Middle East Eye reported last week that Qaani was alive and unhurt but under guard and being questioned about apparent security breaches surrounding the killing of Nasrallah.
Middle East Eye sources say Iranian authorities have serious suspicions about a major security breach in Qaani’s office, though none of MEE’s sources suggested Qaani was involved. Iranian authorities have not commented on reports that Qaani was questioned.
(October 2, 2024)
Nasrallah‘s assassination followed two weeks of precise Israeli strikes that have destroyed weapons sites, eliminated half of Hezbollah‘s leadership council and decimated its top military command.
On Thursday, Iranian sources revealed that the commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Esmail Qaani, is under investigation on suspicion of espionage, after his chief of staff, Ehsan Shafiqi, was suspected of collaborating with Israel.
(9. März, 2016)
Jeder Idiot, wenn auch kein “Linker” heutztage, begreift, dass ein Angriff von außen nur die herrschenden, autoritären und auf Krieg angewiesenen Kräfte stärkt.
Jeder “Politiker”, jeder Militär, jeder Funktionär ist zum Erbrechen, wo man nur hinschaut.
Fazit:
Im Westen nichts Neues.
Nilforoushan, who had flown into Beirut that evening from Tehran, was taken directly from the plane to the operations room beneath the residential neighbourhood of Haret Hreik, the sources said. He arrived there before Nasrallah.
The strike that targeted the meeting took place shortly after Nasrallah entered the room, the sources said.
“The breach was 100 percent Iranian and there is no question about this part,” a source close to Hezbollah told MEE.
Iranian state media announced Nilforoushan’s death as a “martyr” who died alongside Nasrallah.
Sources close to Hezbollah told MEE that Qaani was in Lebanon and had been expected to attend the Shura Council meeting at Safieddine‘s invitation on the day of the air strike.
But Qaani apologised and backed out of the meeting shortly before it began, they said.
)October 3, 2024)
The revelation from Bou Habib could provide insight into how Israel killed Nasrallah, who has survived multiple Israeli assassination attempts over the decades.
Another report from Reuters published on Wednesday said that Iran‘s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei sent a messenger to warn Nasrallah that Israel was planning to assassinate him. That messenger, senior Iranian commander Abbas Nilforoushan, was also killed in the Israeli strike on Friday 27 September.
Several missiles were also located near the Dead Sea, near where Israeli nuclear facilities are located. It wasn‘t clear whether they were intercepted by Israel or the US, according to the report.
One missile hit in the vicinity of a school in the town of Gedera, with photos of the aftermath showing a massive crater in the ground and major structural damage to the nearby buildings.
(10.04.2024)
In an editorial on April 8, Masih Mohajeri, the influential managing editor of Jomhouri Eslami daily, a newspaper that was founded by Ali Khamenei in 1979, asked: „Why Russia, which controls the Syrian airspace does not prevent air strikes on Iranian targets in Syria?“ Also implicating Syria and possibly Iranian infiltrators in tipping off the Israelis, Mohajeri wrote: „We have had too many losses in Syria during the past months and this is certainly because of the treason by infiltrators.“
Since December, Israel has eliminated 18 high ranking IRGC officers in Syria, in what appears to be a systematic campaign to limit the danger of Iranian proxies on its borders.
Das russische Außenministerium in Moskau hatte erklärt: „Washington, das sich seiner Straffreiheit sicher ist, setzt seine Saat des Chaos und der Zerstörung im Nahen Osten fort.“ Das Außenministerium fügte hinzu, es habe die Angriffe „entschieden verurteilt“.
Two US destroyers fired Tomahawk missiles as part of the strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, a US official told CNN. The USS Gravely and USS Carney, both of which are Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, fired the land-attack cruise missiles during the operation.
F/A-18 fighter jets from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier also took part in the strikes, officials said.
(09.01.2024)
(03.01.2024)
Despite the US Administration‘s announcement that the Iraqi authorities were notified about the strikes, Iraq condemned these attacks and did not confirm the American allegations.
Iraqi government spokesman Bassem Al-Awadi denied any „prior coordination“ between Baghdad and Washington in this regard.
Al-Awadi stated, „The American administration committed a new aggression against the sovereignty of Iraq,“ noting that the strikes caused casualties, injuries, and damage to residential buildings and property. He accused the US of „falsifying facts by claiming prior coordination, emphasizing that this aggression jeopardizes security in Iraq and the region.“
(03.01.2024)
Iraq‘s Popular Mobilization Forces, a state security force including Iran-backed groups, said 16 of its members were killed including fighters and medics. The government earlier said civilians were among 16 dead.
In Syria, the strikes killed 23 people who had been guarding the targeted locations, said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which reports on war in Syria.
(03.01.2024)
Unter den 16 Toten im Irak seien auch Zivilisten, teilte ein Regierungssprecher in Bagdad mit. Wie viele genau, sagte er nicht. Zudem habe es 36 Verletzte gegeben sowie Schäden an Wohngebäuden und an Privatbesitz von Irakern. Hinzu kommen mindestens 29 getötete Mitglieder proiranischer Milizen in Syrien, welche die syrische Beobachtungsstelle für Menschenrechte mit Sitz in London registrierte.
(12.05.2018)
Ein Abzug der iranischen und libanesischen Einheiten aus dem Syrien-Krieg wäre für Netanjahu, der dringend einen Krieg und eine fiktive oder tatsächliche äußere Bedrohung Israels braucht um dort an der Macht zu bleiben, ein echtes Problem.
Nach der von den Staatsführungen Russland und Syriens orchestrierten Einladung an Israels Regierungs-Gang Syrien zu bombardieren, was unmittelbar dem Besuch von Benjamin Netanjahu in Moskau folgte, gab die syrische Armee schließlich zu, selbst den Golan angegriffen zu haben und nicht iranische Einheiten. Radio Utopie empfahl diesbezüglich gestern:
“Die Hisbollah und die Staatsführung des Iran sollten ihre Truppen aus Syrien zurückziehen und Assad zum Teufel und / oder Putin gehen lassen.”
Reuters spoke to six sources familiar with Iranian deployments in Syria for this story. They declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the subject.
Three of the sources said the Guards had raised concerns with Syrian authorities that information leaks from within the Syrian security forces played a part in the recent lethal strikes.
Despite more than a week passing since the unexpected Iranian attack, with its timing, circumstances, and justifications, Iranian officials persist in claiming that the long-range missiles launched at civilian areas in Erbil were targeting „Mossad sites.“ However, Tehran has not provided any evidence or arguments to support this claim to either the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) or the Iraqi government.
The „escaping forward“ policy pursued by Iranian officials regarding the attack on Erbil amounts to an implicit admission of the invalidity of their justifications and the failure of the missile aggression itself.
The dual rebukes of Iran and the US underscore the tightrope Baghdad is walking as the war in Gaza seeps out beyond the besieged Mediterranean enclave’s borders.
Across the region, Tehran and Washington are flexing their muscles, vying to outflank each other in a deadly proxy war. The shadowy conflict has taken on different flavours that reflect local and geopolitical realities.
(20.01.2024)
The Iranian missile attacks last Monday night on Iraqi territory in Erbil, Kurdistan Region (KRI), were deemed by the Iraqi government as „an act of aggression“ and a dangerous development undermining the strong relation between Iraq and its eastern neighbor. The Iraqi government affirmed its right to respond at an appropriate time. Political analysts see the Iraqi response as unusual, entering a diplomatic crisis with Iran for the first time since 2003.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told Rudaw’s Sinan Tuncdemir on Tuesday that they were “very concerned” about the Iranian attack, urging all parties to exercise maximum restraint and refrain from any escalation.
“We are, of course, against any attacks that violate the territorial integrity of any country. Every dispute needs to be dealt with through peaceful means, through dialogue, and within the ideals contained in the UN charter which are about sovereignty and territorial integrity of every country,” said Dujarric.
„The attack is a flagrant violation of Iraqi sovereignty, which goes against… international law and threatens the security of the region,“ the ministry said in a letter handed to Iran‘s charge d‘affaires Abol Fadl Azizi.
Iraqi authorities „will take all legal steps“ necessary, including „lodging a complaint with the (UN) Security Council“, the ministry added in a statement.
Pakistan condemned the attack, describing it an “unprovoked violation” of the Pakistani airspace, and warned Tehran of serious consequences. The Foreign Office said in a late-night statement that the violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty was completely unacceptable.
Two bases of Jaish al Adl in Pakistan were targeted by missiles on Tuesday, Iranian state media reported, a day after Iran‘s elite Revolutionary Guards missiles strikes hit an “Israeli spy centre” in Iraq and targeted Islamic State militants in Syria.
Islamabad reacted strongly over unprovoked violation of airspace by Tehran air attack inside Pakistani territory killed two innocent children while injuring three other girls.
Foreign office said such violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty is completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences.
MoFA called it concerning as despite the existence of several channels of communication, Iran opted for aggressive approach.
(9. März 2016)
U.S. Präsident Joe Biden trifft Benjamin Netanjahu in Israel und Mahmoud Abbas im besetzten Palästina. Zeit für die iranischen Militärs, ebenfalls die Völker von Israel und Palästina zu bedrohen, zu verraten und zu verkaufen, wie alle anderen auch. Und das Volk von Iran natürlich gleich mit.
(6, Juni 2010)
Israel und Iran. Kaum ist der asiatische Kirchenstaat am Mittelmeer in der Bredouille, legt sein Pendant am Persischen Golf los. (…)
Man sieht es schon vor Augen: die iranische Marine im Mittelmeer, Volldampf nach Gaza und immer Richtung Kriegsmarine der Atommacht Israel. Also dass wir alle da nicht gleich drauf gekommen sind. So eine gute Idee. Da lacht das Herz. Es gibt ja wahrlich große Unterschiede zwischen Iran und Israel, aber trotzdem scheint man sich dort in der Upper Class das Gleiche in den Tee zu tun.
Missiles rain on the headquarters of terrorists in Iraqi Kurdistan, Syria’s Idlib and Pakistan’s Balochistan
Iran launched attacks Tuesday in Pakistan targeting what it described as bases for the militant group Jaish al-Adl, potentially further raising tensions in a Middle East already roiled by Israel‘s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Pakistan said the strikes killed two children and wounded three others in an assault it described as an “unprovoked violation” of its airspace.
The Democratic Socialists of America demand an immediate and permanent cessation of hostilities by the United States against Yemen and an end to diplomatic and military support of Israel. President Biden widened the existing regional war even further by ordering airstrikes against civilian infrastructure in Yemen in an effort to stop that country’s humanitarian blockade of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Since October 7th, Israel has continuously engaged in provocative military aggression, aimed at expanding its brutal war into Lebanon. Israeli spokespeople continue their propaganda efforts to tie Iran to the events of October 7th and have issued calls for retaliation. A cyberattack believed to be the work of Israeli military intelligence has struck Iranian civilian infrastructure and extrajudicial assassinations have targeted senior leaders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hamas in Syria and Lebanon. The U.S.’s attack on Yemen comes in the context of Yemeni forces having blocked container ships owned by Israelis or headed towards Israeli ports. U.S. airstrikes are taking place while South Africa presents its arguments to the International Court of Justice for provisional measures against Israel for the crime of genocide.
(February 26, 2022)
Following the 2015 Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war, Israel set up a „deconfliction mechanism“ with the big power to prevent them clashing inadvertently during Israeli strikes against Iranian deployments and arms transfers in the neighbouring Arab state.
„Our military officials discuss the practical issues of this substantively on a daily basis. This mechanism has proven to be useful and will continue to work,“ the Russian embassy in Israel said in a statement.
An Israeli air strike outside the Syrian capital of Damascus has killed a senior adviser in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to reports from Iranian state media.
Iranian media outlets claimed that the confrontation forced helicopters to land back on the Americans ships.
The ships, a helicopter carrier and a support vessel that were carrying more than 4,000 American troops between them, were sent to the Gulf in response to Iran‘s continued threats of seizing commercial ships in the region.
Iran did not provide a reason for launching the drill, though such snap exercises have happened in the past.
Following Putin’s visit to Tehran in July, Iran offered to assist Russia with avoiding those sanctions by using its so-called “dark” fleet of oil tankers.
In return, Moscow agreed an arms deal with Iran, including the purchase of 2,400 Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones.
These Iranian kamikaze drones are now at the forefront of Vladimir Putin’s attempts to wreak havoc against Ukraine, with their participation all the more important because the Russian military is running low on stockpiles of its conventional missiles. Nor is Iran’s involvement likely to be confined to providing drones.
(January 26, 2022)
However, the Russo-Iranian dispute did not end there. Instead, unrest over Ulyanov’s comments led to the voicing of broader concerns over Russia’s “domineering policy” vis-à-vis Iran. The Kremlin’s central role in the Vienna talks has touched off widespread jabs in Iranian mainstream and social media. Given Iran’s refusal to sit one-on-one with the U.S. side, Ulyanov’s release of a photo of a December 29 meeting between Russian and U.S. diplomats concerning the Iran nuclear deal, intensified the criticism.
Pro-government conservative newspapers within Iran downplayed criticisms of the Russian negotiators, which they described as psychological warfare initiated by the U.S. and Israel.
(26.04.2021)
The release of the comments by Zarif set off a firestorm in Iran, where officials carefully mind their words amid a cut-throat political environment that includes the powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, ultimately overseen by the country‘s supreme leader. Zarif has been suggested as a possible candidate for Iran‘s June 18 presidential election, as well.
Zarif‘s comments might complicate talks in Vienna aimed at bringing Tehran and the U.S. back into compliance with Iran‘s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Tehran did not demand in its response to a proposed agreement drafted by the EU that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) be removed from a U.S. list of terrorist organizations, the news agency reported late Friday, citing a senior Biden administration official. Former President Donald Trump put the Guard on the list in 2019, after pulling out of the last nuclear accord — an action that imposed numerous sanctions on the military group.
A political analyst says pro-Israel lobbies and groups that oppose Iran’s nuclear deal with the West, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), would take advantage of the Friday night attack on anti-Islam blasphemous novelist Salman Rushdie and pin it on Iran to diminish the prospects of an agreement.