the IRGC

2024-04-15

British Foreign Secretary urged Israel not to retaliate after Iran's drone and missile attack, saying Tehran's move had been a near-total failure and the focus should remain on agreeing a . The strike by more than 300 missiles and drones from Iran caused only modest damage in Israel as most were shot down by its Iron Dome defence system and with help from the US, Britain, France and Jordan. It followed a suspected Israeli airstrike on Iran's embassy compound in Syria on April 1. "If you're sitting in Israel this morning, you're thinking quite rightly, we have every right to respond to this and they do. But we are urging that they shouldn't escalate," Cameron told Sky News on Monday. "In many ways this has been a double defeat for Iran. The attack was an almost total failure, and they revealed to the world that they are the malign influence in the region prepared to do this. So our hope is that there won't be a retaliatory response." Britain said it would consider more , foreign minister David Cameron announced on Monday, following its drone and missile attack on Israel. An anti-missile system operates after Iran launched drones and missiles towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel April 14, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN) Asked whether the government would consider more sanctions on Iran, Cameron told the BBC: "Yes, absolutely. We already have 400 sanctions on Iran. We put in place a whole new sanctions regime at the end of last year, which is proving very effective. "We've sanctioned the IRGC, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, in its entirety, and we'll continue to look at what further steps we can do," he added. He also said Britain would keep under review whether it should proscribe the IRGC. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-04-11

Pouria Zeraati, a prominent dissident Iranian TV presenter who recently survived a outside his home, disclosed a deceitful attempt to compromise his security through a bogus interview request - according to a report by The Jewish Chronicle (JC). The attacker, posing as a journalist from The Jerusalem Post, aimed to lure Zeraati into a trap, highlighting the lengths to which adversaries will go to target vocal critics of the Iranian regime. Zeraati, who is a key figure on the channel Iran International, narrated his harrowing experience and the subsequent psychological battle he faced in the aftermath of the assault. "Physically I’m feeling better,” Zeraati shared with the JC, “Mentally it’s totally different. It’s going take a long time to get over it.” The investigation into the attack is being led by , pointing to the grave nature of the assault and the possible involvement of state-backed operatives. Zeraati hinted at the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force's history of targeting dissidents abroad, suggesting their potential role in the orchestrations against him. Zeraati and his colleagues have faced escalating threats, particularly after critiquing anti-Israel marches in Britain. He specifically mentioned an insidious cyber attempt masqueraded as an outreach from The Jerusalem Post. "I’ve been told that in the past 24 hours, they have been in touch with partner forces abroad to try to bring them back here to justice," Zeraati revealed about the ongoing efforts to apprehend the assailants.  According to the JC, the conversation took a significant turn when discussing the need for the UK to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization, a standpoint Zeraati fervently supports. In an interview with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu last year, the Prime Minister echoed the sentiment, underscoring the IRGC's global threat and offering intelligence to justify such a move by the British government. Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei looks on during a meeting at the IRGC Aerospace Force achievements exhibition in Tehran, Iran November 19, 2023 (credit: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/West Asia News Agency/Reuters)Iran International tweeted on Thursday, "Iran International’s presenter Pouria Zeraati who recently survived a knife attack outside his London house told The Jewish Chronicle he “received a message from someone using a phone with an Israeli +972 code, purporting to be a journalist from The Jerusalem Post who wanted to interview him. Iran International’s presenter who recently survived a knife attack outside his London house told he “received a message from someone using a phone with an Israeli +972 code, purporting to be a journalist from who wanted to interview… Iran International, a Persian-language news channel based in London and broadcasting worldwide, focuses on news, culture, and sports, and is influential in Iran despite government jamming; it temporarily moved to Washington, DC in 2023 due to threats but returned to London later that year, and has faced accusations of being linked to Saudi Arabia while also being targeted by the Iranian government. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-04-05

The targeted – allegedly by Israel – of Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Forces in Syria and Lebanon, was long overdue. As part of its post-October 7 updated doctrine of security, Israel can no longer make do with fighting Iran’s proxies but rather must target Iran itself in response to Tehran’s key role in the current attacks on Israel and destabilization of the region. Israel must now strike directly within Iran, while also taking further action against the Quds Force. Iran’s self-perceived shield of impunity must be pierced. Unfortunately, the Biden administration purposefully continues to misinterpret Iran’s proxy warfare. Blindly, willfully, and wrongly, Washington asserts that Iran “lacks full control over its proxies.” (This was said in the context of Kataib Hezbollah’s responsibility for the recent drone attack in Jordan that killed three Americans soldiers.) It refuses to finger Iran for all its escalatory muckraking, as detailed below. Washington prefers to make nice and dream that Iran will calm down. Sure enough, the Biden administration rushed to assure Tehran this week that it had no advance knowledge of or responsibility for the hit on Mohammad Reza Zahedi. The administration is sticking to its “strategy” (if you can call it that) of “restoring trust” with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, to smooth the way towards a return to former president Barack Obama’s rotten nuclear deal with Iran – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – and to avoid further conflict with Iranian-backed rebels in Iraq and Yemen who threaten both American troops and global shipping and security. For those who have not been paying sufficient attention, here is a summary of the Iranian record. Iran is carving out a corridor of control – a Shi’ite land bridge – stretching from the Arabian (“Persian”) Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea, including major parts of Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, under the control of the IRGC and its Quds Force, various Shi’ite militias, and the . This corridor gives Iran a broad strategic base for aggression across the region. Iran is establishing air and naval bases on the Mediterranean and Red seas, and especially in Syria, to project regional power. It has also stepped-up its harassment of international shipping and Western naval operations in the Persian Gulf. Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles endanger civilian flights across the region, too.Iran’s proxy army in Yemen, the Houthi rebels, seeks control of the Horn of Africa and the entrance to the Red Sea – a critical strategic choke point in international shipping. In recent months, the Houthis have struck more than 40 times at commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Eden, through which almost 15% of global seaborne trade usually passes. More than 100 American service members suffered traumatic brain injuries from an Iranian ballistic missile strike on US troops in Iraq, four years ago. Last year, Tehran’s proxies in Yemen struck at a base in the UAE housing American military forces; and Iranian proxies struck at US targets in Iraqi Kurdistan and Syria. These attacks are part of Iran’s effort to evict America from the Middle East and coerce US partners into accommodating the Islamic Republic. Iran is fomenting subversion in Mideast countries that are Western allies, including , Egypt, and Jordan. It is particularly focused on destabilizing the Hashemite regime in Jordan to gain access to Israel’s longest border (its border with Jordan) and from there to penetrate Israel’s heartland. Israel this month rushed troops to the northern Jordan Valley following indications that Iraqi Shi’ite militia groups supported by Iran planned to invade Israel via Jordan and conduct a large-scale terror attack against Israeli communities near the border, like the October 7 attacks by Hamas. Iran is threatening Israel with war and eventual destruction. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomenei regularly refers to Israel as a cancerous tumor in the Middle East that must be removed and speaks of the complete liberation of Palestine (meaning the destruction of Israel) through holy jihad. Iran has armed enemies on Israel’s northern border (Hezbollah and most recently, also Hamas in Lebanon), southern border (Hamas and Islamic Jihad), and terrorist undergrounds in the West Bank. It has equipped Hezbollah with an arsenal of over 150,000 missiles and rockets aimed at Israel and supplied Hamas with the arms and rockets that fueled four significant military confrontations with Israel over the past decade. Since October 7, Hezbollah has struck over 3,000 times at Israel, essentially depopulating the upper Galilee. These attacks have killed 10 IDF soldiers and reservists as well as eight Israeli civilians. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visits the military equipment of IRGC Navy in Bandar Abbas, Iran, February 2, 2024 (credit: Iran’s Presidency/WANA/Handout via Reuters) There is dispute as to the extent of Iran’s foreknowledge of the October 7 Hamas attack, but Hamas would not have been capable of the attack without the systematic assistance it has been receiving from Tehran for decades. My colleague Dr. Yossi Mansharof has exposed the boasting of Iranian leaders (like Esmaeil Kowsari of the Iranian Majles Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, and formerly a high-ranking commander in the IRGC) about the involvement of former Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani (who was assassinated by the US in January 2020) in the planning of the Hamas attack and the build-up of its forces. In the massive array of Hamas subterranean terror attack tunnels in Gaza, the IDF has found millions of pieces of weaponry, technological hardware, and documentary evidence of Iran’s multi-layered funding channels, material supply networks, and military training regimes for Hamas. Iran is sponsoring terrorism against Western, Israeli, and Jewish targets around the world, including unambiguous funding, logistical support, planning, and personnel for terrorist attacks that span the globe, from Buenos Aires to Burgas. Iran maintains an active terrorist network of proxies, agents, and sleeper cells worldwide. (It again is threatening to unleash these operatives against Jewish and Israeli diplomatic targets “in response” to the strike on Zahedi.) Iran is building a long-term nuclear military option, with enrichment and armament facilities buried deep underground. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has enriched uranium to near-bomb-ready levels (84%, which is close to the 90% level necessary for a nuclear weapon) and in recent months has tripled its accumulation of weapons-grade uranium, enough for the production of an estimated six nuclear weapons within four weeks. Iran is developing a formidable long-range missile arsenal of great technological variability, including solid and liquid propellant ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and intercontinental ballistic missiles. The latest Iranian ICBM, called the “Khorramshahr,” seems to be based on the North Korean BM25 missile with a range of 3,500 km. The entire Iranian ballistic missile program violates United Nations Security Council prohibitions. Like his predecessors, US President Joe Biden has pledged that he will never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. But American military leaders now say only that the US “remains committed Iran will not have a fielded nuclear weapon,” said then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley to Congress in March 2023. This suggests that the Biden administration is now prepared to tolerate developed nuclear weapons in Iran’s hands, provided the weapon is not “fielded,” in other words, deployed. Iran is providing Russia with armed attack drones for President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine. Experts presume that in return, Iran will be getting sophisticated Russian military technologies such as aerial defense systems and fighter jets for its wars against Israel and pro-Western Arab regimes in the Mideast. Overall, Iran is strengthening its ties to Russia and China, and tightening ties to Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Armenia as part of a unified front against what it calls the “Great Satan,” America, and the “Small Satan,” Israel.Sorely missing is a US strategy to combat the evil influence and hegemonic ambitions of the mullahs. Prof. Walter Russell Mead has warned that “As Washington shrugs at challengers like China and Iran, world leaders make other plans like partnering with China and Iran.” But Jerusalem cannot ignore Iran’s pincer war on Israel, its circling of Israel with strangulating “rings of fire,” its drive to enervate and destroy Israel. The writer is senior managing fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security & Zionist Strategy, in Jerusalem. The views expressed here are his own. His diplomatic, defense, political, and Jewish world columns over the past 27 years are at davidmweinberg.com ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-04-03

Iran is engaged in the first part of its response to an airstrike this week in Damascus, which Iran has blamed on Israel. It is not only slamming Israel, it is also blaming . This shows how Iran is seeking to link the incident that killed several key Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members to a wider regional struggle in which Iran is engaged in trying to reduce US influence in the region. Iranian has highlighted the attack on the consulate compound in Damascus and also sought to spotlight what Iran claims is the “American administration’s responsibility.” Iran buried members of the IRGC that were killed in Damascus on Monday. This included commander for operations in Syria and Lebanon Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, his deputy, and five of their accompanying officers, according to Iran’s pro-government Fars News. Meanwhile, Iranian president Ibrahim Raisi phoned Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad and “lashed out at the West for continuing to provide financial and military support to Israel amid the Gaza war, and stressed the Zionist regime does not adhere to any of the humanitarian and international principles,” according to a second report at Fars. "There is no doubt that Zionists and their supporters are responsible,” the Iranian said. “The Syrian president stressed that the Zionist regime seeks to escape from the quagmire it is caught in by the Palestinian resistance in the besieged enclave and emphasized the need to support the axis of resistance,” the report noted. IRAN’S PRESIDENT Ebrahim Raisi gestures to the audience as he completes his address to the UN General Assembly, last week. (credit: Mike Segar/Reuters) Meanwhile, Iran is seeking to have Israel condemned by the United Nations. In a statement to the UN, the Iranian envoy said “Yesterday, we urgently notified the Security Council members of yet another flagrant violation of international law committed by the Israeli regime within Syria territory. As reflected in our letter, on 1st April 2024, our diplomatic premises in Damascus came under terrorist attacks carried out by the Israeli regime. Seven missile airstrikes from the occupied Golan Heights, specifically and intentionally targeted the diplomatic premises of Iran, including the consular section building and the ambassador's residence.” The Iranian envoy said that “the final and accurate death toll remains uncertain as the entire diplomatic premise has been destroyed, with individuals trapped under the rubble.” Iran wants the United Nations Security Council to do more in the wake of the airstrike. Iran has also sought to get Russia’s support and also to mobilize condemnations in the Gulf. Gulf countries have often reconciled or normalized with the Syrian regime in the last two years. This means that they have a vested interest in condemning an attack on a diplomatic post in Damascus. The fact is the building next to the Iranian consulate was not a purely diplomatic site, as the IRGC used it. However, from the standpoint of the Gulf states, it is worthwhile to appear to put out statements condemning the strike. Iran and Saudi Arabia also reconciled last year, meaning Riyadh has an interest in appearing to condemn the attack. Iran is trying to mobilize this diplomatic support first before lashing out with its promised “retaliation.” In the past, Iran has attacked Erbil in Iraq when it wanted to “retaliate.” In 2020, it fired ballistic missiles targeting a base in Iraq in retaliation for the US killing of IRGC Quds Force head Qasem Soleimani. Iran has already mobilized its militias and proxies in various countries since October 7 to attack Israel and attack US forces in Iraq and Syria. In addition, the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah targeted US forces in Jordan in January. As such, the Iranian claim of “retaliating” is a bit of a stretch because it is Iran that has been attacking throughout the region. However, Iran wants the sympathy of other countries, and it wants an official record of this attack in Damascus so it can claim a right to respond. Iran also wants to leverage this with Russia, China, and other states.  ...قراءة المزيد

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