Tag: Middle East

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Unveil Underground Missile Base Near Persian Gulf Coast – Photos, Video

Sputnik News – January 8, 2021

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has revealed the existence of a new top-secret underground missile base belonging to the IRGC Navy.

Photos and video of the new base published by Iranian media shows senior officers touring the facility, walking past rows and rows of missiles of various classes and ranges. Footage shows long tunnels wide enough to allow for two-way traffic by mobile, truck-based missile launchers and supply vehicles.

The IRGC wasn’t exactly subtle about who the unveiling of the missile base was meant to send a message to, with the video showing officers walking over flags of the United States and Israel painted on the floor as they entered the base.

IRGC Commander-in-Chief Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, who was on hand to inaugurate the new facility, said the base is “one of several bases housing the Guards’ Navy’s strategic missiles,” suggesting it would help “boost the country’s deterrence power”, and protect “the territorial integrity and independence of the country and the achievements of the Islamic Revolution” against any would-be “demons” threatening aggression.

The commander added that the missiles housed at the base have a range of hundreds of kilometres, and have a high level of accuracy and destructive power, including anti-electronic warfare capabilities. According to Salami, the IRGC’s naval missiles are among the best in the world among coast-to-sea, surface-to-surface, air-to-sea and sea-to-air missile systems.

https://sputniknews.com

U.S. sees some indications of possible Iranian attack in Mideast

Mosheh Gains – January 1, 2021

WASHINGTON — The U.S. has seen increasing indications that Iran could be planning an attack against American forces or interests in the Middle East, according to a U.S. official.

The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that reading Iran’s intentions was “difficult and at times unpredictable.”

But the indications are being taken seriously, the official said. The one-year anniversary of the U.S.’ killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani is just days away.

Soleimani was killed in a U.S. dronestrike in Iraq on Jan. 3, 2020, in what the Defense Department characterized as a “defensive action” because it alleged the leader of Iran’s Quds Force was developing plans to attack Americans. Iran launched missiles against U.S. forces in Iraq in response to the killing days later.

This week, the U.S. flew B-52 bombers based at a Minot, North Dakota, Air Force base to the Middle East in a “deliberate appearance,” U.S. Central Command said, in the second such show of force this month.

The U.S. has recently accused what it said was an Iranian-backed militia of a Dec. 20 rocket attack on Baghdad’s green zone, in which 21 rockets were fired. No one was injured or killed.

Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, in a Tweet on Thursday objected to the B-52 flights and wrote: “Intelligence from Iraq indicate plot to FABRICATE pretext for war.”

On Dec. 23, referring to the rocket attack that damaged the U.S. embassy in the green zone, President Donald Trump had tweeted: “Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over.”

https://www.nbcnews.com

U.S. Sends Two B-52s on ‘Show-of-Force’ Mission over Persian Gulf

Simon Kent – December 11, 2020

A pair of U.S. B-52H Stratofortresses flew a show-of-force mission across the Persian Gulf on Thursday in a display intended to deter attacks from Iran. The bombers were joined by fighter escorts from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar.

The aircraft, assigned to Louisiana’s Barksdale Air Force Base-headquartered 2nd Bomb Wing, flew a short-notice nonstop mission the military said was “designed to deter aggression” and assure allies and partners the United States can rapidly deploy military power.

“Potential adversaries should understand that no nation on earth is more ready and capable of rapidly deploying additional combat power in the face of any aggression,” U.S. Central Command’s commander, Gen. Frank McKenzie, said.

“Our ability to work together as partners on a mission like this heightens our collective readiness to respond to any crisis or contingency,” McKenzie said.

UPI reports this is the second U.S. show-of-force mission involving B-52s in the region in as many months.

The mission comes two weeks after the assassination of top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in Iran and amid escalating tentions between the United States and Iran, as Breitbart News reported.

https://www.breitbart.com

High alert for Iranian/Hizballah terror in revenge for scientist’s death

Debkafiles – December 4, 2020

The warning of Iranian or proxy terrorism issued by Israel’s security officials was based on incoming intelligence that Tehran’s revenge for the death of top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh last month would likely come in the form of terrorist attacks. The Lebanese Hizballah, which maintains a clandestine global network, would be the foremost candidate proxy for this operation. The security advisory issued by the Coounterterror Authority in Jerusalem on Thursday, Dec. 3, specifically warned Israeli travelers that they risked being targeted on their trips to the UAE’s Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Bahrain, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey. semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan and parts of Africa. They were told to be extra vigilant and avoid crowded places, unsecured locations and government centers.

Thousands of Israelis, enthusiastic globetrotters – even during the covid pandemic, are currently vacationing in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Around a hundred flights to those destinations are scheduled for next week in the first eager flush of friendship generated by the epic UAE normalization pact with Israel.

They have now been made aware of the active Iranian and Hizballah networks lurking in nearby Qatar, and their penetration by these hostile elements of expatriate Lebanese and Shiite expatriate communities in East Africa. Government officials were instructed to postpone planned trips to the Gulf. Extra guards are posed at Israel’s overseas diplomatic missions and Jewish centers.

The threat may also hang over those staying at home. On Friday, security officials alerted former nuclear research and other senior staff of the Dimona nuclear research center in southern Israel to danger. They were advised to alter their regular habits. including walking routes, refrain from opening strange packages, and be on the lookout for unusual events. Since the Fakhrizadeh death, they were told that Iranian spies may be monitoring their’ activities online and on social media

Conscious of the terrorist threat from Iran and its proxies, the US State Department this week decided to pull dozens of staffers from its embassy in the fortified Green Zone of Baghdad, this being the aftermath of the Fakhrizadeh killing and the first anniversary date of the US drone attack that killed Qassem Soleimani. Tehran has vowed revenge for both these grave losses.

https://www.debka.com

Israel-Hezbollah Conflict: Both Sides ‘Fully Prepared’ for Large-Scale War

– October 30, 2020

Tensions between Israel and Lebanon escalated in late August when the Jewish state’s military launched airstrikes against Hezbollah observation posts, in response to the Lebanon-based Shia militant group firing two shots from across the border aimed at Israeli troops.

Newsweek has cited representatives of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah as saying that they are completely ready for a potential full-fledged military conflict.

Brigadier General Ido Mizrachi, chief engineering officer of the IDF, told the US magazine that while the Israeli military sees Hezbollah “as the main enemy for now”, the IDF is doing its best to prevent this conflict from becoming “a genuine war”.

“But we have to be ready to operate against Hezbollah, and especially if we need to do that geographically, physically within the area of South Lebanon. This will be a very complicated situation for us, but that’s what we need to be ready for”, Mizrachi pointed out.

He predicted that the conflict between Israel and Hezlollah would show no signs of ceasing in the future, claiming that “this challenge” would become “deeper, stronger, and more complicated”.

“Some things change. They know that we developed a high level of technology to locate and destroy their assets. I’m not sure they’re going to put up a white flag and peace agreement. I mean, I hope so, but it’s not going to happen, I think, in my generation”, the general added.

A Hezbollah spokesperson, in turn, told Newsweek that the militant group is “always fully prepared regardless of the [Israeli] drills”, in an apparent nod to the IDF’s recent large-scale military exercises codenamed Lethal Arrow, which simulated a war with Hezbollah.

https://sputniknews.com

Deadly Earthquake Hits Under Sleeping Volcano Near Tehran, Iran – Panicked Residents Spill Into the Streets

Strange Sounds – May 8, 2020

The very shallow quake (7km or 4.3 miles), downgraded from M5.1 to M4.6 sent ripples across Iran’s north shortly after midnight local time on Friday.

It struck north of the city of Damavand, very close to Mount Damavand, the second-highest volcano in Asia.

The dormant volcano sits some 70 km (43 mi) north-east of the Iranian capital Tehran, where locals reported moderate to severe shaking from the Friday morning tremor.

Photos and videos have emerged on social media showing residents flooding the streets in the aftermath of the quake.

Iranian emergency services said that at least two people died and 13 were injured in the ensuing chaos.

Several stadiums and city parks were reportedly prepared to temporarily shelter people that abruptly left their homes.

https://strangesounds.org

Trump instructs US Navy to shoot down and destroy all Iranian gunboats if they ‘harass our ships at sea’

RT – April 22, 2020

President Donald Trump has ordered the US Navy to “shoot down and destroy” Iranian gunboats, should they harass American vessels at sea. His declaration comes after a confrontation in the Persian Gulf.

“I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea,” the president tweeted on Wednesday morning.

A week earlier, the US Navy accused the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) of “dangerous and provocative” actions, claiming that nearly a dozen Iranian vessels buzzed a group of American ships in the Persian Gulf. The US Fifth Fleet later published video footage of the encounter, which showed the gunboats circling a larger US ship.

Tehran brushed off the accusations, disputing the “Hollywood” scenario portrayed by the US. The Iranian government considers US naval activity in the gulf highly provocative, and condemned the patrol as “adventurism.” 

The US and Iran almost came to war at the beginning of the year, when the US assassinated General Qassem Soleimani with a drone strike at an airport in Baghdad, apparently in retribution for a series of Iranian-sponsored attacks on US bases in Iraq. However, tension in the Persian Gulf has been high since last summer, when the US and its Western allies blamed Iran for a series of sabotage attacks on oil infrastructure in the region.

US-led naval patrols were stepped up, and American troops and air defense systems were sent to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Based in nearby Bahrain, the US Fifth Fleet has been active in the gulf both before and since the flareup last year. The US insists patrols are essential to protect shipping routes against Iran’s “malign behavior.”

https://www.rt.com

Iraq On The Brink Of Civil War Due To Disappearing Oil Revenues

Strange Sounds – April 6, 2020

For many countries, the ongoing oil price depression has brought about a new era of impending economic implosion. Yet no one seems to suffer as much as Iraq nowadays – a country with no appropriate government, battle-bled from its fight against the Islamic State and torn apart by internal conflicts.

With a median age of 21 years, the challenge for Iraq as a federal state within its current borders is all the more complicated as the government has little to offer to large swaths of young people, tired of nepotism and red-tape.

Iraq could mitigate risks by handing out cash – it has none, it could tap into its reserves – again, very little (some $62 billion), effectively, Baghdad’s only survival strategy is to wait and pray for better times.

Just when Iraq hoped to rebuild the country – its 2020 budget has been the largest in history and has focused on revamping the nation’s dilapidated infrastructure – external developments have cut the ambitious targets short.

The massive budget was in many ways a response of the 2019 protest waves which did not subside in 2020 – ultimately, they have led to the ouster of the Abdul Mahdi-led government (who continued as a caretaker until March 02 after the Parliament-nominated replacement candidate, the US-educated Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi, failed to generate sufficient parliamentary approvals).

The new candidate for the Prime Minister role, Adnan al-Zurfi, might face a similar future as getting Sunnites and Kurds onboard will inevitable be a major challenge.

https://strangesounds.org

Rocket fired from Gaza towards southern Israel

Elad Benari – March 27, 2020

Color Red sirens were sounded on Friday evening in , the envelope and the Shaar Hanegev region.

The Spokesperson’s Unit said one rocket was identified as having been fired from Gaza towards Israeli territory.

The rocket is believed to have exploded in an open area. There were no reports of physical injuries or damages.

Calm has mostly been maintained in southern Israel over the last month, after the Islamic Jihad fired over 80 rockets at southern Israel before it reportedly asked for a ceasefire.

Three weeks ago, a rocket fired from Gaza toward southern Israel failed to hit its target and exploded within Gazan territory.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com

Israel’s Netanyahu threatens Gaza with ALL-OUT WAR if missile attacks continue

RT – February 24, 2020

Israel will stop at nothing to ensure its security and may well launch a broad military campaign against Gaza if the local armed groups continue with missile strikes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Air raid sirens were heard across southern Israel for the second straight day on Monday. The IDF said that some 50 rockets were fired from Gaza at Israeli territory, with 90 percent of them intercepted.

The missile strikes were met with a harsh response, with the Israeli Defense Forces confirming on Twitter that multiple strikes against targets in Gaza have been carried out.

“We are now hitting with planes, tanks, and helicopters,” Netanyahu announced as he visited an Iron Dome air defense system battery in the Ashdod area. He also added a special message for the leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) militants.

Speaking later in the day at the Israeli settlement of Ariel in the West Bank, Netanyahu added more threats.

“I don’t plan to let up… Beyond the hard strikes on our enemies, Hamas and Islamic Jihad need to understand – this [missile attack against Israel] won’t continue. If they do not completely stop, we will have to activate the plan we prepared for a broad campaign.”

Netanyahu said he was well aware of the price that IDF troops – who are conscripts – and their families would pay in such a campaign.

“I am not rushing into war,” the PM said, but if Israel is forced to launch a major offensive, “woe to Hamas and Islamic Jihad when that day comes!! It’s their choice.”

https://www.rt.com