WarSclerotic

Source: Iranian Guards naval buildup at Hormuz: US monitors, Israel warns – DEBKAfile

Source: IDF airstrike said to kill 7 terrorists in Syria close to Israeli border | The Times of Israel

Fighters were en route to attack Israel according to army, which retrieved explosive belts, Kalashnikov rifle during subsequent search of area

A picture taken from the Israeli Golan Heights shows a smoke plume rising during air strikes backing a Syrian-government-led offensive in the southwestern province of Daraa, July 23, 2018. (JALAA MAREY/AFP)

Seven armed terrorists were said to have been killed late Wednesday in an IDF airstrike in Syria, close to the border with Israel.

The IDF confirmed Thursday that it targeted a number of “terror squads” in the Syrian Golan Heights and that explosive belts along with a Kalashnikov rifle were found during searches of the area Thursday morning.

The army did not elaborate on the affiliation of the terrorists, on how soldiers managed to retrieve the weapons, and how many of them were killed.

However, Arab media reported that seven were killed in the strike.

IDF spokesman Ronen Manelis said the gunmen were members of the Islamic State group and had been less than 700 feet from the border when they were targeted.

The Kalashnikov rifle retrieved by Israel following an air strike against gunmen in the Syrian Golan Heights. (IDF)

According to Army Radio, the gunmen had been en route to an attack on Israel.

Manelis stated that there had been no threat to Israeli communities along the northern border, but he did not elaborate whether the IS gunmen were intending to attack Israeli military targets.

The Russia’s Interfax news agency reported that Russian military police would be deploying along the border between Syria and Israel to prevent further escalation between the sides.

The air raid took place as the IDF was completing a large-scale drill of war scenarios testing the preparedness of the the Northern Command and the General Staff.

The army stressed that the exercise had been planned in advance as part of its training program for 2018.

However, it came just a week after Israeli aircraft destroyed a rocket launcher belonging, according to the army, to the Islamic State after it fired a pair of projectiles at Israel that landed in the Sea of Galilee.

The IDF said the rockets had been errant fire from internal Syrian fighting, but some analysts have argued that it was an intentional move by IS to lure Israel into a clash with the Syrian army.

A day prior, a Sukhoi-model jet had traveled two kilometers into Israeli airspace when the IDF said it fired two Patriot missiles at the plane, shooting it down. The plane crashed inside Syria, killing its pilot.

According to the IDF, the fighter jet took off from the Iran-linked T-4 air force base in central Syria, which Israel has bombed in the past, and traveled “at high speed” toward the Golan Heights.

Source: Trump imposes sanctions over Turkeys detaining of minister

The US will impose sanctions on two Turkish officials over a detained American pastor who is being tried on espionage and terror-related charges, the White House announced Wednesday.

President Donald Trump warned last week that he might impose sanctions against Turkey, a key NATO ally, for its treatment of Andrew Craig Brunson in a case that has strained US-Turkish relations. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his government won’t back down and was willing to “go its own way” if the US imposes sanctions.Speaking to reporters in Ankara earlier, Erdogan said Turkey would not make compromises regarding the independence of the judiciary, and said the remarks of the “evangelist, zionist mentality” in the United States was unacceptable.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the sanctions would target Turkey’s justice and interior ministers, whose agencies she said were responsible for the pastor’s arrest and detention.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Donald Trump (Photo: Reuters)

“We’ve seen no evidence that Pastor Brunson has done anything wrong, and we believe he is a victim of unfair and unjust attention by the government of Turkey,” Sanders said.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Turkish government refused to release Brunson “after numerous conversations between President Trump and President Erdogan,” along with his conversations with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavosuglo. “President Trump concluded that these sanctions are the appropriate action,” Pompeo said.

A Turkish justice ministry spokesman did not immediately comment on the sanctions. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry was expected to release a statement later Wednesday.

Brunson, 50, was arrested in December 2016 following a failed coup on charges of “committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member” and espionage. He was recently released to home detention. He faces a prison sentence of up to 35 years if he is convicted on both counts at the end of his ongoing trial.

The evangelical pastor, who is originally from Black Mountain, North Carolina, has lived in Turkey for 23 years and led Izmir Resurrection Church.

Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson (Photo: AFP)

Under the sanctions to be imposed by the Treasury Department, any property, or interest in property, belonging to Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul or Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu within US jurisdiction would be blocked. Americans would generally be prohibited from doing business with them.Erdogan has denied speculation that there had been an agreement to swap Brunson for Turkish citizens being held abroad, particularly 27-year-old Ebru Ozkan. Ozkan had been detained by Israel on terror-related charges, but was deported this month.

Trump personally asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July to release a Turkish woman suspected of helping Hamas who had been arrested during a visit to Israel, as part of a secret deal with Turkey to secure Brunson’s release, according to a report in the Washington Post.

The Turkish leader previously connected Brunson’s return to the US to the extradition of Fethullah Gulen. Ankara blames Gulen for the coup attempt, while the cleric denies involvement.

Erdogan has also warned that Turkey would seek international arbitration if the United States refused to deliver F-35 fighter jets in retaliation.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Story is about 3 weeks old now, but it is such a sad thing to happen.

Colour me surprised, but I haven’t heard anything from (leftist) western feminists about this.

Funny that.

Iranian Woman Who Protested Islamic Headscarf Gets 20-Year Sentence

https://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2018/07/10/iranian-woman-who-protested-islamic-headscarf-gets-20-year-sentence/

(AP) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — An Iranian woman who removed her obligatory Islamic headscarf out of protest in December says she has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Shaparsk Shajarizadeh posted on her personal website that she had been jailed for “opposing the compulsory hijab” and “waving a white flag of peace in the street.”

There was no immediate comment from Iranian officials.

Police in Iran arrested 29 people in February for removing their headscarves as part of a campaign known as “White Wednesdays.” Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent human rights lawyer who represented Shajarizadeh and other women, was arrested last month.

Shajarizadeh, 42, was released on bail in late April. Her current whereabouts were unknown.

In Iran, women showing their hair in public face penalties ranging from a $25 fine to prison time.

Ha ha ha…. Good luck with that.

Feeling the heat are we?

Iran Sues U.S. to Stop Imposition of Trump’s New Sanctions

Iran Sues U.S. to Stop Imposition of Trump’s New Sanctions

U.S. officials are fighting against a recently filed lawsuit by Iran in the International Court of Justice, or ICJ, that seeks to block the imposition of harsh new sanctions on Iran by the Trump administration, according to multiple U.S. officials who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon.

Iranian officials launched a formal complaint with the ICJ, a legal body established by the United Nations to adjudicate disagreements between member nations, against the United States earlier this month, alleging the reimposition of harsh new sanctions on Iran by the Trump administration violates international treaties created as a result of the landmark nuclear agreement.

Iran’s lawsuit is reportedly gaining traction at the ICJ, which sent an official letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier this week urging him and the Trump administration to hold off on new sanctions amid an economic collapse in Iran that has ignited popular protests across the country.

Iranian officials lauded the latest development at the ICJ and lashed out at the Trump administration in public comments in which they formally rejected the U.S. president’s offers for a direct meeting. The war of words follows a tense few weeks between Trump and Iranian officials, which have sparked fears of a new regional war.

Trump administration officials working on the ICJ lawsuit told the Free Beacon Monday afternoon that Iran’s claims are baseless. Senior U.S. officials are now working to ensure the lawsuit is tossed from the court.

“We are aware of the application filed on July 16, 2018 by Iran in the International Court of Justice instituting proceedings against the United States,” a State Department official disclosed to the Free Beacon on Monday. “While I cannot comment on the specifics, Iran’s application is baseless, and we intend to vigorously defend the United States before the ICJ.”

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chair the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, celebrated the ICJ’s letter to Pompeo urging the United States to halt any new economic sanctions, calling the letter a “highly logical” step by the ICJ.

“The U.S.’s reinstatement of sanctions is against the international standards, because this country was obliged to lift all sanctions against Iran under the U.N. Security Council resolution,” Boroujerdi was quoted as saying on Monday in Iran’s state-controlled press. “Such unlawful act can be sued.”

“The Foreign Ministry’s move to file a lawsuit against the U.S. at the International Court of Justice was very logical, which was confirmed by the ICJ and a date has been set for its proceeding,” the Iranian official added. “I believe that we can succeed if we act from the position of power in advocating the rights of the [Iranian] nation. … If the U.S. is found guilty in the lawsuit, the least achievement for Iran is a political win.”

Iran alleges in the court filings the United States has violated signed international treaties dating back as far as 1955.

A second U.S. official who works on Iran issues told the Free Beacon the Trump administration will not fall victim to Iran’s threats of war and international protestations against new sanctions. The Free Beacon reported last month that Iranian officials have been working closely with their European counterparts to skirt new U.S. sanctions and keep trade open.

“There’s no way that Iran gets to pursue its ‘Death to America’ agenda but we’re not allowed to respond. That isn’t how international law works,” said the official, who was not authorized to speak on record about the situation. “The Iranians would be better off changing their illegal behavior, including their calls for the destruction of Israel which is a U.N. member state, and engaging President Trump on his offer of a better deal than pursuing these nonsense lawsuits.”

Iranian military leaders, responding to a series of tweets by Trump warning Iran against threatening the Unite States, have vowed to deliver harsh reprisals against U.S. interests in the region should the American administration take action.

“Not a night goes by when we don’t think about you in our sleep. Let me tell you, Mr. Trump the gambler… Let me tell you, … know that we are near you, in places that don’t come to your mind,” Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force said in recent remarks. “We are near you in places that you can’t even imagine. We are a nation of martyrdom. We are the nation of Imam Hussein. Ask around. We have endured many hardships.”

Well, the Mossad could turn wherever-it-wants into it’s playground…

Report: Paris turns into Mossad’s playground

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5317287,00.html

According to Le Monde, the Israeli spy agency set up an operations room in the French capital for Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh’s assassination in Dubai, among other missions; ‘French hands are tied, our ability to respond to their actions is limited,’ complains French intelligence official.

Paris has become a center of operations for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, according to an article published this week in French newspaper Le Monde.

The article, titled “The Mossad’s shadow hovers over Paris,” cites senior French intelligence officials, one of whom claimed that “The city is the Mossad’s playground. The Chinese and the Russians may be our enemies, but let us not forget the Israelis and the Americans are also conducting themselves with great aggression.”

“Our ability to respond to their actions is limited because they rush to use the ‘diplomatic card’ and complain to the French prime minister and president’s offices,” the French intelligence official vented.

“France’s hands are tied” since it depends on Israel “in many sensitive issues,” he said. The French, he added, were “also limited in our ability to prevent some elements in the Jewish community in France from aiding them (the Mossad) with planning and logistics.”

One operation the French intelligence officials say was led from Paris was the assassination of Hamas senior official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied it was behind al-Mabhouh’s assassination.

According to Le Monde, the Mossad set up a makeshift operations room equipped with computers and secure phones at a hotel room in the French capital’s Bercy neighborhood—not far from the French Finance Ministry and other government buildings.

While only two of the 11 foreign agents who allegedly took part in the daring assassination—”Kevin” and “Gail”—reportedly arrived in Dubai on an Air France flight from Paris, foreign media has so far believed the operation was led from Austria or another European location. Le Monde, however, reports Israel’s control and command center was in the heart of Paris.

The January 2010 assassination caused international outrage and a diplomatic crisis with Britain over the use of European passports.

France also complained to then-Mossad director Meir Dagan about the use of forged French passports.

According to Le Monde, the French were concerned Hamas would suspect France took part in the assassination.

Paris sent two senior agents to meet with Dagan in Jerusalem. “We’ll stay friends, but there’ll be a price to pay for this,” they told him. The price is believed to have been a halt to the exchange of information between Israeli and French intelligence.

“It was a way to send a message that this was an intolerable line crossing,” said the head of the French police’s investigations department.

Speaking to Yedioth Ahronoth, the Le Monde article’s writer, journalist Jacques Follorou, said French intelligence officials were outraged by the alleged use of French passports, seeing it as a “provocation.”

In addition to Al-Mabhouh’s assassination, the article examines many other operations that Le Monde claims the Mossad and other Israeli elements conducted from French soil, including: a joint Israeli-French attempt to recruit a Syrian agent who tried to buy chemical weapons, an Israeli company’s attempt to wiretap Council of Europe meetings in Brussels, and operations of the company Black Cube, which had offices in Paris’s Place Vendôme.

The Mossad, according to the Le Monde report, also tried to recruit French intelligence agents as double agents during a joint operation in 2010. As a result of that alleged incident, Le Monde claims the Mossad station head in Paris and another employee in the Israeli Embassy had to leave France.

The reason the Mossad—like many other foreign intelligence agencies including the CIA—has turned Paris into its center of operations is because it hosts many international conference and frequent visits of African leaders. Furthermore, the city is home to many foreigners.

Another reason, according to a source in French intelligence, is that “France dedicates most of its espionage activities to the fight against terrorism, therefore it doesn’t have enough manpower for counter-espionage.”

While the Mossad, according to Le Monde, continues operating in Paris with relative freedom, a source in the French Foreign Ministry admitted that “the Israelis are a little bit more cautious than before.” They no longer carry out assassinations on French soil and don’t use the help of the French Jewish community as often.

Source: Iranian forces gearing up for massive drill in strategic waterway — report | The Times of Israel

IRGC exercise in Strait of Hormuz expected to be larger than in the past, with timing suggesting it is tied to recent threats to shut key oil shipping lane

Iranian navy personnel celebrate after successfully launching a Ghader missile from the Jask port area on the shores of the Gulf of Oman during a drill near the Strait of Hormuz, Tuesday, January 1, 2013. (AP/Jamejam Online, Azin Haghighi)

Iranian forces are expected to launch a major exercise in the strategic Strait of Hormuz likely aimed at demonstrating an ability to close the key oil shipping lane, US officials told CNN Wednesday.

The drill by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the US officials said was likely to begin in the next two days, comes days after the country’s president threatened that it could close off the strategic waterway in response to the reimposition of US sanctions.

While Iranian forces drill in the Strait of Hormuz annually, one US official told the station that the exercise being planned appeared to be larger than those in years past and was timed unusually late in the year, indicating it was likely tied to recent tensions.

William Urban, chief spokesman for US Central Command, said the the military was closely monitoring Iranian troops movements in the area.

“We are aware of the increase in Iranian naval operations within the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman. We are monitoring it closely, and will continue to work with our partners to ensure freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce in international waterways,”  he told CNN.

In this Tuesday, March 21, 2017 photograph, an Omani naval vessel sails alongside the USS George H.W. Bush as it travels through the Strait of Hormuz. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

The Strait, a narrow passageway between Iran and Oman, is a key waterway through which a third of all oil traded by sea passes and it has been the scene of previous confrontations between the United States and Iran.

On July 22, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani gave a speech in which he threatened that Iran could block the passageway.

Satellite view of the Strait of Hormuz (photo credit: NASA/Public domain)

“We have always guaranteed the security of this strait. Do not play with the lion’s tail, you will regret it forever,” he said.

“Peace with Iran would be the mother of all peace and war with Iran would be the mother of all wars.”

The speech drew a furious response from US president Donald Trump, who warned Rouhani with dire consequences in an all-caps tweet.

“NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE,” Trump said on Twitter in a direct message to Rouhani.

Trump later said he would be willing to meet with Rouhani to negotiate a new nuclear deal, but the idea has been with a cool reception in Iran.

Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal in May, and sanctions are set to kick back in within months. Iran’s currency has taken a nose dive in recent days as the looming sanctions have wreaked havoc on international investment in the country.

A member of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards chants slogans after attacking a naval vessel during a military drill in the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran, February 25, 2015. (Hamed Jafarnejad/AFP/Fars News)

On Tuesday, the head of Iran’s navy said keeping the Strait of Hormuz operating was dependent on sanctions not being reimposed.

“The Strait of Hormuz remaining open hinges on Iran’s interests and the international community should live up to its obligations towards the Islamic Republic,” Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said, according to state-run media.

A number of other senior Iranian officials, including the head of the IRGC, have threatened that Tehran could close the strait at any time.

Source: Iranian security forces clash with Isfahan protesters for second day – Middle East – Jerusalem Post

Eyewitnesses reported protestors throwing stones and fires burning at the sites of the demonstrations, and security forces using tear gas and water cannons against the demonstrators

Iranian protesters shout slogans during a demonstration in central Tehran on June 25, 2018. (photo credit: ATTA KENARE / AFP)

For the second day in a row, Iranians in Isfahan protested rising inflation and unemployment in the country. Government security forces have been called out in force to quell the protests, the BBC’s Persian-language service reported Wednesday.

Eyewitnesses reported protestors throwing stones and fires burning at the sites of the demonstrations, and security forces using tear gas and water cannons against the demonstrators, according to the BBC.

Truck drivers and shopkeepers in the central Iranian city also protested the day before. Security forces were also present at the earlier demonstration, but did not disrupt the event or attack the protesters.

The protesters in Isfahan shouted “Reza Shah, may your soul be glad,” referring to the founder of the previous Pahlavi dynasty. Reza Shah’s son, Muhammad Reza Shah, was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Videos of the protests chanting this slogan were shared on social media Tuesday.

IRANSHAHAB@iransararh3

فوری #اصفهان: التماس مزدوران خامنه‌ای از مردم برای جلوگیری از تظاهرات مردمی. ۱۰ مرداد #IranRegimeChange

8:19 PM – Aug 1, 2018

• 5

• See IRANSHAHAB’s other Tweets

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Iran’s dire economic situation has brought thousands of protesters to the streets over the past several months. Following the withdrawal of the United States from the 2015 six-country nuclear deal with Iran, international businesses have been wary of investing in the Islamic Republic for fear of running afoul of renewed American sanctions. The Iranian currency, the rial, has also experienced significant devaluation, which is disrupting business by driving up the cost of imports.

Demonstrators have also protested the government’s extensive military and financial investment in the ongoing conflicts in Syria, Yemen, and Iran’s support for Hamas.

“Death to Palestine,” “Help us, not Gaza,” and “Leave Syria alone and deal with Iran,” protesters shouted in a June demonstration in Tehran, calling on the Iranian regime to invest in its own economy rather than interfering in other spheres throughout the Middle East.

Juliane Helmhold contributed to this report.

Source: PM: Israel will help open narrow strait in Red Sea if Iranian closes it – Israel News – Jerusalem Post

In a multi-front confrontation, he said, “we’ll be less selective, and the damage to our enemies will be more difficult. I hope they will take this into account.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures during a Likud faction meeting, July 2 2018. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

Israel will join a coalition of countries to open the narrow Bab al-Mandab Strait at the mouth of the Red Sea if the Iranians try to close it, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday, on the heels of an attack last week on two Saudi oil tankers sailing through the narrow waterway.

“At the beginning of the week we were witness to a sharp clash between Iran’s proxies that tried to sabotage international shipping in the strait at the mouth of the Red Sea,” Netanyahu said at a graduation ceremony for naval officers at a naval base in Haifa.

“If Iran tries to block the Bab al-Mandab waterway, I am convinced that it will find itself against an international coalition determined to prevent that. This coalition will include the State of Israel and all of its branches.”

Last Wednesday, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis attacked two Saudi tankers sailing through the waterway, with one of the ships suffering minimal damage. A day later Saudi Arabia announced it was suspending oil shipments through the strait, sending jitters through the world’s oil markets.

The Bab al-Mandab Strait links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean and is a critical passageway for oil to the West and Asia. At its narrowest point, it is only 29 kilometers wide between Yemen on the eastern side and Djibouti and Eritrea on the west. Blocking the waterway would halt shipment of about 4.8 million barrels per day of crude oil and refined petroleum products.

While Western allies backing a Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen expressed concern about the attacks on the Saudi tankers, they did not indicate they would take action to secure the strait, something that could risk deeper involvement in the proxy war in Yemen between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

This was the first time Netanyahu has said publicly that Israel would take part in efforts to secure the waterway.

The threat to shipping in Bab al-Mandab has been building for some time, with the Houthis targeting Saudi tankers in at least two other attacks this year.

On Tuesday, however, the Houthis announced that they were unilaterally halting attacks in the Red Sea for two weeks to support efforts to find a political solution to the war in Yemen.

Netanyahu told the new naval officers that a “significant part” of the campaign Israel is waging against terrorists is conducted at sea.
“Dozens of operations that you carry out each year extract a price,” he said. “While our enemies are also developing their capabilities, our goal is to preempt them, thwart threats and, if necessary, decide the battle.

“The sea provides us with many opportunities,” Netanyahu said. “Above all, it increases the small area of the State of Israel and allows us to deploy our vessels over the water and underwater in a vast space. This gives Israel tremendous power.”

Speaking at the same ceremony, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said, “We recently heard threats to attack Israeli ships on the Red Sea, and I look at the people around me who are here, and it’s a pity that our enemies cannot see you and understand that we are well prepared to respond to any threat. I want to emphasize: The IDF is prepared and ready to respond on two fronts simultaneously, and also in the Red Sea.”

In a multi-front confrontation, he said, “we’ll be less selective, and the damage to our enemies will be more difficult. I hope they will take this into account.”

Reuters contributed to this report.