Iran
Updated 2024-08-26
2024-08-21 Cause of helicopter crash that killed Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi revealed The helicopter crash in which president Ebrahim Raisi was killed was allegedly caused by bad weather conditions, Iran’s initial probe has found. Raisi, 63, died alongside Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and two senior local officials on board the helicopter on 19 May. The bodies were found after hours of frantic search through a foggy mountainous region in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province.
The president and the other men were flying in a US-made Bell 212 helicopter, when due to harsh weather conditions the aircraft lost the ability to handle the weight it was carrying, Fars news agency reported, citing a security source. “The investigation in the case of Ayatollah Raisi’s helicopter crash has been completed,” the unnamed source told the news agency. The source stressed it was absolutely certain that “what happened was an accident”. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/cause-of-helicopter-crash-that-killed-iranian-president-ebrahim-raisi-revealed/ar-AA1pdRLm?
2024-08-14 Seeds of Today’s Middle East Disaster Were Sown by the CIA | Opinion Seventy-one years ago this week, a pair of energetic American brothers carried out a plan to overthrow a pesky Middle Eastern government, setting in motion a chain of events that has the region on the cusp of all-out war. The convoluted tale offers a clear illustration of a truism we tend to ignore: Beware most of all the consequences that are unintended.
In the summer of 1953, the target of U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and his brother, CIA director Allen Dulles, was Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, who had nationalized Iran’s oil industry. It was a popular move that was part of a broader effort to assert Iranian sovereignty and please Iranians frustrated with foreign control of their resources.
Mossadegh set about reforming the system to diminish the power of the pro-Western head of state, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who had been in power for just a decade and was the latest incarnation of centuries of monarchic rule. Having come of age in World War II, the “Shah of Iran” was mindful of the preferences of the victors, chiefly the United States and Britain, and knew well that they preferred their oil close at hand.
As the government seized more and more of the shah’s authority, he attempted to dismiss Mossadegh through a royal decree—but the premier refused to step down, leading to a political crisis. Fearing for his safety, the shah fled Iran, going first to Baghdad and then to Rome, leaving Mossadegh briefly fully in charge.
Enter the brothers Dulles, aided by Britain’s spy agency, MI6. Only declassified in recent years, their Operation Ajax included all the hallmarks: Psychological warfare, bribes, orchestrated street protests and dark propaganda warnings of a world where the Soviet Union could gain a foothold in the oil-rich Middle East if Mossadegh’s nationalist agenda prevailed. The effort began in earnest on Aug. 15, 1953, and reached its climax four days later when pro-shah forces stormed Mossadegh’s residence, leading to his arrest. The shah was reinstated with U.S. and British backing, his return celebrated with orchestrated jubilation. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/seeds-of-today-s-middle-east-disaster-were-sown-by-the-cia-opinion/ar-AA1oNzhM?
2024-04-16 Checkmate The world’s attention has, rightfully so, been focused on the fallout from Iran’s retaliatory strike against Israel on April 13-14, 2024. Iran’s purpose in launching the attack was to establish a deterrence posture designed to put Israel and the United States on notice that any attack against Iran, whether on Iranian soil or on the territory of other nations, would trigger a retaliation which would inflict more damage on the attacker than the attacker could hope to inflict on Iran. To achieve this result, Iran had to prove itself capable of overcoming the ballistic missile defense systems of both Israel and the United States which were deployed in and around Israel at the time of the attack. This Iran was able to accomplish, with at least nine missiles striking two Israeli air bases that fell under the protective umbrella of the Israeli-US missile defense shield.
The Iranian deterrence posture has implications that reach far beyond the environs of Israel or the Middle East. By defeating the US-Israeli missile defense shield, Iran exposed the notion of US missile defense supremacy that serves as the heart of US force protection models used when projecting military power on a global scale. T https://scottritter.substack.com/p/checkmate
2024-04-14 The Missiles of April “The last thing I want to see,” I told the crowd, “is a scenario where Iranian missiles were impacting on the soil of Israel. But unless Israel changes course, this is the inevitable outcome of a policy driven more by arrogance than common sense.”
On the night of 13-14 April 2024, my concerns were played out live before an international audience—Iranian missiles rained down on Israel, and there was nothing Israel could do to stop them. As had been the case a little more than 33 years prior, when Iraqi SCUD missiles overcame US and Israeli Patriot missile defenses to strike Israel dozens of times over the course of a month and a half, Iranian missiles, integrated into a plan of attack which was designed to overwhelm Israeli missile defense systems, struck designated targets inside Israel with impunity.
Despite having employed an extensive integrated anti-missile defense system comprised of the so-called “Iron Dome” system, US-made Patriot missile batteries, and the Arrow and David’s Sling missile interceptors, along with US, British, and Israeli aircraft, and US and French shipborne anti-missile defenses, well over a dozen Iranian missiles struck heavily-protected Israeli airfields and air defense installations. https://scottritter.substack.com/p/the-missiles-of-april
2024-4-13 Chikli calls for regime change: ‘We will soon bring a new dawn to Iran’ Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli called for regime change in Iran after the barrage of suicide drones launched at Israel by the Islamic state on Saturday night. “Tonight we learned that Iran’s Islamic terror regime is weaker than ever,” said Chikli. “Our freedom-loving brothers in Iran, now is the time to act, and with God’s help, we will soon bring a new dawn to Iran.”
Chikli shared on social media the remarks of the son of the deposed Iranian Shah, who said that the fates of Iranians and Israelis were intertwined by common hopes of peace and the common enemy of the Islamic republic.
Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince and son of the late Mohammad Reza Shah of Iran also wrote on X that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was trying to start a war to save his regime. “Iranians have made it clear: the criminal mafia occupying Iran does not represent our nation, our values, or our aspirations,” said Pahlavi. “The path to lasting peace and security in the Middle East is to support the people of Iran who are fighting to reclaim our country and our rightful place in the world. I call on our friends in the region and Western powers to embrace this, lasting solution for our region and to empower the Iranian people, their allies for peace.” https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/chikli-calls-for-regime-change-we-will-soon-bring-a-new-dawn-to-iran/ar-BB1lA7zo?
2024-02-03 Iran Called Washington’s Aggression in Middle East ‘Strategic Mistake’ – This is Why The US has made a huge blunder by attacking targets in Iraq and Syria, as it will only further inflame tensions in the already turbulent region, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani has said. In a statement on Saturday, Kanaani condemned the US airstrikes on various groups in the two countries. The ministry’s spokesman insisted that Washington had violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria,
American officials have claimed that the attacks targeted groups linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) Quds Force, an elite military unit specializing in foreign operations. Kanaani added that the root cause of the current region-wide crisis is “the occupation of the Israeli regime” as “the genocide of the Palestinians with the unlimited support of the United States.” The spokesman did not address US claims that it had attacked Iranian-affiliated groups. Tehran previously stated that regional groups that attacked American military facilities were acting independently and not on Iran’s orders.
Prior to the US moves, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi also said that Tehran “will not be the initiator of any war,” but vowed to “respond firmly” to anyone who would try to pressure his country. All of these developments are directly linked to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, as the attacks by Arab Resistance groups began as a direct response to the US support of Israel in its war on the Palestinians. .https://www.palestinechronicle.com/iran-called-washingtons-aggression-in-middle-east-strategic-mistake-this-is-why/
2024-02-01 Military Escalation Against Iran Is Foolish and Unjustified Biden administration has warned that if an Iran-backed militia attack kills U.S. troops, the U.S. could respond with strikes inside Iran.
“Hit Iran now. Hit them hard,” South Carolina’s Senator Lindsay Graham demanded. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas said that Biden would be “a coward unworthy of being commander-in-chief” if he didn’t. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called for the imposition of “crippling costs…not only on front-line terrorist proxies, but on their Iranian sponsors.”
Yet expanding the war in the region to a wider war with Iran serves nobody’s interests. The utility of the residual 900 U.S. troops in Syria and 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq has outlasted its best before date. Now that the Islamic State is no longer the danger it was, that objective is outweighed by the provocativeness of the troops’ presence and the easy target they present. Expanding the war to Iran would be hard to contain. Iran has developed much stronger ties to China and Russia. Even if war with Iran didn’t risk drawing the U.S. into the war with Russia and China that has so far been avoided in Ukraine, it does risk breaking the dams in the region and drawing in countries from Lebanon and Yemen to Iraq, Syria, and beyond.
What’s worse is that the fatal strike on the U.S. base has not even altered the assessment of U.S. intelligence that Iran does not intend to start a wider war with the attack in Jordan. https://www.theamericanconservative.com/military-escalation-against-iran-is-foolish-and-unjustified/?
2023-12-2-30 IRGC commander: October 7 was independently conducted by Palestinians Esmail Qaani, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, told Iranian news organization IRNA this week that Hamas planned and executed the October 7 attacks on southern Israel without Iranian help. IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency) is funded and controlled by the Iranian government.
Qaani reportedly commented at a commemoration of “martyr” Hossein Pourjafari that “resistance” groups across the Middle East each have their own independent and individual structures. “Resistance groups have grown step by step, and today, all the elements of the resistance front at their regional level make their own decisions and judgments.”
Iran funds numerous proxies in the region including Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Houthis. All of these groups have launched regular attacks on Israeli military and civilian targets since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/irgc-commander-october-7-was-independently-conducted-by-palestinians/ar-AA1mdNHp
2023-12-23 Iran’s Khamenei calls on Muslim nations to block shipping to Israel Iran’s supreme leader on Saturday urged Muslim countries to prevent vital supplies from reaching Israel as the United States accused his country of “deep involvement” in attacks by Yemeni rebels against international shipping. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during a meeting in Tehran with people from the Iranian provinces of Kerman and Khuzestan, denounced Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza as “bloodthirsty and cruel” and called on Islamic governments to take action against materiel heading to Israel. It is the duty of Muslim nations “to prevent goods, oil and fuel from reaching the Zionist regime, the regime which itself has blocked off water access to the people of Gaza,” Khamenei said, according to official news accounts. At the same time, the supreme leader “denounced some Islamic states for their criminal act of assistance towards the Zionist regime,” official media said. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/iran-s-khamenei-calls-on-muslim-nations-to-block-shipping-to-israel/ar-AA1lWRn
2023-12-24 Iran summons Russia’s envoy again over islands dispute Iran has once more summoned the Russian envoy to Tehran after Moscow signed another joint statement with Arab nations calling for negotiations over three disputed islands that the United Arab Emirates claims as its own.
At the Foreign Ministry, the Russian envoy was reportedly told that respect for the territorial integrity of nations is a fundamental tenet in relations between any two countries. IRNA also said the official was told the three disputed islands “forever belong to Iran” which renders any outside claims unacceptable.
The islands in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, namely the Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa, have been governed by Iran since 1971 when its navy took control of them after British troops withdrew from what is today the UAE. The UAE claims them as part of its territory as well and has recently received increasing support on them from Russia and China, which Tehran also counts among its allies. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/iran-summons-russia-s-envoy-again-over-islands-dispute/ar-AA1lYtV2
2023-12-09 Israeli strike kills son of Hezbollah’s Golan border terror chief – report The son of the head of Hezbollah’s terrorist operations near the Syrian-Israeli border was eliminated in an alleged Israeli drone strike in western Syria on Friday, according to Syrian reports. On Friday afternoon, Syrian media reported that four people were killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike targeting a vehicle in Madinat al-Baath in the Quneit.
A little less than a week ago, two members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed in alleged Israeli airstrikes which targeted sites near Damascus early Saturday morning, according to the IRGC.
The two were identified as Mohammad Ali Ataee Shoorche and Panah Taqizadeh, with the IRGC saying they were carrying out an “advisory mission” in Syria. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/israeli-drone-kills-son-of-hezbollah-s-golan-heights-terror-chief/ar-AA1lePXF
2023-11-24 Iran’s Khamenei warns in Hebrew that war in Gaza won’t go unanswered Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned that the IDF’s operations in the Gaza Strip would not go unanswered, in a post on X (formerly Twitter) in Hebrew on Thursday. “This bombing will not make up for the crushing defeat that the Zionist entity suffered (October 7). This bombing will shorten its life, while the deprivation and atrocities will not remain unanswered,” wrote Khamenei.
At the beginning of November, Khamenei published another tweet in Hebrew reading “The Zionist entity is lying to you, and it is also lying when it expressed concern about its prisoners with the Palestinians. Rather it also destroys them with the shelling it does. The occupying entity is helpless and confused now, and without American support will be silenced within days.” https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/iran-s-khamenei-warns-in-hebrew-that-war-in-gaza-won-t-go-unanswered/ar-AA1ks8WC
2023-11-15 Iran tells Hamas it will not enter the war with Israel Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Ismail Haniyeh that Iran – a longtime backer of Hamas – would continue to lend the group its political and moral support, but would not intervene directly, according to three Iranian and Hamas officials with knowledge of the discussions who asked to remain anonymous. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/iran-tells-hamas-it-will-not-enter-the-war-with-israel/ar-AA1jZkuR
2023-11-05 US Diplomatic Setbacks Make Isolating Iran Difficult A joint statement signed by the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, U.A.E, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Morocco called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza Strip. In an admonition to the U.S. and Israel, the statement stated, “The right to self-defence by the United Nations Charter does not justify blatant violations of humanitarian and international law.” Looking ahead, the big question is about American intention. Is it muscle-flexing or a hidden plot to create facts on the ground that can be seized as casus belli to launch an offensive against Iran, which has been a longstanding project of the neoconservatives dominating the U.S. foreign policy discourses?
Biden declared at a press conference in the White House that he had warned Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that if Tehran continued to “move against” U.S. forces in the region, Washington would respond. To quote Biden, “My warning to the Ayatollah was that if they continue to move against those troops, we will respond. And he should be prepared. It has nothing to do with Israel.” Biden was referring to growing attacks on American bases in Iraq and Syria. The political deputy at the Iranian president’s office, Mohammad Jamshidi has since countered Biden’s remark, saying, “The U.S. messages were neither directed to the leader of the Islamic Revolution nor were they anything but requests from the Iranian side. If Biden thinks he has warned Iran, he should ask his team to show him the text of the messages.” https://consortiumnews.com/2023/11/05/us-diplomatic-setbacks-make-isolating-iran-difficult/
2023-11-05 Iran issues chilling threat to US over Israel war saying it will be ‘hit hard’ Iran has issued a chilling threat to the United States, warning it will be “hit hard” if it does not implement a ceasefire in Gaza, according to state media. The country’s Defense Minister Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani was quoted saying that America should “immediately stop the war”. According to Tasnim news agency, Ashtiani said: “Our advice to the Americans is to immediately stop the war and implement a ceasefire, otherwise you will be hit hard.” https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/iran-issues-chilling-threat-to-us-over-israel-war-saying-it-will-be-hit-hard/ar-AA1jquW9?
2023-11-04 Psychopathic Liar Nikki Haley Pushes War With Iran! Throughout the 2024 presidential campaign Republican Nikki Haley has emerged as perhaps the most ardent and bloodthirsty warmongering candidate, and that’s saying something among a group who are not shy about threatening military force all over the globe, from Russia to Israel to Mexico. Haley in particular wants to point U.S. military capabilities at Iran, which she blames for the recent Hamas attacks. Guest host Craig Jardula and Americans’ Comedian Kurt Metzger discuss Haley’s brazen lies about how Iran and Hamas are determined to kill Americans.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KlguVEaIIc&t=4s
2023-10-26 Iran’s Foreign Minister issued a direct warning to the United States at the UN: I say frankly to the Americans, who are now managing the war in Gaza, that we do not want the expansion of war into the region. But if the genocide in Gaza continues, they [America] will not be spared from the fire. This is our home, and West Asia is our region. We do not compromise with any party or any side, and we have no reservation when it comes to our home security. https://twitter.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/1717577352048496955?
2023-10-25 Craig Murray: The Chances of a Regional War Gaza has no defense from bombs and missiles, and there is no military reason why Israel cannot keep this up for months and simply rely upon aerial massacre. We are perhaps within a week of thirst, starvation and disease killing even more people per day than bombardment. The population of Gaza is simply defenseless. Only international intervention can stop Israel from doing whatever it wishes, and those countries which have influence with Israel are actively abetting and encouraging the genocide.
Iran has greatly improved its diplomatic position in the last year. The Chinese-brokered lessening of hostility with Saudi Arabia has potential to revolutionize Middle Eastern politics and the benefits of this will not lightly be laid aside by Tehran. Iran had also made real progress with the Biden administration in overcoming the blind hostility of the Trump years.
Iran has no desire to throw away these gains. That is why it seems to me extremely improbable that Iran endorsed the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas. Iran is now restraining Hezbollah. But there are limits to the patience of Iran. The extraordinary truth is that Iran is probably the only state under discussion here with a genuine humanitarian concern for the lives of Palestinians. If the genocide unfolds as horribly as I anticipate, Iran can be pushed too far. https://consortiumnews.com/2023/10/25/craig-murray-the-chances-of-a-regional-war/
2023-10-23 We Are Going To Wipe You Off The Face Of The Earth, Israeli Minister Threatens Iran Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat said on Sunday that the Israeli forces would “eliminate” Hezbollah and target Iran if the Palestinian militants open up a “northern front.” “The plan of Iran is to attack Israel on all fronts. If we find they intend to target Israel, we will not just retaliate to those fronts, but we will go to the head of the snake, which is Iran,” Barkat told The Mail on Sunday. He added, “the ayatollahs in Iran are not going to sleep good at night” if they move against Israel. Barkat warned that Lebanon and the pro-Palestinian militant group Hezbollah “are going to pay a heavy price, similar to what Hamas is going to pay.”
Israel would go “after the heads of Iran” if necessary, the minister said. “Israel has a very clear message to our enemies. We are saying to them, look what is happening in Gaza – you are going to get the same treatment if you attack us. We are going to wipe you off the face of the Earth.” https://countercurrents.org/2023/10/we-are-going-to-wipe-you-off-the-face-of-the-earth-israeli-minister-threatens-iran/
2023-10-18 Iran Warns of Possible Attacks Against Israel Amid Cross-Border Skirmishes Between Israel and Lebanon Turkey has said it is in talks with Hamas to release hostages taken by the group in its deadly October 7 attack in Israel. Meanwhile, Iran has warned of potential “preemptive” action against Israel as it prepares for a possible ground invasion of Gaza. Israel and Hezbollah, a Lebanese group backed by Iran, have been exchanging fire on the Israel-Lebanon border. https://www.democracynow.org/2023/10/18/headlines/biden_sides_with_israel_after_airstrikes_level_gazan_hospital_killing_hundreds_of_palestinians
2023-10-13 Hawks Are Using Gaza Violence as a Pretext for War with Iran The response in the United States to the surge of violence between Palestinians and Israelis holds no surprises whatsoever. The usual bipartisan contingent of pro-war figures in the political arena, the policy community, and the corporate news media presented a predictable narrative from the outset that quickly became dominant.
It is the same script that America’s pro-war elites used with respect to the conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo, the two wars with Iraq, and the disastrous meddling by the United States and its allies in Libya, Syria, and Ukraine. The motive is the same as well – to whip-up public support for the client that the U.S. government is backing and visceral hatred for the “aggressor.” Such imagery also is designed to create sentiment in favor of a possible direct U.S. military intervention.
The other, increasingly visible narrative theme is that Iran, using its Hezbollah proxies in Lebanon, has served as the inspirational and logistical godfather for the latest Hamas offensive. Indeed, some of them were involved in the dishonest campaign to tar Iraq for alleged involvement in the 9-11 terrorist attacks – an assertion that has been thoroughly debunked. Unfortunately, that lobbying effort was all-too-successful and paved the way for the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein, which unleashed chaos throughout the Greater Middle East. Such hawks are trying to get the Biden administration to go down a similar path with respect to Iran. https://www.activistpost.com/2023/10/hawks-are-using-gaza-violence-as-a-pretext-for-war-with-iran.html
2023-10-13 Iran’s Foreign Minister Meets Lebanese Leaders, Warns Israel Could Face “Other Fronts” Thousands of residents of southern Lebanon have fled their homes near Israel’s border amid fears that cross-border skirmishes between Israel and Lebanese militants could escalate into a war. The exodus continued Thursday as Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, traveled to Beirut, where he met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Iran has warned the war risks spreading to “other fronts” if Israel keeps bombing Gaza. https://www.democracynow.org/2023/10/13/headlines/competing_pro_israel_and_pro_palestine_demonstrations_raise_tensions_on_college_campuses
2023-10-11 A Brutal Occupation Begets a Brutal War Between Israel and Hamas – Trita Parsi Trita Parsi, Executive Vice President at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, analyzes Iran’s role in supporting Hamas’ brutal coordinated attack on civilians in Israel. Parsi unpacks Palestinian grievances, as well as Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment and illegal blockade of Gaza. With host Talia Baroncelli. https://theanalysis.news/a-brutal-occupation-begets-a-brutal-war-between-israel-and-hamas-trita-parsi/
2023-10-10 War Expansion: Israel Calls Hamas “Proxy of Iran” Israel says that it will “never forgive” this past weekend’s attack by Hamas and that the war will take “a long time” because the country is going to have to deal with the major “terrorist threat.” At the same time, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said on Monday that Hamas is “the proxy of Iran” and accused the militant Palestinian group of carrying out “a historical massacre that the world will not forget.” https://www.activistpost.com/2023/10/war-expansion-israel-calls-hamas-proxy-of-iran.html
2023-10-10 Israel Will Win This Iran-funded War But Middle East experts have dismissed Iranian denials, as it is well-known that Iran funds Hamas and supplies training and weapons to the terrorists. The recent Biden administration decision to release $6 billion to Iran has come under severe criticism as having, at least partially, lent a hand to the unfolding tragedy currently taking place. But the Biden administration is not the first.
Under the guidance of deposed Iran advisor Robert Malley – now under investigation for allegedly helping Iranian spies gain jobs in sensitive US government positions – the Obama administration in 2009 released $150 billion to the Iranian regime. With such an influx in cash, it is easy to see where that money went – to Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran also funded the Houthis in Yemen, who had been attacking Saudi Arabia for several years. Let it be crystal clear: Iran is the source of terrorism in the Middle East and Israel is fighting a proxy war with Iran in Gaza. https://www.activistpost.com/2023/10/israel-will-win-this-iran-funded-war.html
2020-01-16 Iran, Palestine, and the International Criminal Court https://codepink.substack.com/p/episode-23-iran-palestine-and-the-c4a#details
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