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☆ 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 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

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

☆ 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

☆ 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

☆ 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

☆ 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

☆ 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, “

☆ 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

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government has seized a Boeing 747 cargo plane that officials say was previously sold by a sanctioned Iranian airline to a state-owned Venezuelan firm in violation of American export control laws. The Justice Department said Monday that the American-built plane had arrived in Florida and would be disposed of. The plane was detained in June 2022 by Argentine law enforcement, and U.S. officials moved several weeks later to take possession of it. The Justice Department has identified the registered captain of the plane as an ex-commander for the Revolutionary Guard. Mahan Air has denied any ties to the aircraft, and Venezuela has demanded that Argentine authorities release the plane.

Persons: Mahan, Matthew Olsen, ”, Nicolas Maduro, Regina Garcia Cano Organizations: WASHINGTON, Boeing, Justice Department, Air, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Quds Force, Officials, Revolutionary Guard, Justice, Argentine, The, Mahan Air, Associated Press Locations: U.S, Iranian, Venezuelan, Florida, United States, Argentine, Argentina, Emtrasur, Moscow, Caracas, Tehran, Venezuela

BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. military has launched strikes on dozens of sites manned by Iran-backed fighters in western Iraq and eastern Syria in retaliation for a drone strike in Jordan in late January that killed three U.S. service members and wounded dozens. A deadly strike on the desert outpost known as Tower 22 in Jordan near the Syrian border further increased tensions. The Euphrates River cuts through Syria into Iraq, with U.S. troops and American-backed Kurdish-led fighters on the east bank and Iran-backed fighters and Syrian government forces to the west. He said the strikes also hit an area inside the town of Mayadeen known as “the security quarter.”Iraqi government spokesperson Bassim al-Awadi said the border strikes killed 16 people and caused “significant damage” to homes and private properties. There have been no new attacks by the Houthis since the U.S. strikes in Iraq and Syria.

Persons: Guard’s, Ali, Ein Ali, Deir, Rami Abdurrahman, Omar Abu Layla, Bassim, Awadi, PMF Organizations: Hamas, U.S, Guard’s Quds Force, Human Rights, Popular Mobilization Force, Houthis Locations: BEIRUT, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Israel, U.S, Tehran, Deir el, Hassakeh, American, Kurdish, Syrian, Iranian, Guard’s Quds, Boukamal, Quriya, Mayadeen, Britain, Europe, IRAN, Washington, Gaza, Iraqi, Irbil, Yemen

☆ Biden’s balancing act with Iran aims for deterrence, not a wider war
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Kevin Liptak | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

“I think it is a real strong deterrence,” said Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat and Iraq War veteran. It was only about an hour after Biden departed Dover Air Force Base in Delaware that the first US strikes began in Iraq and Syria. Inside the Situation Room, Biden and his team assessed a set of options that each came with a certain degree of risk. And there are clear indications that Iran isn’t looking for a war with the United States — just as Washington insists it isn’t seeking a broader conflict. “There’s been no communications with Iran since the attack that killed our three soldiers in Jordan,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Friday night.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, Biden, won’t, “, ”, Sen, Tammy Duckworth, ” Biden, Mark Esper, Donald Trump’s, ” Esper, he’d, William Jerome Rivers, Kennedy Ladon Sanders, Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, United States —, —, haven’t, Biden’s, “ There’s, John Kirby, Beth Sanner, Qasem, ” Sanner Organizations: CNN, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, Illinois Democrat, Iraq, Biden, Dover Air Force Base, US Army Reserve Command, Spc, Breonna, United, White, ” National Security Locations: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Red, Illinois, Jordan, Delaware, United States, Gaza, South Carolina, Tehran, Yemen, Washington, Iranian

☆ Analysis: What to make of the US retaliation strikes against pro-Iranian militias in Iraq and Syria
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —It was meant to sound devastating, and likely felt so to the pro-Iranian militias on the receiving end. The Biden administration faced a near-impossible task: Hit hard enough to show you mean it, but also ensure your opponent can absorb the blow without lashing out in return. Mistakes, or unanticipated successes, can lead to spirals, and that can lead to unavoidable, wider conflict. The Biden administration has elections looming, in which it does not need another costly foreign adventure, trouble over its Israel policy, or rising oil prices. There will likely follow criticism of the Biden administration for not using the same blunt and forceful approach of Trump in 2020.

Persons: Defense Lloyd Austin, Biden, Donald Trump, Qasem Soleimani, prima, Joe Biden, Defense Lloyd J, Austin III, William Rivers, Kennedy Sanders, Breonna Moffett, Joshua Roberts, Soleimani Organizations: CNN, US Central Command, US, Defense, Force, Hamas, Dover Air Force Base, UN, International Atomic Energy Agency, Trump Locations: Iraq, Syria, Israel, Gaza, Iran, United States, Moscow, Dover , Delaware, Tehran, Washington

☆ US forces hammered dozens of IRGC and Iran-backed militia targets with 125 bombs in retaliation for the drone attack that killed American troops
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The military action comes days after a drone attack killed US troops in Jordan. AdvertisementThe US military on Friday began strikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria, a US defense official told Business Insider. AdvertisementThe White House immediately blamed Iran-backed militias for the deadly incident and vowed revenge. The recent drone attack could have been an attempt to undermine the US hold in eastern Syria and to open arms smuggling routes through Jordan to the West Bank. AdvertisementSome US lawmakers have called for the Biden administration to take aggressive military action in retaliation for the Jan. 28 drone attack, including conducting strikes inside Iran itself.

Persons: —, CENTCOM, Joe Biden, Defense Lloyd Austin, Washington, John Kirby, they're, Biden Organizations: Service, Business, US Central Command, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Quds Force, US, Coalition, Pentagon, Defense, National Security, Institute for, West Bank Locations: Iran, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, United States, Tehran, East, Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Hamas

☆ The U.S. Conducted Retaliatory Strikes in Iraq and Syria
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

American forces today carried out a series of military strikes against Iranian forces and the militias that they back in half a dozen sites in Syria and Iraq. The assaults, targeting command centers, weapons facilities and bunkers used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force and affiliated militia groups, made good on President Biden’s promise to respond to a drone attack in Jordan on Sunday that killed three American soldiers and injured at least 40 more service members. We have live updates. The U.S. military is seeking to use the strikes to send a message to Iran and its allied militias that continued attacks on U.S. troops in the region, and international ships in the Red Sea, will draw a response. Still, the Biden administration says it does not want the proxy war underway with Iran to become more significant than it already is.

Persons: Biden’s, Biden Organizations: Iranian, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force Locations: Syria, Iraq, Jordan, U.S, Iran, Red

☆ U.S. Hits Back at Iran With More Than Just Airstrikes
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Eileen Sullivan | David E. Sanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the hours before the United States carried out strikes against Iran-backed militants on Friday, Washington hit Tehran with more familiar weapons: sanctions and criminal charges. The Biden administration sanctioned officers and officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Iran’s premier military force, for threatening the integrity of water utilities and for helping manufacture Iranian drones. And it unsealed charges against nine people for selling oil to finance the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. The timing seemed designed to pressure the Revolutionary Guards and its most elite unit, the Quds Force, at a moment of extraordinary tension in the Middle East. In the 15 years since the United States mounted a major cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the country has trained a generation of hackers and struck back at Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United States, among others.

Persons: Biden Organizations: Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Revolutionary Guards, Quds Force Locations: United States, Iran, Washington, Tehran, Israel, Saudi Arabia

Attacks The map shows five of the seven sites that the U.S. hit with military strikes in Syria and Iraq. The strikes hit more than 85 targets at different locations using more than 125 precision-guided munitions, according to a statement by U.S. Central Command. Two American officials said the United States also conducted cyberoperations against Iranian targets on Friday but declined to provide details. It is clear from statements from the White House, and from Tehran, that neither the United States nor Iran wants a wider war. Striking sites in the Mideast with aircraft launched from the United States and refueled midair is a muscular show of global reach and capability, the official said.

Persons: Biden, Biden’s, Mr, “, ”, John F, Kirby, Douglas, Sims, Yahya Rasool, That’s, Iran’s, Jordan, Roger Wicker of, William Jerome Rivers, Kennedy Ladon Sanders, Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, Moffett, Sanders, Sergeant Rivers Organizations: Iranian, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force, U.S . Central Command, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, ”, Jordan . Middle, Revolutionary Guards, National Security Council, White House, Central Command, White, Pentagon, Dyess Air Force Base, U.S, military’s Joint Staff, Air Force, Iraq’s Armed Forces, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, Revolutionary Guards Corps, Administration, Capitol, Biden, Republican, Armed Services Committee, Dover Air Force Base, Army Reserve Locations: United States, Syria, Iraq, East, Jordan, Iran, U.S, Jordan ., Tehran, Texas, Yemen, Israel, Gen, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Delaware

☆ Iraq's Nujaba Says It Will Continue Attacks on U.S. Forces
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The Iran-backed Iraqi armed group Nujaba said on Friday it will continue launching attacks on U.S. forces in the region until the Gaza war ends and U.S. forces exit Iraq, days after another major Iran-backed group said it was suspending such attacks. Iraq's shadowy Kataib Hezbollah said on Tuesday it would pause attacks on U.S. forces, a decision that followed the killing of three U.S. soldiers in a drone attack in Jordan near the Syrian border that Washington blamed on Iran-back militants. Part of Iran's so-called "Axis of Resistance," the umbrella group has claimed more than 150 attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria since the Gaza war began. In 2020, the U.S. killed Iran Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and Kataib Hezbollah leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a drone strike at Baghdad airport. The strike came days after the U.S. blamed Kataib Hezbollah for the killing of a U.S. contractor.

Persons: Nujaba, Akram al, Ebrahim Raisi, Iran Quds, Qassem Soleimani, Abu Mahdi al, Kataib, Timour Azhari, Jana Choukeir, Michael Georgy, Nick Macfie Organizations: IRI, Iran, Iran Quds Force Locations: BAGHDAD, Iran, U.S, Gaza, Iraq, Jordan, Washington, Syria, Israel, Tehran, Baghdad, Dubai

☆ Widening Mideast Crisis Militia Blamed for Attack on U.S. Forces Says It Will Halt Military Activity
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Alissa J. Rubin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

His comment raised fears in Iraq about a possibly retaliatory U.S. attack on its territory. The militia, Kata’ib Hezbollah, or Brigades of the Party of God, is the largest and most established of the Iran-linked groups operating in Iraq. (Kata’ib Hezbollah is separate from the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.) The other two Iraqi groups that are believed to have been involved in strikes U.S. targets — Harakat al Nujaba and Sayyid Shuhada — have not announced they will halt attacks. Kata’ib Hezbollah and other groups had ignored the Iraqi government’s request to stand down, but once the attack in Jordan on Sunday took American lives, Mr. Sudani demanded a complete halt from Kata’ib Hezbollah.

Persons: Biden, Israel, —, Nujaba, Sayyid Shuhada —, Kata’ib, Abu Hussein al, “, Pat Ryder, ”, Mohammed Shia, Sudani, Hisham al, Sudani’s, Nuri al, Qais, Hadi, Esmail Qaani, Falih Hassan, Farnaz, Eric Schmitt Organizations: Pentagon, Hezbollah, Party of, Iraqi Army, Kurdish Syrian Defense, Islamic, Kata’ib Hezbollah, Defense Department, U.S, Sunday, Revolutionary Guards, Maliki, Quds Force Locations: Iran, Iraq, U.S, Jordan, Syria, Gaza, The U.S, Islamic State, Lebanon, Yemen, Islamic Republic of Iran, United States, Iraqi, Baghdad, New York, Washington ,

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has made it clear the U.S. will strike back after a deadly drone attack killed three service members and wounded more than 40 at a small base in Jordan over the weekend. On Tuesday, Biden bluntly said “yes” when asked if he'd decided how to respond to the attack. Target options range from inside Iran, including on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, to Iranian ships at sea and Tehran-backed militia groups and key militant leaders in Iraq and Syria. HIT MILITIA GROUPS AGAINThe most likely move would be to hit Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria again. Hawkish Congress members said Biden should directly target Tehran for the deadly attack on the base in Jordan.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, he'd, “ That’s, ”, John Kirby, ” Biden, Quds, Gen, Qassem, Asad, Avi Melamed, ” Melamed, Jordan, Pat Ryder, Mohammed Shia, Sudani, Sen, Lindsay Graham, Sara Jacobs, Bradley Bowman, Jim Risch, —, Farnoush Amiri, Mike Pesoli, Joshua Boak, Sagar Meghani, Kevin Freking, Abby Sewell Organizations: WASHINGTON, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Quds Force, National Security, Force, U.S, Embassy, Middle, HIT, Pentagon, CONGRESSIONAL, HOW, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Republican, Senate Foreign Relations, Associated Press Locations: U.S, Jordan, Iran, Gaza, Tehran, Iraq, Syria, IRAN, Baghdad, Iranian, Hill, Davos, Washington, Beirut

☆ Iran shows it can unleash its own deadly drone war against US troops
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Paul Iddon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. In its Sunday attack on a US outpost in Jordan, Iran and its militia allies showed they have the suicide drone technology to defeat US air defenses. The drone struck Tower 22 near Jordan's border with Syria, killing three US service personnel and injuring over 40 . Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERSSunday's attack wasn't the first time these militias have used such drones against American troops. Advertisement"The drone was deployed at the same time as a returning US military drone, allowing it to approach undetected," Rogers said.

Persons: —, James Rogers, Arash Azizi, Azizi, Houthis, Rogers, IRGC, Qassem, Soleimani, Samad, Biden, Ceng Sagnic, Sagnic Organizations: Service, Business, White, of, Clemson University, Iran's, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Planet Labs, Handout, REUTERS, Force, TAM, C Locations: Jordan, Iran, Jordan's, Syria, Iraq, Russia, Ukraine, Tehran, Yemen, Lebanon, Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, Baghdad

☆ Biden’s Options Range From Unsatisfying to Risky After American Deaths
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( David E. Sanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But the options range from the unsatisfying to the highly risky. Mr. Biden could order strikes on the proxy forces, a major escalation of the whack-a-mole attacks it has conducted in recent weeks in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. So far, those attacks have put a dent into the abilities of the Iranian-backed groups that have mounted more than 160 attacks. His first targets could well be members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, many of whom are based in Syria and Iraq. In short, it would force Mr. Biden to do everything he has been trying so far to avoid.

Persons: Biden, Mr, Qassim Suleimani Organizations: Sunday, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Quds Force Locations: Jordan, Tehran, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, United States, Iran

☆ Iran-backed groups in the Middle East and major US military deployments
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | Abbas Allawati | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The US has attacked Iranian-backed groups in Yemen, Syria and Iraq, while Iran-linked groups have targeted American personnel in Iraq and Syria. The US, having been trying to pivot away from the Middle East for years, finds itself drawn back into the region. And in some places, including Iraq and Syria, the US military presence overlaps that of Iran and its allies. The US has around 13,500 US forces in Kuwait, the largest American military presence in the region. The US this month quietly reached an agreement that extends its military presence for another 10 years at the base.

Persons: Yemen’s, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Harakat, Sayyid, Al, Haq, Asad, Bashar al, Assad, Israel, Ali, Dalton Williams Organizations: UAE CNN, Hamas, Islamic, Navy, Marine Expeditionary Unit, Institute for National Security, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, National Intelligence, Badr Organization, Asad Air Base, Erbil AB, Al, Force, Fatemiyoun, ISIS, Syria Security, Syrian Democratic Forces, Syrian Free Army, CNN, Gaza, US Air Force, Battalion, 163rd Cavalry Regiment, Ali Al Salem Air Base, U.S . Air Force, Washington, United Arab, US, Udeid, Base, Forward Headquarters, Combined Air Operations Centre, Prince Sultan Air Base, UAE, Al Dhafra, Al Dhafra Air Base, Gulf Air Warfare Center, US Naval Forces Central Command Locations: Abu Dhabi, UAE, Israel, Iran, US, Iranian, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Tehran, Pakistan, Islamic Republic, Washington, Lebanon Lebanon, East, Lebanon, Gaza, Tel Aviv, Iraq Tehran, Baghdad, Al, Erbil, Syria Iran, Syrian, Pakistani, ”, Red, Saudi, Yemen’s, Kuwait, U.S, Palestinian, Arab, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Doha, Al Dhafra Air, Bahrain, Jordan, Incirlik

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