recording where Raisi was asking for permission to execute another 200 people - really evil bastard.

[Aktungbby]

...They've declared him "a martyr to Islam" presumably so can get his 72 virgins in Paradise?:hmmm: Lets hope he can "Raisi to the occasion"??! a few missing headscarves notwithstanding!:haha:https://images.cartoonstock.com/lowres/politics-abubakr_al_baghdadi-iraq-jihadism-cartoons--EC371727_low.jpg:oops: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeTIFCo14jMThank god for an Amerian-made Bell helicoptor with no(sanctions) spare parts!:arrgh!:https://images.cartoonstock.com/previews/EC330355_preview.jpg

[em2nought]

You can't always get what you want... :D
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sag79qwytew/Tb482J5DQJI/AAAAAAAAAF8/1bzuL0lwgpk/s1600/72_virgins_osama.jpg

[Shadowblade]

https://i.imgflip.com/ud2bd.jpg

[Skybird]

Sky, it only happened yesterday. If they reported it a week before the crash, that would have stunk.:har:

[Shadowblade]

...They've declared him "a martyr to Islam" presumably so can get his 72 virgins in Paradise?:hmmm:

yeah, that is crazy - he did nothing to become a martyr, he just died in helicopter crash....

[Jimbuna]

Britain and American forces strike Houthi targets after spike in attacks on shipping

British and US forces have struck Houthi targets in Yemen in the fifth combined operation since January.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed the strikes took place on Thursday as part of a response to Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The MoD said intelligence confirmed two locations near Hudaydah were involved in the anti-shipping attacks, with buildings identified as housing drone ground control facilities and storage for long range drones.

Surface-to-air weapons were also believed to be on-site.

A set of Houthi facilities at Ghulayfiqah, further south on the Yemeni coast, were also identified as being involved in the command and control of the group's anti-shipping campaign.

According to the officials, American and British fighter jets and US ships hit a wide range of targets.

RAF Typhoon FGR4s conducted strikes on the target buildings at the three locations, using Paveway IV guided bombs.

The US F/A-18 fighter jets launched from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, officials said.

Other US warships in the region also participated.

A total of 13 Houthi targets were struck.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the UK "will not hesitate" to protect British interests.

He said last night's strikes were conducted "to further degrade the military capabilities of the Houthis and to prevent further attacks on international shipping".

"The strikes were taken in self-defence in the face of an ongoing threat that the Houthis pose," he said.

Asked whether this new round of strikes risked escalation with Iran, who back the Houthis, Mr Sunak said: "We have always said that we will not hesitate to protect British interests abroad and at home.

"There is an ongoing threat that the Houthis pose, 197 attacks since November, all our intelligence indicates that previous sets of strikes have been successful in degrading military capabilities of the Houthis: targeting supply, command and control launch sites for missiles and there is also a risk in inaction that would damage the global economy and further risk our international security."

The Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported at least two deaths and 10 injuries from strikes against a radio building in Hodeidah's Al-Hawk district.

"As ever, the utmost care was taken in planning the strikes to minimise any risk to civilians or non-military infrastructure," the MoD said in a statement.

"Conducting the strikes in the hours of darkness should also have mitigated yet further any such risks."

The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, according to the US Maritime Administration.

The strikes came a day after a US MQ-9 Reaper drone went down in Yemen, and the Houthis released footage they said showed the aircraft being targeted with a surface-to-air missile in a desert region of the central Marib province.

It marked the third such downing this month alone.

Also earlier this week, missile attacks twice damaged a Marshall Islands-flagged, Greek-owned ship in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, with a private security firm saying radio traffic suggested the vessel took on water after being struck.

While no group claimed responsibility, suspicion fell on the Houthis.

The US has also been carrying out almost daily strikes to take out Houthi targets, including incoming missiles and drones aimed at ships, as well as weapons that were prepared to launch.
https://news.sky.com/story/britain-and-american-forces-strike-houthi-targets-after-spike-in-attacks-on-shipping-13145855

[Otto Harkaman]

What is the latest news on the USS Eisenhower?

The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) has been in the news recently due to its extended deployment in the Red Sea. The carrier, along with its strike group, has been active in intercepting and targeting Houthi munitions and drones in response to attacks on commercial shipping lanes around Yemen. This deployment, which began in October 2023, has now been extended for an additional month due to ongoing threats from the Houthis​ (USNI News (https://news.usni.org/2024/05/06/carrier-uss-dwight-d-eisenhower-back-in-red-sea-passes-200-day-deployment-mark))​​ (Task & Purpose (https://taskandpurpose.com/news/uss-dwight-d-eisenhower-houthis-red-sea/))​.

The Eisenhower carrier strike group includes the destroyers USS Gravely and USS Mason, as well as the cruiser USS Philippine Sea. It comprises approximately 6,000 sailors. The strike group has been conducting flight operations and defensive measures to ensure maritime security in the region​ (Task & Purpose (https://taskandpurpose.com/news/uss-dwight-d-eisenhower-houthis-red-sea/))​.

Additionally, the USS Eisenhower moved north through the Red Sea towards Israel as a show of deterrence against potential threats from Iran, highlighting its strategic importance in maintaining stability and security in the region​ (The Times of Israel (https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/us-moves-aircraft-carrier-north-through-red-sea-toward-israel-in-show-of-deterrence-against-iran/))​.


What other naval forces are in the Red Sea currently?

Currently, the Red Sea hosts a significant presence of naval forces from multiple countries due to ongoing regional tensions and the need to secure maritime routes. The United States leads a multinational task force known as Operation Prosperity Guardian, which aims to protect merchant ships from threats such as drones and missiles launched by Houthi rebels in Yemen. This operation includes contributions from the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, and Spain​ (Breaking Defense (https://breakingdefense.com/2024/03/crowded-waters-whos-doing-what-in-the-international-hotspot-of-the-red-sea/))​​ (Defense News (https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2023/12/19/us-unveils-international-force-to-defend-red-sea-heres-what-we-know/))​.

The US-led Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) also operate in the region, specifically through Commander Task Force 153 (CTF-153), which focuses on maritime security in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden​ (Seapower (https://seapowermagazine.org/new-task-force-153-to-patrol-red-sea-bab-al-mandeb-strait-gulf-of-aden/))​. This task force comprises ships from various member nations and aims to counter activities like human trafficking and smuggling, as well as threats from Houthi missile attacks.

Additionally, the European Union has launched its own mission, EUNAVFOR Operation Aspides, to safeguard maritime security and ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea​ (Breaking Defense (https://breakingdefense.com/2024/03/crowded-waters-whos-doing-what-in-the-international-hotspot-of-the-red-sea/))​.
Other notable naval forces in the Red Sea include the Israeli Navy, which has conducted submarine exercises in the area​ (The Times of Israel (https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-navy-wraps-up-complex-submarine-exercise-in-red-sea/))​, and contributions from countries such as Italy and France, which have deployed multimission frigates to support these international security efforts​ (Defense News (https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2023/12/19/us-unveils-international-force-to-defend-red-sea-heres-what-we-know/))​.

[Jimbuna]

Yemen's Houthi rebels detain at least 9 UN staffers and others in sudden crackdown, officials say

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — At least nine Yemeni employees of United Nations agencies have been detained by Yemen's Houthi rebels under unclear circumstances, authorities said Friday, as the rebels face increasing financial pressure and airstrikes from a U.S.-led coalition. Others working for aid groups also likely have been taken.

The detentions come as the Houthis, who seized Yemen's capital nearly a decade ago and have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition since shortly after, have been targeting shipping throughout the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

But while gaining more attention internationally, the secretive group has cracked down at dissent at home, including recently sentencing 44 people to death.
Regional officials, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to brief journalists, confirmed the U.N. detentions. Those held include staff from the U.N. human rights agency, its development program, the World Food Program and one working for the office of its special envoy, the officials said. The wife of one of those held is also detained.

The U.N. declined to immediately comment.

The Mayyun Organization for Human Rights, which similarly identified the U.N. staffers held, named other aid groups whose employees were detained by the Houthis across four provinces that the Houthis hold — Amran, Hodeida, Saada and Saana.

“We condemn in the strongest terms this dangerous escalation, which constitutes a violation of the privileges and immunities of United Nations employees granted to them under international law, and we consider it to be oppressive, totalitarian, blackmailing practices to obtain political and economic gains,” the organization said in a statement.

Many of the groups mentioned didn't immediately acknowledge the detentions.

One that did, Save the Children, told the AP that it was “concerned of the whereabouts of one of our staff members in Yemen and doing everything we can to ensure his safety and well-being.” The group declined to elaborate.

Activists, lawyers and others also began an open online letter, calling on the Houthis to immediately release those detained, because if they don't, it “helps isolate the country from the world.”

Yemen's Houthi rebels and their affiliated media organizations didn't acknowledge the detentions. However, the Iranian-backed rebels did report new U.S.-led airstrikes Friday hitting around the Red Sea port city of Hodeida. Several hit Hodeida's airport, the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency said, where the rebels are believed to have launched attacks previously targeting shipping in the region.

It's unclear what exactly sparked the detentions. However, it comes as the Houthis have faced issues with having enough currency to support the economy in areas they hold — something signaled by their move to introduce a new coin into the Yemeni currency, the riyal. Yemen’s exiled government in Aden and other nations criticized the move, saying the Houthis are turning to counterfeiting.

Aden authorities also have demanded all banks move their headquarters there as a means to stop the worst slide ever in the riyal's value and re-exert their control over the economy.

“Internal tensions and conflicts could spiral out of control and lead Yemen into complete economic collapse,” warned Yemeni journalist Mohammed Ali Thamer in an analysis published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Bloomberg separately reported Thursday that the U.S. planned to further increase economic pressure on the Houthis by blocking their revenue sources, including a planned $1.5 billion Saudi payment to cover salaries for government employees in rebel-held territory.

The war in Yemen has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands more. The Houthis' attacks on shipping have helped deflect attention from their problems at home and the stalemated war. But they've faced increasing casualties and damage from U.S.-led airstrikes targeting the group for months now.

Thousands have been imprisoned by the Houthis during the war. An AP investigation found some detainees were scorched with acid, forced to hang from their wrists for weeks at a time or were beaten with batons. Meanwhile, the Houthis have employed child soldiers and indiscriminately laid mines in the conflict.

The Houthis previously have detained four other U.N. staffers — two in 2021 and another two in 2023 who still remain held by the militia group. The U.N.’s human rights agency in 2023 called those detentions a “profoundly alarming situation as it reveals a complete disregard for the rule of law.”

The Houthis are members of Islam’s minority Shiite Zaydi sect, which ruled northern Yemen for 1,000 years until 1962.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/yemen-s-houthi-rebels-detain-at-least-9-un-staffers-and-others-in-sudden-crackdown-officials-say/ar-BB1nNzdV?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=d683ca66fe9e42589a8f6a783f5b9c87&ei=18

[Jimbuna]

Yemen’s Houthi rebels unveil solid-fuel ‘Palestine’ missile that resembles Iranian hypersonic

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels have unveiled a new, solid-fuel missile in their arsenal that resembles aspects of one earlier displayed by Iran that Tehran described as flying at hypersonic speeds.

The rebels fired its new “Palestine” missile, complete with a warhead painted like a Palestinian keffiyeh checkered scarf, at the southern Gulf of Aqaba port of Eilat in Israel on Monday. The attack set off air raid sirens but caused no reported damage or injuries.

Footage released by the Houthis late Wednesday showed the Palestine being raised on what appeared to be a mobile launcher and rising quickly into the air with plumes of white smoke coming from its engine. White smoke is common with solid-fuel missiles.

Solid-fuel missiles can be set up and fired faster than those containing liquid fuel. That’s a key concern for the Houthis as their missile launch sites have been repeatedly targeted by U.S. and allied forces in recent months over the rebels’ attacks on shipping through the Red Sea corridor. One such strike hit the Houthis even before they were able to launch their missile.

For their part, the Houthis described the Palestine as a “locally made” missile. However, the Houthis are not known to possess the ability to manufacture complicated missile and guidance systems locally in Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, which been gripped by war since the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, nearly a decade ago.

The Houthis have, however, been repeatedly armed by Iran during the war despite a United Nations arms embargo. While Iran claims it doesn’t arm the Houthis, ships seized by the U.S. and its allies have found Iranian weaponry, missile fuel and components on board.

Iranian media reported the launch of the Palestine and described it as locally manufactured, citing the Houthis. However, design elements on the missile resemble other missiles developed by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. That includes one called the Fattah, or “Conqueror” in Farsi.

Iran unveiled the missile last year and claimed it could reach Mach 15 — or 15 times the speed of sound. It also described the missile’s range as up to 1,400 kilometers (870 miles). That’s a little short of Eilat from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, but missile can be reconfigured to boost their range.

In March, Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency quoted an anonymous source claiming the Houthis had a hypersonic missile.

“While we cannot say for sure what exact version the ‘Palestine’ corresponds to, we can say with high certainty that is is an advanced and precision-guided (Guard)-developed solid propellant missile provided by Iran,” wrote Fabian Hinz, a missile expert and research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Asked about the similarity between the Palestine and its missiles, Iran’s mission to the United Nations told The Associated Press that Tehran “has not engaged in any activities in contravention” of U.N. resolutions.

“Yemen’s military power has grown since the war began ... — a fact rooted in the internal capacity and prowess of Ansar Allah,” the mission said, using another name for the Houthis.

Hypersonic weapons, which fly at speeds higher than Mach 5, could pose crucial challenges to missile defense systems because of their speed and maneuverability.

Ballistic missiles fly on a trajectory in which anti-missile systems like the U.S.-made Patriot can anticipate their path and intercept them. The more irregular the missile’s flight path, such as a hypersonic missile with the ability to change directions, the more difficult it becomes to intercept.

China is believed to be pursuing the weapons, as is America. Russia claims it has already used them.

It remains unclear how well the Palestine maneuvers and at what speed it travels.

Meanwhile Thursday, a commercial ship in the southern Red Sea near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait reported seeing explosions nearby, though no one was hurt, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. The private security firm Ambrey also reported the blasts. Though no one immediately claimed the attack, suspicion immediately fell on the Houthis.

The U.S. military’s Central Command said the Houthis fired one ballistic missile into the Red Sea, while America and its allies destroyed nine drones and two drone boats over the last day.

“There were no injuries or damage reported by U.S., coalition or commercial ships,” it said.
https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthi-missile-arsenal-iran-israel-hamas-ed74174915e301d30c50493f2c629a1a

[Jimbuna]

Yemen's Houthi rebels launch boat-borne bomb attack against Greek-owned ship in Red Sea

ABOARD THE USS LABOON IN THE RED SEA (AP) — Yemen's Houthi rebels launched a boat-borne bomb attack against a commercial ship in the Red Sea on Wednesday, authorities said, the latest escalation despite a U.S.-led campaign trying to protect the vital waterway.

The use of a boat loaded with explosives raised the specter of 2000's USS Cole attack, a suicide assault by al-Qaida on the warship when it was at port in Aden, killing 17 on board. Associated Press journalists saw the Cole in the Red Sea on Wednesday, now taking part in the U.S. campaign while visiting one of her sister ships, the USS Laboon.

Yemen's military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for the attack, identifying the vessel targeted as the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier Tutor. He described the attack as using a “drone boat,” as well as drones and ballistic missiles.

In a warning to shippers, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center described the vessel as being hit in its stern by a small white craft southwest of the Houthi-controlled port city of Hodeida.

The captain “reports the vessel is taking on water, and not under command of the crew,” the UKMTO said. He also “reports the vessel was hit for a second time by an unknown airborne projectile."

The U.S. military's Central Command also acknowledged the attack, saying the Tutor “most recently docked in Russia.”

“The impact of the (drone boat) caused severe flooding and damage to the engine room,” it added.

The U.S. military separately destroyed three anti-ship cruise missile launchers in Houthi-held Yemen, as well as one rebel drone over the Red Sea. The Houthis launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles over the Red Sea, but they caused no damage, Central Command said.

The Houthis, who seized Yemen’s capital nearly a decade ago and have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition since shortly after, have been targeting shipping throughout the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

They say the attacks are aimed at stopping the war and supporting the Palestinians, though the attacks often target vessels that have nothing to do with the conflict.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/yemen-s-houthi-rebels-launch-boat-borne-bomb-attack-against-greek-owned-ship-in-red-sea/ar-BB1o8bc5?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=4d04cd8137a74d1b96fd7779324eaaef&ei=29

[Reece]

Miserable pieces of crap!! :nope::Kaleun_Mad:

[Jimbuna]

Crew evacuated from Greek-owned vessel hit by Houthis


The crew of a Greek-owned vessel damaged in an attack by Yemen's Houthis has been evacuated, and the abandoned ship is drifting in the Red Sea, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said on Friday.

One sailor from Tutor, the Liberia-flagged coal carrier, remains missing, officials in the Philippines said.

The attack near the Yemeni port of Hodeidah on Wednesday caused severe flooding and damage to the engine room and left Tutor unable to maneuver.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/crew-evacuated-from-greek-owned-vessel-hit-by-houthis/ar-BB1ofQOM?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ENTPSP&cvid=8b7b92482ec54d1e87e3a5e2e861e0f6&ei=59

[Reece]

You'd think they would call for a tow or something rather than abandoning it, I bet the Houthis would be interested in salvaging it! :doh:

[em2nought]

You'd think they would call for a tow or something rather than abandoning it, I bet the Houthis would be interested in salvaging it! :doh:

Somebody should HMS Campbeltown her. :D

[Dargo]

The Palau-flagged ship is on fire and sinking in the Gulf of Aden, reports the British Maritime Trade Organization, UKMTO. The Verbena was hit by several missiles from the Houthis from Yemen on Thursday. A large fire broke out in the attack. One of the crew members was injured in the process. Meanwhile, everyone from the ship has been evacuated. The Verbena was en route with a cargo of timber from Malaysia to Italy.

[mapuc]

All this information I read here and in the news, tells me one thing:

It is almost IMPOSSIBLE to fully protect civilian cargo traffic.

I said almost-'cause there is a solution and that is to invade Yemen. And how interested are the West in doing it-Invade Yemen ?

Markus

[Dargo]

All this information I read here and in the news, tells me one thing:

It is almost IMPOSSIBLE to fully protect civilian cargo traffic.

I said almost-'cause there is a solution and that is to invade Yemen. And how interested are the West in doing it-Invade Yemen ?

MarkusNo need to invade, just bomb it to the Stone Age for an invasion you need a plan for the after, not seen any country after WWII that is capable to conduct a plan how to go on after an occupation.

[mapuc]

No need to invade, just bomb it to the Stone Age for an invasion you need a plan for the after, not seen any country after WWII that is capable to conduct a plan how to go on after an occupation.

These transportable ASM and other anti-ship weapons can be dug down or being moved around from areas to areas away.

I don't know what the west should do to effective stop the attack on civilian shipping in that area. Other than the idea of invading

Markus

[Dargo]

These transportable ASM and other anti-ship weapons can be dug down or being moved around from areas to areas away.

I don't know what the west should do to effective stop the attack on civilian shipping in that area. Other than the idea of invading

MarkusThe US will not do it and other NATO countries will neither to keep your equipment safe from the West intelligence we can see anything you need bunkers, but that will not work either in the long run we have bunker busters and all weapons has to come via ships, so a blockade will starve them.

[mapuc]

The US will not do it and other NATO countries will neither to keep your equipment safe from the West intelligence we can see anything you need bunkers, but that will not work either in the long run we have bunker busters.

Another idea is to prevent Iran and other countries to send weapon to Yemen

Beside bombing the country back to stone age.

Markus

[Dargo]

Another idea is to prevent Iran and other countries to send weapon to Yemen

Beside bombing the country back to stone age.

MarkusOnly a blockade would prevent that.

[mapuc]

Only a blockade would prevent that.

Thank you I could not remember the word Blockade.

Yes a complete Blockade of Yemen.

Markus

[Jimbuna]

Crew evacuated from Greek-owned vessel hit by Houthis


Merchant ship threatens to sink after Houthi attack in the Red Sea

Following an attack by Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen, a merchant ship is in danger of sinking in the Red Sea.

Following the evacuation of the crew, the ship was drifting unmanned off the coast of Djibouti and sinking, the British authority responsible for the safety of merchant shipping, UKMTO, said on Saturday.

A heavily damaged cargo ship had already sunk at the beginning of March following a Houthi attack.

According to the US Central Command, the Houthi militia attacked the ship with two cruise missiles on Thursday. The Ukrainian-owned cargo ship Verbena, which is operated by a Polish company, was on its way to Italy with building materials on board.

The attack caused a fire. Initially, a seriously injured sailor was evacuated.
A Houthi military spokesman confirmed that the militia had attacked the Verbena.

The crew brought the fire under control and continued their journey to the next scheduled stop for the time being, UKMTO had said. But the crew was then brought to safety and the ship was left to its fate.

In early March, the Rubymar, a badly damaged cargo ship sank off the coast of Yemen, almost two weeks after an attack by the Houthi militia.

The US military warned of an environmental disaster because the vessel was carrying around 41,000 tons of fertilizer.

One of the most important shipping routes for world trade runs through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. In recent months, the Houthis have repeatedly attacked civilian cargo ships there.

The militants have said the attacks are intended to support Palestinian militant group Hamas by making it more difficult for cargo ships to reach Israel.

In response to the attacks, the United States and the United Kingdom have carried out several military strikes against Houthi positions in Yemen.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/merchant-ship-threatens-to-sink-after-houthi-attack-in-the-red-sea/ar-BB1ohIQR?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=2f19ce1318874fd492d8e84bfb1819ad&ei=19

[Jimbuna]

Iran hands Nobel winner fresh jail term - lawyer

A court in Iran has sentenced the jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi to an additional year in prison, her lawyer says.

The 52-year-old human rights activist was convicted of spreading “propaganda against the system” by a branch of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, Mostafa Nili wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

He said the reasons cited by the court included “comments about Ms Dina Qalibaf”, a student who alleged she was tortured and sexually assaulted by security forces, as well as her call to boycott March’s election and letters to Swedish and Norwegian MPs.

Ms Mohammadi had refused to attend the trial, denouncing it as “unjust and farcical”.

There was no immediate confirmation from the Iranian judiciary.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2vv4e2edg1o

[Jimbuna]

Vessel sinks in Red Sea one week after Houthi attack


Avessel is believed to have sunk in the Red Sea a week after the ship was attacked by Yemen's Houthi Rebels, UK authorities have said,

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency, which is part of Britain's Royal Navy, said late Tuesday that maritime debris and oil have been sighted in the vessel's last reported location in the Red Sea.

The vessel was attacked on June 12 while it was sailing off the coast of Yemen. It was hit twice and the crew was evacuated, UKMTO said.

Last week, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that an unmanned surface vessel launched by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels had hit a Greek-owned and operated ship off the coast of Yemen.

The hit caused severe flooding and damage to the ship's engine room.
The Houthis, who have controlled parts of Yemen since 2014, have been targeting ships bound for Israeli ports or those owned by Israeli companies in the Red and Arabian seas and Indian Ocean for months, in what they say is retaliation for Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip.

The militia also attacked US and British ships off Yemen after the two countries began launching strikes on areas under the group's control.

The United States, Britain and other Western countries have launched operations to protect ships in the region.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/vessel-sinks-in-red-sea-one-week-after-houthi-attack/ar-BB1ouPpU?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ENTPSP&cvid=91d1471317aa42c099ee0cbb864a3c59&ei=24

[Exocet25fr]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofc4eoPkFpU

[Jimbuna]

Yemen’s Houthis release video of attack on ship in Red Sea

https://www.google.com/search?q=houthis+latest+news&sca_esv=453f36eb1da0db3c&sxsrf=ADLYWIJObmXRYJsWm7UM6T9aybrz7pQX_w%3A1718890 433097&source=hp&ei=wS90ZvrsA9ymhbIP7qOpoA8&iflsig=AL9hbdgAAAAAZnQ90VkQwh15OD4PjmI1LQLWPoxrFa1 7&oq=hout&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IgRob3V0KgIIADIKECMYgAQYJxiKBTIK ECMYgAQYJxiKBTIKECMYgAQYJxiKBTIIEAAYgAQYsQMyCxAAGI AEGLEDGIMBMgsQLhiABBixAxiDATIIEAAYgAQYsQMyDRAuGIAE GNEDGMcBGAoyBxAAGIAEGAoyCBAAGIAEGLEDSK0hUABYiRFwAH gAkAEAmAFgoAHeAqoBATS4AQHIAQD4AQGYAgSgAoEDwgIREC4Y gAQYsQMY0QMYgwEYxwHCAg4QLhiABBixAxjRAxjHAcICCxAAGI AEGJIDGIoFwgIIEC4YgAQYsQOYAwCSBwMyLjKgB748&sclient=gws-wiz#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:50c16a71,vid:-BWwear_fLI,st:0

[Jimbuna]

Iran expands nuclear ‘bunker’ sparking fears of weapon development

Inspectors with the UN nuclear watchdog have confirmed major new construction at a fortified nuclear facility built in a mountainside.

A massive expansion of Iran’s main uranium enrichment plants has raised fears the Islamic Republic is racing towards a nuclear weapon – a development that would upend the balance of power in the Middle East, sending tremors around the world.

Inspectors with the UN nuclear watchdog have confirmed major new construction in the heavily protected Fordow enrichment plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) statement comes days after Tehran announced its intention to upgrade the fortified nuclear facility, built like a bunker in a mountainside in north-central Iran.

Experts say the addition of around 1,400 more centrifuges at Fordow would allow Iran to more than triple production of weapons-grade uranium (WGU). This would move it closer to “breakout” capability – the stage at which a state can no longer be realistically stopped from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Tehran has also revealed plans to boost production of enriched uranium at its main nuclear plant at Natanz in central Iran.

But the upgrade at Fordow will be of particular concern to the US and Israel. It is the smaller of the two nuclear facilities, but its subterranean setting makes it virtually invulnerable to airstrikes, although underground building work at Natanz means that, too, is becoming more resistant to attack.

Iran told the IAEA that it would install eight more cascades with 174 IR-6 centrifuges at the plants within the next four weeks. The Institute for Science and International Security calls this “a dramatic increase” in enrichment capacity.

Taking into account the stock of 60 per cent enriched uranium already present in Fordow, Iran could, with new installations, produce 145 kilograms of WGU within a month – enough for five nuclear weapons.

Iran and its international opponents will be aware of the symbolism.

The production of sufficient WGU at Fordow (previously called Al Ghadir) was, analysts note, one of the goals of Tehran’s Amad Plan, the nuclear weapons programme officially shelved in 2003.

Fordow stopped uranium enrichment entirely under the 2015 JCPOA nuclear containment deal with world powers. After the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018, production resumed.

Iran is signalling its ability to move towards breakout. But its ultimate intentions are a matter of debate; it continues to maintain a calculated ambiguity on nuclear weapons.

Tehran says it has no plans to make nuclear devices. Nonetheless, leaders of the country’s nuclear energy programme have begun saying publicly that their scientists now possess the components and skills to build a nuclear bomb. Some senior Iranian officials have threatened to pursue nuclear weapons in recent months.
https://inews.co.uk/news/world/iran-expands-nuclear-bunker-fears-weapon-middle-east-3122890?ico=related_stories

[Otto Harkaman]

https://ground.news/article/iran-continues-to-expand-uranium-enrichment
According to Vienna, Iran has put additional centrifuges into operation in response to a resolution by the International Atomic Energy Agency (https://ground.news/interest/international-atomic-energy-agency). There is sharp criticism from the United States.
https://youtu.be/y6MdGsEh7Js?si=aEn_dfbu-JeXZlz9

[Jimbuna]

Likely Yemen Houthi rebel attack targets ship in Gulf of Aden as Eisenhower reportedly heads home

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A commercial ship traveling through the Gulf of Aden saw explosions near the vessel, authorities said Saturday, likely the latest attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels attempting to target the shipping lane.

The apparent fire by the Houthis comes after the sinking this week of the ship Tutor, which marked what appears to be a new escalation by the Iranian-backed Houthis in their campaign of attacks on ships in the vital maritime corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials reportedly ordered the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, the aircraft carrier leading America's response to the Houthi attacks, to return home.

The captain of the ship targeted late Friday saw “explosions in the vicinity of the vessel,” the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.

“The crew are reported safe and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call,” the UKMTO said, without elaborating on whether the ship sustained any damage.

The Houthis, who have held Yemen's capital, Sanaa, since 2014, did not immediately claim the attack. However, it can take the rebels hours or even days to acknowledge their assaults.

The Houthis on Friday released footage of one of their drone boats, the “Tufan,” or “Flood,” which they said targeted the Tutor.

The Houthis have launched more than 60 attacks targeting specific vessels and fired off other missiles and drones in their campaign that has killed a total of four sailors. They have seized one vessel and sunk two since November. A U.S.-led airstrike campaign has targeted the Houthis since January, with a series of strikes May 30 killing at least 16 people and wounding 42 others, the rebels say.

In March, the Belize-flagged Rubymar carrying fertilizer became the first to sink in the Red Sea after taking on water for days following a rebel attack.

The Houthis have maintained that their attacks target ships linked to Israel, the United States or Britain. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the Israel-Hamas war.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Naval Institute's news service reported, citing an anonymous official, that the Eisenhower would be returning home to Norfolk, Virginia, after an over eight-month deployment in combat that the Navy says is its most intense since World War II. The report said an aircraft carrier operating in the Pacific would be taking the Eisenhower's place.

The closest American aircraft carrier known to be operating in Asia is the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The Roosevelt anchored Saturday in Busan, South Korea, amid Seoul's ongoing tensions with North Korea.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/likely-yemen-houthi-rebel-attack-targets-ship-in-gulf-of-aden-as-eisenhower-reportedly-heads-home/ar-BB1oH1eC?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=45a3350b9bec4ac78e1a3b67c9670698&ei=10

[Jimbuna]

US slaps sanctions on network it accuses of moving billions for Iran's military

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on nearly 50 entities and people it accused of moving billions of dollars for Iran's military.

The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said those targeted on Tuesday constitute a "shadow banking network" used by Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), both of which are under U.S. sanctions.

The network helped the MODAFL and IRGC - which earn money notably from the sale of oil and petrochemicals - gain access to the international financial system and process the equivalent of billions of dollars since 2020, the Treasury said.

The Treasury said the revenue generated by the MODAFL and IRGC through networks of Iranian exchange houses and foreign cover companies supported the provision of weapons and funding to Iran's proxy groups, including Yemen's Houthi group, and the transfer of drones to Russia for use in the war against Ukraine.
Washington has issued rafts of sanctions targeting Iranian drones and the Houthis, who have been launching drone and missile strikes in shipping lanes since November in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians in Israel's war in Gaza.

"We continue to work with allies and partners, as well as the global financial industry, to increase vigilance against the movement of funds supporting terrorism," Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in the statement.

Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately comment on the action.

Tuesday's action targeted dozens of companies in Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Marshall Islands, as well as Iran and Turkey-based firms.

The Treasury said the MODAFL Supply Division uses exchange houses in Iran that manage numerous cover companies registered in jurisdictions such as Hong Kong or the UAE to launder revenue, including from oil sales conducted by Sahara Thunder, which the U.S. imposed sanctions on in April.

The Treasury at the time accused Sahara Thunder of being a front company that oversees MODAFL's commercial activities in support of the IRGC and Russia's war in Ukraine, playing a key role in Iran's design, development, manufacture and sale of thousands of drones.

The move freezes the U.S. assets of banned companies and individuals, and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. Those that engage in certain transactions with them also risk being hit with sanctions.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/us-slaps-sanctions-on-network-it-accuses-of-moving-billions-for-iran-s-military/ar-BB1oRO43?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=f4c8660c4eee4e4e9523d532745be8a4&ei=14

[Reece]

Good news there Jim! :up:

[Jimbuna]

I doubt it will impact them much but I'd love it if I'm wrong.

[Jimbuna]

Iran’s presidential frontrunner could revive nuclear deal with West

“Iranian elections are not free and fair, but they have on many occasions been genuinely competitive,” says Sina Toossi, a researcher at the National Iranian American council. “This election is shaping up to be one of these.”

Ahead of the first round of voting for Iran’s presidential election on Friday, polls consistently show a lead for the sole reformist candidate, heart surgeon and former health minister Masoud Pezeshkian, who has argued against forcing women to wear hijabs and for a new nuclear deal and warmer relations with the West.

Once dismissed as a rank outsider and token presence alongside five hardliners handpicked as candidates by Iran’s Guardian Council after Ebrahim Raisi’s death in a helicopter crash last month, Dr Pezeshkian appears to be gaining momentum as his rivals stall.
His two closest rivals according to polls, arch-conservative politician Saeed Jalili and military-aligned parliamentary speaker Mohammad Qalibaf, are said to be locked in talks over one of the candidates pulling out to avoid splitting the conservative vote, but without success, a scenario that allowed reformist Hassan Rouhani to claim the presidency in 2013.

Two hardline candidates pulled out on Thursday, including the mayor of Tehran, Alireza Zakani, who urged Mr Jalili and Mr Qalibaf to “unite”.

The reformist candidate has a “viable path to the presidency if turnout increases,” said Mr Toossi, noting that turnout has slumped in recent elections, suggesting this is partly due to suppression of reformist candidates and government crackdowns on political expression.

Apathy may still be a barrier for Dr Pezeshkian after the brutal response to the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement that emerged following the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022 in the custody of religious police for allegedly not wearing a hijab, Mr Toossi added, with some activist groups boycotting the vote.

Dr Pezeshkian, a member of Iran’s Azeri minority, has maintained a longstanding record of sympathy for the women’s protest movement as a candidate.

“I have come to be the president of a country that gives due respect to women and girls,” he said in a recent speech, promising to fight against mandatory wearing of the hijab and enforcement by religious police.

The reformist candidate has also linked Iran’s economic woes, with soaring inflation fuelling a cost of living crisis, to the crippling sanctions imposed by the West over Iran’s nuclear programme and sponsorship of militant groups across the Middle East.

To remove “the shadow of sanctions from the Iranian people”, Mr Pezeshkian has argued for a revival of the deal agreed by former president Mr Rouhani with the US, UK, France, Germany, China and Russia in 2015 to place limits on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief, which was later ditched by Donald Trump.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/iran-s-presidential-frontrunner-could-revive-nuclear-deal-with-west/ar-BB1p0b6H?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=23cf6f3485ec4b84a089560643e654e6&ei=24

[Jimbuna]

Iran votes for new president amid voter apathy, mounting pressure

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iranians voted for a new president on Friday following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, choosing from a tightly controlled group of four candidates loyal to the supreme leader at a time of growing public frustration and Western pressure.

The election coincides with escalating regional tension due to war between Israel and Iran's allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as increased Western pressure on Iran over its fast-advancing nuclear programme.

While the election is unlikely to bring a major shift in the Islamic Republic's policies, its outcome could influence the succession to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's 85-year-old supreme leader, in power since 1989.
Khamenei called for a high turnout to offset a legitimacy crisis fuelled by public discontent over economic hardship and curbs on political and social freedom.

"The durability, strength, dignity and reputation of the Islamic Republic depend on people's presence," Khamenei told state television after casting his vote. "High turnout is a definite necessity."

The next president is not expected to usher in any major policy shift on Iran's nuclear programme or support for militia groups across the Middle East, since Khamenei calls all the shots on top state matters.

However, the president runs the government day-to-day and can influence the tone of Iran's foreign and domestic policy.

A hardline watchdog body made up of six clerics and six jurists aligned with Khamenei vets candidates, and approved only six from an initial pool of 80. Two hardline candidates subsequently dropped out.

THREE HARDLINE CANDIDATES, ONE RELATIVE MODERATE

Three candidates are hardliners and one is a low-profile comparative moderate, backed by the reformist faction that has largely been sidelined in Iran in recent years.

Critics of Iran's clerical rule say that low and declining turnouts in recent years show the system's legitimacy has eroded. Just 48% of voters participated in the 2021 presidential election and turnout plumbed a record low of 41% in a parliamentary election in March.

State television showed queues inside polling stations in several cities. Polling was extended two times for a total of four extra hours until 1830 GMT because "people wanted to vote, state TV said. Voting in Iran is usually extended as late as midnight. Authorities said the result would be announced on Saturday.

If no candidate wins at least 50% plus one vote from all ballots cast, including blank votes, a run-off between the top two candidates is held on the first Friday after the result is declared.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/iran-votes-for-new-president-amid-voter-apathy-mounting-pressure/ar-BB1p50cO?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=8b127ed80a484c74a59ca534a2753976&ei=13

[Jimbuna]

Iran's presidential election moves to run-off after low turnout

Iran will hold a run-off election after hardline candidate Saeed Jalili and rival Massoud Pezeshkian, who is seen as reformist, both failed to secure a majority in the presidential race.

Candidates need to win 50% of the vote but the pair both hovered around the 40% mark - with Mr Pezeshkian finishing narrowly ahead.

Iran's interior ministry confirmed the second round is set for 5 July.

Two security force members were killed after unidentified gunmen attacked a vehicle carrying election boxes in Sistan-Baluchestan province, according to state media reports.

Former nuclear negotiator Mr Jalili was trailing Mr Pezeshkian - a former heart surgeon and health minister - by about a million votes, early results from the interior ministry show.

Mr Pezeshkian has promised a different approach, saying the actions of the morality police, who enforce strict dress codes on women, are "immoral".

Although he is seen as a reformist, Mr Pezeshkian is deeply loyal to Iran's supreme leader.

Some commentators have suggested that should he be elected, Iran should not expect more than a difference in tone.

The vote is to replace former president Ebrahim Raisi, who died on 19 May when the helicopter he was in crashed into a mountain, with seven other people also killed.

Though there are 61.5 million eligible voters in Iran, only around 40% turned out to vote - the fewest since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the ultimate authority in the country, had called for “maximum” turnout.

Iran was shaken by a huge wave of protests in 2022 following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained by the morality police for allegedly violating Iran's strict dress code.

Human rights groups say hundreds were killed in the crackdown and thousands detained.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czvxg4ww511o

[Jimbuna]

US military destroyed several surface drones of Houthis in Red Sea for self-defense

Military personnel from the US have eliminated three unmanned boats operated by Yemeni Houthis in the Red Sea waters. These actions by the US military were taken in self-defense, according to the US Central Command (CENTCOM).

In a statement, the US military command noted that this occurred on June 30th.

"In the past 24 hours U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces conducted a self-defense engagement, destroying three Iranian-backed Houthi uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) in the Red Sea," the statement said.

The report also indicated that these unmanned surface vessels were recognized as posing an immediate threat to US and coalition forces, as well as to commercial vessels in the region.

"These actions were taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure," stated CENTCOM.
The US further emphasized that such malicious and reckless behavior by the Houthis continues to threaten regional stability and endanger the lives of sailors in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Since last autumn, particularly following Hamas's incursion into Israel and the start of IDF operations in the Gaza Strip, Yemen's Houthis have regularly attempted attacks on vessels in the Red Sea.

To counter these strikes against commercial ships, the US, Britain, and allies have formed a maritime coalition.

Earlier reports indicated that at the end of May, US forces destroyed 4 Houthi drones launched for attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea.

Additionally, in late May, it was reported that Houthis fired missiles at a Greek-flagged ship in the Red Sea. The vessel, flying the flag of the Marshall Islands, sustained damage but continued its voyage.

Furthermore, recently, the Ukrainian ship Verbena, flying the flag of Palau and carrying wooden construction materials, was also attacked. The crew abandoned the ship after struggling to extinguish fires ignited during the attack.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/us-military-destroyed-several-surface-drones-of-houthis-in-red-sea-for-self-defense/ar-BB1pbKpv?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=a9757e5cf3c64fd290963d9f19cc48b4&ei=115

[Jimbuna]

As Iran faces a rare runoff presidential election, disenchanted voters are staying away

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Over 20 years ago, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stood before a crowd at Friday prayers to denounce the United States for its disenchanted electorate.

“It is disgraceful for a nation to have a 35% or 40% voter turnout, as happens in some of the nations that you see having presidential elections,” Khamenei said in 2001. “It is obvious that their people do not trust their political system, that they do not care about it and that they have no hope.”

Iran now faces what the ayatollah described.

Iran will hold a runoff presidential election Friday, only its second since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, after only 39.9% of its voting public cast a ballot the previous week. Of over 24.5 million votes, more than 1 million ballots were later rejected — typically a sign of people feeling obligated to head to the polls but wanting to reject all the candidates.

Meanwhile, public rage simmers after years of Iran’s economy cratering to new lows, along with bloody crackdowns on dissent, including over the mass protests sparked by the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini after her detention by the country’s morality police allegedly over not wearing her headscarf to their liking. Tensions with the West remain high as Iran enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.

Now, hard-line former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili faces the reformist Masoud Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon who likely needs a widespread turnout to win the presidency. Pezeshkian’s supporters warn of dark days ahead under Jalili. Meanwhile, many people are unconvinced that their vote even matters.

“I did not vote and I will not, since nobody apologized because of Mahsa and later miseries that young people face, neither the reformists nor the hard-liners,” said Leila Seyyedi, a 23-year-old university student studying graphic design.

Iranian election law requires a candidate to get over 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff. In results released Saturday, Pezeshkian got 10.4 million votes while Jalili received 9.4 million. Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf came in third with 3.3 million, while Shiite cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi had over 206,000.

Most voters for Qalibaf, a former general in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and national police chief known for his crackdowns against students and for corruption allegations, likely will break for Jalili after Qalibaf endorsed him, analysts say. That has put Jalili, a 58-year-old known as the “Living Martyr” for losing a leg in the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, in the lead position for the runoff.

But his recalcitrant reputation among Western diplomats during negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program is paired with concern at home over his views. One politician who has aligned himself with the moderates, former Iranian Information and Communications Technology Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, put the choice between Jalili and Pezeshkian more starkly.

“We will not let Iran fall into the hands of the Taliban,” he wrote on social platform X.

But even such dark warnings seemingly failed to have an effect. On the streets of Tehran after the June 28 vote, many told The Associated Press they didn’t care about the election.

“I did not vote, as former presidents failed to realize their promises,” said Ahmad Taheri, a 27-year-old psychology student. “I will not vote this coming Friday either.”

Mohammad Ali Robati, a 43-year-old electronic engineer and a father of two, said Iranian officials’ apparent indifference to people’s economic pressures caused him not to vote.

“After years of economic difficulties, I have no interest in politics,” Robati said, though he held out the possibility of voting Friday.

At the time of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, the exchange rate for Iran’s currency was 32,000 rials to $1. Today, it’s 617,000 rials to $1 — and many have found the value of their bank accounts, retirement funds and other holdings gouged by years of depreciation. It’s nearing its record low of 700,000 rials, briefly reached after Iran’s unprecedented direct attack on Israel in April.

Meanwhile, anger over Amini’s death in September 2022 persists. Her death, in which United Nations investigators said Iran’s government was responsible for the “physical violence” that led to it, sparked months of protests and a security crackdown that killed more than 500 people and saw over 22,000 detained. Less than two years later, hard-liners within Iran’s theocracy have pressed forward with a renewed hijab crackdown.

“The voter participation levels and blank ballots represented a repudiation of regime policies, particularly its crackdown on critics and women who refuse to comply with laws requiring full head covering,” the New York-based Soufan Center think tank said in an analysis Monday.

Pezeshkian has written on X that his government would resist the police enforcement of the hijab along with restrictions on the internet. However, Tahereh Namazi, a 31-year-old mathematics teacher, said she didn’t vote because neither candidate made a clear pledge on those issues.

Those who didn’t vote and spoke to the AP described their decision as their own, not part of an organized boycott.

Whether voters heed Pezeshkian on Friday remains in question. In recent days, he has repeatedly cited the story of the “selfless farmer,” a tale told to nearly every Iranian child at school about a farmer in 1961 who stripped off his own shirt and set it ablaze to warn a train about boulders blocking the tracks.

Those not taking part in the election believe the train has already crashed.
https://apnews.com/article/iran-runoff-election-jalili-pezeshkian-mideast-tensions-9a146e2a73411e1623e15ce09a140b44

[Jimbuna]

Yemen's Houthis claim attack on vital target in Israel's Haifa

CAIRO (Reuters) - Yemen's Houthis said on Tuesday that they, along with the Islamic resistance in Iraq, have conducted a joint military operation, attacking a vital target in Israel's Haifa.

The military operation has been carried out with "a number of winged missiles," Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a televised statement, without identifying the target that was attacked.

The Houthi group has been launching drone and missile strikes in shipping lanes since November, in what it says is in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The Iran-aligned Houthis first launched drone and missile strikes in shipping lanes in November. In dozens of attacks, they have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least three seafarers.
(Reporting by Muhammad Al Gebaly and Jaidaa Taha; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/yemen-s-houthis-claim-attack-on-vital-target-in-israel-s-haifa/ar-BB1pinW3?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=0ed17abeaf2846848b8bef1b46f93264&ei=15

[Jimbuna]

US strikes Houthi radar sites and vessels in Yemen

US Central Command cited imminent threats to US and coalition forces as justification for the attack.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Wednesday its forces destroyed two Houthi radar sites in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen in the past 24 hours.

CENTCOM said the forces also destroyed two uncrewed surface vessels (USV) in the Red Sea.

"It was determined the radar sites and USVs presented imminent threats to US, coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region," it added.

The Houthis have been targeting Israeli-linked cargo ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli onslaught since Oct. 7 last year.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2476544/us-strikes-houthi-radar-sites-and-vessels-in-yemen

[Jimbuna]

The struggle for Iran's future may have just opened a new chapter

This was an upset, by Iranian standards, though all things are relative. Pezeshkian is a reformist and his election is a surprise.

Iran has successfully but brutally crushed a popular uprising and many had expected his hardline rival to prevail.

The presidency has control of foreign policy and some domestic matters so many expect a shift in Iran's diplomatic outlook now - perhaps a more conciliatory tone towards the West.

But any immediate race back to nuclear negotiations is unlikely and much depends on whether Trump returns to the White House.

Masoud Pezeshkian has promised a softening on the hijab or headscarf policy, but has expressed a willingness to bend to the will of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

If there is change on that front, expect it to be incremental and not sudden.

Elections in Iran are not free or fair, the government strictly controls who can run. The fact Khamenei tolerated Pezeshkian's participation and victory hints at a sense of pragmatism from Iran's ultimate ruler.

Khamenei knew a miserably low turnout would be another nail in the already well-hammered coffin of his regime's legitimacy.

A slightly more "real" contest, especially in its second round, lifted numbers voting as people sensed a chance to return a reformist.

Khamenei also knows the demand for change may have been brutally crushed, but its strength of spirit remains. His government must adapt to that. A "reformist" president might ease some of the pressure.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/the-struggle-for-iran-s-future-may-have-just-opened-a-new-chapter/ar-BB1pvPxk?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=6dcc4215992844958bc615922aaebd01&ei=20

[Jimbuna]

Iranian naval destroyer 'capsizes and sinks' in port as several people treated in hospital

Several people have been injured after an Iranian naval frigate capsized and sunk while repairs were being carried out on it at a port, state media has said.

Pictures on social media showed the Sahand destroyer rolled over on its side.

The incident happened in the southern port of Bandar Abbas, near the Strait of Hormuz, after water got into the ship's tanks, said the IRNA news agency.

It said it was possible to rebalance the frigate as the incident happened at a low depth in the water.

State media also said several people were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

"As Sahand was being repaired at the wharf, it lost its balance due to water ingress. Fortunately... the vessel is being returned to balance quickly," IRNA reported, citing a navy statement.
Sahand, which was named after a mountain in northern Iran, took six years to build and was launched into the Persian Gulf in December 2018.

The 1,300-tonne vessel had surface-to-surface missiles and surface-to-air missiles, as well as anti-aircraft batteries and sophisticated radar and radar-evading capabilities.

There have been reports that since it was built, the ship had been upgraded to include a new radar, four to eight medium-range air-defence missiles and double the number of anti-ship missiles.

This may have raised her centre of gravity, it has been reported by navalnews.com.

It is not the first time an Iranian warship has sunk.

The same thing happened to Damavand in the Caspian Sea in January 2018 after it crashed into a breakwater - a permanent structure built to protect against tides, currents, waves, and storm surges.

In June 2021, another warship, the Kharg, sank after catching fire in the Gulf of Oman, Iranian media reported.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/iranian-naval-destroyer-capsizes-and-sinks-in-port-as-several-people-treated-in-hospital/ar-BB1pyRM5?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=067c07cf48fc460f8286f2dc7b93f3c4&ei=24

[Jimbuna]

Exclusive-Satellite photos show Iran expanding missile production, sources say

WASHINGTON/DUBAI (Reuters) - Recent satellite imagery shows major expansions at two key Iranian ballistic missile facilities that two American researchers assessed are for boosting missile production, a conclusion confirmed by three senior Iranian officials.

The enlargement of the sites follows an October 2022 deal in which Iran agreed to provide missiles to Russia, which has been seeking them for its war against Ukraine. Tehran also supplies missiles to Yemen's Houthi rebels and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, both members of the Iran-backed Axis of Resistance against Israel, according to U.S. officials.

Images taken by commercial satellite firm Planet Labs of the Modarres military base in March and the Khojir missile production complex in April show more than 30 new buildings at the two sites, both of which are located near Tehran.
The images, reviewed by Reuters, show many of the structures are surrounded by large dirt berms. Such earthworks are associated with missile production and are designed to stop a blast in one building from detonating highly combustible materials in nearby structures, said Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

The expansions began at Khojir in August last year and at Modarres in October, Lewis said, based on images of the sites.

Iran's arsenal is already the largest in the Middle East, estimated at more than 3,000 missiles, including models designed to carry conventional and nuclear warheads, experts say.

Three Iranian officials, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed that Modarres and Khojir are being expanded to boost production of conventional ballistic missiles.

"Why shouldn't we?" said one official.

A second Iranian official said some of the new buildings would also allow a doubling of drone manufacturing. Drones and missile components would be sold to Russia, drones would be provided to the Houthis and missiles to Hezbollah, the source added.

Reuters was unable independently to confirm the Iranian officials' comments.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/exclusive-satellite-photos-show-iran-expanding-missile-production-sources-say/ar-BB1pCob3?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=5a46d438ad324a2d82620b1bbd6f0a79&ei=53

[Jimbuna]

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has dismantled an armed group, says state TV

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard forces have dismantled armed bandits in the northwest of the country, state TV reported Tuesday.

The report said ground forces of the Revolutionary Guard, known as IRGC in West Azerbaijan province, dismantled a counter-revolutionary terrorist team that was planning to enter Iran from its northwestern borders.

Several members of the “terrorist” team were killed and wounded in the operation, and their equipment was confiscated by the Guard, said the state TV.

The Guard warned that any action against the security and territorial integrity of Iran would be met with a decisive and firm response, it added.

The TV report did not elaborate on the exact location of the operation.

The province has borders with two countries, Turkey and Iraq. The border with Turkey is 550 kilometers (341 miles) long.

The area has seen occasional fighting between Iranian forces and Kurdish separatists as well as militants linked to the extremist Islamic State group.

In 2022, Iran’s intelligence forces dismantled the biggest spy network affiliated with Israel that allegedly tried to hire thugs to carry out sabotage in the country.
https://apnews.com/article/iran-armed-group-turkey-iraq-border-c7ba51e50e903942dbb6be35b7d6806c

[Jimbuna]

Iran encourages Gaza war protests in US to stoke outrage and distrust, intelligence chief says

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Iranian government is covertly encouraging American protests over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza in a bid to stoke outrage ahead of the fall election, the nation’s top intelligence official said Tuesday.

Using social media platforms popular in the U.S., groups linked to Tehran have posed as online activists, encouraged protests and have provided financial support to some protest groups, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said in a statement.

“Iran is becoming increasingly aggressive in their foreign influence efforts, seeking to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our democratic institutions,” Haines said.

This effort noted by the top U.S. intelligence official is the latest evidence that America’s adversaries are harnessing the internet to warp domestic debates and widen political divides ahead of the election.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said it was important to warn Americans to help them “guard against efforts by foreign powers to take advantage of or coopt their legitimate protest activities.”

She also warned Iran that “meddling in our politics and seeking to stoke division is unacceptable.”
https://apnews.com/article/gaza-war-protests-iran-foreign-influence-95e0a161119ed0e060332feda95b4e4f

[Jimbuna]

Oil tanker held by Iran for over a year heads toward international waters, tracking data shows

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An oil tanker held by Iran for over a year after being seized amid tensions between Tehran and the United States was sailing Thursday toward international waters, tracking data showed.

The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Advantage Sweet traveled toward the Strait of Hormuz, where it was seized in April 2023 by Iran’s navy while carrying $50 million worth of oil from Kuwait for Chevron Corp. The strait is the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of the world’s oil passes.

Tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press showed the Advantage Sweet had been unloaded while in Iranian custody and that the vessel listed as its destination Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates, which has been the first port of call for other ships leaving Iranian detention.

Iran did not acknowledge the ship’s departure. It came after an Iranian court earlier on Thursday ordered the U.S. government to pay more than $6.7 billion in compensation over a Swedish company stopping its supply of special dressings and bandages for those afflicted by a rare skin disorder after Washington imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Iran’s government initially said it seized the Advantage Sweet because it hit another vessel, something not supported by any evidence. Then Iranian officials linked the Advantage Sweet’s seizure to the court case decided Thursday.

The developments follow the recent election of the reformist President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian, who has vowed to improve relations with the West.

A report by the state-run IRNA news agency described the $6.7 billion order as being filed on behalf of 300 plaintiffs, including family members of victims and those physically and emotionally damaged. IRNA said about 20 patients died after the Swedish company’s decision.

Epidermolysis bullosa is a rare genetic condition that causes blisters all over the body and eyes. It can be incredibly painful and kill those afflicted. The young who suffer from the disease are known as “butterfly children” as their skin can appear as fragile as a butterfly’s wing.

The order comes as U.S. judges have issued rulings that call for billions of dollars to be paid by Iran over attacks linked to Tehran, as well as those detained by Iran and used as pawns in negotiations between the countries — something Iran has responded to with competing lawsuits accusing the U.S. of involvement in a 2017 Islamic State group attack.

The United Nations’ highest court also last year rejected Tehran’s legal bid to free up some $2 billion in Iranian Central Bank assets, frozen by U.S. authorities.

In 2018, then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, apparently sparking the Swedish company to withdraw from the Iranian market. Iran now says it locally produces the bandages.

Chevron, based in San Ramon, California, has maintained that the Advantage Sweet was “seized under false pretenses.” It since has written off the cargo as a loss.

The withdrawal from the deal effectively ended an accord in which Tehran drastically limited its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. It also sparked years of attacks and tensions on land and at sea.

The U.S. Navy has blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers in 2019, as well as for a fatal drone attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021.

Tehran denies carrying out the attacks, but a wider shadow war between Iran and the West has played out in the region’s volatile waters. Iranian tanker seizures have been a part of it since 2019. The last major seizure came when Iran took two Greek tankers in May 2022 and held them until November of that year.

Since then, the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen have launched a series of attacks targeting vessels in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. A new report from the U.S. military says the Houthis likely fired an Iranian-made anti-ship cruise missile at a Norwegian-flagged tanker in the Red Sea in December, an assault that now provides a public, evidence-based link between the ongoing rebel campaign against shipping and Tehran.
https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-butterfly-children-lawsuit-mideast-tensions-dd5f39e2af24df831a2d00d0ec327e48

[Jimbuna]

Hamas says Gaza cease-fire talks haven't paused and claims military chief survived Israeli strike

MUWASI, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas said Sunday that Gaza cease-fire talks were ongoing and the group’s military commander was in good health, a day after the Israeli military targeted Mohammed Deif with a massive airstrike that local health officials said killed at least 90 people, including children.

Deif’s condition was still unclear after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday night “there still isn’t absolute certainty” he was killed. Army chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi told journalists Israel attacked a compound where Deif “was hiding” but added: “It’s still too early to summarize the results of the attack, which Hamas is trying to hide.”

Hamas representatives gave no evidence to back up their assertion about the health of a chief architect of the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war. His killing would mark the highest profile assassination of any Hamas leader by Israel since the war began.

Deif has long topped Israel’s most-wanted list and has been in hiding for years.

The Israeli military said Rafa Salama, a Hamas commander it described as one of Deif's closest associates, was killed in Saturday's strike. Salama commanded Hamas' Khan Younis brigade. Netanyahu said all of Hamas’ leaders are “marked for death” and asserted that killing them would move Hamas closer to accepting a cease-fire deal.

Hamas rejected the idea that mediated cease-fire discussions had been suspended. Spokesperson Jihad Taha said “there is no doubt that the horrific massacres will impact any efforts in the negotiations” but added that “efforts and endeavors of the mediators remain ongoing.”

Hamas political officials also insisted that communication channels remained functional between the leadership inside and outside Gaza after the strike in the territory's south. Witnesses said it occurred in an area that Israel had designated as safe for hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians. Israel’s military would not confirm that.

On Sunday, some survivors were angry that the attack targeting Deif occurred without warning in an area they were told was safe.

“I heard the first hit, and my son came screaming, 'Daddy, daddy,' and took cover with me," said Mahmoud Abu Yaseen, who clutched his children but then woke up in the hospital to find his son had died. The family had already been displaced five times since the war began. “Where do we go?” he asked.

A United Nations official described utter chaos at Nasser hospital where victims were taken, many treated on bloodstained floors with few supplies available.

“I witnessed some of the most horrific scenes I have seen in my nine months in Gaza,” Scott Anderson said in a statement. “I saw toddlers who are double amputees, children paralyzed and unable to receive treatment and others separated from their parents.” He said restrictions on humanitarian aid to Gaza hamper efforts to provide needed medical and other care.

On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant praised the pilots who carried out the strike and said Hamas is being eroded every day, with no ability to arm itself, organize or “care for the wounded.”

At least 300 people were wounded in the strike, one of the deadliest in the nine-month war sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 200 hostage.

More than 38,400 people in Gaza have been killed in Israeli ground offensives and bombardments since then, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

On Sunday, an Israeli strike in Nuseirat in central Gaza killed at least 14 people at the gate of a school used as a shelter for displaced people, according to an Associated Press journalist who visited two hospitals. Children were among the 15 others wounded. Israel's military in a statement said it struck “terrorists” operating in the area of a school run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.

“They are targeting everything,” said a displaced Palestinian, Um Fadi Al-Zeer.

Also on Sunday, police said a Palestinian resident of east Jerusalem carried out a car-ramming attack in central Israel that injured four Israelis, two of them seriously. Israeli border police at the scene shot the attacker dead after he hit people waiting at two bus stops along a busy road. Israel's military said four of its personnel were wounded, two of them severely.

Israeli police commissioner Kobi Shabtai said such attacks were often triggered by events like Saturday’s airstrike in Gaza.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/hamas-says-gaza-cease-fire-134531934.html?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZ y5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJ_tVyh6YvNGO7B1AV557iq4Jltk c7LIlXSRnPN0qbXUMlHyM6jTtyVZTreNJj4VGlLOIpFmdj76Ih BUHILLAMCgwqJ-1DA7PWaOJf0Na0tTqR-FTHanqox9nBCftZe1JqfyGRBddxuFP9H6UMDYI71LEz4hNN1JG d5s_ktP4ZSY

[Jimbuna]

Iran rejects US reports on alleged plan to assassinate Trump

Iran has rejected reports over an alleged plan to assassinate former US president Donald Trump, who was injured in an attempt on his life at a campaign rally last weekend.

US broadcasters CNN and NBC, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, reported the US Secret Service ramped up security for Trump in recent weeks after receiving information on a potential Iranian plot to kill him.

A spokesman for Iran's UN mission rejected the reports as "baseless and politically motivated."

For Iran, Trump is a "criminal" who gave the order to kill Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in 2020, the spokesman was quoted as saying by Iranian news agency Mehr on Wednesday.

"Trump must be condemned and punished for this, but Iran has chosen the legal path in this regard," he added.
Soleimani, who had led the elite Quds Force of Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), was killed in a US drone strike in Iraq in 2020, while Trump was president.

According to the reports, there is no evidence that the alleged Iranian plot is connected to Saturday's shooting at a Trump campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Trump, who is vying for a second presidential term, survived the attack with injuries to his ear, but one person in the crowd was killed.

The US Secret Service declined to comment on the reports, with a spokesman saying the agency constantly receives new information about threats and reacts to them.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/iran-rejects-us-reports-on-alleged-plan-to-assassinate-trump/ar-BB1q7OPO?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ENTPSP&cvid=c7f39757150b40998d81c6c316f70f80&ei=11

[Jimbuna]

Tel Aviv hit by drone attack claimed by Iranian-backed Houthis

TEL AVIV, July 19 (Reuters) - A long-range Iranian-made drone hit the centre of Tel Aviv in the early hours of Friday in an attack claimed by the Yemen-based Houthi militia that killed one man and wounded four others, the Israeli military and emergency services said.
The explosion, which footage shared on social media suggested came from the sea and did not trigger air raid alarms, occurred hours after the Israeli military confirmed it had killed a senior commander of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon.

Chief spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the military assessed that the drone, which hit a building near the beachfront close to U.S. Embassy premises in Tel Aviv, was an upgraded Iranian-made Samad-3 model.
"Our estimation is that it arrived from Yemen to Tel Aviv," he told a press briefing.
A spokesman for the Houthis, which like Hezbollah are aligned with Iran, said the group had attacked Tel Aviv with a drone and would continue to target Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war.

The attack, which took place ahead of a visit to Washington by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week, is likely to fan fears about further fallout from the Gaza war as the Houthis and other Iranian proxies side with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant met military commanders to review air defences and said the country had to be ready for all scenarios. "We must be prepared for defensive and offensive actions," he said, according to a statement from his office.

An Israeli official said the military was still investigating why the drone did not trigger the alarm, but initial reports suggested the aircraft was identified but the sirens were not sounded due to human error.
"We're talking about a large UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) that can fly large distances," the military official told journalists after the strike.

The military said air patrols had been increased to protect Israeli airspace but said it had not ordered new civil defence measures. The mayor of Tel Aviv said the city, Israel's economic centre, had been moved to a state of heightened alert.
In the hours following Friday's attack, sirens sounded repeatedly in areas close to the border with Lebanon and Israeli air defences intercepted at least one aerial target that crossed into Israel.

"OPERATION ACHIEVED ITS GOALS"
Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree called Tel Aviv a primary target "within the range of our weapons".
He said the strike was carried out using a new drone called "Yafa", which he said was capable of bypassing interception systems and undetectable by radars.
"The operation has achieved its goals successfully," Saree said in a televised speech.
Israel's emergency services said the body of a 50 year-old man was found in an apartment close to the explosion and four people were taken to hospital with slight shrapnel injuries. Four others were treated for shock. All of them were later released, health services said.
Israel has been exchanging daily missile and artillery fire with Hezbollah along its northern border and in southern Lebanon since the start of the war in Gaza, prompting fears of a wider regional conflict if the situation escalates.
The Houthis have also stepped up attacks against Israel and Western targets, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians, after Israel invaded the Gaza Strip following last year's attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel.
Hamas-led fighters stormed Israeli towns on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, nearly 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, according to health authorities in the enclave.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-military-says-tel-aviv-blast-apparently-caused-by-drone-2024-07-19/

[Jimbuna]

Major warning as Iran 'just days away' from becoming nuclear weapon threat

The US pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, three years after the agreement aimed at enforcing restrictions on Tehran's critical nuclear facilities was struck.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned "we are not in a good place" as Iran is feared to now have the ability to produce enough weapons-grade material for a nuclear weapon within two weeks.

This timespan is normally referred to as "breakout time" and is the shortest ever noticed by US officials.

In recent months, Iran has taken bold steps to boost its production of fissile material as tensions between the West and the so-called new "axis of power" - including North Korea, China and Russia alongside Tehran - continue to grow.

Mr Blinken said on Friday, as he appeared at the Aspen Security Forum: "Where we are now is not in a good place.

"Iran, because the nuclear agreement was thrown out, instead of being at least a year away from having the breakout capacity of producing fissile material for a nuclear weapon, is now probably one or two weeks away from doing that.

"They haven’t produced a weapon itself, but that’s something of course that we track very, very carefully."

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, also at Aspen, said he has "not seen a decision by Iran to move" in the direction of building a nuclear bomb yet.

Also speaking in Aspen, Mr Sullivan said: "If they start moving down that road, they'll find a real problem with the United States."

The official added that since April, when Tehran launched its first direct attack on Israeli soil, the US noticed "an uptick of public commentary from Iranian officials musing about that possibility", which "got our attention".

Last year, a top US Defense Department official said Iran could produce "one bomb's worth of fissile material" in "about 12 days".

In his warning, Mr Blinken was referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - commonly known as the Iran Nuclear Deal - from which the Donald Trump administration pulled out in 2018.

Three years prior, the deal had been struck between Tehran and Washington as well as China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and Germany.

The deal placed significant restrictions on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief, and the Biden administration has engaged in talks with Iran over the past several months in a bid to revive it, but the two sides haven't yet found a common ground on their demands.

Iran has repeatedly claimed its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1926045/iran-nuclear-weapon-breakout-time-antony-blinken

[mapuc]

If it's true in which Iran is only a fortnight from developing their first atomic bomb. I wonder when Israel and/or USA is going to strike Irans atomic areas.

Or are they going to do absolutely nothing ?

Markus

[Jimbuna]

Too late for that now. Besides it was reported over a year ago (iirc) that the Iranians had reinforced their nuclear facilities.

[Reece]

Wonder if those reinforcements would hold back a nuclear blast? :hmmm: I reckon it's worth a try! :yep:

[Jimbuna]

Houthi leader threatens response to Israeli airstrikes on Yemen's Hodeidah

DUBAI (Reuters) - A Houthi response to Israeli airstrikes near Yemen's Hodeidah is coming, the Iran-backed group's leader declared in a televised speech on Thursday.

Israeli fighter jets struck Houthi military targets near Yemen's port of Hodeidah on Saturday, killing at least nine people and wounding 87, a day after a Houthi drone hit Israeli economic hub Tel Aviv.

"The response is inevitable," Abdulmalik al-Houthi said.

The group's attacks on Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza will continue and not be deterred by the Israeli airstrikes, he added.

"Everything that happens from the side of the Israeli enemy will be more incentive for revenge," al-Houthi said.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/houthi-leader-threatens-response-to-israeli-airstrikes-on-yemen-s-hodeidah/ar-BB1qCHev?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=df7698c9ca294f37aa9e0870db624b0a&ei=9

[Jimbuna]

Fears Iran will have to act in revenge - as next step could spark all-out war

The targeting of two such senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders within such a small time period is a massive escalation and takes the Middle East to the brink of a regional war.

But it is the geography of the death of Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh in an apartment inside Tehran that is most severe in crossing all of the usual red-lines.

His assassination inside the Iranian capital crudely shunts tensions way beyond a bloody localised conflict in Gaza and cross-border rocket attacks on the Israel Lebanon border.

Not only was Haniyeh playing a pivotal role in negotiations over a Gaza ceasefire but he was also a guest of Iran’s and perhaps regarded as untouchable by the regime.

The surprise strike came just after Mr Haniyeh had attended the inauguration of Iran's new President in Tehran and will likely spark a direct retaliation from Iran.
It was extremely risky, daring and carried a message telling Iran’s leaders “we can get to you,” as well as demonstrating enormous skill in intelligence gathering and planning.

But the situation is now so serious that Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed revenge on Israel and claims it has "prepared a harsh punishment for itself.”

Iran will have to act in revenge, in order to maintain credibility in the region and depending on how severe that is, the next step could spark all-out war.

Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp has to maintain credibility with its powerful proxy force Hezbollah in Lebanon and beyond by avenging Haniyeh’s death.

Israel’s air defences and troops on the border with Lebanon, over which thousands of Hezbollah fighters are ready for battle are now on extremely high-alert for a reaction.

Israel and Iran had an unprecedented exchange of strikes on each other's soil in April after Israel hit Iran's embassy in Damascus, but until now that aggression has been on hold.

Locally Hamas could pull out of negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the war in Gaza, which was making progress.

And the killing could enflame already heightening tensions between Israel and Iran's powerful Lebanese ally Hezbollah following the weekend rocket attack that killed 12 young people in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

Tensions were already ramped up hours before the Tehran strike when Israel carried out a rare strike in Beirut killing the Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur.

If he is indeed dead that was also a major body blow as he was the right hand man of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, sometimes dubbed the “Shia bin Laden.”

There have been fears of an Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon to battle Hezbollah and further strikes - but Israel may have calculated on the two major assassinations instead.

As a violent and decisive gesture both killings are enormous in ramping up regional tensions and the next few days could see a regional war breaking out.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/fears-iran-will-have-to-act-in-revenge-as-next-step-could-spark-all-out-war/ar-BB1qWEWR?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=034307c11985487a90b0cd39124ce862&ei=12

[Skybird]

The bias in tone of most Western media is unmistakable.

[mapuc]

The next question must be:

How much involved will USA get ? If there should be a regional war in the Middle East.

Markus

[Jimbuna]

What's your guesstimation Markus?

[mapuc]

What's your guesstimation Markus?

I say only partial involved as they were last time when Iran, Houthi and Hezbollah fired rocket and missiles against Israel. I don't see a full engagement by the Americans Meaning a full scale war between Iran and USA.

Iraq, Syria and Lebanon will take active part from start on beside Iran.

Markus

[mapuc]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDebniX3DjE

Markus

[Jimbuna]

How Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah choose to retaliate to latest airstrikes is pivotal

The assassination inside Iran of the political leader of Hamas - an attack that Iranian and Gaza officials have blamed on Israel - risks turning a decades-old shadow war between Tehran and Tel Aviv into full-scale open conflict.

Adding to the stakes is the fact that the operation happened while Ismail Haniyeh was in Tehran for the inauguration of the new Iranian president - a significant security failure.

It also came just hours after Israel on Tuesday launched - and publicly declared what it had done - an airstrike against a top commander of another Iran-linked militant group, Hezbollah, in a suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut, a second flashpoint.

By contrast, the Israeli authorities have stayed silent about the killing in a strike of the even higher-profile Hamas target.

But this is in keeping with a long-standing tactic of deniable warfare conducted by the Israeli military and security services against Iran and its proxies.

Hamas, a militant group in Gaza that is backed by Iran, said in a statement its political leader was killed during a "raid" on his residence in the Iranian capital.

Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has already vowed a "harsh and painful response".

Aware of the scale of destruction that all-out fighting would inflict on the Middle East, Iran and Israel had in the past conducted murky assassinations, cyber attacks, sabotage and other forms of hostilities against each other that deliberately lie under the threshold of what could be considered a declaration of war.

As part of this strategy, Tehran built a network of proxy forces that it uses to build influence in the region and attack Israel and its allies.

These proxies include Hamas in Gaza, the much larger Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, and the Houthi militia in Yemen as well as militias in Iraq and Syria.

For Israel, its military has repeatedly struck targets linked to Iran across the region - often not publicly claiming responsibility - as well as carrying out assassinations such as the killing in November 2020 of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran's top nuclear scientist.
https://news.sky.com/story/how-iran-hamas-and-hezbollah-choose-to-retaliate-to-latest-airstrikes-is-pivotal-13188133

[Dargo]

Turkish Airlines postpones Friday night flights to IranTurkish Airlines postponed its flights to Iran on Friday night due to tensions between Israel and Iran, Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu news agency reported, without specifying its source. It said flights planned to different cities in Iran would resume starting Saturday morning.

[Otto Harkaman]

Interesting to watch flight patterns on Flightradar24
https://www.flightradar24.com

[Dargo]

More airlines have started to avoid the airspace over Iran and Lebanon. Opsgroup, an organisation whose 800 members share affiliated information on air traffic risks, advises not only to avoid Iranian airspace, but also to stay away over Iraq. According to the website Flightradar, Singapore Airlines, Taiwan's EVA Air and China Airlines already appear to be flying around Iran on flights to Amsterdam since today.

US Defense Secretary orders navy cruisers, destroyers and an additional fighter squadron to the Middle East, Pentagon https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3860557/deputy-pentagon-press-secretary-sabrina-singh-statement-on-force-posture-in-the/

[Jimbuna]

US to boost military presence in Mideast, sending fighter jet squadron and keeping carrier in region

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will move a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East and maintain an aircraft carrier in the region, the Pentagon said Friday, beefing up the American military presence to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies and safeguard U.S. troops.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has also ordered additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the European and Middle East regions and is taking steps to send more land-based ballistic missile defense weapons there, the Pentagon said in a statement Friday evening.

The shifts make good on a promise President Joe Biden made to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a call Thursday afternoon, Biden discussed new U.S. military deployments to protect against possible attacks from ballistic missiles and drones, according to the White House. In April, U.S. forces intercepted dozens of missiles and drones fired by Iran against Israel and helped down nearly all of them.
https://apnews.com/article/us-military-israel-iran-hamas-hezbollah-418a990ab69cb766e126c60dbaebedb3

[Jimbuna]

US military gears up for Iran’s revenge for Hamas leader’s assassination

The United States has sent warships and fighter jets to the Middle East as it prepares for a major Iranian attack against Israel over the assassination of Hamas’s political leader.

A US aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Abraham Lincoln is being transferred to the region to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt, Pentagon officials said.

It emerged on Saturday that Iran has arrested two dozen people, including intelligence officers, as it hunts down the intelligence leak which led to Israel killing Ismail Haniyeh on a visit to Tehran.

The arrests were made at the military-run guesthouse in Tehran where Haniyeh was assassinated, sources told the New York Times.

Staff and army officials were also arrested during the raid, which is seen as an attempt to compensate for the humiliating security failure.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack on Haniyeh, but has a long history of being able to assassinate its enemies overseas.

The attack was particularly embarrassing for Tehran as it took place at a heavily guarded compound, hours after Haniyeh attended the swearing-in ceremony of the new Iranian president.

The Telegraph previously revealed that Mossad used Iranian agents to plant bombs in three rooms of the compound where the Hamas leader was staying.

An official from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps said: “They [investigators] are now certain that Mossad hired agents from the Ansar al-Mahdi protection unit,” referring to an IRGC unit.

He added: “Upon further investigation, they discovered additional explosive devices in two other rooms.”

Another IRGC official said: “This is a humiliation for Iran and a huge security breach.”

The disclosure suggests that the Revolutionary Guard, which is sworn to protect Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, has been deeply infiltrated by Israeli intelligence operatives.

Experts say the assassination is potentially fatal for the stability of the Iranian regime as it shows it cannot protect its allies on home soil.

“The perception that Iran can neither protect its homeland nor its key allies could be fatal for the Iranian regime, because it basically signals to its foes that if they can’t topple the Islamic Republic, they can decapitate it,” Ali Vaez, the Iran director for the International Crisis Group, told the New York Times.

Iran has vowed revenge for the assassination but it remains unclear how it will proceed. A major attack runs the risk of triggering a full-scale war between Iran and Israel which would be catastrophic for the Middle East.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/us-military-gears-up-for-iran-s-revenge-for-hamas-leader-s-assassination/ar-AA1oaPjB?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=058e32ed81b34171832da30176c39859&ei=14

[mapuc]

Revenge comes in many shapes

It would not be in the shape of massive attacks from Iran I think more a massive attacks from Hezbollah and Houthis.

Then we have my prediction which for the most are wrong.

Markus

[Dargo]

Residents of the Upper Galilee in northern Israel are asked to stay near protected areas (shelters) tonight following an updated situational assessment by the IDF, according to Israel's Channel 13

[Jimbuna]

Jordan in last-ditch effort to prevent Iran retaliating for Haniyeh killing

Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, has made a rare visit to Iran in a last-ditch effort to persuade it to hold back from attacking Israel in response to the assassination of the Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran last week.

The western ally with a large Palestinian population is facing a tough balancing act as it faces domestic calls to break off relations with Tel Aviv and to stop protecting it after shooting down Iranian missiles aimed at Israel earlier this year.

The visit looks doomed to fail given that Iran insisted on Sunday that there was no room for compromise and that it would make a decisive response to the assassination.

In the previous Iranian attack on Israel in April, Jordan shot down some Iranian missiles flying over its airspace insisting it would not allow its country to become a battlefield for other conflicts. It also gave the French navy permission to deploy radars.
But the kingdom is also facing mass demonstrations in support of Gaza and is furious with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Natanyahu, for assassinating Haniyeh in what it has condemned as “an escalatory crime and flagrant violation of international law”. Israel has refused to officially comment on Haniyeh’s assassination, but its role is widely acknowledged.

More than half the Jordanian population is Palestinian or of Palestinian descent.

Iran insists the assassination has crossed too many red lines and is calling for a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), at which Tehran would put pressure on Arab Gulf states including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to adopt sanctions against Israel.

Safadi’s visit to Iran is the first visit by a Jordanian foreign minister for two decades, and reflects the failure of a phone call between the two sides to find a diplomatic solution.

His condemnations of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians has been strikingly vivid in recent months. “The Israeli government acts in a way that reflects their racism, extremism and rejection of the right of the Palestinians to live like any other people on this Earth,” he said recently. But Jordan is hugely dependent on the US for its security, and will rejoin the April alliance to minimise the impact of any Iranian assault.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/jordan-in-last-ditch-effort-to-prevent-iran-retaliating-for-haniyeh-killing/ar-AA1odivN?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=d834e64207bf49a699239307da815384&ei=51

[Jimbuna]

Houthi rebels hit container ship with missile, resuming attacks after two weeks

Amissile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels struck a Liberian-flagged container ship traveling through the Gulf of Aden, authorities said on Sunday, the first assault by the group since Israeli airstrikes targeted them.

The Houthis did not provide a reason for their two-week halt in attacks on Red Sea corridor, which have seen similar slowdowns since the assaults began in November over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The resumption follows the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, a key supporter of the Houthis, amid renewed concerns of regional conflict.

The attack struck the container ship Groton just above the waterline, causing minor damage, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational coalition led by the US Navy.
“All crew on board are safe,” the JMIC said.

The ship's Greek managers did not respond to a request for comment.

Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, claimed the attack in a prerecorded statement on Sunday afternoon.

Saree also claimed in his statement that the Houthis shot down a US MQ-9 spy drone over Saada province. Shortly after the claim, the rebels published footage of the downed aircraft, showing Houthi supporters including children climbing over the wreckage and pointing at what appeared to be missiles the drone had carried.

No military identification markings could be seen on the downed drone in the footage.

The US Defense Department said it was aware of the claim and investigating, without elaborating.

The rebels have targeted over 70 vessels with missiles and drones, killing four sailors and seizing or sinking several ships.

The Houthis maintain that their attacks target ships linked to Israel, US or Britain as part of the rebels’ campaign, which they say seeks to force an end to the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

However, many attacks have been on ships with little or no connection to the Israel-Hamas conflict, including some bound for Iran. The Joint Maritime Information Center reported the Groton was attacked because other vessels in its fleet had recently visited Israel.

The Houthis have also launched drones and missiles at Israel, including a July 19 attack that killed one person and wounded ten in Tel Aviv. Israel responded with airstrikes on Houthi-held Hodeida that hit fuel depots and electrical stations, killing and wounding a number of people, the rebels say.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/houthi-rebels-hit-container-ship-with-missile-resuming-attacks-after-two-weeks/ar-AA1oeJAo?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ENTPSP&cvid=4d9ccd5e05674bbb842eb1ddeaf4d94c&ei=37

[Jimbuna]

Hezbollah drones strike northern Israel, injuring seven

Hezbollah drones struck northern Israel. One of the drones was successfully shot down. As a result of the attack, at least seven people were injured.

Several drones flew from Lebanon to Israel, where the attacks occurred. One of the drones was intercepted, and a few struck south of Nahariya.

As reported by rescuers, seven people were injured as a result of the attack. The condition of one of them—a middle-aged man who was wounded by shrapnel—is serious.

Lebanese Hezbollah reported that the organisation targeted two facilities near the city of Acre and an Israeli military vehicle.

The group simultaneously informed Reuters that the attack was not in retaliation for the elimination of one of its commanders in Beirut last week.

The situation in the Middle East remains tense. For several days, Iran has been threatening to carry out a major attack on Israel. The USA and other countries are appealing for Tehran to hold off and not escalate the situation, which could lead to a full-scale war.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/hezbollah-drones-strike-northern-israel-injuring-seven/ar-AA1ol4cg?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ENTPSP&cvid=3cc166fac11d41f896d84a6f8403b7c4&ei=60

[Jimbuna]

Hezbollah vows retaliation for killing of commander

The leader of the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah has said the response to the Israeli assassination of a senior commander in Beirut is coming.

Speaking in a televised speech to mark one week since Fuad Shukr’s killing, Hassan Nasrallah said the retaliation would be “strong” and “effective”, and that the assassination could not be treated as an ordinary attack.

He added that the group might act alone or in co-ordination with other Iranian-supported factions in the region.

Countries around the world have urged their citizens to leave Lebanon in recent days, amid concerns that a possible attack from the heavily armed Hezbollah on Israel could lead to a wider war between the two sides.

Iran has also vowed to retaliate following the assassination of the Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran last week. Both Hamas and Iran blame Israel, which has not commented.

On Tuesday afternoon, low-flying Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier above Beirut, in the minutes before Nasrallah was due to begin his speech.

Nasrallah, who spoke for more than an hour and a half, said that the sonic booms were intended to provoke those who had gathered to listen to him.

Earlier on Tuesday, Israel said it had carried out an air strike against what it said was a "military structure" used by Hezbollah, the militia and political movement, in southern Lebanon.

Four people were killed in the strike on a house in the town of Maifadoun, around 19 miles (30km) from the Israeli border, the Lebanese health ministry said.

The four men were Hezbollah fighters, security sources told the AFP news agency. In an apparent response, the group launched drone strikes on towns in northern Israel, injuring two people.

Several countries, including the US, have urged citizens to leave Lebanon as soon as possible. The country's foreign minister said on Tuesday that he was working to ensure that Hezbollah did not trigger a major escalation with its response to Shukr's death.

The Israeli attack on Maifadoun was carried out by fighter jets, and was guided by intelligence agencies, the Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement posted to social media. Officers from the internal security agency Shin Bet and military intelligence agency Aman provided assistance to the military.

In response, Hezbollah fired what it called a "swarm" of drones at Israel, injuring two people in the northern town of Mazra’a. But a source in the group told the Reuters news agency that the attack was not part of its response to the death of Shukr.

US President Joe Biden met his senior national security team on Monday as concerns of a retaliatory attack on Israel grew.

Mr Biden said he had been briefed on preparations to support Israel, should it be attacked, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken said officials were working "around the clock" to prevent an escalation.

The United Nations' rights chief Volker Turk called on "all parties, along with those states with influence, to act urgently to de-escalate what has become a very precarious situation".

Elsewhere, several US military personnel have been injured in a strike on a base in Iraq. The rocket fire on the Ain al-Assed base is the latest in a series of attacks on the facility, which hosts American forces fighting the Islamic State group.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgedd00pn1zo

[Jimbuna]

Iran’s new president battles revolutionary guard to stop all-out war with Israel

Iran’s new president is battling against the hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in an attempt to prevent all-out war with Israel, The Telegraph has learned.

Tehran’s authorities are divided over how to respond to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader, in the Iranian capital on July 31.

Top generals within the IRGC are insisting on a direct strike on Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities, focusing on military bases to avoid civilian casualties.

But Masoud Pezeshkian, the newly elected president and a comparative moderate who defeated the IRGC’s candidate in elections last month, has suggested targeting secret Israeli bases in Iran’s neighbouring countries.

Iran has previously targeted what it refers to as “spy bases” of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The IRGC has been trying to undermine Mr Pezeshkian in its pursuit of a more aggressive retaliation against Israel, aides of the president told The Telegraph.

Founded after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the new regime from domestic dissent, the IRGC has evolved into a sprawling organisation with significant influence over Iran’s military, economy and broader society.

The ultimate responsibility for deciding how Iran will respond rests with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader.

“Mr Pezeshkian fears that any direct attack on Israel would have serious consequences,” said a close aide to the president.

“He mentioned that we were lucky that Iran did not go to an all-out war with Israel last time and maybe not this time,” they added, referring to the April 13 attack when Iran fired more than 300 suicide drones and missiles at Israel.

Tehran’s attack came after a suspected Israeli strike on Iran’s Damascus consulate on April 1 killed seven high-ranking members of the IRGC.

On July 31 the tensions between the two arch-enemies escalated once again when Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas’s political office, was assassinated in Tehran while attending Mr Pezeshkian’s inauguration.

The IRGC’s insistence on targeting Israel is “more about undermining his week-long presidency rather than covering the humiliation they have suffered,” said the presidential aide who spoke to The Telegraph from Tehran.

The New York Times first reported that Mossad planted bombs in the IRGC guesthouse where Haniyeh was staying to carry out the assassination.

Khamenei has threatened Israel with “severe punishment”.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/iran-s-new-president-battles-revolutionary-guard-to-stop-all-out-war-with-israel/ar-AA1ow37b?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=9f01fa30ceee479dbd16de7c27716515&ei=18

[Jimbuna]

Executions surge as Iran uses Israel tensions as cover for crackdown at home

Iran has executed a record number of prisoners while global attention has been focused on the prospect it may go to war with Israel.

Human rights observers say the Islamic Republic is using international tensions as cover while it cracks down on dissent at home.

On Wednesday, the regime carried out its largest mass execution in more than two decades, putting 29 prisoners to death in a single day.

One day earlier, Reza Resaei, a young Kurdish-Iranian protester arrested during demonstrations in 2022, was hanged in the western city of Kermanshah.

The 34-year-old was the tenth protester to be executed over the uprising sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22 year-old detained by morality police for supposedly not wearing a hijab in September 2022.

Resaei was alleged to have killed an officer during the subsequent protests. His family, who maintain his innocence, were denied a final visit before his execution, which was carried out in secret.

“[Resaei] was the most voiceless of those executed. The EU and other countries did not protest his execution a lot because the attention is elsewhere,” said Mansoura Shojaee, an Iranian women’s rights researcher and activist in the Netherlands.

“While global and domestic media attention have been focused on regional tensions with Israel, the Iranian authorities have carried out the abhorrent arbitrary execution in secret of a young man,” said Diana Eltahawy of Amnesty International.

According to Amnesty, Rasaei was subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including sexual violence, then sentenced to death in a sham trial.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/executions-surge-as-iran-uses-israel-tensions-as-cover-for-crackdown-at-home/ar-AA1ozDdb?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[Jimbuna]

Iran's Revolutionary Guards hold military drill in western Iran, IRNA says

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are holding military drills in the western parts of the country that will continue until Tuesday, Iran's official news agency announced on Sunday.

The drills, which started on Friday, are ongoing in the western province of Kermanshah close to the border with Iraq to "enhance combat readiness and vigilance," an armed forces official told IRNA.

The drills are taking place as Iran has vowed to retaliate against Israel after the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh's on July 31 in Tehran.

Iran and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas accuse Israel of carrying out Haniyeh's assassination on July 31. Israel has not claimed or denied responsibility for the killing, which has fueled further concern that the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip was turning into a wider Middle East war.
In a statement, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned Iran and its Lebanon-based proxy Hezbollah: "Whoever harms us in a way that has not been done in the past, is likely to be hit in a way that hasn’t been done in the past."

He added that Israel did not want war breaking out on additional fronts, but that it must be prepared.

Cited by Iranian media, Revolutionary Guards deputy commander Ali Fadavi said on Friday that the Iranian supreme leader's orders regarding the harsh punishment of Israel and revenge for Haniyeh are clear and will be implemented in the "best possible way".
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/iran-s-revolutionary-guards-hold-military-drill-in-western-iran-irna-says/ar-AA1oBThM?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=1e09aafc27844279b22800f5ab2afc01&ei=86

[Jimbuna]

In reversal, Israel said to now believe Iran plans to attack in next few days

Several reports Sunday evening indicated that Israel was expecting a major Iranian attack to be launched within days, though the military sought to downplay this by stressing that instructions to civilians were unchanged.

The reports marked a reversal of the previous prevailing assumption, which had been that the Islamic Republic — under heavy international pressure — had given up its initial intention to launch an imminent large-scale attack in response to the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, which Israel has not confirmed or denied carrying out.

Instead, Iran had been expected to leave the response to Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group, whose top military commander Fuad Shukr was killed by Israel in an airstrike in Beirut several hours before Haniyeh’s assassination. Israel blamed Shukr for being behind many attacks on civilians, including a rocket strike last month that killed 12 children in a soccer field in Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights.

But the Axios news site, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the details, reported Sunday that Israel’s current assessment was that Iran would launch a direct attack on the country within days, possibly before renewed ceasefire-hostage deal talks are held on Thursday.

The report said that the issue was divisive within Iran. President Masoud Pezeshkian wants to avoid a harsh response, while the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps wants to launch a larger attack than it did on April 13-14, when hundreds of drones and missile were launched in Iran’s first-ever direct attack on Israel.

Almost all the projectiles and UAVs were intercepted during that attack.

One of the sources cited in the report said the situation was “still fluid” due to the disagreements.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-reversal-israel-said-to-now-believe-iran-plans-to-attack-in-next-few-days/

[Jimbuna]

Iran dismisses Starmer’s plea not to launch attack on Israel

Iran has dismissed calls from Sir Keir Starmer and other Western leaders to refrain from attacking Israel.

The British Prime Minister and German Chancellor Olaf Sholtz spoke to Masoud Pezeshkian, the Iranian president, on Monday, expressing their concern about a regional war if Iran follows through on its threats to attack Israel directly.

The US, Britain, France, Italy and Germany called on Tehran to stand-down in a joint-letter.

Nasser Kanaani, the spokesperson for the Iranian ministry of foreign affairs, said: “The declaration by France, Germany and Britain, which raised no objection to international crimes of the Zionist regime, brazenly asks Iran to take no deterrent action against a regime which has violated its sovereignty.”
Mr Kanaani added that instead of issuing such demands Western nations should: “Once and for all stand up against the war in Gaza and the warmongering of Israel.”

In the wake of the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month, Mr Pezeshkian said Iran will “never give in to pressure, to sanctions and to bullying and considers it has the right to respond”.

Israel’s Army Radio reported that Israel has conveyed messages to its allies warning that Jerusalem will strike Iran if it launches an attack.

“We take the declarations and statements of our enemies seriously. Therefore, we are prepared at peak readiness in offence and defence,” IDF spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said.

As Western leaders called on Iran and its proxies not to attack Israel, US secretary of state Antony Blinken was due to arrive in the Middle East on Tuesday, according to US news website Axios.

Mr Blinken will reportedly visit Israel, Egypt and Qatar in what appears to be a last-ditch attempt to secure a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

Both the US and Israel assess that an attack from Iran might be imminent. “We share the same concerns and expectations that our Israeli counterparts have with respect to potential timing here.[It] could be this week,” John Kirby, White House spokesman, said on Monday.

Mr Kirby warned that the attack might be “significant” but said that it was difficult to predict what it could look like.

“The president is confident that we have the capability available to us to help defend Israel should it come to that. Nobody wants to see it come to that,” he said.

According to the Washington Post, Iran has expressed fears that the US and Israel could strike sites used in its nuclear programme in any revenge attacks.

A source close to Hezbollah, briefed on communications between the Lebanese terror group and the Iranian regime, said there were concerns that US and Israeli retaliation could “essentially neutralise Iran’s nuclear deterrence.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/iran-dismisses-starmer-s-plea-not-to-launch-attack-on-israel/ar-AA1oIy8Z?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=ENTPSP&cvid=a48c934238be4660b58d541f48a1635d&ei=13

[Jimbuna]

Iran rejects Western calls to refrain from attack on Israel

Iran has dismissed calls from the UK and other Western countries to refrain from retaliation against Israel for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month.

Amid a flurry of international diplomacy to de-escalate tensions, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to "stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack” in a rare telephone conversation on Monday.

But Mr Pezeshkian said retaliation was a “way to stop crime” and Iran’s “legal right”, according to Iranian state media.

Israel, which did not say it was involved in Haniyeh’s assassination, has meanwhile put its military on its highest alert level.

The US has warned that it is preparing for “a significant set of attacks” by Iran or its proxies as soon as this week, and has built up its military presence in the Middle East to help defend Israel.

The powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon is also threatening to retaliate over Israel’s killing of one of its top commanders in an air strike in Beirut.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c14znyrdkrmo

[mapuc]

They have it in their mouth.

Iran is not interested in a open conflict with Israel and maybe USA, now when they are so close to have developed their own nukes-This was said by some expert on Danish tv.

When have these expert been right ?

Markus

[Jimbuna]

US military destroys two Houthi vessels in Red Sea

US military forces have neutralized two vessels belonging to Yemeni Houthi militants in the Red Sea, reports the US Central Command (CENTCOM).

In a statement, the US military department reported that the operation took place over the past 24 hours on August 13.

"Over the last 24 hours, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) successfully destroyed two Iranian-backed Houthi vessels in the Red Sea," the post states.

According to the US side, the vessels posed an imminent and direct threat to US and coalition forces, as well as to commercial shipping in the region.

CENTCOM did not specify the class or type of the destroyed Houthi vessels.

"This reckless and dangerous behavior by Iranian-backed Houthis continues to threaten regional stability and security," the US agency added.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/us-military-destroys-two-houthi-vessels-in-red-sea/ar-AA1oLBzi?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ENTPSP&cvid=6bbca0d807f6453d944abe7329bc87fd&ei=69

[Jimbuna]

US intelligence officials say Iran is to blame for hacks targeting Trump, Biden-Harris campaigns

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence officials said Monday they were confident that Iran was responsible for the hack of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, casting the cyber intrusion as part of a brazen and broader effort by Tehran to interfere in American politics and potentially shape the outcome of the election.

The assessment from the FBI and other federal agencies was the first time the U.S. government has assigned blame for hacks that have raised anew the threat of foreign election interference and underscored how Iran, in addition to more sophisticated adversaries like Russia and China, remains a top concern. Besides breaching the Trump campaign, officials also believe that Iran tried to hack into the presidential campaign of Kamala Harris.

The hacking and similar activities, federal officials said, are meant to sow discord, exploit divisions within American society and possibly to influence the outcome of elections that Iran perceives to be “particularly consequential in terms of the impact they could have on its national security interests,” officials said.

“We have observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during this election cycle, specifically involving influence operations targeting the American public and cyber operations targeting Presidential campaigns,” said the statement released by the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations denied the allegations as “unsubstantiated and devoid of any standing,” saying that Iran had neither the motive nor intention to interfere with the election. It challenged the U.S. to provide evidence and said if the U.S. does so, “we will respond accordingly.”

The FBI statement was released at a time of significant tensions between Washington and Tehran as the U.S. hopes to halt or limit a threatened retaliatory strike on Israel over the assassination of Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. In addition, an Israeli strike last month in southern Beirut killed Hezbollah’s top commander, but while Tehran and Iran-backed Hezbollah have vowed to retaliate, they have not yet launched strikes as diplomatic endeavors and Gaza cease-fire talks continue in Qatar.
https://apnews.com/article/iran-fbi-trump-intelligence-community-52641cd66412d7c01d73876acab3d989

[Jimbuna]

Greek oil tanker drifting and ablaze after repeated attacks in the Red Sea, British military says

A Greek-flagged oil tanker traveling through the Red Sea came under repeated attack Wednesday, leaving the vessel “not under command” and drifting ablaze after an assault suspected to have been carried out by Yemen's Houthi rebels, the British military said.

The attack, the most serious in the Red Sea in weeks, comes during a monthslong campaign by Houthis targeting ships over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip that has disrupted a trade route through which $1 trillion in cargo typically passes each year.

In the attack, men on small boats first opened fire with small arms about 140 kilometers (90 miles) west of the rebel-held Yemeni port city of Hodeida, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.

Four projectiles also hit the ship, it added. It wasn't immediately clear if that meant drones or missiles.

“The vessel reports being not under command,” the UKMTO said, likely meaning it lost all power. “No casualties reported.”

Later, the UKMTO warned that the ship was drifting while on fire in the Red Sea.

The Greek shipping ministry later identified the vessel as the tanker Sounion, with 25 crew members on board at the time of the attack as it traveled from Iraq to Cyprus.

Later Wednesday, the UKMTO reported a second ship being targeted in the Gulf of Aden by three explosions that occurred in the water close to it, though they caused no damage. That ship, the Wind I, came under attack again Thursday with two more explosions striking in the water, the UKMTO said.

The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the attacks, though it can take them hours or even days before they acknowledge their assaults. However, they did acknowledge U.S. airstrikes in Hodeida, something the American military's Central Command said destroyed a Houthi surface-to-air missile and radar system.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/greek-oil-tanker-drifting-and-ablaze-after-repeated-attacks-in-the-red-sea-british-military-says/ar-AA1pebC5?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=9fb6f84d17124a6eaf3a72a0301446a3&ei=29

[mapuc]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT2EFLPW0eo

Markus

[Jimbuna]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSsjH0zWKe8

[Jimbuna]

Iran's supreme leader opens door to negotiations with United States over Tehran's nuclear program

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's supreme leader opened the door Tuesday to renewed negotiations with the United States over his country's rapidly advancing nuclear program, telling its civilian government there was “no barrier" to engaging with its “enemy.”

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's remarks set clear red lines for any talks taking place under the government of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian and renewed his warnings that Washington wasn't to be trusted.

But his comments mirror those around the time of Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which saw Tehran's nuclear program greatly curtailed in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Yet it remains unclear just how much room Pezeshkian will have to maneuver, particularly as tensions remain high in the wider Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war and as the U.S. prepares for a presidential election in November.

“We do not have to pin our hope to the enemy. For our plans, we should not wait for approval by the enemies," Khamenei said in a video broadcast by state television. “It is not contradictory to engage the same enemy in some places, there's no barrier.”

Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, also warned Pezeshkian's Cabinet, “Do not trust the enemy.”

Khamenei, 85, has occasionally urged talks or dismissed them with Washington after then President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018.

There have been indirect talks between Iran and the U.S. in recent years mediated by Oman and Qatar, two of the United States' Middle East interlocutors when it comes to Iran. Khamenei's remarks came a day after Qatar's prime minister visited the country.

Asked for comment, the U.S. State Department told The Associated Press: “We will judge Iran’s leadership by their actions, not their words.”

“We have long said that we ultimately view diplomacy as the best way to achieve an effective, sustainable solution with regard to Iran’s nuclear program,” it said. “However, we are far away from anything like that right now given Iran’s escalations across the board, including its nuclear escalations and its failure to cooperate" with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog.

“If Iran wants to demonstrate seriousness or a new approach, they should stop nuclear escalations and start meaningfully cooperating with the IAEA,” it said.

Since the deal's collapse, Iran has abandoned all limits that the deal put on its program, and enriches uranium to up to 60% purity — near weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Surveillance cameras installed by the IAEA have been disrupted, while Iran has barred some of the Vienna-based agency’s most experienced inspectors. Iranian officials also have increasingly threatened that they could pursue atomic weapons.

Meanwhile, tensions between Iran and Israel have hit a new high during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Tehran launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel in April after years of a shadow war between the two countries reached a climax with Israel’s apparent attack on an Iranian consular building in Syria that killed two Iranian generals and others.

The assassination in Tehran of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh also prompted Iran to threaten to retaliate against Israel.

Pezeshkian, a former lawmaker who won the presidency after a May helicopter crash killed hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, campaigned in part on a promise to reengage the West with negotiations. Khamenei's remarks as Iran's paramount leader could provide him with the political cover to do so. Pezeshkian's new foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, was deeply involved in negotiations on the 2015 deal.

However, it's not just Iran that's facing a new presidency. The U.S. will hold a presidential election on Nov. 5, with Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump as the leading candidates. Iran has been concerned about Trump returning to power.

While the U.S. engaged in indirect talks with Iran under President Joe Biden, it remains unclear how that would carry over to a possible Harris administration. Harris, in a speech to the Democratic National Convention last week, said: “I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists.”

Tuesday's meeting between Khamenei and Pezeshkian's Cabinet included an appearance by former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who helped Iran reach the 2015 deal. After the meeting, Zarif said in an online message that he would continue to serve as a vice president in Pezeshkian's administration after earlier publicly resigning over the makeup of the Cabinet.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/iran-s-supreme-leader-opens-door-to-negotiations-with-united-states-over-tehran-s-nuclear-program/ar-AA1pvPSP?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=945823503dac47249aca640244c829e5&ei=19

[Jimbuna]

White House's Kirby says US would defend Israel in Iranian attack

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The United States remains committed to defending Israel in the event of an Iranian attack, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday.

Kirby told Israel's Channel 12 that it was tough to predict the chances of an attack but the White House takes Iranian rhetoric seriously.

"We believe that they are still postured and poised to launch an attack should they want to do that, which is why we have that enhanced force posture in the region," he said.

"Our messaging to Iran is consistent, has been and will stay consistent. One, don't do it. There's no reason to escalate this. There's no reason to potentially start some sort of all out regional war. And number two, we are going to be prepared to defend Israel if it comes to that."
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/white-house-s-kirby-says-us-would-defend-israel-in-iranian-attack/ar-AA1px20s?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=81a30e84eb6446d196d0c53452f1f2e6&ei=45

[Jimbuna]

Iran sparks WW3 nuke fears with major move to increase atomic bomb arsenal

Iran has further increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels in defiance of international demands, a confidential report by the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said on Thursday.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s latest report, Iran has 363.1 pounds of uranium enriched up to 60%.

That's an increase of 49.8 pounds since the IAEA's last report in May. Uranium enriched up to 60% purity is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

By IAEA's definition, around 92.5 pounds of uranium enriched to 60% is the amount at which creating one atomic weapon is theoretically possible - if the material is enriched further, to 90%.

IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi had previously warned that Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make "several" nuclear bombs if it chose to do so.

He has acknowledged the UN agency cannot guarantee that none of Iran's centrifuges may have been peeled away for clandestine enrichment.

The report is the latest low in spiralling relations between Tehran and the IAEA.

It follows a June 6 resolution by the 35-member IAEA Board of Governors that censured Iran for failing to cooperate fully with the Vienna-based agency.

Iran's 2015 landmark nuclear deal with world powers had put limits on its nuclear programme - which the West fears could be used for making nuclear weapons and Tehran insists is only for peaceful purposes - while lifting punitive economic sanctions imposed on Iran.

But the deal collapsed after the Trump administration in 2018 pulled the United States out of the agreement, leading Iran to abandon all limits the deal had put on its programme, and enrich uranium to up to 60% purity.

Meanwhile, surveillance cameras installed by the IAEA have also been disrupted and Iran has barred some of the Vienna-based agency's most experienced inspectors.

The IAEA report comes just days after Iran's supreme leader opened the door to renewed negotiations with the United States over his country's rapidly advancing nuclear program, declaring there was "no harm" in engaging with the "enemy."

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's remarks set clear red lines for any talks taking place under the new government of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian and reiterated his warnings that Washington was not to be trusted.

The IAEA report said that as of August 17, Iran's overall stockpile of enriched uranium stood at 12,681 pounds.

It concluded: "The continued production and accumulation of highly enriched uranium by Iran, the only non-nuclear weapon state to do so, adds to the agency's concern."

The report acknowledged that before the June elections in Iran, the IAEA was told "that further engagement with the agency would be determined by the new government."

After Pezeshkian's win, the IAEA congratulated him and offered to send the agency's chief to Tehran "to re-launch the dialogue and cooperation between the agency and Iran," the report said.

But while the newly elected Iranian president confirmed "his agreement to meet" with the IAEA chief, nothing has moved forward on this since.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/iran-sparks-ww3-nuke-fears-with-major-move-to-increase-atomic-bomb-arsenal/ar-AA1pIITd?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=45ebe1f61ffc4fdea4d221cf93cffb00&ei=25

[Jimbuna]

US and Iraq kill 15 Isis operatives in early morning raid that leaves 7 American troops wounded

The US military and Iraqi Security Forces have carried out a joint raid that killed 15 Isis operatives, according to officials.

The US Central Command announced in a news release that the joint operation targeting the militant group’s leadership took place in Western Iraq early on Thursday.

The Isis members were armed with numerous weapons, grenades and explosive “suicide” belts when the troops carried out the raid, the news release said.

According to The Associated Press, seven American troops were injured during the operation.

All of the injured troops are in stable condition. Two service members were wounded in the raid, while two others suffered injuries from falls during the operation.

One person who suffered a fall was taken out of the region. Another member of the group was evacuated for further treatment.
No civilian casualties have been reported.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/us-and-iraq-kill-15-isis-operatives-in-early-morning-raid-that-leaves-7-american-troops-wounded/ar-AA1pLQqO?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ENTPSP&cvid=3f303e68a2754be1a061746cf109f814&ei=30

[Jimbuna]

Iran desperately needs a nuclear deal to save its battered economy

Iran appears increasingly willing to scale back its nuclear weapons programme in return for sanctions relief to rescue its stricken economy. This might explain Tehran’s reluctance to retaliate hard against Israel’s alleged assassination of a senior Hamas figure.

The delay in Iran’s threatened retribution for the provocative killing of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on 31 July has been explained in part by Tehran’s willingness to allow negotiators to pursue peace talks between Hamas and Israel.

America’s increased naval presence in the region with aircraft carriers and a guided missile-capable submarine might also have made the regime in Tehran think long and hard about how it should respond to Haniyeh’s killing.
But the West, sensing Iran’s economic weakness and domestic instability, is applying a carrot and stick approach with the Islamic Republic. Western diplomats have sought to convince Iran of the material benefits it can gain by avoiding a major conflict and re-entering talks over its nuclear programme.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, allowed the election of a moderate president, Masoud Pezeshkian, in July, after deciding that a degree of rapprochement and thereby sanctions relief with the West was badly needed to tackled Iran’s dire economic situation and the social unrest that it – along with the regime’s brutality – has created.

Iran appears increasingly willing to scale back its nuclear weapons programme in return for sanctions relief to rescue its stricken economy. This might explain Tehran’s reluctance to retaliate hard against Israel’s alleged assassination of a senior Hamas figure.

The delay in Iran’s threatened retribution for the provocative killing of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on 31 July has been explained in part by Tehran’s willingness to allow negotiators to pursue peace talks between Hamas and Israel.

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America’s increased naval presence in the region with aircraft carriers and a guided missile-capable submarine might also have made the regime in Tehran think long and hard about how it should respond to Haniyeh’s killing.
But the West, sensing Iran’s economic weakness and domestic instability, is applying a carrot and stick approach with the Islamic Republic. Western diplomats have sought to convince Iran of the material benefits it can gain by avoiding a major conflict and re-entering talks over its nuclear programme.


Moderate Masoud Pezeshkian was elected Iran’s president in July (Photo: Morteza Fakhri Nezhad/IRIB/West Asia News Agency via Reuters)
Moderate Masoud Pezeshkian was elected Iran’s president in July (Photo: Morteza Fakhri Nezhad/IRIB/West Asia News Agency via Reuters)
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, allowed the election of a moderate president, Masoud Pezeshkian, in July, after deciding that a degree of rapprochement and thereby sanctions relief with the West was badly needed to tackled Iran’s dire economic situation and the social unrest that it – along with the regime’s brutality – has created.

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“This is exactly what the mission of Iran’s moderate new president is – to try to rebuild the relationship with the West, primarily with Europe, and also secondary with the US, to get sanctions relief, at a time when the Iranian economy is really, really struggling,” according Andreas Krieg of the Institute for Middle Eastern Studies at King’s College London.

Another way to speed a thaw in relations will be Tehran halting its progress toward building a nuclear weapon, a concern recently highlighted by Iran’s expansion of its bomb-proof uranium enrichment sites. When Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, visited Iran in April, he said the regime was mere weeks away from bomb-making capacity.

Some Iran experts, including the author and academic Arash Azizi, have contended that many in the Iranian security establishment support the so-called Japan option, i.e. developing capabilities enough to be just one step behind building a bomb, without risking the consequences of having a weapon ready to launch.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/iran-desperately-needs-a-nuclear-deal-to-save-its-battered-economy/ar-AA1pXl2W?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=21866595520a4b27900b08f90c76817f&ei=25

[Jimbuna]

The US and Britain accuse Iran of sending Russia missiles to use against Ukraine

LONDON (AP) — The United States and Britain formally accused Iran on Tuesday of supplying short-range ballistic missiles to Russia to use against Ukraine, announcing new sanctions on Moscow and Tehran before a joint visit to Kyiv by their top diplomats.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking alongside British Foreign Secretary David Lammy during a visit to London, said Iran had ignored warnings that the transfer of such weapons would be a profound escalation of the conflict.

He told reporters that dozens of Russian military personnel had been trained in Iran to use the Fath-360 close-range ballistic missile system, which has a maximum range of 75 miles (120 kilometers).

“Russia has now received shipments of these ballistic missiles and will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine, against Ukrainians,” Blinken said. “The supply of Iranian missiles enables Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets that are further from the front line.”
https://apnews.com/article/us-britain-blinken-ukraine-iran-ballistic-missiles-russia-a2c3f92e213518063ccd5ad890105560

[Jimbuna]

UK halts all Iran flights as allies step up sanctions

The US, UK, France and Germany have imposed fresh sanctions on Iran for supplying Russia with ballistic missiles for use in Ukraine.

The measures include restrictions on national carrier Iran Air's ability to fly to the UK and Europe, and travel bans and asset freezes on a number of Iranians accused of facilitating military support for Russia.

Visiting London, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Russians had been trained by Iranian forces to use short-range ballistic missiles and that they could be deployed against Ukrainians within weeks.

Iran has repeatedly denied supplying such self-guided weapons to Russia.

At a joint news conference with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Tuesday, Blinken asserted that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "increasingly relying on support" from Iran and North Korea to help "wage his war of aggression on Ukraine" in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.

He said the US had recently shared intelligence with its partners showing that dozens of military personnel had been trained in Iran to use the Fath-360 ballistic missile system, which has a maximum range of 75 miles (120km).

Lammy said the move was "a significant and dangerous escalation”.

The missiles are likely to boost Russia's arsenal, enabling it to hit Ukrainian cities close to Russia's borders or areas it already controls at the same time as it deploys its longer-range missiles deeper into Ukrainian territory.

The UK Foreign Office said the US and UK sanctions targeted several key individuals heavily involved in the ballistic missile and drone supply chains.

They included Brig Gen Seyed Hamzeh Ghalandari, who it said was director general for international relations at Iran’s defence ministry and was linked to its exports of defence products to its partners.

Sanctions have also been imposed on five Russian cargo ships for transporting the military supplies from Iran, despite what the UK said were repeated warnings not to do so.

Additionally, several organisations, including some allegedly involved in the production of Iran's kamikaze-style Shahed drones - which Russia has used consistently in attacks on Ukrainian cities - have been sanctioned.

In a statement, the UK, France and Germany - known as the E3 - said Iran's supply of missiles represented a "a direct threat to European security".

But Iran called the Western statements "false and misleading".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c75n2wnkp1vo

[Gorpet]

UK halts all Iran flights as allies step up sanctions

Would you believe anything, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Acutely Antonio.This guy look and listen to him, He wouldn't have a second thought of following orders.This guy is an Ideology trooper. Ok can anyone out there give us a comparison ? And he loves his position, Why not he thinks he will live forever surround in the womb of the Party. And let me throw Kirby in there they all set around the campfire on Martha's Vineyard.

[Jimbuna]

Blinken says Russia will likely use Iranian missiles on Ukraine within weeks

The United States and Britain formally accused Iran on Tuesday of supplying short-range ballistic missiles to Russia to use in the war in Ukraine and will take measures to punish those involved.

[Otto Harkaman]

https://youtu.be/pGEr0mmu2Tc?si=szZQM_bihCRP76uq

[mapuc]

Hard to believe Iran would jeopardize their entire nuclear program. They are so close to have enriched their Uranium to 90 % or above.

Where will Israel hit, which target(s) have they chosen ?

Hitting the nuclear facilities would be very hard if not impossible.

Markus

[Shadowblade]

Hard to tell, Iranian nuclear program has quite many facilities around the Iran according maps.

[Jimbuna]

The answer to what the Israelis target will become quite apparent soon me thinks.

[mapuc]

Iran testing their first nuke ? OR is it nothing but an earthquake

10 km below surface-I say earthquake

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/iran-testing-its-first-ever-nuclear-bomb-earthquake-tremors-spark-speculations-101728355732934.html

(Secondly it's Hindu times-Things has to be taken with a ton of salt)

Markus

[Dargo]

Iran testing their first nuke ? OR is it nothing but an earthquake

10 km below surface-I say earthquake

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/iran-testing-its-first-ever-nuclear-bomb-earthquake-tremors-spark-speculations-101728355732934.html

(Secondly it's Hindu times-Things has to be taken with a ton of salt)

MarkusA total of 425 earthquakes have been recorded across the country over the month of February, according to the seismological networks of the Institute of Geophysics of the University of Tehran. Of the total quakes, 8 had a magnitude of more than 4 on the Richter scale, the largest of which occurred on January 22 with a magnitude of 4.5, in the southeastern Kerman province. Statistically, 378 earthquakes with magnitudes smaller than 3; 39 earthquakes with magnitudes between 3 and 4, and 8 earthquakes with magnitudes between 4 and 5 have occurred in the country. Among the provinces of the country, Isfahan and Ilam with 54, Khorasan Razavi with 48, and South Khorasan with 29 earthquakes, respectively, recorded the highest number of earthquakes in the country. A total of 7,000 earthquakes have been recorded across the country over the past calendar year, 2023. I keep it an earthquake, no nuclear test and this is from X only if it had been a real test the US would know, but it only stuck on X.

[mapuc]

Originally I got it from a video who had North Korean in Ukraine and Huge blast near Iran nuclear site. I made a search for huge explosion near Iran nuclear site and found this page among others.

It was an earthquake and as you said if it was real USA would know.

On the other hand Iran have many kilogram of enriched Uranium at 60 % and it's only a matter of simple process(said in an article)to get it up to 90 % or more.

Markus

[Jimbuna]

As Israel plots to strike Iran, its choices range from symbolic to severe


JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has promised to retaliate for Iran’s massive missile attack last week. How it does so involves great risk, and could have major repercussions for the archenemies, the Middle East and the world.

Israel’s options range from symbolic strikes on military targets to crippling attacks on Iran’s vital oil industry or its secretive and heavily fortified nuclear program.

The intensity and timing of any retaliatory strike was expected to top the agenda of a planned meeting this week at the Pentagon between Israel’s defense minister and his U.S. counterpart. But late Tuesday, the Pentagon said the meeting was abruptly postponed.

In a sign of possible disagreement over the right approach, President Joe Biden has already urged Israel not to hit Iran’s nuclear program and discouraged it from hitting the oil industry.

The Associated Press spoke to two former Israeli prime ministers and other experts to explore Israel’s options. There is broad consensus that Israel must strike back, but deep disagreement over the best way to do so.

“The question is not whether Israel will retaliate or respond,” former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told AP. “The question is which way.”
https://apnews.com/article/israel-iran-nuclear-hezbollah-hamas-missile-retaliation-0184e79d4ee5ec012960e0b24ddae102

[Jimbuna]

Saudi Crown Prince meets Iran foreign minister in Riyadh, Saudi agency says

CAIRO (Reuters) - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araqchi discussed developments in the region at a meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday, the Saudi state news agency (SPA) reported.

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has had a political rapprochement with Tehran in recent years, which has helped ease regional tensions, but relations remain difficult.

Speaking earlier, a senior Iranian official said Araqchi would discuss discuss bilateral issues and efforts to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza on his visit, adding that he will also visit Qatar later in the day.

The Middle East has been on edge awaiting Israel's response to an Iranian missile strike last week, which Tehran carried out in retaliation for Israel's escalation against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, in a conflict running in parallel to the Gaza war.

Earlier this week, Tehran told Gulf Arab states it would be "unacceptable" if they allowed use of their airspace or military bases against Iran and warned that any such move would draw a response, a senior Iranian official said.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/saudi-crown-prince-meets-iran-foreign-minister-in-riyadh-saudi-agency-says/ar-AA1rYm6R?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ENTPSP&cvid=9d895bdb454345cba2dbe9cdedc8ba9f&ei=124

[Jimbuna]

Iran blasts latest planned EU sanctions

Iran has condemned planned EU sanctions in response to its alleged delivery of ballistic missiles to Russia, in a social media post by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

"I clearly said, and reiterate once again: we've NOT provided ballistic missiles to Russia," Araghchi posted on X. "If Europe needs a case to appease Israel's blackmail, better find another story."

The EU member states plan to impose the new sanctions on Monday. The punitive measures aim to target companies and individuals involved in Iran's ballistic missile programme and the delivery of these and other weapons to Russia. Sanctions are also set to be imposed on the state-owned airline Iran Air.

According to Iran, it has a strategic cooperation with Moscow, although this is not related to the war in Ukraine. Tehran maintains that providing military aid to warring parties is inhumane.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/iran-blasts-latest-planned-eu-sanctions/ar-AA1sbeIE?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=82bceecf53f24c4fb71f13c20eb43b3f&ei=36

[Exocet25fr]

Iran has a better army than expected, and it's to late for stop their nuclear project?

With Admiral Michot (ex SNLE Pacific Commander)
Sorry, but I didn't find media in english, but in french only!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnywJAP3ccU

[Jimbuna]

je ne parle pas français :o

[Jimbuna]

Iran suspends indirect talks with US amid rising Middle East tensions

Iran has suspended indirect talks with the United States on account of the "special situation in the region," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said while on a visit to Oman, Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported on Monday.

Araghchi did not provide further details.

Oman has in the past mediated between Iran and the West, but this option would not be used for the present, Araghchi said.

"We do not currently see any context for these talks until we have overcome the current crisis," he said. "We do not want war or conflict, even if we are fully prepared for it," IRNA reported Araghchi saying.

With tensions in the Middle East rising, observers fear that war between Iran and Israel is becoming more likely.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/iran-suspends-indirect-talks-with-us-amid-rising-middle-east-tensions/ar-AA1sf0FC?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=40b9057500524eeead84eca7903056a1&ei=20

[Jimbuna]

Iranian foreign minister discusses regional tensions with Egyptian officials in Cairo

CAIRO (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi discussed rising tensions in the region with Egyptian officials Thursday in Cairo during the first such visit by a top Iranian official to the North African nation in around a decade.

Araghchi held talks with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi focusing on efforts to deescalate Israel’s conflicts against Gaza and Lebanon.

El-Sissi reiterated calls to end Israel’s war in Gaza to prevent it from expanding into a regional conflict. An expanded war would have serious repercussions for the security and capabilities of all nations in the region, he added.

The Egyptian president also called for an end to the escalation in Lebanon, the violations in the West Bank, and to ensure the delivery of much needed humanitarian aid.

Araghchi’s visit to Egypt is part of a wider diplomatic tour in the region meant to ease tensions. This month he met with officials in Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, Oman, and Iraq, and is expected to head to Turkey after concluding talks in Egypt.

The diplomatic effort by the top Iranian official comes as the region is anticipating an offensive by Israel in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attackson Israel on Oct. 1.
https://apnews.com/article/egypt-iran-israel-gaza-lebanon-c067019a322f82e2caffbeb15b1a9397#

[Jimbuna]

The US is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents on Israel’s attack plans

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents that assess Israel’s plans to attack Iran, three U.S. officials told The Associated Press. A fourth U.S. official said the documents appear to be legitimate.

The documents are attributed to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, and note that Israel was still moving military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran’s blistering ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1. They were sharable within the “Five Eyes,” which are the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

The documents, which are marked top secret, were posted to the Telegram messaging app and first reported Saturday by CNN and Axios. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The investigation is also examining how the documents were obtained — including whether it was an intentional leak by a member of the U.S. intelligence community or obtained by another method, like a hack — and whether any other intelligence information was compromised, one of the officials said. As part of that investigation, officials are working to determine who had access to the documents before they were posted, the official said.

The U.S. has urged Israel to take advantage of its elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and press for a cease-fire in Gaza, and has likewise urgently cautioned Israel not to further expand military operations in the north in Lebanon and risk a wider regional war. However, Israel’s leadership has repeatedly stressed it will not let Iran’s missile attack go unanswered.


In a statement, the Pentagon said it was aware of the reports of the documents but did not have further comment.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the leak of the two documents.

The documents first appeared online Friday via a channel on Telegram, claiming they had been leaked by someone in the U.S. intelligence community, then later the U.S. Defense Department. The information appeared entirely gathered through the use of satellite image analysis.

One of the two documents resembled the style of other material from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency leaked by Jack Teixeira, an Air National Guardsman who pleaded guilty in March to leaking highly classified military documents about Russia’s war on Ukraine and other national security secrets.

The Telegram channel involved in the leak identifies itself as being based in Tehran, Iran’s capital. It previously published memes featuring Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and material in support of Tehran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance,” which includes Middle East militant groups armed by the Islamic Republic.
https://apnews.com/article/israel-iran-us-documents-attack-e7e23d09a2f1fc14498e64b38d74576f#

[Skybird]

Dont rule out that the leak was intentional to spoil an attack of a sorts and in a style Washington does not want.

[Jimbuna]

Dont rule out that the leak was intentional to spoil an attack of a sorts and in a style Washington does not want.

Yeah and hopefully the truth will eventually come out.

[Skybird]

10% is not the same like 10%. It is quite an long effort to enrich uranium from lets say 5 to 15 percent. Its just a short cat's jump to enrich it from 80 to 90. The policy of Iran compares to that of a cat lurking for prey: it lies motionless, and when the eyed victim does not look, it suddenly does a few fast steps and then freezes again. After some waiting, it jumps forward another couple of steps, then freezes again. And then doesbso again. And again. Until it is so close that it does not mind anymore to be recognized and give away its presence, and must sprint so short only that the prey has no chance to escape even if getting alarmed. This way Iran has sneaked upon bomb completion.

And stupid, idiotic, irresponsible Western politicians have allowed this, staying inactive like the prey in the exmaple above.

About IAEA inspections I can only laugh since the days of a Muhamad ElBaradei as president of the IAEA, who did his share to corrupt its mission.

And the bitter irona in this: in 2003 the US drowned the world and its people in lies about that there still were WMD in Iraq (while in fact they were gone since many, many years), and launched a war over lies that toppled Saddam and threw the country into chaos. Its status today is not just not better, but worse than back then. - At the same time Iran did its nukie trick.

The US has a talent for waging the wrong wars. They should have toppled Iraq 1992, but didn'T, and then did it 2003 when they shouldn'T, while they should have bombed the #### out of Iran instead. Now Iran is the war they should have done, but will not do. Well, i am not the first guy saying that the US "elite" knows sh!t about the Middle East. The Europeans are not any better. And a creamy crown of naivety on top of both their reputations, please.


https://think--again-org.translate.goog/die-bombe-fur-die-mullahs/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp

(...)
In order to prevent a country from building its own atomic bombs, but without blocking access to peaceful nuclear energy, the aforementioned IAEA was founded in 1957 under the auspices of the United Nations. Its inspectors are supposed to ensure that no uranium is enriched beyond <4%. This limit was also set again with Iran in the JCPOA. In 2021, however, the country loudly announced that it would now enrich to 20%. In February 2024, IAEA inspectors then discovered devices in underground factories that had been installed for even higher enrichment. In August, the IAEA finally found 165 kg of uranium enriched to 60%. A further enrichment to 90%, i.e. one and a half times as much, would now be a small step.

In other words, 100 kg of weapons-grade uranium could be produced in a short time from the 60% stock! 25 kg would be needed for each bomb. And so the DG, the Director General of the IAEA, Rafael Mariano Grossi, warned that Tehran had enough almost weapons-grade uranium to produce "several" atomic bombs if it wanted to. And there is no doubt that the Mullahs want that; otherwise why would they have gone to all this trouble? And they don't mind the world finding out about it.

[mapuc]

From Europe there will be no action whatsoever-It's more Israel and/or USA I think will strike Iran-If it isn't to late for that.

Markus

[Skybird]

From Europe there will be no action whatsoever-It's more Israel and/or USA I think will strike Iran-If it isn't to late for that.

Markus
I hgave doubts on the US stirkign the nuclear pprgram. And they certainyl stricly oppose Israel doing it on it sown (if it would, of which I am not certain).



I think its too late since quite some time already. This is Israel's last chance to strike Israel really hard. Soon Iran will have reached immunity.

[Jimbuna]

Israel arrests second group of alleged Iran spies

Seven people have been arrested in occupied East Jerusalem on suspicion of planning attacks for Iran, the Israeli security services say, the second such case in as many days.

The Shin Bet domestic security agency and police said in a joint statement that the suspects had planned, "under Iranian direction," to assassinate a senior Israeli scientist and a city mayor.

They were also tasked with bombing a police car and throwing a grenade at a house, for a payment of some 200,000 shekels (£40,700; $53,000), authorities said.

News of the detentions comes a day after Israeli security services announced that seven Israelis had been arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran.

Iran is Israel's arch-foe and tensions between the two countries are at their highest for years. Israel has pledged to retaliate against an Iranian missile attack on Israel on 1 October.

The statement said the group was led by a 23-year-old man, who had allegedly been recruited as an Iranian operative. The leader is said to have recruited the six other suspects.

Local media said the man had confessed to carrying out "terrorist activity" for nationalistic reasons.

The Shin Bet and police statement said: "Scientists, mayors, security officials, and other prominent Israelis are targets for Iranian agents.

"This investigation underscores Iran’s efforts to recruit Israeli citizens for terrorism.

"Israeli security agencies will continue collaborating to detect Iranian activities and prosecute those involved."

News of the arrests came hours after authorities said seven Israeli Jewish citizens had been arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran.

The seven - who had immigrated from Azerbaijan - were detained in the Haifa area.

They are suspected of carrying out about 600 espionage missions, including passing on intelligence about military sites and energy infrastructure. Last week, four Israeli soldiers were killed in a drone attack by Iran's ally Hezbollah on an army base near Binyamina in northern Israel. The base was among the sites which the group had spied on, security services say.

While Iranian attempts to recruit local operatives is not unusual, the alleged recruitment of Israeli Jews is very rare.

A statement from the Shin Bet and police said those arrested were “well aware” that the intelligence they provided compromised national security and could potentially aid enemy missile attacks.

They were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for the information said police, who also described it as one of the most serious cases yet uncovered.

The latest arrests come amid stepped up overt and covert activity between Israel and Iran, including intelligence and sabotage operations in each other's countries.

Israel is believed to have penetrated Iranian security services, resulting in attacks and assassinations. Iran occasionally announces arrests of alleged Israeli intelligence agents and the breaking up of alleged Israeli spy cells, though without providing substantial evidence.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3vkvekpkzeo

[Jimbuna]

Iran strike will show your force, Israel's defence chief tells pilots

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told Air Force crews on Wednesday that after striking in Iran, the world will understand Israel's might and its enemies will learn a lesson, according to a video and an X post published by his office.

Israel has been planning a response to a ballistic-missile barrage carried out by Iran on Oct. 1, Tehran's second direct attack on Israel in six months.

"After we attack in Iran, they will understand in Israel and elsewhere what your preparations have included," Gallant told the crews in the video, which his office said was filmed at Hatzerim Air Base.

On X, Gallant added: "In my conversation with them I emphasized - after we attack Iran, everyone will understand your might, the process of preparation and training - any enemy that tries to harm the State of Israel will pay a heavy price."

The Middle East has been on edge in anticipation of the Israeli retaliation for Iran's attack in which around 200 ballistic missiles were fired at Israel.

In the past few weeks Israel has intensified its offensive against Palestinian militants Hamas in Gaza and its Iran-backed ally Hezbollah in Lebanon. The war was triggered a year ago by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.

Washington is seeking to head off further widening of the conflict. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that Israel's retaliation should not lead to greater escalation.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/iran-strike-show-force-israels-135025858.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJ_tVyh6YvNGO7B1AV557iq4Jltk c7LIlXSRnPN0qbXUMlHyM6jTtyVZTreNJj4VGlLOIpFmdj76Ih BUHILLAMCgwqJ-1DA7PWaOJf0Na0tTqR-FTHanqox9nBCftZe1JqfyGRBddxuFP9H6UMDYI71LEz4hNN1JG d5s_ktP4ZSY

[Jimbuna]

Gaza cease-fire talks set to resume; Iran braces for Israeli retaliation

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and other Middle East leaders in London on Friday, as U.S. and Israeli negotiators prepared to revive long-suspended talks to reach a cease-fire and hostage deal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“We have a sense of real urgency in getting to a diplomatic resolution” to end the conflict in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, Blinken said Friday. He called for “the full implementation” of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the last major war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. The two discussed U.S. concern over civilian deaths and support for Lebanon’s armed forces, government institutions and U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

American and Israeli diplomats are set to convene for talks in Qatar in the coming days. Mossad Director David Barnea will depart Sunday to meet with CIA Director William J. Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement.

The upcoming talks represent the latest effort by the United States to forge a cease-fire after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, whom U.S. officials have described as a key obstacle in the process.

The diplomatic efforts come as Iran is bracing for an Israeli military strike in retaliation for a ballistic missile attack on Israel earlier this month. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the Biden administration that he is willing to strike military rather than oil or nuclear facilities in Iran.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/10/25/israel-iran-war-news-gaza-hamas-lebanon/

[Dargo]

Islamic Republic of Iran state media confirmed reports that explosions in and around Tehran have been heard and reporting the Air Force is now in the skies. The Israeli attack on Iran has begun. In addition to Israeli airstrikes in Iran, reports of strikes in Iraq and Syria too. https://iran.liveuamap.com/

[mapuc]

Islamic Republic of Iran state media confirmed reports that explosions in and around Tehran have been heard and reporting the Air Force is now in the skies. The Israeli attack on Iran has begun. In addition to Israeli airstrikes in Iran, reports of strikes in Iraq and Syria too. https://iran.liveuamap.com/

Not a word in our news here in Denmark-Had to use BBC to get more info on this attack.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cn4v67j88e0t

Now I wonder-Will Iran revenge this ? Meaning they see this a declaration of war from Israel.

Markus

[Jimbuna]

Israel has launched air strikes on Iran, with blasts heard in the capital Tehran

Israel's military says the strikes were on Iranian military targets and all its planes have returned safely

Military bases in the west and south west of the Iranian capital were targeted, according to an Iranian news agency close to the country's Revolutionary Guards - Iranian state media says two soldiers were killed

The Israel Defense Forces say the strikes are in response to "months of continuous attacks" from Iran and after a barrage of Iranian missiles hit Israel on 1 October

The US was briefed on the strikes beforehand, but did not have any involvement in the operation, according to the Pentagon

The question now is whether Iran will respond, says the BBC's Jeremy Bowen

[Jimbuna]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMjSu7Of8Rs

[Dargo]

The Israeli army has accomplished its mission, and Iran too seems to want to avoid further escalation. Constantly, the world watched tensely in recent months. Would the sabre-rattling between Iran and Israel turn into a real regional war, in which the US would then inevitably get involved? And every time the conclusion was it could have been worse, apparently neither side is out for war. That can be observed again now. The problem remains that neither side is willing to swallow major loss of face, or doubt the credibility of their deterrence. That could still set off a chain reaction, the logic of war.

Yet it looks like that will not happen this time either. Israel is embroiled in a war on two fronts, Gaza and Lebanon, and cannot use a third front to it at the moment. Besides, there are plenty of successes to boast of: the deaths of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and of a series of Hezbollah leaders, including top leader Hassan Nasrallah himself, and the ongoing destruction of Hezbollah's infrastructure and weapons stockpiles. The latter is at the same time one of the reasons why Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is not out for a confrontation with Israel and the US. Hezbollah's military arsenal, menacingly situated near the Israeli border, was always the Iranian trump card in the stand-off with Israel. That card has now been played out for a while. Moreover, Iran's air force and air defences are too weak for war, and the regime knows it. Not for nothing were Israeli fighter planes able to return to their bases unharmed on Saturday. It is highly doubtful that Khamenei is out for retaliation. His priority is the economy and maintaining Iran's nuclear programme. There is a good chance that, at least for the moment, a line can be drawn under the stand-off that just will not become a real duel if Khamenei will not listen to voices in Iran that want escalation.

https://www.demorgen.be/aanval-op-israel/israel-en-iran-blijven-balanceren-op-de-rand-van-oorlog-maar-gaan-er-bewust-niet-overheen~b0e5a042/

[mapuc]

An interesting read in BBC news section

Hours before the Israeli strikes, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqai said: "Any aggression by the Israeli regime against Iran will be met with full force." It was, he said, "highly misleading and baseless" to suggest that Iran would not respond to a limited Israeli attack.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2742rynqgo

Markus

[Dargo]

Satellite imagery now released showing heavy damage to five buildings across Iran’s Parchin and Khojir missile production facilities following last nights Israeli strikes. According to @dex_eve this is specifically the mixing buildings and is likely where, according to reports by @BarakRavid citing three Israeli officials, 12 planetary mixers used for solid fuel production for ballistic missiles were housed https://x.com/ELINTNews/status/1850296198416183606

@planet 3m imagery taken this morning of Khojir and Parchin missile production facilities show precise strikes on warehouses and mixing buildings associated with the production of solid-fueled ballistic missiles. Industrial mixers of the sort used in the production of solid rocket motor propellant are large, complicated, and export controlled. Iran imported mixers from Europe in violation of sanctions, and such items will be very difficult to replace. It is likely that these strikes will impede Iran's ability to produce advanced ballistic missiles like the ones used in the strikes on Israel on October 1st. How heavily it impedes Iran depends on how easily Iran can replace the mixers destroyed. https://x.com/dex_eve/status/1850292583974740184

https://i.postimg.cc/t401mtPx/iranstrike.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/HLXF9HmM/iranstrike2.jpg

Iran confirms: Some air defence sites damaged in Israeli strike. The attack destroyed a vital solid fuel plant for ballistic missiles, an unnamed source tells Saudi website Elaph; damage to equipment at the site, estimated at $40M at least, will take at most2 years to restore.

[Gorpet]

Satellite imagery now released showing heavy damage to five buildings across IranÂ’s Parchin and Khojir missile production facilities following last nights Israeli strikes. According to @dex_eve this is specifically the mixing buildings and is likely where, according to reports by @BarakRavid citing three Israeli officials, 12 planetary mixers used for solid fuel production for ballistic missiles were housed https://x.com/ELINTNews/status/1850296198416183606

@planet 3m imagery taken this morning of Khojir and Parchin missile production facilities show precise strikes on warehouses and mixing buildings associated with the production of solid-fueled ballistic missiles. Industrial mixers of the sort used in the production of solid rocket motor propellant are large, complicated, and export controlled. Iran imported mixers from Europe in violation of sanctions, and such items will be very difficult to replace. It is likely that these strikes will impede Iran's ability to produce advanced ballistic missiles like the ones used in the strikes on Israel on October 1st. How heavily it impedes Iran depends on how easily Iran can replace the mixers destroyed. https://x.com/dex_eve/status/1850292583974740184

https://i.postimg.cc/t401mtPx/iranstrike.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/HLXF9HmM/iranstrike2.jpg

Iran confirms: Some air defence sites damaged in Israeli strike. The attack destroyed a vital solid fuel plant for ballistic missiles, an unnamed source tells Saudi website Elaph; damage to equipment at the site, estimated at $40M at least, will take at most2 years to restore.

Thanks for those satellite picks.That should shake Nancy and Gavin's paintes right to their ankles.Just think,What Russia,North Korea and China could bring to California at 3:00am in the morning.
Oh baby, It would be the end of the West coast Dynasty.They believe the Rocky Mountain range would keep them safe from all those barbaric people who live on the other side and to the East of those mountains.
You know the uneducated, and unwashed all the way to New York city.

[Jimbuna]

WW3 fears explode as Iran feared to 'shift' on nuclear weapons amid direct war with Israel

Iran's top strategists are reportedly escalating efforts to acquire and test nuclear weapons following the death of Hamas leader and Tehran ally, Yahya Sinwar.

The Iranian leadership suffered a significant blow when Israeli forces assassinated Sinwar in Rafah on October 16 as part of their ongoing offensive in Gaza.

Sinwar was the brains behind the October 7 attack on Israel that led to approximately 1,200 fatalities - predominantly civilians - and the abduction of hundreds of people.

This massacre triggered Israel's war in the Gaza Strip, resulting in tens of thousands of Palestinian civilian deaths alongside Hamas militants and millions being displaced from their homes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu subsequently extended the war beyond Gaza to target the terrorist group Hezbollah, which had a stronghold in the southern regions of neighbouring Lebanon.

In line with Netanyahu's threats, Israel bombarded Iran with a series of airstrikes on Saturday following earlier missile attacks as tensions in the Middle East near breaking point.

Instead of supporting Israel's enemies - known as the Axis of Resistance - Iran may now aggressively seek to acquire and even test nuclear weapons.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/ww3-fears-explode-as-iran-feared-to-shift-on-nuclear-weapons-amid-direct-war-with-israel/ar-AA1sYRjn?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=aaaff62094ea403a8eb67158fcccd941&ei=69

[mapuc]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtEKH0_RKcA

Markus

[Otto Harkaman]

https://youtu.be/eryoPx-G42c?si=9qqNw9wSn3UH8ngC

[Jimbuna]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oLtLyADEOY

[Jimbuna]

Israel destroys all Iranian S-300 systems in strike on military targets

During air strikes on military targets in Iran on Oct. 26, Israeli aircraft destroyed three Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems, which were a key element of Iran's air defense system, reports The Wall Street Journal.

During the attack, which involved about a hundred Israeli warplanes, the S-300 was able to intercept only a few hundred missiles fired at targets in Iran. Of the four systems that Iran received from Russia, three were destroyed during this operation, and the fourth was destroyed earlier.

According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), one of the S-300 systems was deployed near Tehran airport, while the other two were protecting energy facilities, including an oil port, an oil refinery, and a gas field.

The loss of the S-300 leaves Iran's infrastructure vulnerable to missile attacks, as Russia cannot provide Iran with more modern S-400 systems, as they are in use in the war against Ukraine.

The article notes that the reputation of the Russian defense industry has suffered after the destruction of S-300 systems in Iran and a number of S-300 and S-400 systems in Ukraine. This may force traditional buyers of Russian weapons to look for alternative suppliers, including manufacturers from South Korea, Israel, the United States, and China.

Israel strikes at Iran

On Oct. 26, Israel struck targets in Iran in response to Iran's previous ballistic missile attack. Explosions were reported in Tehran and other cities.

The Israeli forces confirmed the attack, noting that they were targeting Iranian military facilities. According to Israeli media, the first wave of strikes targeted facilities related to the production of missiles and air defense systems.

On Sunday, it became known that during the attack, Israel also destroyed two secret bases in Iran.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/israel-destroys-all-iranian-s-300-systems-in-strike-on-military-targets/ar-AA1t7WGK?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=8760f9d46dff4f8aba28238e797c1e26&ei=54

[Jimbuna]

Iran executes German-Iranian dissident after years in captivity


Iran executes German-Iranian dissident after years in captivity
Berlin warns of ‘serious consequences’ for ‘inhumane regime’ after 69-year-old Jamshid Sharmahd put to death

Agence France-Presse in Berlin
Mon 28 Oct 2024 21.46 GMT
Share
Iran has executed a 69-year-old German-Iranian political scientist after years in captivity, sparking outrage in Germany and beyond.

Berlin warned of “serious consequences” for Iran’s “inhumane regime” after Jamshid Sharmahd was put to death on Monday, while a Norway-based human rights group labelled the execution the “extrajudicial killing of a hostage”.

Sharmahd, a German citizen of Iranian descent and a US resident, was seized by Iranian authorities in 2020 while travelling through the United Arab Emirates, according to his family.

Iran, which does not recognise dual citizenship, announced his arrest after a “complex operation”, without specifying how, where or when he was seized.

Sharmahd was sentenced to death in February 2023 for the capital offence of “corruption on Earth”, a sentence later confirmed by Iran’s supreme court.

The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan website said on Monday that “the death sentence of Jamshid Sharmahd … was carried out this morning”.

He had been convicted of playing a role in a 2008 mosque bombing in the southern city of Shiraz, in which 14 people were killed and 300 wounded.

His family have long maintained that Sharmahd was innocent.

Sharmahd was also accused of leading the Tondar group, which aims to topple the Islamic Republic, and is classified as a terror organisation by Iran.

Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said the killing “shows once again what kind of inhumane regime rules in Tehran: a regime that uses death against its youth, its own population and foreign nationals”.

She added that Berlin had repeatedly made clear “that the execution of a German national would have serious consequences”.

“This underlines the fact that no one is safe under the new government either,” she said in reference to the administration of president Masoud Pezeshkian, who was inaugurated in July.

Baerbock expressed her “heartfelt sympathy” for Sharmahd’s family, “with whom we have always been in close contact”, and said the German embassy in Tehran had worked “tirelessly” on his behalf.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/28/iran-executes-german-iranian-dissident-jamshid-sharmahd

[Jimbuna]

Netanyahu: Stopping Iran's nuclear programme is 'supreme objective'

Stopping Iran's nuclear programme remains the primary goal of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policy, he said on Thursday.

"Halting the nuclear programme has been – and remains – our chief concern," Netanyahu told Israeli soldiers.

Preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons is the "supreme objective" that he has set for Israel's armed forces and all security services, Netanyahu said.

He said he could not go into detail about his plans, because that would put achieving the goal in jeopardy. But he said Israel currently has more freedom of action in Iran and, if necessary, could "strike anywhere in Iran."

Israel views Iran's nuclear programme as an existential threat, particularly in light of the fact that Iran could potentially use it to develop nuclear weapons.

Prior to Israel's latest retaliatory strikes against Iran last week, there were concerns that nuclear facilities could also be hit, leading to further escalation.

Israel said that its air force hit "missile manufacturing facilities."

Netanyahu spoke at an officers school in southern Israel known as Bahad 1.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/netanyahu-stopping-iran-s-nuclear-programme-is-supreme-objective/ar-AA1thR3N?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=33ed6d32a40f4646840a7054d8b67be5&ei=21

[Jimbuna]

Oil prices jump as Iran plots retaliation against Israel

Oil prices rose on Friday amid warnings that Iran is plotting a retaliatory strike against Israel.

The threat of escalating tensions led to prices rising by more than $2 a barrel, as traders responded to fears that fresh hostilities in the Middle East could disrupt global oil supplies.

By mid-morning on Friday, the price of Brent crude had risen to $74.64, up from $72.31 on Thursday and $70.90 on Tuesday.

The recent jump comes amid reports Iran is preparing to launch an attack against Israel within days, potentially from Iraqi territory.

In a speech on Thursday, Major General Hossein Salami, of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said Tehran’s retaliation against Israel would be “unimaginable”.

It comes after Israel launched airstrikes on Iran last weekend.

Ashley Kelty, research director at Panmure Liberum, said: “It appears that markets have been too quick to write down the war premium for the Middle East, and the rise on Thursday reflects this.

“While the impact of the attacks would be on the smaller scale, the potential to drag Iraq into the equation for the conflict would open up scope for future attacks which could damage Iraqi energy infrastructure, and disrupt supplies.”

The latest rise has partially reversed the longer-term trend of declining oil prices, as the cost of a barrel was previously above $90 in April.

A gradual fall over the summer was largely caused by concerns over global oversupply and reduced demand caused by an economic slowdown in China.

However, while the recent rhetoric from Tehran has fuelled an increase in prices, Ole Hvalbye, a commodities analyst at Norwegian investors SEB Research, told Reuters neither Iran nor Israel will want to trigger a full-scale regional war.

He said: “Any additional responses from Iran might remain restrained, similar to Israel’s limited strike last weekend, hence primarily intended as a demonstration of strength rather than an invitation to open warfare.”

Analysts have also warned that future oil prices will be impacted by the outcome of the US election, as well as uncertainty surrounding the Opec cartel’s decision to increase oil production this month.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/oil-prices-jump-as-iran-plots-retaliation-against-israel/ar-AA1tkyb3?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ENTPSP&cvid=ef796daa03a64ae09b98388668105e2d&ei=72

[Jimbuna]

Iran’s supreme leader threatens Israel and US with devastating response to Israeli attack

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened Israel and the US on Saturday with a devastating response to attacks on Iran and its allies, reports AP.

Khamenei made his statement amid threats from Iranian officials to strike Israel again following its attack on the Islamic Republic on October 26, which targeted military bases and other facilities, resulting in the deaths of at least five people.

"The enemies, whether the Zionist regime or the United States of America, will definitely receive a crushing response to what they are doing to Iran and the Iranian nation and to the resistance front," Khamenei stated in a video address published by Iranian state media.

The Supreme Leader did not specify the timing or scale of the anticipated attack.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/iran-s-supreme-leader-threatens-israel-and-us-with-devastating-response-to-israeli-attack/ar-AA1toVOM?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=59b7b1919f3e4a83bd0db1dc15c8d7e5&ei=16