Kellogg‘s visit comes amid a tense atmosphere as Trump adopts increasingly hostile rhetoric toward President Volodymyr Zelensky while planning a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On his first day in Kyiv, Kellogg met Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak, and intelligence and security chiefs, Zelensky revealed.
„We discussed in detail the situation on the battlefield, the ways to repatriate all our prisoners of war, as well as effective security guarantees. From the very first moment of this war, Ukraine has been striving for peace. We can and must achieve a durable and lasting peace to ensure that Russia never returns with war,“ he said.
„It was a good conversation with many details [discussed]. I am grateful to the United States for all its assistance and bipartisan support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,“ Zelenskyy said in the message.
He also thanked Kellogg for their joint efforts in achieving important results.
The official confirmed that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is set to travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, likely on Thursday, to discuss Egypt’s plan for post-war Gaza governance. (…)
The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that the Egyptian plan would not include Hamas or the PA. The report said it would involve a police force made up of PA policemen who remained in Gaza after 2007, when Hamas won legislative elections and took control of the enclave.
MEE reported in May that Hamas was prepared to show „flexibility“ about the future governance of Gaza, stating its condition was that Gaza’s fate was agreed upon by other Palestinian factions and not imposed by either the United States or Israel.
(February 19, 2025)
U.S. special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, will arrive in Ukraine on Feb. 19, traveling by overnight train from Poland. His visit will last three days, though the schedule is still being finalized.
Zelenskyy also said the Ukrainian side has contacted its partners in Saudi Arabia.
„We have agreed that I will make an official visit on March 10,“ he said.
Lavrov pointed out that the meeting in Riyadh was initiated by the Russian and US presidents, who had agreed that preparations for the next summit should be started. To achieve this, foreign ministers and national security advisers were tasked with meeting and determining what needed to be worked out before the two presidents “can negotiate specific dates and timelines for the summit.”
The groups, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, are seeking terms for a peace agreement in Ukraine as well as negotiating a potential meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. They have proposed a framework that could involve a ceasefire, elections in Ukraine followed by the signing of a peace agreement.
Saudi Arabia is neutral ground for Trump to restore high-level ties to Russia, but the crown prince is opposing his Gaza plans
The pair will discuss steps to “further strengthen cooperation between the two countries,” Erdoğan’s chief press aide, Fahrettin Altun, wrote on X.
The Ukrainian president will fly to Ankara from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he landed on Sunday for talks on economic cooperation.
On Wednesday he is due to travel to Saudi Arabia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy adviser to President Vladimir Putin, were due to travel to the Saudi capital, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
They will meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, the State Department said.
Kellogg specified that he is working on the American-Ukrainian-allied track, while the US President‘s Special Representative for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is working on the Russian track.
Delegations from Saudi Arabia and Ukraine met on Feb. 16 to discuss increased investment and bilateral cooperation between the two nations, ahead of a planned visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky. (….)
The Ukrainian delegation is preparing with local officials for Zelensky‘s visit to Saudia Arabia, during which he will sign economic agreements with various countries in the region, First Deputy Prime Minister and Economic Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced on Feb. 16.
As for the Europeans, Kellogg said that he comes from a “school of realism” and that looking back at the previous Minsk II agreement, “there was a lot of people at the table that really had no ability to execute some type of peace process, and it failed miserably.”
Zelenskyy said on Friday that he planned to make trips to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Turkey but did not say when.
Ein Augenzeuge berichtete, dass das Auto vorsätzlich in die Menschenmenge gefahren sein soll. Zudem sprachen Augenzeugen von zwei Männern, einer davon sei von der Polizei angeschossen und weggetragen worden. Die Polizei hat dem BR inzwischen bestätigt, dass ein Schuss in Richtung des Fahrers gefallen sei.
„Ich bin in dem Demonstrationszug mitgegangen“, schilderte ein weiterer Augenzeuge dem BR. Als das Auto in die Menschenmenge fuhr, sei er hingelaufen und „ich habe gesehen, dass ein Mann unter dem Auto gelegen ist. Dann habe ich versucht, die Tür aufzumachen, die war aber abgesperrt.“ Schließlich sei die Polizei gekommen und habe auf das Autofenster geschossen, deshalb habe er sich zurückgezogen und sich um die Verletzten gekümmert.
„President Trump briefed me on the details of his conversation with Putin,“ Zelenskyy said.
He said Ukraine wants peace more than anyone else.
„We are defining our joint steps with America to stop Russian aggression and guarantee a reliable, lasting peace. As President Trump said, let‘s get it done,“ the Ukrainian president said.
He also announced an agreement on further contacts and meetings.
CDU/CSU 30%
SPD 16%
GRÜNE 14%
FDP 4%
LINKE 4%
AfD 20%
FW –
BSW 3%
Sonstige 9%
Nach menschlichem Ermessen wird Deutschland künftig von einem BlackRock-Bundeskanzler Merz regiert, der sich mehrfach für die „Option Pest“ ausgesprochen hat, flankiert von einem Vizekanzler Pistorius (Scholz hat bereits erklärt, sich nach seinem Kanzler-Intermezzo nicht mehr mit Platz II zufrieden geben zu wollen), der die „Option Cholera“ von Beginn an stürmisch akklamiert hat und sich, von seinem künftigen Ex-Chef befreit, sicher auch der „Option Pest“ nicht verweigern wird – beide eventuell noch flankiert von einem Wirtschaftsminister 2.0 Habeck, der als Vertreter der moralischsten, will sagen: bellizistischsten Bundestagspartei sich seit jeher für die „Option Pest und Cholera“ ausgesprochen hat.
Witkoff addressed the possibility of Arab nations like Saudi Arabia joining an alliance with Israel: “Normalization is an amazing opportunity for the region. It’s basically the beginning of the end of war.”
He noted that other countries like Qatar could join the Abraham Accords if the Saudis lead the way. “First, we needed the hopeful moment, and I’d like to think that we’ve achieved that, and we’ll build on that. Then on top of that, we needed to show people that we could stop the violence and that we could have conversation and dialogue.”
(January 22, 2025)
„I think this is an inflection point,“ Witkoff said on „America‘s Newsroom,“ Wednesday.
„I think you could get everybody on board in that region. I think there‘s a new sense of leadership over there. Qatar was enormously helpful in this. Sheikh Mohammed, plenty of his communication skills with Hamas were indispensable here, so I think the UAE is already a part of it. Egypt was very helpful to us in these endeavors.“
„I think we have the opportunity to get everybody bought in to a better future for the region – more opportunity, more hope,“ he added.
The „Committee for the Evaluation of the Defense Establishment Budget and the Balance of Power“ is led by former National Security Council head Yaakov Nagel, and is often referred to in Hebrew media as the Nagel Commission or Nagel Committee.
The commission was established in 2023 before the outbreak of the war, to create recommendations for the defense ministry regarding the possible areas of conflict facing Israel in the years ahead.
The Nagel Committee issued a report on Monday detailing the defence budget and security strategy, where they raised concerns over Turkey’s aspirations and possible future tensions with Israel, according to Israeli media.
The committee said these tensions could escalate into conflict and highlighted the risk of Syrian factions aligning with Turkey and creating further threats to Israel‘s „security“.
Die FPÖ berät am Dienstag den Fahrplan für mögliche Koalitionsgespräche. Herbert Kickl wird sich am Nachmittag in einer Pressekonferenz zu Wort melden.
Vom ersten Treffen der Verhandler der Zuckerl-Koalition im neuen Jahr am vergangenen Donnerstagnachmittag bis zur Rede von Bundespräsident Alexander Van der Bellen am Montagnachmittag waren es 100 Stunden, die das Land zuletzt politisch verändert haben. Die „Krone“ hat die Ereignisse für Sie noch einmal chronologisch zusammengefasst.
Nach turbulenten Tagen in der österreichischen Innenpolitik steht offenbar fest: Die ÖVP wird Verhandlungen mit der FPÖ unter Herbert Kickl aufnehmen – und das als Juniorpartner. Das heißt, dass Kickl der nächste Kanzler werden könnte. Gespräche über eine Koalition zwischen ÖVP und SPÖ waren zuvor gescheitert.
Irgendwann geht es um die Frage, mit wem ein Neubeginn gegen FPÖ und ÖVP möglich ist. Doch davor geht es ums Aufräumen und damit um Konsequenzen:
– um den Rücktritt von Beate Meinl-Reisinger, die mit ihrer Panikreaktion den Zusammenbruch der letzten Linie vor der FPÖ verursacht hat;
– um die Klärung, wer in der SPÖ von allen unterstützt die Führung in einer neuen Opposition übernimmt;
– um die Neuaufstellung der Grünen ohne das Mitläuferpersonal aus der Ära „Nehammer“;
und möglicherweise um eine neue Kraft, die als einzige die FPÖ alt aussehen lassen kann.
(December 17, 2024)
Rosemary DiCarlo briefed the Security Council on developments surrounding the 2015 accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and implementation of Council resolution 2231 (2015) which endorsed it.
The JCPOA set out rigorous mechanisms for monitoring restrictions placed on Iran’s nuclear programme, while paving the way for lifting sanctions against the country.
It was signed between Iran and the Council’s five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States – plus Germany and the European Union. The US withdrew in May 2018 under the Trump administration.
(December 17, 2024)
Saudi Arabia has the characteristics of a nuclear hedger: a state that lays the groundwork for the active pursuit of nuclear weapons. Saudi Arabia has stated the conditions under which it would pursue nuclear weapons. It already possesses dual-capable delivery systems and seeks reactors to produce weapons-grade uranium. Its inability to enrich nuclear material alone prevents Saudi Arabia from gaining nuclear latency that it can rapidly convert into nuclear weapons. Saudi Arabia is best categorized as an insurance hedger that seeks to reduce the time needed to build a bomb. Regardless of the categorization of Saudi Arabia’s hedging, its interest in nuclear weapons has entered a new, acute stage.
(June 27, 2024)
Wie das Statistische Bundesamt (Destatis) weiter mitteilt, gab es im Jahr 2023 rund 1 933 000 Zuzüge und 1 270 000 Fortzüge über die Grenzen Deutschlands (2022: 2 666 000 Zuzüge und 1 204 000 Fortzüge).
Residents in Tadamon said that executions in the area were common. In interviews in 2022, they described at least 10 other incidents of summary killings between August 2012 and January 2014 in Tadamon, Daraya, Moadamiya, and surrounding areas. This evidence suggests that other bodies were buried in and around the area. The area was also the site of armed clashes between Syrian government forces and opposition fighters affiliated with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) at numerous points between 2012 and 2013.
Human Rights Watch began investigating the massacre in October 2021, after receiving a leaked video discovered by a member of a Syrian militia on a laptop and handed to Annsar Shahhoud and Uğur Ümit Üngör, researchers at the University of Amsterdam and the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Amsterdam, and ARD, a German Public Broadcaster.
“This video, filmed by the perpetrators themselves who laughed as they killed their victims, shows the Syrian government’s callous disregard for people’s lives,” Zayadin said. “This massacre is just one horrific incident in a pattern of state violence and apparent war crimes.”
Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz hat im Bundestag die Vertrauensfrage verloren – und damit den Weg für Neuwahlen freigemacht. Mehr im Wahl-Blog.
It was the first high-level visit from India to Bangladesh since Sheikh Hasina was deposed as Prime Minister in August this year and since the interim government, led by Muhammad Yunus, assumed office.
There have been multiple attacks on Hindus and other minorities by extremist elements in Bangladesh. There also have been cases of arson and looting of minorities‘ homes and vandalism and desecration of deities and temples.
The leaders of Communist Party of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal- BSD on Wednesday expressed concern over provocation of sectarian unrest in the country.
They also expressed concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in several areas across the country.
Beschwerden gegen die Parlamentswahl, bezüglich angeblicher „russischer Einmischung“ gab es keine. Bei dieser Wahl haben auch die „Richtigen“ gewonnen. Im Gegensatz zur Präsidentenwahl: In einem beispiellosen Schritt sagte der Oberste Gerichtshof die Stichwahl ab und annullierte die erste Wahlrunde – ohne Beweise für eine „russische Wahleinmischung“. Diese Woche gaben die EU/NATO-Kräfte nun die Bildung einer neuen Regierung bekannt. Auch sonst passiert viel. Ein Überblick.
7. 12. 2024 | Das Verfassungsgericht Rumäniens hat am Freitag (6.12.) die erste Runde der Präsidentschaftswahl annulliert und den zweiten Wahlgang am Sonntag abgesagt. Grund sei Einflussnahme auf die Wahl durch TikTok-Nutzer. Vorausgegangen war ein Bericht des nationalen Sicherheitsrats und öffentliche Drohungen der US-Regierung.
Wenn die US-Regierung eigens eine Erklärung zum Ausgang der ersten Runde der Präsidentschaftswahl in Rumänien veröffentlicht und diese beginnt mit:….
Nach dem Sturz von Machthaber Assad ist noch vieles unsicher in Syrien. Am Rand seiner Ukraine-Reise hebt der CDU-Vorsitzende Merz die starke Rolle von Türkiye hervor. Die EU und Deutschland sollten gemeinsam mit Ankara die Region „befrieden“.
(November 25, 2024)
Americans who think themselves informed because they watch CNN, read the NY Times, and listen to NPR, regard my warnings about nuclear war as disinformation, even hysteria. They say that US government officials, such as Secretary of State Blinken and National Security advisor Jake Sullivan, are not stupid or insane.
Dear readers, you tell me how you can give permission for the US and NATO to fire missiles into Russia, especially when the Russian President has clearly stated it means the US and NATO are at war with Russia, and not be stupid and insane.
(November 18, 2024)
Der Kanzlerkandidat der Grünen und derzeitige Wirtschaftsminister, Robert Habeck, würde Taurus-Marschflugkörper an die Streitkräfte der Ukraine liefern, wenn er zum deutschen Bundeskanzler gewählt würde. Dies erklärte Habeck selbst in seiner Rede auf dem Bundesparteitag in Wiesbaden.
srael Hayom has learned that IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi participated in a Chiefs of Staff conference in Britain over the past two days. This is considered an unusual step, amid the ongoing war in Gaza and Lebanon.
Halevi departed two days ago and returned last night (Monday-Tuesday). During his two-day visit, against the backdrop of de-escalation efforts in northern Israel, Halevi met with Chiefs of Staff from various countries and provided an overview of the situation in the Middle East.
Südkoreas Präsident Yoon Suk Yeol hatte auf einer Pressekonferenz am 7. November gesagt, dass er abhängig vom Ausmaß der Beteiligung der nordkoreanischen Streitkräfte an dem Krieg Waffenlieferungen an die Ukraine nicht ausschließen wolle.
„If the British Army was asked to fight tonight, it would fight tonight,“ Rob Magowan, the deputy chief of the British defense staff, told the House of Commons defense committee. „I don‘t think anybody in this room should be under any illusion that if the Russians invaded Eastern Europe tonight, then we would meet them in that fight.“
The striking comments came as MPs asked Magowan Thursday how many British brigades could get to NATO‘s eastern flank in the event of a major escalation by Russia.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said in an interview published Saturday that Ukraine could fire French-provided long-range missiles into Russian territory following US and British authorization of such strikes.
France has provided Ukraine with its version of the British Storm Shadow missiles, known as SCALP missiles, which have a range of about 155 miles. Barrot told BBC that there are no “red lines” when it comes to France’s support of Ukraine and that Ukrainian forces could fire the missiles into Russia “in the logics of self-defense.”
(November 19, 2024)
Joe Biden genehmigt der Ukraine, mit amerikanischen Raketen Ziele in Russland zu beschießen. Damit riskiert er einen Weltkrieg.
Kurz vor der Amtsübergabe eskalieren die US-Demokraten nochmal. Ihnen scheint völlig egal zu sein, dass Kamala Harris auch wegen der Ukraine-Politik die Wahl verloren hat.
(November 21, 2024)
Bereits Ende August hatte der Spiegel unter dem Titel „Wladimir Putin und seine Schauermärchen von den roten Linien“ Verniedlichung betrieben. Die Autorin Ann-Dorit Boy, die laut Spiegel auch „Public Information Officer bei UN OCHA in Kiew“ war, schreibt:
„Die Erkenntnis, dass Putins Drohungen leer sind, ist nicht neu. Der Kreml hat in seinem Krieg gegen die Ukraine schon viele angeblich rote Linien gezogen. Militärhilfe von Drittstaaten sollte tabu sein, später Angriffe auf die Brücke zur Halbinsel Krim, die Lieferung von weitreichenden Raketen und Marschflugkörpern und F-16-Kampfjets. Alle diese Linien sind überschritten worden. Passiert ist nichts.“
(November 22, 2024)
Desperate to bolster Ukraine’s standing in the war before the transition of power on January 20, the Biden administration is looking at a range of serious escalations. “US and European officials are discussing deterrence as a possible security guarantee for Ukraine, such as stockpiling a conventional arsenal sufficient to strike a punishing blow if Russia violates a cease-fire.” The article continues, “Several officials even suggested that Mr. Biden could return nuclear weapons to Ukraine that were taken from it after the fall of the Soviet Union.”
According to some officials who spoke with the Times, the administration believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t significantly escalate the war until Trump returns to the Oval Office.
(November 24, 2024)
„Trump’s Vow to End the War Could Leave Ukraine With Few Options
…
Several officials even suggested that Mr. Biden could return nuclear weapons to Ukraine that were taken from it after the fall of the Soviet Union. That would be an instant and enormous deterrent. But such a step would be complicated and have serious implications.“
(November 21, 2024)
Ukraine’s military has accused Russia of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile in an attack on the city of Dnipro. The air force did not say what kind of ICBM was deployed and CNN has not been able to verify the claim.
NATO and Ukraine are to hold emergency talks on Tuesday next week, after an attack with intermediate-range Oreshnik missile hit a military facility in central Ukraine. The event was an escalation of the war, which Poland‘s Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said is „entering a decisive phase“ and „taking on very dramatic dimensions“ as it nears 33 months in duration.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on Friday that the missile attack was in response to Ukraine using longer-range missiles capable of striking further into Russian territory, which had been provided by the US and Britain.
Obwohl es Tausende junge Soldaten in einen grundlosen Krieg geschickt habe und sie somit in Lebensgefahr bringe, habe Nordkorea dies bislang nicht einmal der eigenen Bevölkerung mitgeteilt, sagte der Beamte.
Die Behörden Südkoreas und der USA haben mittlerweile offiziell bestätigt, dass sich nach Russland entsandte nordkoreanische Soldaten bereits an Gefechten gegen die Ukraine beteiligen. Bis zum Donnerstagvormittag war in Nordkoreas Staatsmedien jedoch noch nicht davon berichtet worden.
The new doctrine states that Moscow will have the right to consider the nuclear option if Russia or Belarus come under attackby conventional arms and if such aggression creates a „critical threat“ to their sovereignty or territorial integrity.
Additionally, any act of aggression by a non-nuclear state with the participation of a nuclear state against Russia will now be regarded as a joint attack and could also trigger the new doctrine.
Moscow signaled to the West that it’s ready for a nuclear confrontation.
Ukrainian news outlets reported early Tuesday that missiles had been used to attack a Russian military facility in the Bryansk border region.
Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed the attack.
Mobile bomb shelters are going into mass production in Russia, a government ministry said.
(2 hours ago)
It is likely that about 11,000 North Korean troops have moved into Russia‘s Kursk region, said Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh, who spoke to the media today.
„No one anticipated that Joe Biden would ESCALATE the war in Ukraine during the transition period. This is as if he is launching a whole new war,“ Ric Grenell, Trump’s former acting director of national intelligence, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
„Everything has changed now – all previous calculations are null and void. And all for politics.“
„The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives. Gotta lock in those $Trillions. Life be damned!!! Imbeciles!“ Donald Trump Jr., the president-elect’s son, wrote on X.
(November 17, 2024)
With two months left in office, the president for the first time authorized the Ukrainian military to use the system known as ATACMS to help defend its forces in the Kursk region of Russia.
(Nov. 13, 1974)
The vote of 91 to 22 was taken to uphold a ruling by the Assembly‘s President, Foreign Minister Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria, suspending South African participation.
The United States unsuccessfully challenged the ruling, Which was also opposed by Britain, a number of Western Europeans and South Americans, and some others. Nineteen countries abstained.
At the start of each annual general assembly session, the credentials committee reviews submissions from each member state before they are formally admitted. Usually, this is a formality, but on September 27 1974, the credentials of South Africa – which was then operating an apartheid system – were rejected.
(…)
A draft resolution calling for South Africa’s expulsion was eventually put to the security council at the end of October, but it was vetoed by the US, the UK and France.
However, on November 12, the president of the general assembly, Algeria’s Abdelaziz Bouteflika, ruled that given the credentials committee’s decision and the passing of resolution 3207, “the general assembly refuses to allow the delegation of South Africa to participate in its work”. South Africa remained suspended from the general assembly until June 1994 following the ending of apartheid.
The documents also report no sign of any preparations by Israel to activate its nuclear deterrent. (…)
The US has made no secret of its opposition to the targeting of either Iran’s nuclear research facilities or its oil installations.
However, another piece of intelligence is marked as being for the eyes of US and British intelligence only: that Israel has been using a long-range unmanned surveillance drone which is capable of flying covertly over Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East.
The drone, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), is a “covert” drone named RA-01. It was not publicly known about.
Egypt reiterated its call for the Security Council to fulfill its responsibilities in maintaining international peace and security, warning of the serious consequences if the international community fails to intervene promptly to stop the Israeli aggression.
(January 14, 2020)
This reckoning is already being billed as Iran’s “Chernobyl” moment, an analogy to the way the 1986 nuclear disaster in the Soviet Ukraine “exposed all the incompetence, state deception and rot in that regime,” according to IranWire, a site for Iranian citizen journalists in the diaspora.”
But whether Iran’s grief and fury could lead to revolution is hard to tell.
Between the lines: The report, if accurate, would suggest very close and detailed surveillance by U.S. intelligence of Israel‘s preparations for an attack on Iran, including the use of satellites to spy on operations carried out at Israeli Air Force bases.
Another US official said that “these two documents are bad, but not horrible. The concern is if there are more.”
It is not clear how the documents became public, nor whether they were hacked or deliberately leaked.
Defence Minister Guido Crosetto told RAI television that changing UNIFIL‘s rules of engagement or increasing troop numbers could happen if Israel stopped its operations.
„The message we want to send to Israel is that if you stop your army, the U.N. can also change its approach in that part of Lebanon, so that we can peacefully achieve what you‘re now trying to do by attacking Hezbollah‘s bases militarily,“ he said.
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.
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.
(January 5, 2024)
In 1988, the Central Intelligence Agency did discover that Riyadh bought SS-2 medium-range missiles from China but only after the deal was sealed. In 2003, when China exported DF-21 ballistic missiles to the Kingdom, the CIA again found out and was even allowed to verify the missiles were not nuclear-capable, but only after the missiles were delivered.
Several years later, when intelligence finally leaked out that China secretly built missile factories for the Saudis, the Trump administration was mum on whether there was an intelligence failure and allowed speculation that it had blessed the transaction. Then, in 2020, when US intelligence confirmed China was helping the Kingdom mill uranium domestically, it did so, again only after the mining and milling were well underway.
This track record of studied inadvertence, then, brings us to the next worry: MBS wants Washington to green-light the Kingdom enriching uranium…
(March 19, 2023)
In general, the Saudis wish to present themselves as Iran’s equals, and if Iran can enrich uranium, say the Saudis, then so can we. In addition, the Saudis want to keep all their nuclear options open, even if they are not intending to work on the development of nuclear weapons immediately.
(September 14, 2023)
Top Israeli sources have told the Jerusalem Post that there are secret technological ways to ensure that the Saudis do not misuse civilian nuclear items, which the US may give them as part of a three-way normalization deal, for military purposes.
Although there are no guarantees, because the issue is highly technical and there are issues to address regarding the Palestinians and highly complex politics, these technological fixes could be key to locking in a normalization deal between Riyadh and Jerusalem, under Washington’s auspices.