DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ US sanctions Iranian officials accused of plotting assassinations abroad including against Bolton and Pompeo
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington CNN —The Biden administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials accused of plotting assassinations abroad, including against former national security adviser John Bolton and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “Ansari, with the support of Shahram Poursafi (Poursafi), an Iranian national, planned and attempted to assassinate two former U.S. government officials,” the Treasury Department said. Pompeo was also a target of the Iranian assassination plot, according to a federal law enforcement source familiar with the investigation and a source close to Pompeo. Seraj “has been involved in failed IRGC-IO operations in Asia and in intelligence operations targeting U.S. citizens,” it said. “Seraj previously led the IRGC-IO Special Operations Division, which is focused on special activity against Israel, where he was responsible for a series of failed operations targeting Israeli nationals,” it added.

Persons: Washington CNN —, Biden, John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, Mohammad Reza Ansari, “ Ansari, Shahram, Poursafi, Bolton, Bush, Qasem Soleimani, Pompeo, Hossein Hafez Amini, “, Rey Havacilik, Sirketi, – Rouhallah Bazghandi, Reza Seraj, Bazghandi “, ” “ Bazghandi, Seraj “, “ Seraj, Brian Nelson, ” Organizations: Washington CNN, Islamic Revolutionary Guard, Force, US Treasury Department, Treasury Department, US Justice Department, Trump, Turkish, Rey, Rey Airlines, IRGC Intelligence Organization, Division, Treasury, Terrorism, Financial Locations: United States, East, Europe, Africa, Iranian, Rey, Türkiye, Iraq, Syria, Istanbul, ”, Asia, Israel

CNN —Iran smuggled weapons and military equipment into Syria using humanitarian aid shipments as a cover following a devastating earthquake there in February, two sources familiar with US intelligence and an Israeli defense official told CNN. Intelligence officials believe the weapons were destined for Iranian proxy groups in Syria, who have repeatedly attacked US military personnel stationed there as part of the anti-ISIS coalition. “The humanitarian assistance of Iran to Syria was used as an umbrella of moving weapons capabilities into the region,” the Israeli defense official said. Reuters earlier reported that regional and western officials believed Iran was smuggling the weapons under the guise of earthquake relief. Foreign aid poured into Syria and Turkey after February’s earthquake, which killed more than 50,000 people.

CNN —The US is imposing new sanctions on groups in Russia and Iran accused of taking Americans hostage as it works to prevent more captive-taking and potentially secure the release of citizens currently being detained. The sanctions ordered up Thursday would punish organizations the US accuses of being responsible for holding hostage or wrongfully detaining Americans. Officials said the steps should act as a warning to those thinking of taking Americans hostage. The order also mandated a better flow of information to the families of Americans held hostage or detained overseas. Officials said it was possible the sanctions could be lifted if Americans held in Russia or Iran were released.

☆ Syria Says Israeli Missile Strikes Kill at Least Five in Damascus
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Benoit Faucon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The site of a rocket attack in central Damascus, Syria. Syria accused Israel of carrying out a deadly missile strike on Sunday, the first such attack to target the key Iran ally since earthquakes devastated swaths of the country earlier this month. Five people were killed and 15 people were injured in the missile attack on the Kafar Sousah neighborhood of Damascus, said Syria’s state-run news agency, or SANA. The neighborhood is known to house members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The U.S. is considering new sanctions on Chinese surveillance companies over sales to Iran’s security forces, officials familiar with the deliberations said, as Iranian authorities increasingly rely on the technology to crack down on protests. U.S. authorities are in advanced discussions on the sanctions, according to the officials, and have zeroed in on Tiandy Technologies Co., a surveillance-equipment maker based in the eastern Chinese city of Tianjin whose products have been sold to units of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a hard-line paramilitary group.

☆ European Support Grows for Sanctioning Iran’s Revolutionary Guards
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Laurence Norman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The European Parliament on Thursday urged member states to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, in a sign of growing support for new measures against Tehran as it arms Russia in Ukraine and suppresses protests at home. The parliament’s resolution, which condemned Iran for its crackdown on protests, followed remarks from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday saying she favored the move. Germany, the bloc’s most powerful country, has been pushing for the IRGC to be placed on the EU terrorism list for months.

☆ U.S. blacklists Chinese firm selling video surveillance tech to Iran
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Dan De Luce | Dan De Luce Is A Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

“The Chinese Communist Party is weaponizing technology companies to further its geopolitical goals,” Rubio said in an email. Human rights advocates and lawmakers are concerned Iranian authorities could use Tiandy’s video surveillance technology to help squelch a wave of anti-regime protests in the country. The Biden administration last month effectively banned the sale or import of new equipment from a number of Chinese surveillance firms. China has strongly rejected U.S. criticism of Chinese tech companies and of its treatment of Uyghurs or other Muslim minorities in the country. But he said it was “absurd” to portray Chinese technology as a security threat.

☆ Iran Attacks Kurdish Groups in Iraq That It Blames for Unrest
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Benoit Faucon | Ghassan Adnan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The missile strikes are part of Iran’s campaign to retaliate against outside groups and foreign governments that it has blamed for supporting unrest at home. Iran launched drones and missiles against Kurdish groups in northern Iraq on Monday, the second time in a week, as the Islamic Republic intensifies efforts to suppress a two-month-old protest movement inside its bordersIran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, said Monday it targeted Kurdish military bases in Erbil and Sulaimaniyah, alleging factions there are fomenting unrest in Iran.

☆ U.S. Imposes New Sanctions Over Iran Drone Sales to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Richard Vanderford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on an Iranian drone maker that officials said supplied Russia with weapons used in Ukraine. One of SAIRC’s drone models has been used in attacks targeting civilian infrastructure in Kyiv, Odessa and the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, the Treasury Department said. The department also imposed sanctions on Success Aviation Services FZC and i Jet Global DMCC, two United Arab Emirates-based air transport companies it said worked with an already sanctioned Iranian company to help ship drones, personnel and equipment from Iran to Russia. government provided cooperation, the Treasury Department said. The European Union imposed sanctions on SAIRC last month.

☆ Iran Attacks Northern Iraq, Targeting Kurdish Groups for Unrest at Home
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( David S. Cloud | Laurence Norman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Iranian missiles and drones struck the headquarters of Kurdish groups near the cities of Erbil and Sulaimaniyah in Iraq on Monday. Iran attacked Kurdish groups in northern Iraq with drones and missiles on Monday after weeks of warnings from Tehran that it would target foreign actors it accuses of orchestrating a two-month-long antigovernment protest movement at home. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, targeted bases of Kurdish groups near the cities of Erbil and Sulaimaniyah, leaving at least two people dead and nine injured, according to Iraqi Kurdistan’s regional government. It was the second major attack in the region since the protests began, though the IRGC has fired artillery at less populated areas on multiple occasions.

☆ Sister of executed Iranian wrestler arrested and identified by state news as ‘agent’
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Celine Alkhaldi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Iranian officials said they have identified the “Iran International agent” arrested Thursday as Elham Afkari, the sister of famous Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari, who was executed two years ago, according to state news agency IRNA. Wrestler Navid Afkari was executed by the Iranian government on September 12, 2020. “It should be noted that she [Elham Afkari] is the sister of Navid Afkari, the killer of martyr Torkman, an employee of the regional water company of Fars province,” IRNA reported. Saeed Afkari, Elham and Navid’s brother, confirmed his sister’s arrest on Twitter on Thursday, saying that Elham’s three-year-old daughter was also missing. Since Navid Afkari was executed, his family has faced many court cases over involvement in the demonstrations in 2018.

☆ Israel Hits Suspected Iran Weapons Convoy in Syria With Airstrikes
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( David S. Cloud | Benoit Faucon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Israel carried out airstrikes in eastern Syria targeting a convoy of vehicles suspected of smuggling Iranian weapons after it crossed the border from Iraq, people familiar with the attack said Wednesday. The attack late Tuesday near Abu Kamal—a border town often used as a transshipment point by militant groups with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—destroyed several vehicles and killed at least 10 people, including an unknown number of Iranians, according to the people and Iraqi militia members.

CNN —Two British-Iranian journalists working in the United Kingdom have been warned by police of a “credible” plot by Iran to kill them, according to their employer, London-based news channel Iran International. The Iranian government has labeled Iran International as a “terrorist organization,” Iran’s state-aligned news agency ISNA reported Tuesday, citing the country’s information ministry. CNN reached out to Iran International for comment. Iran International’s protest coverageFounded in 2017, Iran International has been at the forefront of covering the recent demonstrations with exclusive footage of events on the ground. The sanctioned entities included what Tehran referred to as “anti-Iranian TV channels” such as Iran International, Tasnim reported.

☆ Iranian Protesters Defy Military Calls to Stay Home
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( David S. Cloud | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Demonstrations in Iran began as a defiant call for women’s rights and have transformed into an antigovernment movementIranian student protesters defied a call to halt demonstrations from one of the country’s top military commanders, facing down security forces at universities and on the streets in multiple cities on Monday. Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami , the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, directed his warning to young protesters on Saturday, saying that they had been fooled by Iran’s foreign adversaries and that they were risking their future.

☆ Argentina Frees Iranian and Venezuelan Crew Members of Plane Detained Since June
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Ryan Dube | Silvina Frydlewsky | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Venezuelan ambassador to Argentina Stella Lugo de Montilla, second from right, accompanied crew members of the Venezuelan cargo plane to Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires. BUENOS AIRES—Argentina released five Iranian and Venezuelan crew members of a cargo jet that was grounded for an investigation into possible terrorism ties, after a judge ruled that there wasn’t enough evidence to charge them. Among those freed was a pilot who U.S. and Latin American law-enforcement officials have said is a high-ranking member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

☆ Iran Attacks Northern Iraq With Missiles and Drones, Killing at Least 13
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( David S. Cloud | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Iran attacked northern Iraq on Wednesday with more than 40 ballistic missiles and armed drones, one of which was shot down by a U.S. warplane as it headed toward the city of Erbil where American troops are based, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials. The strikes were by far the largest and most deadly in recent days by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has carried out repeated bombardments of Kurdish areas in northern Iraq since last week, after publicly blaming Iranian Kurdish separatist groups based there for fomenting unrest that has swept across Iran.

As Russia bombs its neighbor, what has become the biggest European war since 1945 has had an outsized impact far south, in the Middle East. Here are four ways the Ukraine war has affected the Middle East over the last six months:Energy exporters are cashing inThe war has seen oil prices rise to as much as a 14-year high. Despite vowing to turn Saudi Arabia into a pariah, US President Joe Biden visited Saudi Arabia in a landmark trip last month. Saudi Arabia: #How_many_wives_would_you_takeSaudi men took to Twitter to ask each other how many wives they’d like to take. According to the 2019 report by the Doha International Forum called State of Marriage in the Arab World, information on polygamy in Saudi Arabia is not readily available.

Search resuls for: "Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps"

17 mentions found