Nuclear Iran

[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...da815384&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...eaf4d94c&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...8403b7c4&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...27716515&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...d=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...ab2afc01&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-rev...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...48a1635d&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...29bc87fd&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-...73876acab3d989

[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...301446a3&ei=29

[mapuc]

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