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Post by Daniel on Dec 3, 2017 10:25:09 GMT -5
Iran, Hizballah Deny Accusations Of Destabilizing Middle East
November 21, 2017
Iran and its ally, the Lebanese Shi'ite group Hizballah, are denying accusations from Saudi Arabia and its allies that they are arming rebel groups and destabilizing the Middle East.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasem said the accusations are "full of lies" on November 20, the day after Arab League foreign ministers accused Iran of "aggression" against Arab states and vowed to take the matter to the UN Security Council.
Tensions spiked recently between Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and predominantly Shi’ite Iran after Shi'ite Yemeni rebels allied with Iran launched a thwarted ballistic-missile attack on the capital of Saudi Arabia, which has backed the Yemeni government in the country's three-year civil war.
Adding to the tensions was the surprise resignation on November 4 of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a Saudi ally, who accused Iran and Hizballah of "sowing strife" in his country and the region.
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www.rferl.org/a/iran-arab-league-lebanon-hariri-saudi-arabia/28864637.html
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Post by Daniel on Dec 3, 2017 10:26:41 GMT -5
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Post by Daniel on Dec 20, 2017 11:26:30 GMT -5
US urges UN to punish Iran, but Russia says no to sanctions
By Edith M. Lederer
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — US Ambassador Nikki Haley urged the Security Council on Tuesday to punish Iran for what the Trump administration calls its “dangerous violations” of UN resolutions and “destabilizing behavior,” while Russia said dialogue is needed rather than threats or sanctions.
Haley told a council meeting on implementation of the resolution that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that in the coming days the US will explore a number of options with council members to pressure the Iranians “to adjust their behavior.”
Haley said the council could strengthen the resolution, adopt a new one to prohibit all Iranian ballistic missile activity, explore sanctions “in response to its clear violation of the Yemen arms embargo,” and hold the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accountable for violating numerous council resolutions.
While the United States “continues to uphold its commitments” under the nuclear agreement, she said the international community must take action to address Iranian actions such as its arms sales, ballistic missile launches and support for terrorism.
But Russia’s deputy UN ambassador, Vladimir Safronkov, said that what is needed to implement the resolution on the nuclear deal is “to abandon the language of threats and sanctions, and to start using the instruments of dialogue — and concentrate on broadening cooperation and mutual trust.”
more
www.timesofisrael.com/us-urges-un-to-punish-iran-but-russia-says-no-to-sanctions/
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Post by Daniel on Jan 3, 2018 11:31:43 GMT -5
Israel exposes alleged Iranian intelligence operation in West Bank
By Judah Ari Gross
...According to the security service, its investigation found that Iran was using South Africa as a “significant front for finding, enlisting and deploying agents to Israel and the West Bank.”
The Shin Bet said Maharma’s cell was given a number of assignments by its Iranian handlers, including finding someone to carry out a suicide bombing and recruiting gunmen for a shooting attack.
The Palestinian men were also ordered to set up a computer store that the Shin Bet believes may have been used as a base for intelligence gathering, and were instructed to collect Israeli money and SIM cards.
Muhammad Maharma told investigators that he was told to find an Arab Israeli who would be willing to take photographs inside Israeli territory, specifically a journalist who would have more access to “official locations,” the Shin Bet said.
In exchange, Backer gave Muhammad some $8,000, the security service said.
Muhammad Maharma was charged in a West Bank military court with contacting an enemy agent, receiving money from an enemy nation, and attempting to join an illegal organization. Nour Maharma and Sarahneh were also charged with attempting to join an illegal organization.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on the arrest of the suspects, saying the cell was part of an Iranian effort to target Israel “not only by assisting terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, but also by trying to organize [directly] terror attacks inside Israeli territory and against Israeli civilians.”
“This isn’t the first time,” he said.
read full article
www.timesofisrael.com/israel-exposes-alleged-iranian-intelligence-operation-in-west-bank/
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Post by Daniel on Mar 1, 2018 9:25:38 GMT -5
Syrian outlet: ‘Iranian’ base is actually for Assad’s special forces
By Judah Ari Gross
...Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on February 18 that Israel could strike the Islamic Republic directly and cautioned Tehran not to “test Israel’s resolve.”
“Israel will not allow Iran’s regime to put a noose of terror around our neck,” he said. “We will act without hesitation to defend ourselves. And we will act if necessary not just against Iran’s proxies that are attacking us, but against Iran itself.”
A report earlier this month alleged that Iran was operating 10 military bases in Syria and was training militias loyal to Assad’s regime for a possible battle with Israel, with two key facilities located near the Golan Heights border.
On Tuesday, the head of US Central Command, Joseph Votel, warned that Iran has been increasing the quality and quantity of missiles it is supplying to groups in Syria and Lebanon.
“Iran is generating instability across the region, and the Iranian threat network continues to increase in strength, enhancing its capacity to threaten US and partner nation interests,” he said.
Returning from a trip to Israel Tuesday, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham told reporters that Iran was “testing” US President Donald Trump in Syria and in Lebanon, where Israeli officials fear Iran is helping the terror group Hezbollah build precision-guided rockets for use against the Jewish State.
read full article
www.timesofisrael.com/syrian-outlet-iranian-base-is-actually-for-assads-special-forces/
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Post by Daniel on Mar 28, 2018 8:22:45 GMT -5
Iran denies providing Houthi rebels with ballistic missiles
Elad Benari, 28/03/18
Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Tuesday denied Saudi Arabian accusations that Tehran provided the Houthi rebels in Yemen with ballistic capabilities, a day after Saudi Arabia threatened retaliation against the Islamic Republic for a barrage of missiles fired by Houthi rebels from Yemen.
"Everyone knows that all routes to send arms to Yemen are blocked," political deputy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Crops (IRGC), Brigadier General Yadollah Javani said, according to Reuters.
"Yemenis have reached the capability to produce their own defensive weapons including missiles; an achievement that has been inconceivable to Saudis," he added.
The Foreign Ministry in Tehran likewise rejected the Saudi claims.
"These war-mongering and irresponsible remarks can be followed up legally at the international level," said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi in a statement quoted by AFP.
more
www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/243713
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Post by Daniel on May 12, 2018 8:51:07 GMT -5
Iran will quit nuclear deal, restart enrichment, ramp up military tension
May 11, 2018 Debka
Exclusive: Tehran will challenge the US by restarting nuclear fuel enrichment and ramp up its military confrontation with Israel.
The Iranian leadership reached these decisions on Thursday, May 10, after Israeli warplanes smashed its military assets in the Damascus area that morning, DEBKAfile’s exclusive intelligence sources report. These steps follow the strategic plans Tehran had drawn up for the eventuality of the US quitting the 2015 nuclear pact. In the coming weeks, therefore, Tehran will choose its moment to abandon the nuclear deal and restart high level uranium enrichment, in the face of President Donald Trump’s warning that this action would meet with “very severe consequences.”
In light of Iran’s strategy, the US, after quitting the nuclear deal, Thursday asked the nuclear watchdog IAEA to continue inspections of the Iranian nuclear program. Washington intends to keep independent monitors accessing Iran’s nuclear activities for as long as they are permitted.
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Post by oliverwithatwist on May 12, 2018 8:57:46 GMT -5
These people of the religion of peace are so wise and noble.
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Post by Daniel on May 12, 2018 9:52:25 GMT -5
Top Iran cleric: Tel Aviv, Haifa will be destroyed if Israel behaves ‘foolishly’
By TOI staff 11 May 2018
A leading Iranian cleric said Friday that Tel Aviv and Haifa will be destroyed if Israel behaves “foolishly,” while also vowing Iran will ramp up missile development despite Western criticism. He spoke as thousands of Iranians marched in anti-Israel and anti-US protests nationwide.
“We will expand our missile capabilities despite Western pressure (to curb it)… to let Israel know that if it acts foolishly, Tel Aviv and Haifa will be totally destroyed,” Reuters translated Ahmad Khatami as saying during Friday prayers at Tehran University, broadcast on Iranian state television.
His comments came after the Israeli military said it destroyed a significant chunk of Iran’s military assets in Syria earlier this week in response to Iranian rocket fire on the Golan Heights.
...
The demonstrators mocked the US president by chanting, “Mr. Trump you cannot do a damn thing,” and, “We fight. We die. We don’t surrender,” Reuters said.
read full article
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Post by Daniel on May 16, 2018 8:31:40 GMT -5
'U.S. embassy relocation speeds up Israel's annihilation'
Elad Benari, 16/05/18
Ali Akbar Velayati, a top foreign policy adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, threatened Israel on Tuesday.
Velayati declared that the relocation of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem speeds up the “annihilation of the Zionist regime”, according to a report in the Tehran Times.
“Relocation of the U.S. embassy to one of the most sacred religious places of the Muslims will speed up the process of the Zionist regime’s collapse,” he said in a post on Instagram.
Velayati further said that the U.S. move was made to recognize the Zionist regime’s “illegal” status, but it revealed more the “cruel” image of the Zionists.
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Post by Daniel on May 23, 2018 9:42:33 GMT -5
Hamas chief boasts of Tehran’s support, close ties to Hezbollah
By Sue Surkes
The leader of the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip has boasted about the large amounts of cash, equipment and expertise it has received from Iran and said the organization is in touch with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon “on an almost daily basis.”
Speaking to Lebanon’s pro-Hezbollah al-Mayadeen TV channel on Monday, Yahya Sinwar also lauded the “strong, powerful and warm” ties Hamas enjoys with Qassem Soleimani, who heads the Islamic Revolutionary Guards’s Quds Force tasked with operations outside of Iran.
Soleimani is assumed to have masterminded the firing from Syria of dozens of rockets at Israeli military positions on the Golan Heights earlier this month.
...
“We have excellent relations with our brothers in Hezbollah,” he went on. “Our relations with them are extremely developed. We work together and coordinate and are in touch on an almost daily basis. The relations are at the best stage ever.”
“Similarly, our ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran, with brother Qassem Soleimani and the other brothers in the IRGC leadership, are very strong, powerful and warm.”
read full article
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Post by Daniel on May 23, 2018 9:50:34 GMT -5
Iran steps up broadsides against U.S., Syria signals Iran won't leave
Bozorgmehr Sharafedin
LONDON (Reuters) - Iran on Wednesday launched a fresh barrage of criticism at U.S. demands for sweeping change in its foreign policy and nuclear programme, and Tehran’s ally Damascus flatly dismissed a U.S. call for a withdrawal of Iranian forces from Syria.
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“ENDANGERING THE REGION”
In Damascus, Syria’s deputy foreign minister dismissed the notion of a withdrawal of Iranian forces.
In Syria’s seven-year-old conflict, Iran has provided vital support to President Bashar al-Assad’s military. Its forces and the militias it backs from the region, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, helped Damascus claw back control of major cities from militants and rebels.
“Whether Iranian forces or Hezbollah withdraw or stay in Syria is not up for discussion because it’s the (business) of the Syrian government,” Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen TV cited Faisal Mekdad as saying.
read full article
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Post by Daniel on Jun 9, 2018 10:16:47 GMT -5
Israel says Hamas working with Hezbollah to train ‘thousands’ in Lebanon
By TOI staff
Israel has appealed to the United Nations to intervene in southern Lebanon, saying that the Palestinian terror group Hamas is working with Hezbollah to establish missile factories and camps to train thousands of fighters in southern Lebanon.
The issue was first reported Saturday by a Lebanese daily, quoting UN sources. It was later confirmed by the Foreign Ministry, which said the issue was regularly raised at the UN.
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In the letter, Israel charged that the cooperation between the Iran-backed organizations was a “blatant violation” of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, the report said, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War between the Israeli military and Hezbollah and mandated the disarmament of armed groups in Lebanon, such as Hezbollah.
Israel requested the UN to intervene to stop the cooperation between Hamas and Hezbollah, according to the report.
read full article
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Post by Daniel on Jun 16, 2018 9:36:17 GMT -5
Jordan recalls its ambassador from Iran over regional interference — report
By TOI staff
Jordan has recalled its ambassador from Iran in protest over its interference in the affairs of countries in the region, the Al Arabiya television network reported Friday.
A senior Jordanian official told Al Arabiya Amman rejects “Iran’s interferences in Arab affairs” and policies “that harm the principle of good neighborliness.”
The source noted Jordanian concern over “the security of the region’s countries, particularly of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.”
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Post by Daniel on Jul 10, 2018 17:51:12 GMT -5
Top Iranian General: Islamic Army In Syria Awaiting Orders To Eradicate Israel
By Adam Eliyahu BerkowitzBreaking Israel News July 10, 2018
Hossein Salami, the vice commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, recently gave a speech full of threats aimed directly at Israel, referring to the Palestinians as Iran's main tool against their true enemy: the United States.
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"The Islamic Revolution created a mighty power called Hizbullah, that today, as the Zionist regime itself acknowledges, has over 100,000 missiles ready for launch," Salami said. "The Zionist regime has no strategic-defensive depth, and in some places, the breadth of this regime is barely 34 km, and in order to destroy it, it will take only one 'Jerusalem operation' to destroy it."
During the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, Iran referred to its operations against Iraq as "Jerusalem operations." Another such operation against Israel is imminent, Salami warned.
"Today an international Islamic army has been formed in Syria, and the voices of the Muslims are heard near the Golan," Salami said. "Orders are awaited, so that the custom of God vis-à-vis the eradication of the evil regime [Israel] will land and the life of this regime will be ended for good. The life of the Zionist regime was never in danger as it is now."
In his speech, Salami identified the Palestinians as Iran's primary weapon against its enemies.
"Once, the Palestinians fought with stones and slingshots, but today they are armed with missiles," Salami said. "Every regime site is today under fire from the missile launchers. The farther and more deeply [we look], the more we see that there is a politically and militarily powerful regime in the world that raises the flag of fighting evil. This regime is Iran."
read full article
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Post by Daniel on Aug 10, 2018 16:49:21 GMT -5
ANALYSIS: Iran tightening the noose around Israel
Yochanan Visser, 09/08/18
On Tuesday Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said Syria was building an even larger army it had before the civil war started in 2011.
“We see the Syrian army, which is not satisfied with taking control of all the Syrian territory, but is clearly building a new, large-scale land army that will return to its previous dimensions and beyond,” according to Liberman who spoke to reporters during a massive drill by the Israeli army on the Golan Heights.
Israel was following all the developments in Syria and was ready for every scenario, the Israeli DM added.
Liberman didn’t address the growing Iranian threat from Syria, but he no doubt knows what’s happening on the other side of the border with Syria where the Iranian-Russian backed pro-Assad coalition seized the last pockets of Islamist resistance at the end of July.
Iran is tightening the noose around Israel - not only in Syria where the Mossad reportedly killed the country’s most important missile scientist last Saturday - but also via its odd proxy Hamas, the Sunni Islamist terror organization that rules Gaza.
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