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☆ Pouria Zeraati: ‘Brutal stabbing’ of exiled Iranian journalist prompts counterterrorism investigation
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Joshua Berlinger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —A prominent exiled Iranian journalist was stabbed outside his home in London on Friday, prompting British police to launch a counterterrorism investigation. Pouria Zeraati, a television anchor at the UK-based channel Iran International, was reportedly attacked by a group of men outside his home in south-western Wimbledon. Iran has designated the television station a “terrorist entity.” Iranian state media has repeatedly accused the channel of fomenting unrest. Zeraati’s stabbing comes after an investigation by Britain’s ITV last year revealed that Iranian spies had attempted to pay a people smuggler $200,000 to assassinate two Iran International journalists. Kearns noted on Twitter that Iran International had only recently returned to the air from London after having to shut down in the UK.

Persons: Pouria, Dominic Murphy, Britain’s, Alicia Kearns, Michelle Stanistreet, ” Stanistreet, Kearns, ”, CNN’s Mostafa Salem, Atay Alam Organizations: CNN, British, Iran, London Metropolitan Police, Britain’s ITV, Iran International, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Foreign Affairs Committee, British National Union of Journalists, BBC Persian Service, UN, Twitter Locations: Iranian, London, Wimbledon, Tehran, Iran

☆ Syria Blames Israel for Deadly Attack in Aleppo
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Gaya Gupta | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

Israel’s military did not immediately comment on the strikes, but it has previously acknowledged carrying out hundreds of assaults on Iran-linked targets in Syria. Friday’s attack was at least the second deadly attack in Syria in less than a week. On Tuesday, airstrikes in eastern Syria killed several people. The Iranian state news media said that Israel was responsible, while the Syrian state news agency attributed it to American forces. The Tuesday strikes killed a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, according to Iranian state news media reports.

Persons: —, SANA, Ali Abdulhassan Naim, Yoav Gallant, “, ”, Firas Makdesi, Saleh al, Bashar al, Assad, al, Benjamin Netanyahu, Vladimir V, Putin, Israel, Johnatan Reiss Organizations: Syrian Observatory, Human Rights, —, Lebanese, Hezbollah, Reuters, United Nations, Pentagon, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, World Health Organization Locations: Syrian, Aleppo, Britain, Syria, Lebanese, Iran, Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria’s, Israeli, Damascus, Beirut, United States, Russia

☆ 4,000-year-old tube of ancient red lipstick discovered in Iran, scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —A small stone vial discovered in southeastern Iran contained a red cosmetic that was likely used as a lip coloring nearly 4,000 years ago, according to archaeologists. More than 80% of the analyzed sample was made up of minerals that produce a deep red color — primarily hematite. The substance found in the stone vial was made from different minerals — including hematite, shown in red. Whether the vial from Iran was the earliest lipstick, “all comes down to what this new discovery was actually used for,” she said. The rest is slowly emerging from new excavations.”It’s not clear who would have worn the lipstick — or in what context.

Persons: It’s, Massimo Vidale, ”, —, Joann Fletcher, Fletcher, Laurence Totelin, Totelin, ” Totelin, kohl, ” Vidale, Vidale, “ Organizations: CNN, University of Padua’s Department of Cultural Heritage, University of York’s, Cardiff University, Archaeological Museum, Jiroft Locations: Iran, Italy, Egypt, Jiroft

☆ Iran and U.S. Held Secret Talks on Proxy Attacks and Cease-Fire
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Farnaz Fassihi | Eric Schmitt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Iran and the United States held secret, indirect talks in Oman in January, addressing the escalating threat posed to Red Sea shipping by the Houthis in Yemen, as well as the attacks on American bases by Iran-backed militias in Iraq, according to Iranian and U.S. officials familiar with the discussions. The secret talks were held on Jan. 10 in Muscat, the capital of Oman, with Omani officials shuffling messages back and forth between delegations of Iranians and Americans sitting in separate rooms. The meeting, first reported by The Financial Times this week, was the first time Iranian and American officials had held in-person negotiations — albeit indirectly — in nearly eight months. American officials said Iran requested the meeting in January and the Omanis strongly recommended that the United States accept. Since the beginning of the war in Gaza after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, the United States and Iran have reassured each other that neither was seeking a direct confrontation, a stance conveyed in messages they passed through intermediaries.

Persons: Ali Bagheri Kani, Brett McGurk Organizations: The Financial Locations: Iran, United States, Oman, Yemen, Iraq, Muscat, Gaza, Israel

☆ Despite Hard-liners Winning Recent Elections, Iran Is Heading for a Big Change - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Arash Azizi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The vote, for the Parliament and Assembly of Experts, which appoints the supreme leader, was far from a referendum on current leaders, though. Iranians instead had the option to vote for varying degrees of conservative and hard-line candidates, often competing only in their effusive praise for the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Despite their Islamist declarations, many politicians in the Islamic Republic are not ideologues or revolutionaries, but technocrats or pragmatists who have gathered around Ayatollah Khamenei for proximity to his power. Today’s Iran is held together by the octogenarian Ayatollah Khamenei and his authority. A new Iran may be on the horizon, even if it’s not the Iran anti-regime protesters have hoped for.

Persons: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Khamenei, it’s Organizations: Experts Locations: Gaza, Islamic Republic, Iran

☆ Muslims spot Ramadan crescent moon in Saudi Arabia, meaning month of fasting starts Monday for many
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-10 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Officials saw the crescent moon Sunday night in Saudi Arabia, home to the holiest sites in Islam, marking the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan for many of the world's 1.8 billion Muslims. Saudi state television reported that authorities there saw the crescent moon. However, there are some Asia-Pacific countries like Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, that will begin Ramadan on Tuesday after failing to see the crescent moon. In Saudi Arabia, the kingdom had been urging the public to watch the skies from Sunday night in preparation for the sighting of the crescent moon. The Palestinian territories will begin Ramadan on Monday as well.

Persons: Jordan, Saudi King Salman, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ramadan, Robabeh, it's, Prophet Muhammad, Israel, Jerusalem's Organizations: Iran's, Hamas, Islamic Locations: Musyari'in, Jakarta, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Islam, Saudi, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Asia, Pacific, Australia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Oman, Israel, Gaza, Palestine, Mecca, Iran, Tehran, Persian, Nowruz, U.S, Jerusalem's Al, Aqsa, Sudan

☆ Women in Iran: UN report says repression of protesters and discrimination against women amounts to ‘crimes against humanity’
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Eve Brennan | Jomana Karadsheh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Iran’s “repression of peaceful protests” and “institutional discrimination against women and girls” has led to human rights violations, some of which amount to “crimes against humanity,” according to a United Nations’ report. It cited a report by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran, a task force set up by the UN Human Rights Council to look at claims of deteriorating human rights conditions in Iran. She became the face of women calling for greater rights and freedoms curtailed since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Protests erupted across Iran again in September last year on the first anniversary of her death. AFP/Getty ImagesA CNN report in November 2022 also found that Iran’s security forces used rape to quell protests in the country.

Persons: ”, Jina Mahsa Amini, Mahsa, ” “, Mahsa Amini, Sara Hossain, Iran’s Organizations: CNN, United Nations, United Nations Office, Human Rights, Independent, UN Human Rights, UN, “, Getty, ” Locations: Islamic Republic of Iran, Iran, Tehran, AFP

☆ Opinion: A new flag is going to fly over the White House. My dad would be proud
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Sarah Levinson Moriarty | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

She is one of seven children of Robert Levinson, the longest held hostage in US history. It was the day before his 59th birthday, and I was going to see him the following weekend for a big family celebration. Sarah Levinson Moriarty Sarah Levinson MoriartyMy dad was a man who was larger than life — kind, smart and a true patriot. The flag will now fly above the White House, State Department and Capitol on this day as well as on Flag Day (June 14), the Fourth of July and any day in which Americans held captive overseas come home to our great country. Six Americans are still being held hostage by Hamas after its October 7 terror attack on Israel.

Persons: Sarah Levinson Moriarty, Robert Levinson, Sarah Levinson Moriarty Sarah Levinson Moriarty, Bobby Levinson, Levinson, Manuel Balce Ceneta, Bob Levinson, ”, —, Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Ksenia Karelina, Mark Swidan, Kai Li, David Lin Organizations: New, Security, CNN, FBI, CIA, White, House, State Department, Capitol, Hostage, Wall Street Locations: Kish, Iran, Florida, Israel, Russia, Russian, China, American

☆ Iran announces record low election turnout despite calls on voters to participate
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

It is unclear if the announced 41% turnout will sink further in the coming days, with some candidates in the parliamentary election going to a runoff. Iran’s last parliamentary election in 2020 saw a turnout of 42.57%, and its last presidential election in 2021 had a turnout of 48.8% – both were the lowest since the establishment of the Islamic Republic. Some 15,000 candidates competed last week for the 290-seat parliamentary election, and 144 ran for the 88 seats of the Assembly of Experts. Some 25 million people cast their ballots out of Iran's 61 million eligible voters. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker and former Revolutionary Guards air force commander, seemed to lose some votes, coming fourth in this year’s election after his popularity peaked in the 2020 parliamentary election.

Persons: IRNA, ”, Alex Vatanka, Mahsa, Iran’s, Ebrahim Raisi, Hossein Beris, Mohammad Khatami, Azar Mansouri, “, Khatami, Khamenei, ” Vatanka, watchdogs, –, Hassan Rouhani, Atta Kenare, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Ghalibaf’s, ” Sanam Vakil, Vakil, ” Vakil Organizations: CNN, Middle East Institute, “, Saturday, Experts, Getty, Iran’s Guardian, Revolutionary Guards, North Africa, Chatham House Locations: Iran, Washington , DC, Fars, Islamic Republic, Iranian, Tehran, AFP, East, London

☆ Iran vote turnout hits historic low amid discontent
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Turnout for Iran's parliamentary election, seen as a test of the clerical establishment's legitimacy, appears to have hit an historic low of around 41%, according to unofficial reports quoted by state media on Saturday. Mohammad Khatami, Iran's first reformist president, was among critics who did not vote on Friday. State news agency IRNA said unofficial reports put turnout at more than 25 million, or about 41% of eligible voters. If the turnout figure is confirmed, it would be the lowest since Iran's Islamic revolution in 1979. Iran's turnout fell to 42.5% in 2020 parliamentary elections from about 62% in 2016.

Persons: Mohammad Khatami, Iran's, Narges Mohammadi, IRNA, Joe Biden, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ebrahim Raisi, Hassan Rouhani Organizations: Reuters, Iran's, Experts Locations: Tehran, State, United States, Israel, Ham Mihan

☆ Israel may have just torched its relationship with Russia, promising to supply Ukraine with 'early-warning systems'
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Cameron Manley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A spokesperson for Israel's foreign ministry told Business Insider that the system was "not Iron Dome," Israel's most advanced air defense system. Using the system in Ukraine will likely mean that Israel will need to send specialist soldiers to help Ukrainians integrate it. AdvertisementPalestinian Hamas militants are seen during a military show in the Bani Suheila district on July 20, 2017 in Gaza City, Gaza. Meanwhile, Tehran has also been providing Russia with Iranian-made Shahed drones that ahve been used to bombard cities in Ukraine. "Israel will take a more aggressive stance against Russia" from now on, he believed, adding that if the Ukraine war is not over by the time Israel has dealt with its local problem.

Persons: —, Gilad Erdan, Erdan, Israel, Chris McGrath, Bashir al, Israel's, Amir Weitmann, Mikhail Bogdanov, Weitmann Organizations: Service, United Nations, Business, Israel Defense Forces, Getty, Likud Party, Islamic, Russia, Ukraine, RT Locations: Ukraine, Gaza, Israel, Russia, Ukraine's, Bani Suheila, Gaza City, Iran, Assad, Syria, Tehran, Iranian, Israel's, Moscow, Russia's

☆ Iran holds first elections since Mahsa Amini protests, with low turnout and boycott expected
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Iranian women cast their ballots at a polling station during elections to select members of parliament and a key clerical body, in Tehran on March 1, 2024. Iran holds its parliamentary elections on Friday, in the first vote for Iranians since a nationwide protest movement for women's rights rocked the country in 2022. "Transition from the despotic religious regime is a national demand and the only way for the survival of Iran, Iranians, and our humanity," Mohammadi added. "And providing the political system with overt legitimacy, after the very system has disregarded and abused people and civil rights, is just too much." Country analysts expect a nationwide turnout of between 30% and 50%, while state polling center ISPA estimated the turnout in Tehran at just 23.5% and 38.5% nationally.

Persons: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Khamenei, Mehdi, Narges Mohammadi, Mohammadi, Sanam Vakil Organizations: Islamic, Assembly, Experts, CNBC, Iranian, Chatham House Locations: Tehran, Iran, Iran's, East, North Africa

☆ The US mocked Russia for its motley cast of allies in Ukraine. It's not laughing any more.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

They didn't have the defensive positions prepared," RAND defense researcher Bruce W. Bennett told Business Insider. To work with North Korea, Putin has contravened UN Security Council resolutions he himself signed onto. "If Russia failed to achieve success in Ukraine, meaning it got pushed out of Ukraine, is Putin going to survive physically?" Operating like this "really emboldens North Korea, Iran, and any other autocratic state," said Sanner. AdvertisementIn supplying weapons, Kim Jong Un's regime is unlikely to be driven by a dislike of Ukraine, Bennett said.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin, Bruce W, Bennett, Putin, State Anthony Blinken, Mark Milley, Grant Shapps, Beth Sanner, that's, Joseph Byrne, Kim Jong Un, John Herbst, Byrne, ALEXANDER KAZAKOV, Kim, Sergei Lavrov, Kim Jong, would've, Russia's, it's, we're Organizations: Service, RAND, Business, State, Joint Chiefs of Staff, UK Defence, Trump, Biden, Atlantic, Royal United Services Institute, REUTERS, Atlantic Council, Putin, Ukraine —, US, UN, New York Times, North Locations: Ukraine, Iran, North Korea, Pyongyang, Russia, Komsomolsk, Khabarovsk Region, South Korea, Korea, Moscow, KCNA

☆ Jon Stewart says the Israel-Gaza solution could be a DMZ governed by an Arab NATO. Some experts say it's a pipe dream.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The DMZ would be enforced by an alliance of Arab countries, much like the North American Treaty Organization, Stewart said. While tongue-in-cheek, Stewart's solution isn't a new concept, experts on the Middle East told Business Insider. Advertisement"But really, Jon is conflating a Middle East 'NATO' with something else. Ironically, the very concept of the two-state solution could extend his political life, said Lord. "But only as part of a credible political process working toward a two-state solution, but unfortunately, this is something that the Israeli government rejects. "

Persons: Jon Stewart, Stewart, —, That's, let's, Jonathan Lord, Jon, Anna Jacobs, Jacobs, William Wechsler, Wechsler, It's, it's, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Mohamed Chtatou, Chtatou, Israel, Weeks, Benjamin Netanyahu, Spencer Platt, Bibi, Mahmoud Abbas, Seth Wenig, Abbas, Lord Organizations: NATO, Service, American Treaty Organization, Treaty Organization, East, Business, Trump, East Strategic Alliance, Middle East Security, Center, New, New American Security, Getty, United, Rafik Hariri Center and Middle, Atlantic Council, United Nations, League, AFP, Mohammed V University, Palestinian Authority, West Bank, BI Locations: Israel, Gaza, Arab, Palestine, NATO, New American, Washington, DC, East, Iran, Gulf, Qatar, Belgium, Anadolu, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Rafik, United States, Cairo, Rabat, Europe, Korea, Palestinian

☆ ‘A show and propaganda:’ Iran braces for low-turnout election amid silenced dissent, tumbling economy
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Rosa Rahimi | Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“No, I will not vote,” a 23-year-old Iranian woman told CNN from Tehran. Authorities are nonetheless eager to bring people to the polls, trying to inspire a sense of duty and resistance among Iranians amid Israel’s war in Gaza. Pedestrians pass by a poster featuring Ayatollah Khomeini, the first Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic (right) and Ayatollah Khamenei, the current Supreme Leader (left) on February 24 in Tehran, Iran. Hossein Beris/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty ImagesOther officials have directly cited the Gaza war to rally voters ahead of the polling day. An election poster for a female parliamentary candidate apparently plays on the 'Woman-Life-Freedom' protest slogan, replacing it with 'Woman-Wisdom-Greatness' in Isfahan, Iran on February 24.

Persons: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mahsa, “, ”, Khamenei, ” Khamenei, Khomeini, Ayatollah Khamenei, Hossein Beris, Hamidreza, Alex Vatanka, Foad, ” Izadi, ISNA, Hassan Moslemi Naeini, Morteza, ” Iran’s, hardliner Ebrahim Raisi, Holly Dagres, Jamshid Jamshidi, –, Hassan Rouhani, ” Hengaw, Pedram Soltani Organizations: CNN, Experts, Authorities, Islamic, Getty, Middle East Institute, University of Tehran’s, World Studies, Center for Education, Culture, Research, Atlantic Council, University of Oxford, UN, CNN International, Iran’s Guardian, Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Army Locations: Iran, Tehran, “, Gaza, Islamic Republic, Tehran Times, Washington , DC, Israel, Isfahan, Norway, Sanandaj, Jordan

☆ Iran has reduced stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium, says nuclear watchdog
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Adam Pourahmadi | Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Iran has reduced its stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium in the months since October 2023, according to a confidential report from the International Atomic Weapons Agency (IAEA) viewed by CNN on Tuesday. In October, Iran possessed 128.3 kilograms (282.9 pounds) of uranium enriched to approximately 60%, the highest level documented by the IAEA. By February, the stockpile had been reduced to 121.5 kilograms, according to the report. Iran reduced the quantity of near weapons-grade uranium by mixing 31.8 kilograms of the stockpile with uranium enriched to a much lower level, around 2%, according to the report. However, while Iran had reduced its stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium, the report also noted a steady increase in stocks of uranium enriched to 20%.

Persons: IAEA Rafael Grossi, Donald Trump, Eric Brewer, Ben Taleblu, Majid Asgaripour, they’ve, ” Brewer, Brewer, Taleblu, “, ” Taleblu, Matthew Miller, Yemen’s Houthi Organizations: CNN, International Atomic Weapons Agency, IAEA, Center for Arms Control, United, Experts, Nuclear Threat Initiative, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Governors, US State Department, American Locations: Iran, Bushehr, Israel

☆ Opinion: Why Iran hates America
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Fareed Zakaria | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Iran, and particularly its hostile relationship with the US, is firmly at the center. The story is more complicated than that, as I lay out in my CNN special report “Why Iran Hates America,” airing Sunday at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. But suffice it to say that America’s relationship with Iran has been hostile and confrontational for more than four decades. Washington has viewed the fall of the Shah’s Iran as a deep betrayal from which it has never really recovered. As Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif pointed out to me, the Iran nuclear deal was premised not on trust but on mistrust.

Persons: Fareed Zakaria, Fareed, Read, CNNi, Yemen’s Houthis, jihadism, Majid Saeedi, Iran’s, Shah, Jimmy Carter, It’s, Ronald Reagan, George W, Bush, Barack Obama, Hassan Rouhani, Javad Zarif, premised, Donald Trump, Rouhani Organizations: CNN, Fareed’s, Sunday, US, Iranian, Washington Locations: Iran, Israel, Gaza, An Iran, Jordan, Washington, Tehran, Britain, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, —, Moscow, Roman, America, United States

☆ Iran has the largest ballistic missile arsenal in the Middle East. Now it's sending them to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Iran presents its first hypersonic ballistic missile 'Fattah' (Conqueror) in an event attended by President Ebrahim Raisi and other government officials in Tehran, Iran on June 06, 2023. Reuters reported that Iran delivered at least 400 of its short-range Fateh-110 ballistic missiles to Russia in January of this year, and that figure is likely to rise. "It was always a matter of when, not if, Iran would transfer ballistic missiles to Russia," Behnam ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told CNBC. Ballistic missiles will keep him in that fight for longer now." In 2022, U.S. Central Command estimated that Iran had over 3,000 ballistic missiles in its arsenal.

Persons: Ebrahim Raisi, Vladimir Putin, Behnam ben Taleblu, Putin Organizations: Reuters, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, CNBC, U.S . Central Command Locations: Iran, Tehran, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, U.S, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan

☆ U.S. Strike Killed Afghans Recruited to Fight for Iran
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Farnaz Fassihi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It was a memorial for the “martyrs” killed when the U.S. struck military bases in Syria, according to Iranian state television. A small crowd sat in rows of folding chairs, men in the front and women in the back, at the main cemetery in Tehran, the Iranian capital, earlier this month. Children milled around and a young man passed a box of sweets. To help President Bashar al-Assad of Syria beat back rebel forces and Islamic State terrorists, Iran at the time began recruiting thousands of Afghan refugees to fight, offering $500 a month, schooling for their children, and Iranian residency. The brigade is still believed to be about 20,000 strong, drawn from Afghan refugees living mostly in Iran, and it serves under the command of the Quds Force, the overseas arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

Persons: ”, Bashar al, Assad Organizations: Iranians, Fatemiyoun Brigade, Islamic State, Quds Force, Guards Locations: U.S, Syria, Tehran, Iran

☆ Iran Unveils New Air Defense Weaponry as Regional Tensions Ramp up - IRNA
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

(Reuters) - Iran unveiled new weaponry on Saturday including what it said was the locally made Arman anti-ballistic missile system and the Azarakhsh low-altitude air defense system, the official IRNA news agency reported. Gaza has been under military assault by Israel since Hamas's attacks on Israel's south on Oct. 7. Israel has also struck Iranian targets in Syria. "With the entry of new systems into the country's defense network, the air defense capability of the Islamic Republic of Iran will increase significantly," IRNA said. In June Iran presented what officials described as its first domestically made hypersonic ballistic missile, named Fattah, with a range of 1,400 km.

Persons: Arman, General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, IRNA, Jan Harvey Organizations: Reuters, Yemen’s, Israel, Iranian Defense Locations: Iran, Yemen’s Iran, U.S, Red, Gaza, Israel, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Islamic Republic of Iran

Maxar Technologies Visual Investigations The $2.8 Billion Hole in U.S. Sanctions on Iran A Times investigation reveals how lax government oversight allowed shadowy oil tankers, covered by American insurance, to fund Iran’s regime. The American Club is one of only 12 major insurers of its kind, and the only one based in the United States. By then, the tankers had transported at least $2.8 billion in crude oil, based on the lowest reported prices of Iranian oil in 2023. The Treasury office has publicly enforced sanctions on the American Club only once in the past 20 years. Ultimately, the office said the American Club did “not appear to have been willful or reckless” and the case was settled.

Persons: Biden, ”, penna gabrielle toyomi, penna selene gabrielle, gabrielle, selene, lisa marianne selene, Samir Madani, Maggie Hassan, Daniel Tadros, “, Mr, Tadros, Shipowners, ” Mr, Madani of TankerTrackers.com, David Tannenbaum Organizations: Maxar, Maxar Technologies, Sanctions, U.S, White, New York Times, Times, Treasury Department, American Club, Treasury, cathay kirin, Copernicus, Planet Labs, Star, American, The Times, Revolutionary Guards Corps, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Club’s, Hamas, Bloomberg, United Against Nuclear, Nuclear, Glory, United, National Iranian Tanker, Labs, Copernicus Sentinel, Club, International Maritime Organization, AIS, Spire Locations: Gulf of Oman, American, U.S, Iran, New York, New Hampshire, United States, Hong Kong, Kharg, Kpler, China, Israel, Yemen, United Against Nuclear Iran, Nuclear Iran, United Arab Emirates, Asaluyeh, Dubai, of Oman, Persian, Oman, Cuba, Sudan, MarineTraffic, SynMax, TankerTrackers.com

☆ What Is Hezbollah, the Group Backing Hamas Against Israel?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +7 min

Lebanon's Hezbollah has been trading fire with Israeli forces across the frontier since its Palestinian ally Hamas in Gaza and Israel went to war on Oct. 7. The exchanges are the deadliest since a 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. Both Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel have said they do not seek all-out war, and the conflict has largely been contained to areas near the border. Hezbollah demonstrated its military advances in 2006 during a five-week war with Israel, which erupted after it crossed into Israel, kidnapping two soldiers and killing others. The Gaza conflict has rippled across the Middle East, where Hezbollah has inspired and supported other Iranian-backed groups.

Persons: Hossein Amirabdollahian, Bashar al, Assad, WHAT'S, Benjamin Netanyahu, Washington, Lebanese Shi'ites, Rafik al, Hariri, spiralled, Hassan Nasrallah, Tom Perry, Edmund Blair, William Maclean Organizations: Israel, Iran's, Guards, Islamic, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, United, . Marine, U.S . Locations: BEIRUT, Lebanon, Lebanese, Hamas, Gaza, Israel, Israeli, Nabatieh, al, Iran, Tehran, The U.S, Syria, ISRAEL, Irag, Yemen, U.S, Jordan . Saudi Arabia, LEBANON, Saudi, Beirut, United States

☆ Close US partners in the Middle East demand air defenses after Iranian drone attacks
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Paul Iddon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The US Congress has already asked DoD to develop a plan to equip the Peshmerga with air defenses. Iraqi Kurdistan expects the US to appreciate such stances and provide air defenses, given the high stakes for the autonomous region. Ceng Sagnic, chief of analysis of the geopolitical consultancy firm TAM-C Solutions, said “several considerations” are involved in supplying the Peshmerga air defenses. Turkey may not object to an American air defense provision to Iraqi Kurdistan under certain conditions. Advertisement“Using recent clashes as a reason to request additional US air defenses is likely to be viewed negatively in Ankara,” Ali Bakir, a Turkey expert and non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Middle East program, told BI.

Persons: —, America’s, Masrour Barzani, ” Mohammed Salih, ” Salih, Ceng Sagnic, ” Sagnic, Mazlum Kobane, ” Ali Bakir Organizations: DoD, Service, Kurdistan’s, NBC News, Foreign Policy Research Institute, TAM, C, ISIS, ”, Kurdistan Democratic Party, Patriotic Union of, Kurdistan Workers ’ Party, Syrian Democratic Forces, SDF, Reuters, US Locations: Kurdish, Syria, Turkey, Iraq’s Iran, United States, Iraqi Kurdistan, Jordan, Iran, Iraqi, Erbil, Jan, Washington, Iraq, American, Baghdad, Ankara, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Kurdistan

☆ Inside the US Navy’s frontline fight against the Houthis in the Red Sea
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Natasha Bertrand | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

“This isn’t exactly where we expected to be on this deployment,” said Captain James Huddleston, the deputy commander of Carrier Air Wing 3 who regularly flies missions over the Red Sea and Yemen. An F/A-18 with afterburner prepares to launch from the deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier in the Red Sea. Officials believe Iran was at one point using one of its suspected spy ships which has long been parked in the southern Red Sea, the Behshad, to help the Houthis target vessels there. Seconds or minutes to respondMeanwhile, the crew on board the USS Gravely destroyer in the Red Sea are the tip of the spear against inbound Houthi missiles and drones. But more often, the ship is deploying its anti-air and anti-surface missiles at closer ranges as Houthi missiles and drones close in.

Persons: Dwight D, Eisenhower, “, ”, Marc Miguez, Miguez, James Huddleston, ” Huddleston, Ike, Scott Pisczek, Marvin Scott, Samad, Iran’s, JG James Rodney, Sailors, “ It’s, FC1 Michael Zito, we’ve, ” CNN’s Scott Pisczek Organizations: Eisenhower CNN, Eisenhower, US, CNN, US Navy, Jets, Carrier, Carrier Air Wing, Carrier Air, Defense Intelligence Agency, Officials, Information Locations: Iran, Yemen, Sea, Russia, China, Red, ”, India, Djibouti, Gulf, Aden

☆ Russia's military alliances are giving it a major edge — just as Ukraine's are faltering
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Mikhaila Friel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A closer relationship with ChinaChina and Russia have deepened their military ties in recent years with the help of arms sales and joint military exercises. It has hosted Russian military drills, soldiers, and equipment, and enabled the transportation of Russian weapons close to Ukraine's borders. The situation is looking bleak for UkraineThe support from Russia's allies matters, especially when paired with the country's soaring defense budget. Its military appears to have a major edge over Ukraine as the country's financial and military support from its allies is faltering. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Senate passed a $95 billion emergency defense-aid bill that could support Ukraine, Israel, and Tawain — but the bill is expected to face stiff opposition by Republicans, BI previously reported.

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