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☆ Opinion: Unable to ‘win’ in Gaza, Israel sets its sights elsewhere
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Opinion Hussein Ibish | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —An eerie relative calm has descended on the Middle East — Gaza obviously excluded — since a highly alarming exchange of missile, rocket and drone attacks by Israel and Iran in recent weeks. Now, the recent exchange of direct military attacks with Iran might have sealed Lebanon’s fate, unless team Biden can restrain Israel. On April 1, Israel struck an Iranian diplomatic facility in Damascus, killing a number of senior Iranian officials including Brig. As Israel’s forces moved south through Gaza, obliterating Hamas brigades with relative ease, its thinking relatively quickly turned north again. If this happens, a primary US goal regarding the Gaza war — conflict containment — would be shattered not by Washington’s adversaries, but ironically by its closest regional partner.

Persons: Hussein Ibish, Read, Biden, Israel, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, Haji Rahimi, Hossein Amirollah, Louai Beshara, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Charbel Mallo, Israel —, Joe Biden Organizations: Gulf States Institute, Israel, CNN, Biden, Hezbollah, Brig, Iran’s, Quds Force, Getty, Iranian, Israeli Locations: Washington, East, Gaza, Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Iranian, Damascus, Brig, Syria, AFP, Tehran, United States, Kafr Kila, Lebanese

☆ Why was Iran struck by drones?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Israel carried out the strike inside Iran Friday morning, a US official told CNN. There were no reports of a missile attack, Iran’s National Cyberspace Center spokesperson Hossein Dalirian said on social platform X. The US “didn’t green light” an Israeli response, another senior US official told CNN. Video Ad Feedback Iranian journalist on how Iranian media reported the Israeli attack 02:19 - Source: CNNWhy is this happening now? Israel last week pledged, however, that it would “exact a price” from Iran in response to that aerial barrage.

Persons: Hossein Dalirian, ”, Hossein Amir, Abdollahian, “, Mohammed Reza Zahedi, Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, Israel, Beshara, ’, Yemen’s, Joe Biden, What’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, Amir, ” Amir, Maha Yahya Organizations: CNN, National Cyberspace Center, United Nations, Islamic, Palestinian, Hamas, Israel, Iranian, Revolutionary Guards, Pentagon, Getty, Wednesday, Carnegie Middle East Locations: Iran, Israel, Tehran, Isfahan, Iranian, Syria, Islamic Republic, United States, Gaza, Israeli, Damascus, Quds, AFP, Red Sea, Tabriz

☆ Opinion: 5 critical takeaways from Iran’s attack on Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Opinion Frida Ghitis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Miraculously, by a feat of military technology bolstered by coordination with friends and allies, Israel was able to repel the massive attack. The Quds Force commanders have been working with Iran-allied Hezbollah, which has been shelling Israel since Oct. 7, when Hamas launched an attack from Gaza. What if Iran’s missiles and drones had carried nuclear material? In addition, the US was able to work out of its bases in Qatar and northern Iraq to counter Iran’s attack. The Iranian attack has revealed that Israel does have friends, including some in very important places: across the Middle East.

Persons: Frida Ghitis, Israel, Frida Ghitis Tanya Malott, Jerusalem —, Jesus, Israel unlivable, Israel —, Benjamin Netanyahu, —, General Antonio Guterres “, ”, Jordan, ” Saudi Arabia — Iran’s, Benny Gantz, ” Biden, “, Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben Gvir, John Bolton Organizations: CNN, Washington Post, Politics, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Israel, Quds Force, Hamas, Ukraine, Street Journal, United Arab, Finance, National Security Locations: Israel, Jerusalem, al, Aqsa, Iran, Arab Israeli, Damascus, Gaza, Beirut, Buenos Aires, Jordan, Iraq, North Korea, Israeli, Palestinian, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Russia, Argentina, Japan, United States, France, ” Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Republic

☆ Iran practiced blowing up an Israeli F-35 base with ballistic missiles just weeks before attacking the real thing
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewJust weeks before Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, it practiced blowing up an Israeli airbase housing F-35 fighter jets with ballistic missiles. Iran and its proxy militias attacked Israel on Saturday with more than 300 one-way attack drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. Iran made no secret of its intention to attack an Israeli F-35 base prior to Saturday's barrage. It claimed that the IRGC "successfully" hit the mock targets with "Emad" and "Qadr" ballistic missiles that had modified structures and improved warheads. Both missiles are variants of Iran's Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missile, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

Persons: —, Daniel Hagari, Benjamin Netanyahu, Morteza Nikoubazl, Shahab, Coningham Organizations: Service, Business, Israel Defense Forces, Israeli, Force, Nevatim Airbase, AF, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Tasnim News Agency, Quds, Getty Images, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Royal United Services Institute, Israeli Air Force Locations: Iran, Israel, Nevatim, Israeli, Palmachim, Tel Aviv, Tehran, Jerusalem, Iranian, Syria

☆ Can China play a role in avoiding an all-out war in the Middle East?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Nectar Gan | Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

“China calls on the international community, especially countries with influence, to play a constructive role for the peace and stability of the region,” the ministry added. The decision by Iran’s leaders to strike at Israel directly has pushed the shadow war between the two regional foes into the open. That’s why China does not condemn Iran,” said Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Washington-based Stimson Center think tank. Beijing meanwhile denounced the strike as a “barbarian act,” with protests erupting outside US diplomatic compounds across China. “For China, had US applies enough pressure on Israel, neither the Israeli attack nor the Iranian retaliation would have taken place.

Persons: Beijing’s, Antony Blinken, Wang Yi –, Saudi Arabia –, ”, William Figueroa, Figueroa, “, Xi Jinping, China’s, Iran ”, Israel, ” Figueroa, Wang Wenbin, Wang, Yun Sun, Bill Clinton, Jiang Zemin, ” Sun, Kishida, Jaishankar, Israel Katz, Hossein Amirabdollahian Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Foreign Ministry, Washington, US State Department, Hamas, Beijing, Tehran, University of Groningen, Global Security Initiative, CNN, Chinese Foreign Ministry, Stimson, NATO, Embassy, Japan’s, Israel’s Foreign, Iranian Locations: China, Hong Kong, East, Iran, Israel, Beijing, Gaza, Tehran, Damascus, Republic, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Palestinian, Red, Tehran –, Netherlands, underinvestment, United States, Israeli, Syria, Quds, Washington, Belgrade, That’s, Yugoslavia, Asia, ”, India, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia

Should the Israeli regime commit any military aggression again, Iran's response will assuredly and decisively be stronger and more resolute,” Ambassador Iravani added. Citing self-defense against repeated Israeli military aggressions, Iravani said the strikes were specifically in retaliation to an Israeli attack on April 1 against what Iran says were diplomatic facilities in Damascus. Iran claims the attack violated international law and led to the death of seven Iranian military advisors, including key commanders from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. The statement also criticizes the United Nations Security Council for “failing to uphold international peace,” allowing Israel to “breach” established international norms and “escalate” regional tensions. However an Israel Defense Forces spokesman told CNN that their intelligence showed the building was not a consulate and was instead “a military building of Quds forces disguised as a civilian building.”

Persons: Amir Cohen, Israel, Amir Saeid Iravani, Iravani, Mohammed Reza Zahedi, ” Organizations: Reuters, Islamic, Representative, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, United Nations Security Council, Revolutionary Guards, Israel Defense Forces, CNN Locations: Ashkelon, Israel, Reuters Iran, Tehran, Syria's, Damascus, “, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Iranian, Quds

☆ Live Updates: Israel Says Confrontation With Iran ‘Is Not Over’
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( Mike Ives | Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

The Iranian armed forces are among the biggest in the Middle East, with 580,000 soldiers and officers and also 200,000 reservists. The start of a direct military confrontation between Iran and Israel has brought renewed attention to Iran’s armed forces. Instead, Israel and Iran have been engaged in a long shadow war via air, sea, land and cyberattacks, and Israel has covertly targeted military and nuclear facilities inside Iran and killed commanders and scientists. It’s that they realize any war against Iran is a very serious war.”What sort of military threat does Iran pose? The commander in chief of Iran’s armed forces is the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last word on all major decisions.

Persons: ”, Afshon Ostovar, “ It’s, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Fabian Hinz, “, Atta Kenare, Ostovar, Ayatollah Khamenei, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Will Israel’s Organizations: Naval Postgraduate School, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Guards, General Staff of, Armed Forces, Quds Force, Agence France, Phantoms, Iranian Army, Associated Press Locations: Tehran, Iranian, Iran, Israel, Damascus, United States, Washington, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Jihad, Gaza, Berlin, speedboats, Persian, Hormuz, Russia, Ukraine, Sudan, North Korea

Iran has warned that it will respond with “stronger and more resolute” actions if Israel retaliates over this weekend’s strikes, according to Tehran’s ambassador to the United Nations. Biden will also meet with G7 leaders on Sunday “to coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack,” according to a statement released by the White House. US defensive assets moved to the region earlier this week and “helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles,” according to the statement. US forces intercepted more than 70 one-way attack drones and at least 3 ballistic missiles Iran fired toward Israel, according to two US official familiar with the situation. US fighter jets were also part of the US’ response to Iran’s attack on Saturday and shot down drones launched towards Israel, another US official told CNN.

Persons: Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Joe Biden, Iran –, “, ”, Biden, Netanyahu, Jordan, ” CNN’s Nic Robertson, –, Mohammed Reza Zahedi, Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, Donald Trump, IRGC, Qassem Soleimani, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ebrahim Raisi, IRNA, ” Israel, General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, Iran’s, António Guterres, Josep Borrell, Rishi Sunak, Javier Milei, Manuel Adorni, CNN’s Paul Murphy Organizations: CNN, Israel, United Nations, Iran, White House, US Navy, US, Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s Defense, Foreign Ministry, UN, British Locations: Iran, Syria, Israel, Republic, Haifa, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Gaza, Damascus, Baghdad, Lebanese, Quds, East, Europe, America, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, France, Netherlands, Austria, Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, China, Beijing, Chile, Mexico, Denmark

☆ Biden says he expects Iranian strike on Israel 'sooner than later'
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Rebecca Shabad | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

President Joe Biden said Friday that he expects Iran will strike Israel soon, and reiterated that the U.S. would support and defend Israel if such an attack occurred. We will support Israel, we will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed," he said. Iranian officials, including the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have vowed to retaliate against Israel over the attack on its consulate in Damascus. In response, Israel has threatened to launch a direct strike on Iran if it comes under attack. NBC News reported last week that an Iranian attack on Israel could focus on military or intelligence targets, rather than civilians, two U.S. officials said.

Persons: Joe Biden, Eisenhower, Israel, Biden, John Kirby, Kirby, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Quds Organizations: National Action Network Convention, White, National Security, NBC News, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Locations: Washington ,, Iran, U.S, Israel, Damascus

☆ Iran doesn't want to get into a full-on war, but that won't stop it threatening one
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Israel and the US expect a potential Iranian attack following a strike on Iran's embassy in Syria. The incident has escalated the long-standing proxy war between Israel and Iran. Despite threats of a direct attack on Israel, Iran won't want a war involving the US. A long-standing proxy warThe airstrike on April 1 marked an escalation in the long-standing proxy war between Israel and Iran. Related storyIf ballistic missiles or drones do target Israel, Israel would respond, and the US has made it clear it would support it.

Persons: —, Ali Khamenei, Israel, Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Axios, Hossein Amir, Abdollahian, Jake Epstein, Saeid Jafari, Ali Sadrzadeh, Sadrzadeh, Qassem Soleimani, Khameini, Hassan Rouhani Organizations: Service, Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, Iranian, Street Journal, Reuters, Atlantic Council, Israel, BBC News Locations: Israel, Syria, Iran, Damascus, Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Washington, Tehran, Iraq

☆ Oil prices break two-day losing streak after Israel threatens to strike Iran if attacked
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Crude oil futures rose Wednesday after two days of losses as Israel threatened to attack Iran if the Islamic Republic strikes Israel directly. The West Texas Intermediate contract for May delivery gained 31 cents, or 0.36%, to $85.54 a barrel. Oil prices pulled back after the consumer price index rose 0.4% for March and 3.5% over the previous year, compared with expected gains of 0.3% and 3.4%, respectively. Israel warned OPEC member Iran Wednesday it would attack the Islamic Republic if Tehran strikes Israel. "If Iran attacks from its territory, Israel will react and attack Iran," Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on the social media platform X, tagging Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Persons: Israel, Brent, Israel Katz, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Organizations: Quds Force, West Texas Intermediate, Iran Locations: Jerusalem, Syria, Tehran, Iran, Islamic Republic, Israel, Republic

☆ Oil price surge is the No. 1 threat to the US economy, Moody’s economist warns
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But there is a growing threat to that sunny economic backdrop: surging oil prices. Global oil prices are flirting with $92 a barrel amid worries about a wider war in the Middle East. US oil prices surged above $87 a barrel late last week for the first time since late October, leaving them up about 21% this year. First, drone attacks on oil refineries deep inside Russia helped lift oil prices last month. Beyond the Middle East tensions, oil and gas prices have been boosted by OPEC and its allies, which continue to restrain supply.

Persons: “, ”, Mark Zandi, Moody’s, Donald Trump, Trump, ” Zandi, hasn’t, Andy Lipow, Brent, ” Helima Croft, Joe Brusuelas, ” Brusuelas, Brusuelas, Vincent Reinhart, Mellon, ” Reinhart, he’s, Patrick De Haan, ” De Haan Organizations: New, New York CNN, Federal Reserve, Wall, CNN, “, Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Lipow Oil Associates, CIA, RBC Capital Markets, RSM, AAA, OPEC, Lipow Locations: New York, Iran, Russia, Syria, Israel, Quds, “

U.S. officials in Washington and the Middle East said on Friday that they were bracing for possible Iranian retaliation for the Israeli airstrike on Monday in Damascus, Syria. U.S. military forces in the region have been placed on heightened alert. Israel has also placed its military on high alert, according to an Israeli official, canceled leave for combat units, recalled some reservists to air defense units and blocked GPS signals. Two Iranian officials who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly said that Iran had placed all its armed forces on full high alert and that a decision had been made that Iran must respond directly to the Damascus attack to create deterrence. “We warn that no act by any enemy against our holy system will go unanswered and the art of the Iranian nation is to break the power of empires.”

Persons: Israel’s, Gen, Hossein Organizations: Quds Force, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Locations: Iran, Washington, Damascus, Syria, U.S, Israel, Tehran

☆ Live updates: Israel-Hamas war, strike on Iran consulate in Syria
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Emergency and security personnel gather at the site of strikes, which hit a building next to the Iranian embassy, in Damascus, Syria, on Monday. Iranian authorities and state media named senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders Mohammed Reza Zahedi and Haji Rahimi among those killed. Israel's military said it does not comment on foreign reports, but its spokesperson said the consulate was a "military building of Quds forces disguised as a civilian building." The Quds Force is a unit of Iran's IRGC responsible for foreign operations. Here are the latest developments in the region:

Persons: Maher Al Mountes, Mohammed Reza Zahedi, Haji Rahimi Organizations: Getty, Islamic Revolutionary Guard, Quds Force Locations: Damascus, Syria, AFP, Iran, Gaza, Israel, Quds

☆ Middle East Crisis Iran Blames Israel for Deaths of Top Commanders in Syria
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Farnaz Fassihi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

The covert war has previously included Israel’s targeted assassinations of Iranian military leaders and nuclear scientists, and Iran’s use of foreign proxies to strike Israeli interests. “For years, Israel and Iran have been engaged in what’s usually called a ‘shadow war,’” Ali Vaez, the Iran director for the International Crisis Group, said Monday in a social media post. Israel and Iran differed in their descriptions of the building that was hit. Iran described it as part of its diplomatic mission in Syria, but Israel said it was being used by the Revolutionary Guards, making it a legitimate military target. Mr. Akbari said among those killed were several Iranian military advisers deployed to Syria.

Persons: Israel, Israel’s, Mohamad Reza Zahedi, General Zahedi, Mohammad Hadi Haj Rahimi, Hossein Aman Allahi, ’ ” Ali Vaez, “, ” Nasser Kanaani, Mr, Kanaani, Daniel Hagari, ” Mr, Vaez, ”, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Hossein Akbari, Akbari, Iran’s, Peyman Syed Taheri, Taheri Organizations: Iranian Embassy, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s Quds Force, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Corps, Hamas, Quds Force, Quds Forces, Quds, Guards, International Crisis, Iran’s, Palestinian, Revolutionary Guards, CNN Locations: Damascus, Syria, Iranian, Syrian, Iran’s Quds, Israel, Iran, Gaza, Lebanon, Quds, “ Iran, Jihad, ”, Tehran

Iran may now be compelled to respond despite its unwillingness to enter war with Israel and the United States. And it has increased such attacks since October 7, when Iran-backed Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 250, prompting a devastating Israeli war in Gaza. “That would mean that the Israeli attack on Iran has put a target on the backs of American troops in the Middle East,” he said. Washington has, however, tried to distance itself from Monday’s Israeli attack. Attack Israeli interests abroadAfter past attacks on Iran, Israel has often anticipated Iranian retaliation on its interests in foreign countries, and beefed up security at its embassies.

Persons: Donald Trump, Qassem, Israel hasn’t, ”, Daniel Hagari, Hossein Amir, Abdollahian, ” Amir, Israel, CNN’s Paula Newton, Parsi, Biden, Israel Iran’s, Houthis, Sanam Vakil, Jalal Rashidi, Vakil, Omar Sanadiki, ” Vali Nasr, “, Farzan Organizations: CNN, Seven, Revolutionary Guards, Israel Defense Forces, Iran’s, Quincy Institute, Responsible, Islamic, US National Security, Israel, Hezbollah, Chatham House, State Department, Chatham, ” stoke, UN, Global Governance Locations: Iranian, Damascus, Baghdad, Iran, Israel, United States, Syria, Gaza, Quds, Swiss, Tehran, Washington ,, Iraq, Jordan, Washington, Islamic Republic, Lebanon, Iraqi, East, North Africa, London, Argentina, India, Georgia, Thailand, Jalal Rashidi Kochi, Azerbaijan, “, Chatham House, ”, Switzerland

The Israeli military told CNN it does not comment on foreign reports. CNN cannot verify the Times’ report, nor independently verify the claims from Iran, Syria and Israel. Increasing pressureAs the Middle East braces for a potential Iranian response, Tehran is under pressure to show strength in the wake of the consulate attack while not drawing the region into a wider war. The Lebanese Shia militant group has been embroiled in daily crossfire with Israeli forces for nearly six months. However, Israeli military spokesman Hagari blamed Iran for escalating tensions in the region.

Persons: Mohammed Reza Zahedi, Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, Donald Trump, IRGC, Qassem Soleimani, ”, Israel, Daniel Hagari, “, Israel’s, Syria Hossein Akbari, Nasser Kanaani, Hossein Amir, Abdollahian, d’affaires, Amir, ” Amir, Faisal Mekdad meanwhile, Houthi, Parsi, Zahedi, Bejamin Netanyahu, Hagari, I’m Organizations: CNN, Revolutionary Guards, Foreign Ministry, Israel Defense Forces, New York Times, Hamas, Ministry of Health, Zionist, Iranian Foreign Ministry, Israel, Syrian Foreign, Diplomatic Relations, US, Quincy Institute, Responsible Locations: Iran, Israel, Syria, Gaza, Damascus, Baghdad, Tehran, Lebanese, ” Iran, United States, Quds, Iranian Embassy, Iranian, Islamic Republic, Washington, Swiss, Switzerland, Syrian, Vienna, Iraq, Jordan, Red, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Lebanon, Yemen

☆ What We Know About the Iranian Commanders Killed by Israel in Syria
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Farnaz Fassihi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Iran’s supreme leader on Tuesday pledged to avenge the deaths of three commanders and four officers in Iran’s armed forces, one day after they were killed in a precision Israeli airstrike on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus. The leaders, Iranian officials said, were some of the highest ranking leaders in the Quds Force, overseeing Iran’s covert intelligence and military operations in Syria and Lebanon. The strike was the deadliest against Iranian officials in recent memory and has shaken the country’s armed forces establishment. The strike, both the latest in a yearslong shadow war between Iran and Israel and a seeming escalation in that conflict, has again brought attention to Israel and Iran’s conflicting ambitions in the region and the network of proxies Iran employs to fight its battles. “We will make them regret this crime and similar crimes, with the help of God,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, said of the Israelis.

Persons: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Organizations: Quds Force Locations: Damascus, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Israel

☆ Iran Says the Deadly Israeli Strike in Damascus Will Not Go Unanswered
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Farnaz Fassihi | Matthew Mpoke Bigg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran said on Tuesday that Israel’s airstrikes on an Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, Syria, which killed three top Iranian commanders, will not go unanswered. The strike, on part of the Iranian Embassy complex in Damascus, killed three generals in Iran’s Quds Force and four other officers, making it one of the deadliest attacks of the yearslong shadow war between Israel and Iran. Mr. Raisi said it was an “inhumane assault in brazen violation of international law,” in comments reported by Tasnim, a semiofficial news agency. He added that it will not go unanswered, but gave no details of how Iran might respond. Switzerland acts as the United States’ representative in the absence of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Washington.

Persons: Ebrahim Raisi, Raisi, Tasnim, Hossein Amir Abdollahian Organizations: Government, Iranian Embassy, Iran’s Quds Force, United States ’ Locations: Iran, Damascus, Syria, Israel, Iranian, Iran’s Quds, Swiss, Washington, U.S, Switzerland, United States, Tehran

☆ Global oil price hits seven-month high as Middle East tensions rise
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —The global price of oil rose Tuesday to its highest level in seven months, propelled, in part, by concerns that mounting tensions in the Middle East could crimp supply. Brent crude, the world’s oil benchmark, climbed as much as 1.8% to $89 a barrel, the highest since early September, before paring those gains slightly mid-afternoon in Europe. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, also rose 1.8% to reach a five-month high of $85 a barrel. “You’ve got ongoing Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries… Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea,” as well as a “general sense that the Middle East is less stable than it was a year ago,” he told CNN. Geopolitical tensionsWriting about higher oil prices Tuesday, Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown, singled out escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East following an airstrike on Iran’s embassy in Syria Monday.

Persons: Richard Bronze, “ You’ve, ”, Sophie Lund, Yates, Hargreaves Lansdown, Israel, —, specter, Brent, Bill Weatherburn Organizations: London CNN, Brent, West, CNN, Revolutionary Guards, Organization of, Petroleum, Lund, Capital Economics Locations: Europe, West Texas, Brent, United States, Red, ”, Syria Monday, Iran, Syria, Israel, Tehran, Quds, OPEC, Iran’s, Damascus, Gaza, China

☆ Iran says Israel bombs its embassy in Syria, kills commanders
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Emergency and security personnel gather at the site of strikes which hit a building next to the Iranian embassy in Syria's capital Damascus, on April 1, 2024. Suspected Israeli warplanes bombed Iran's embassy in Syria on Monday in a strike that Iran said killed seven of its military advisers, including three senior commanders, and that marked a major escalation in Israel's war with its regional adversaries. Reuters reporters at the site in the Mezzeh district of Damascus saw emergency workers clambering atop rubble of a destroyed building inside the diplomatic compound, adjacent to the main Iranian embassy building. Iran's ambassador to Syria said the strike hit a consular building in the embassy compound and that his residence was on the top two floors. Israel has long targeted Iran's military installations in Syria and those of its proxies, but Monday's attack was the first time Israel hit the vast embassy compound itself.

Persons: Faisal Mekdad, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, Israel Organizations: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iranian, Syrian, Force, Hamas Locations: Syria's, Damascus, Iranian, Gaza, Syria, Iran, Mezzeh, Israel

☆ Fears Grow That Syria Strikes Could Spur Retaliatory Attacks on Israel and U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Eric Schmitt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Current and former U.S. officials expressed fears on Tuesday that Israel’s airstrikes on an Iranian embassy compound in Syria could escalate hostilities in the region, and prompt retaliatory strikes against Israel and its American ally. Indeed, after the Israeli strike in Damascus, Syria’s capital, on Monday, American troops based in southeastern Syria knocked down an attack drone, a Defense Department official said. It was unclear if the drone was aimed at the U.S. forces, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational details. If it were, it would be the first attack by Iran-backed militias against American troops in Iraq or Syria in nearly two months. The official said there had been no further attacks overnight, but that Pentagon officials were monitoring the situation closely.

Persons: Ralph Goff, Goff Organizations: Israel, Iran’s Quds Force, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Defense Department, U.S ., Pentagon Locations: Syria, Iran’s Quds, Iran, Damascus, Syria’s, U.S, Iraq

☆ The Middle East on the brink again after attack on Iranian consulate
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Tamara Qiblawi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on Monday may be the most dangerous escalation outside of Gaza since the start of the Hamas-Israel war nearly six months ago. The attack is the latest in a recent string of apparent Israeli strikes in Syria that targeted the IRGC and Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Technically, Iran’s consulate is sovereign Iranian territory, making this the most overt attack on Iranian soil in years. Iran’s regional allies say they entered confrontations with Israel on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza, where over 32,000 people have been killed, according to local authorities. That may be an untenable position after today’s strike, which has again brought the region to the brink of an expanded war.

Persons: Israel, Mohammed Reza Zahedi, Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, Lebanon —, Donald Trump, Soleimani, Ali Khamenei, ”, Mohammad Ali Shabani, “ Iran’s, Khamenei’s Organizations: CNN, Revolutionary Guards, Force Locations: Damascus, Gaza, Israel, Syria, Iran, Lebanese, Lebanon, Iran’s, Iranian, Baghdad, Washington

☆ Over 60% of illegal crypto activity is tied to sanctioned groups or terrorist organizations, report finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Dylan Butts | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The American blockchain analysis firm's "2024 Crypto Crime Report" found that $24.2 billion of illicit cryptocurrency was transferred in 2023, based on already identified illicit crypto wallets. Chainalysis retroactively updates its yearly crypto figures when new illicit wallets come to light. watch nowCrypto to avert sanctionsEntities like the crypto "mixer" Tornado Cash and Garantex took the lion's share of illicit funds in 2023. The amount of crypto transferred to sanctioned entities has climbed in recent years in tandem with a greater share of new trade restrictions specifying crypto wallets. Terrorist financingIllicit crypto volume identified by Chainalysis as terrorist financing accounted for a much smaller proportion than that of transactions to sanctioned entities in 2022.

Persons: Andrea Gacki, cryptocurrency, Chainalysis, Andrew Fierman, Garantex, Tornado Cash, Lazarus, Lazarus Group ., Sinbad.io, Chanalysis's Fierman, Tawfiq Muhammad Said Al, Law's, Hayat Tahrir Organizations: Foreign Assets, U.S . Department of, Treasury, Bloomberg, Getty, Hezbollah, CNBC, Tornado, Lazarus Group, U.S . Office, Foreign, Lazarus, National Bureau for, Iran's Quds Force, Al, ISIS, Hayat Locations: New York, Korean, Chainalysis, China, Latin America, North Korea, Iran, Iran's Quds, Syria, cryptocurrency

☆ The eyes have it: The intriguing history of kohl
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Zahra Hankir | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

A Palestinian woman Hadeya Qudaih applying traditional kohl eyeliner to her granddaughter in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip in March 2020. Hadeya Qudaih makes and sells traditional kohl eyeliner for medical and cosmetic purposes (photograph taken in February 2020). A Bedouin man wearing traditional kohl, photographed in the ancient Jordanian city of Petra. Kohl is so commonly worn in the area that girls are sometimes named or nicknamed Kahla by their parents or friends, roughly meaning “the girl who appears to have kohl around her eyes.” Kohl is also a feature of many millennia-old myths, rituals, and legends. “Even if she doesn’t (make kohl) anymore, I will for sure continue to do this myself,” Abu Issa said.

Persons: CNN — Kohl, kohl, Hadeya, kohl eyeliner, Khan Younis, Majdi, Tamam Farhan Abu Issa, Deir al Balah, “, Abu Issa, ”, ” Abu Issa, Issa, Qudaih, Hassan Jedi, Prophet Muhammad —, Alessandro Bigazzi, Jack Sparrow, eyeliner, Kohl, ” Kohl, Zarqa, TikTok, “ Blinkaria Kohl, tightlining, Eyeliner, Fatima Shbair, “ Kohl, I’ve Organizations: CNN, Crusaders, UNESCO, United, kohl, Quds Net News, ZUMA Press, UAE General Authority of Islamic Affairs, Endowments Locations: East, North Africa, Egypt, Europe, Lebanon, Gaza, Gaza’s, Deir, United Nations, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Palestinian, Petra, Raed, Kohl, Eastern, “

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