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☆ U.S. Troops Are Injured in Attack on Air Base in Iraq
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( Eric Schmitt | Alissa J. Rubin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

Israel and Iran have been locked in a shadow war for years, long before the latest war in Gaza began. They have traded covert attacks by land, sea and air, as well as online. Israel has conducted targeted killings of key Iranian figures and strikes aimed at crippling Iran’s nuclear and military capabilities. Syria is a close ally of Iran and a conduit for Iranian weapons shipments to its proxies, especially Hezbollah. Iran and Pakistan Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza Clashes along Israel-Lebanon border Qatar Iranian strike targeting militants Saudi Arabia U.A.E.

Persons: Israel, Ebrahim Raisi, Israel —, SANA, Hojatallah Omidvar, Haj Sadegh Omidzade, General Omidvar, Sayyed Razi Mousavi, Ronen Bergman, Victoria Kim Organizations: Guards, Quds Force, Islamic, Hamas, Revolutionary Guards, Human Rights, SYria AFghanistan IRAQ Israel Iran Clashes, West Bank, Qatar, Qatar INdia Saudi Arabia U.A.E, Red Sea, TURKEY U.S, EGYPT Qatar Saudi Arabia U.A.E, SYria IRAQ Iran Israel Clashes, West Bank KUWAIT PAK, Qatar Iranian, Saudi Arabia U.A.E, Quds Forces, Brig, Senior Locations: Iran, Damascus, Israel, Gaza, Syria, Islamic Republic of Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Gaza . Israel, Syrian, Britain, East TURKMENISTAN Syria, Iraq TURKEY Iran, SYria AFghanistan IRAQ Israel Iran, West, Gaza PAKISTAN KUWAIT Iran, Pakistan EGYPT, Qatar INdia Saudi Arabia, OMAN Red, YEMEN Sudan, Red, Red Sea U.S, Iraq TURKMENISTAN Iran, TURKEY, Gaza Iran, Pakistan KUWAIT PAKISTAN, EGYPT Qatar Saudi Arabia, Sudan YEMEN U.S, SYria IRAQ Iran Israel, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, OMAN, YEMEN, Iranian, Gen, Erbil, Kurdistan, Iraq, Israeli, United States

☆ Deadly Iranian Strike in Northern Iraq Inflames Tensions in the Region
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Alissa J. Rubin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A deadly Iranian ballistic missile strike in northern Iraq on Tuesday drove a wedge — at least temporarily — between Baghdad and Tehran, adding to the already volatile and tense situation in the Middle East. The Iraqi government recalled its ambassador to Tehran and summoned Iran’s chargé d’affaires in Baghdad to the Foreign Ministry after at least eight ballistic missiles launched by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps struck overnight in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, killing four civilians, including an 11-month-old girl. The strike came amid widespread fears that the devastating war in Israel could spiral into a more deadly confrontation. The war has already sparked a low-level regional conflict between Iranian proxy forces in Iraq, Syria and Yemen and the United States and other Wester powers. The United States, France and Britain denounced the latest Iranian attack, which shook Erbil and set off sirens at the United States Consulate and at the airport, which was forced to suspend flights.

Persons: Iran’s chargé Organizations: Tuesday, Foreign, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, United States Consulate Locations: Iraq, Baghdad, Tehran, Iran’s chargé d’affaires, Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan, Israel, Syria, Yemen, United States, France, Britain

☆ Iran Launches Missile Strikes in Iraq and Syria, Citing Terrorist Attacks
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Alissa J. Rubin | More About Alissa J. Rubin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Some Iranian leaders initially appeared to blame Israel for the attack at the Suleimani memorial, though the Islamic State claimed responsibility for it. Direct attacks by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, while not new, have been far less frequent than those conducted by Iran’s proxies. Israel retaliated by bombarding the strip, killing more than 23,000 people and displacing millions, according to Gazan health officials. We’re not tracking damage to infrastructure or injuries at this time.”Erbil is the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq and is its most populous city. The Kurdish region’s security council called on the international community to condemn the Iranian attack, which it described as “a blatant violation of the sovereignty of the Kurdistan region and Iraq and the federal government.”

Persons: Israel, ” Organizations: Islamic State, Revolutionary, Mossad, Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, Consulate, American Locations: Erbil, Israel, Iraq, Syria, Gaza, U.S, ” Erbil, Kurdistan, Kurdish

For all the fears of an outbreak of fighting in the Middle East that could draw the United States, Israel and Iran into direct combat, a curious feature of the conflict so far is the care taken — in both Tehran and Washington — to avoid putting their forces into direct contact. No one knows how long that will last, American and European diplomats and other officials say. It is the most delicate of dances, rife with subtle signals, attacks and feints, and deniable action. The evidence of caution is piecemeal, but everywhere. That is considered the red line that could trigger military action against its underground nuclear complexes.

Persons: Washington — Locations: United States, Israel, Iran, Tehran, Washington, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon

☆ New Video Suggests Israeli-Russian Academic Kidnapped in Iraq Is Alive
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Alissa J. Rubin | More About Alissa J. Rubin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Ms. Tsurkov was kidnapped in late March after having coffee in a Baghdad cafe. Ms. Tsurkov went to Iraq in January to do academic research. Israel and Iraq do not have diplomatic relations; Iraq deems Israel a hostile state and has banned all contact with it. In the video, Ms. Tsurkov, who speaks in Hebrew throughout, is shown alone, seated on a couch. At the end of the video, Ms. Tsurkov speaks directly to her family, pleading with them to help win her release.

Persons: Elizabeth Tsurkov, Tsurkov, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, “, ”, Netanyahu, Sara, Yair, Iraq “, ” Ms, Rina, Arkady, Emma, Avital, David, ” Falih Hassan Organizations: Princeton University, Al, Hezbollah —, Kataib Hezbollah, New York Times, ”, New Lines Institute, Strategy Locations: Iraqi, Israeli, Russian, Baghdad, Al Rabiaa, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Gaza, Syrian, United States

President Biden’s trip to Israel on Wednesday will put him in a region where grief and fury are mounting, not only toward Israel, but also toward the United States, the world power that has declared unyielding support for its chief Middle East ally. On Tuesday, widespread condemnation of Israel rippled across the region after a huge explosion at a hospital in the Gaza Strip killed hundreds of Palestinians who had been seeking treatment and refuge. Israel has denied being behind the blast, blaming a Palestinian group, Islamic Jihad, for a failed rocket launch. But even before that, many people across the region had come to view Israel’s war with Hamas — the Palestinian armed group that carried out a shocking attack on southern Israel more than a week ago, slaughtering 1,400 people — as an American-backed massacre of Palestinian civilians in the blockaded territory of Gaza. Israel has cut off water, medicine and electricity in the enclave and continued to target Gaza with deadly airstrikes, bringing the death toll to at least 2,800 before the hospital explosion.

Persons: Biden’s, Israel rippled Organizations: Gaza, Islamic Locations: Israel, United States, American, Gaza

Then, they said, the voluminous bunting on the ceiling quickly caught fire, and the electricity almost immediately turned off, for reasons that were not clear. “When the lights went out, people didn’t know where to go and started hitting the chairs and tables and started falling on the ground,” said Ghazwan Ibrahim, one of the wedding guests. “I searched the hospitals in Mosul, I went to the forensic medicine center, and still I have not found them,” he said. “The roof caught fire within three seconds, and the fire was very big,” he said. “I helped, like, seven or eight people, but I couldn’t help more because I was choking from the smoke and my eyes were stinging and streaming.”

Persons: ”, Ghazwan Ibrahim, ” Mr, Ibrahim, “, Gorges Yohana Locations: Mosul

☆ Iraq’s Leader, Heading to U.N., Pitches Himself as Face of Change
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Alissa J. Rubin | More About Alissa J. Rubin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Iraq’s prime minister addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, he is hoping to persuade the world that he is the leader who can finally solve his country’s persistent problems of corruption and political instability — and make it a reliable partner for the region. He asserts that as the first Iraqi leader since the U.S. invasion in 2003 to have spent his entire life within the country, he is better able to understand what Iraqis have been through, and to make changes. Every other prime minister after the toppling of Saddam Hussein spent years in exile or working abroad, but Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, 53, never fled Iraq, despite Mr. Hussein’s having ordered the execution of his father and other close relatives. “I am a product of the institutions of the state,” Mr. al-Sudani said in a recent interview in Baghdad, “and I understand the citizens and their priorities.” He described himself as part of “a second generation” of post-Hussein politicians, and said those with his background were closer to the people and understood that “the street wants a change.”

Persons: Saddam Hussein, Mohammed Shia, Hussein’s, “, Mr, Sudani, Hussein, ” Organizations: United Nations General Assembly Locations: New York, U.S, Iraq, Baghdad, “

There were just 120 drip irrigation systems allotted to farmers in Mr. Sahlani’s province last year to save water — and the farmers had to pay for them. Past the urban sprawl of northern Naseriyah, with its small auto repair shops and vegetable stands, the land empties out. A short drive off the highway, deeper into the desert, lies Al Najim, a village being blown off the map. Qahatan Almihana, an agricultural engineer, pointed at the town’s landmarks: buildings half-covered in sand, doors buried too deep to open. “The land was good, the soil was good,” he explained.

Persons: ” Mohammed Raed, Sahlani, ”, Ghazwan Abdul Amir, Al Najim, Qahatan, Sheikh Muhammad Ajil Falghus Organizations: Tufts Locations: Turkey, Iran, Naseriyah, Sahlani’s

☆ As Iraq Tries to Chill Critics, Its Newest Target Is Social Media
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( Alissa J. Rubin | More About Alissa J. Rubin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Often it is unclear exactly which acts violate public order and morality, according to the U.S. State Department’s most recent report on human rights, as well as a report by Human Rights Watch and other free speech and human rights organizations. Um Fahad, the social media influencer who was dancing on her son’s birthday, said she still did not understand why she was arrested and imprisoned. In 2021, the federal court stripped commissioners of their immunity, making them vulnerable to financially crippling lawsuits from any politician, government ministry or party. That curbed the commission’s efforts to hold to account Iraqi government officials or institutions for human rights violations under Iraqi and international law. Officials note accurately that when government critics are pursued in court, in the majority of cases they eventually prevail.

Persons: Um Fahad, “, ”, Ali al, neutered, Saddam Hussein Organizations: U.S, U.S . State, Human Rights Watch, Iraqi Human Rights Commission Locations: U.S ., Iraq

An Israeli researcher missing for months in Iraq is being held by a Shiite militia, according to a statement from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She holds both Israeli and Russian passports and entered the country using her Russian passport, according to the Israeli government. Israel and Iraq do not have diplomatic relations, so she would not have been allowed to enter with an Israeli passport. Ms. Tsurkov went to Iraq in January to do academic research. As well as studying at Princeton, she is a fellow at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, a Washington-based research group.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Elizabeth Tsurkov, Tsurkov Organizations: Princeton University, Hezbollah, Princeton, New Lines Institute, Strategy Locations: Iraq, Iran, Baghdad, Israel, Washington

☆ Burning of Quran in Stockholm Sparks Outrage in Muslim World
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Alissa J. Rubin | Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The burning of a Quran outside a mosque in Sweden on one of the holiest days in Islam sparked outrage Wednesday in many Muslim countries and widespread condemnations of the Swedish authorities. The crowd became increasingly angry, scaling the wall surrounding the compound and pushing through an external gate. There was no sign that Iraqi diplomatic police forces attempted to stop them. The protesters did not enter the embassy itself, which was closed for the Islamic holiday, and eventually left. Iraq’s foreign ministry also condemned Sweden “for allowing an extremist to burn a copy of the holy Quran.”

Persons: Muqtada, Sadr, ” Locations: Sweden, Iraq, Swedish, Baghdad, Muqtada al, Sadr, Islam

Last decade 2100 scenarios LOW EMISSIONS By 2100, Basra would see almost six months of dangerous heat under the most likely scenario. MEDIUM EMISSIONS HIGH EMISSIONS Jan. July Jan. July Dec. Dec. Heat Index 80°F Caution 90°F Extreme Caution 103°F Danger 125°F Extreme Danger Basra Kuwait City Last decade 2100 scenarios Lower emissions Medium emissions Higher emissions Jan. July Jan. July Dec. Dec. Heat Index 80°F Caution 90°F Extreme Caution 103°F Danger 125°F Extreme Danger Basra Last decade 2100 emissions scenario LOW Medium HIGH Jan. July Dec. Kuwait City Last decade 2100 emissions scenario LOW Medium HIGH Jan. July Dec. Heat Index 80°F Caution 90°F Extreme Caution 103°F Danger 125°F Extreme Danger Basra Last decade 2100 emission scenarios Low Medium High Jan. July Dec. Kuwait City Last decade 2100 emission scenarios Low Medium High Jan. July Dec. Heat Index 80°F Caution 90°F Extreme Caution 103°F Danger 125°F Extreme Danger Kuwait City Basra Today, Basra experiences about 60 dangerously hot days per year. MEDIUM EMISSIONS HIGH EMISSIONS Jan. July Jan. July Dec. Dec. Heat Index 27°C Caution 32°C Extreme Caution 39°C Danger 52°C Extreme Danger Basra Kuwait City Last decade 2100 scenarios Lower emissions Medium emissions Higher emissions Jan. July Jan. July Dec. Dec. Heat Index 27°C Caution 32°C Extreme Caution 39°C Danger 52°C Extreme Danger Basra Last decade 2100 emissions scenario LOW Medium HIGH Jan. July Dec. Kuwait City Last decade 2100 emissions scenario LOW Medium HIGH Jan. July Dec. Heat Index 27°C Caution 32°C Extreme Caution 39°C Danger 52°C Extreme Danger Basra Last decade 2100 emissions scenario Low Medium High Jan. July Dec. Kuwait City Last decade 2100 emissions scenario Low Medium High Jan. July Dec. Heat Index 27°C Caution 32°C Extreme Caution 39°C Danger 52°C Extreme Danger Kuwait City Basra Today, Basra experiences about 60 dangerously hot days per year. Last decade 2100 scenarios LOW EMISSIONS By 2100, Basra would see almost six months of dangerous heat under the most likely scenario. MEDIUM EMISSIONS HIGH EMISSIONS Jan. July Jan. July Dec. Dec.

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