Ukraine concerned about Iran’s delay in talks on UIA plane crash
Ukraine is seriously concerned about Iran’s delay in the negotiations on the crash of UIA’s flight PS752 as it has not yet received official information from the Iranian side on the results of a technical investigation into the tragedy.
“We really want to look at this report. We have not seen or received it yet. We have repeatedly faced situations when the Iranian media reported something, stirring emotions or holding out hope in the Ukrainian media landscape.
However, in relations with Iran, I’ve got into the habit of relying on information exclusively from official sources. We are waiting for their response,” Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said at an online briefing, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
The minister noted that he is seriously concerned about the delay in the negotiation process with Iran.
Ukraine is seriously concerned about Iran’s delay in the negotiations on the crash of UIA’s flight PS752 as it has not yet received official information from the Iranian side on the results of a technical investigation into the tragedy. “We really want to look at this report. We have not seen or received it yet. We have repeatedly faced situations when the Iranian media reported something, stirring emotions or holding out hope in the Ukrainian media landscape. However, in relations with Iran, I’ve got into the habit of relying on information exclusively from official sources. We are waiting for their response,” Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said at an online briefing, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. The minister noted that he is seriously concerned about the delay in the negotiation process with Iran. “We really want to look at this report. We have not seen or received it yet. We have repeatedly faced situations when the Iranian media reported something, stirring emotions or holding out hope in the Ukrainian media landscape. However, in relations with Iran, I’ve got into the habit of relying on information exclusively from official sources. UIA plane UIA plane UIA plane
Trump blames Iran for rockets targeted at US Embassy in Baghdad
President Donald Trump tweeted a photo on Wednesday of rockets that were aimed at the US Embassy in Baghdad, and claimed that the rockets were fired by Iran.
The attack came on Sunday, embassy officials confirmed. Trump said that three of the rockets failed to launch.
The embassy said that there was minor damage to the compound, but no injuries. The US embassy said there were reports of damage and injuries in residential communities near the embassy.
“These sorts of attacks on diplomatic facilities are a violation of international law and are a direct assault on the sovereignty of the Iraqi government,” the US Embassy in Baghdad tweeted.
“Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over,” Trump said on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump tweeted a photo on Wednesday of rockets that were aimed at the US Embassy in Baghdad, and claimed that the rockets were fired by Iran. The attack came on Sunday, embassy officials confirmed. Trump said that three of the rockets failed to launch. The embassy said that there was minor damage to the compound, but no injuries. The US embassy said there were reports of damage and injuries in residential communities near the embassy. “These sorts of attacks on diplomatic facilities are a violation of international law and are a direct assault on the sovereignty of the Iraqi government,” the US Embassy in Baghdad tweeted. “Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over,” Trump said on Wednesday. “These sorts of attacks on diplomatic facilities are a violation of international law and are a direct assault on the sovereignty of the Iraqi government,” the US Embassy in Baghdad tweeted. “Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over,” Trump said on Wednesday. Trump blames Iran Trump blames Iran Trump blames Iran
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps launched a second long-range Oil Tanker built by its engineering and construction forces in defiance of the cruel sanctions illegally imposed by the United States.
“The Aframax tanker, which is capable of carrying 113,000 metric tons of oil (750,000 barrels), has been built by IRGC-affiliated Sadra Company for delivery to a foreign customer through an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract.
Head of the Khatam-al Anbiya Construction Headquarters Saeed Mohammad said on Tuesday while visiting a shipyard in Bushehr on the coast of the Persian Gulf to unveil the large vessel.
General Mohammad said the ship is the second of its type built by the IRGC for delivery to foreign customers, adding that the two projects had earned the country approximately 120 million euros in hard currency revenues. Head of the Khatam-al Anbiya Construction Headquarters Saeed Mohammad stressed that the new oil tanker will start sailing before the end of the current fiscal year in late March.IRGC’s an engineering and construction section has played a major role in Iran’s infrastructure development in recent years. In a relevant breakthrough on November 19, IRCG Navy received a new home-made ocean-going, helicopter and drone carrying warship named Shahid Roudaki. The ceremony to deliver the Shahid Roudaki warship was attended by a group of Iranian civilians and military officials, including IRGC Commander Major General Hossein Salami and IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri. The multifunctional vessel is capable of carrying and providing logistical support to fighter jets, aircraft, drones, missile systems, and radars that are being carried on board. The 400-ton Shahid Roudaki warship is 150 meters long and 22 meters wide. It is equipped with three-dimensional radars, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles.
Abducted German-Iranian Denied Choice of Attorney, Whereabouts Still Unknown
The exact whereabouts of Jamshid Sharmahd, the German-Iranian dissident who was arrested and apparently abducted by Iranian intelligence agents in July 2020, is still unknown, according to his daughter, and he has been issued the same court-appointed lawyer who “defended” the recently executed dissident Ruhollah Zam.
The arrest of Sharmahd, who was director of a monarchist radio station known as Tondar, was first announced by Iran’s Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi on August 1, 2020. Media outlets close to Iran’s security establishment also published clips showing Sharmahd at unknown locations “confessing” to acts against the Islamic Republic.
Since then Iranian authorities have not detailed how the 65-year-old political activist was abducted.
Speaking to the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) from Germany, his daughter, Gazelle Sharmahd, said “We still cannot say for sure whether my father is in Tehran, or somewhere else in Iran.”
Gazelle Sharmahd said she had spoken with her father on the phone only on four occasions in the past four months. She said her father always says he is physically well and has no problems but will not talk about the status of his case.
The exact whereabouts of Jamshid Sharmahd, the German-Iranian dissident who was arrested and apparently abducted by Iranian intelligence agents in July 2020, is still unknown, according to his daughter, and he has been issued the same court-appointed lawyer who “defended” the recently executed dissident Ruhollah Zam. The arrest of Sharmahd, who was director of a monarchist radio station known as Tondar, was first announced by Iran’s Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi on August 1, 2020. Media outlets close to Iran’s security establishment also published clipsshowing Sharmahd at unknown locations “confessing” to acts against the Islamic Republic. Speaking to the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) from Germany, his daughter, Gazelle Sharmahd, said “We still cannot say for sure whether my father is in Tehran, or somewhere else in Iran.”
New report exposes how Iran is entrenching itself into southern Syria
A new report released by the Alma Research and Education Center has exposed new details about suspected efforts by the Iranian-led Shi’ite axis to build civilian support networks throughout south Syria.
The report highlighted the strategic thinking being pursued by Iran, which views a civilian infrastructure as a foundation for building a military-attack infrastructure against Israel.
Maj. (res.) Tal Beeri, director of Alma’s research department who composed the report, told JNS that the Iranian-Shi’ite axis was skillfully exploiting the basic survival needs of the mostly Sunni population in the area.
He added that this effort received a green light by a key figure who visited the area in 2018, named as Abu Al-Fadl Al Tabatabai, the personal adviser to the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
“The Iranian-led Shi’ite axis sees southern Syria as a strategic area of paramount importance aimed at achieving the goal of exporting the Islamic revolution in terms of its civilian establishment. Achieving this objective will be an essential supportive instrument towards the advanced efforts of forming a military foundation, enabling the creation of a direct Iranian front against Israel from southern Syria,” it stated.
He added that this effort received a green light by a key figure who visited the area in 2018, named as Abu Al-Fadl Al Tabatabai, the personal adviser to the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. He added that this effort received a green light by a key figure who visited the area in 2018, named as Abu Al-Fadl Al Tabatabai, the personal adviser to the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. “The Iranian-led Shi’ite axis sees southern Syria as a strategic area of paramount importance aimed at achieving the goal of exporting the Islamic revolution in terms of its civilian establishment. Achieving this objective will be an essential supportive instrument towards the advanced efforts of forming a military foundation, enabling the creation of a direct Iranian front against Israel from southern Syria,” it stated.
Can the US force Iran out of Syria? Not likely, former officials say
Earlier this month, a Trump administration official told Congress that Washington’s goals for the outcome of Syria’s civil war remain “within reach.”
Those goals are the “enduring defeat” of the Islamic State, a political solution to Syria’s near decadelong conflict and the withdrawal of Iranian-led forces from the country. “Our leverage in Syria is increasing,” Syria envoy Joel Rayburn told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
But veteran officials of the three-year-old policy have been showing signs of doubt, particularly about Iran’s military presence in the war-torn country.
“Are we ever going to get to a place where Iran does not have forces in Syria?” said Michael Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, during a think tank event on Dec. 17. “I mean, people that are smarter on this than I have told me, no, that’s not going to happen,” he said.
Mulroy, a veteran CIA paramilitary officer who worked on Syria during his time at the Pentagon, suggested that minimizing Tehran’s influence in the Levant should remain a US goal. “Maybe we should have a smarter take to it,” he added Thursday.
But veteran officials of the three-year-old policy have been showing signs of doubt, particularly about Iran’s military presence in the war-torn country. “Are we ever going to get to a place where Iran does not have forces in Syria?” said Michael Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, during a think tank event on Dec. 17. “I mean, people that are smarter on this than I have told me, no, that’s not going to happen,” he said. Mulroy, a veteran CIA paramilitary officer who worked on Syria during his time at the Pentagon, suggested that minimizing Tehran’s influence in the Levant should remain a US goal. “Maybe we should have a smarter take to it,” he added Thursday.
Transcript of TOLOnews Interview with Iran’s Javad Zarif
In this program, TOLOnews’ Lotfullah Najafizada has interviewed Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif about Afghanistan-Iran relations, Iran’s ties with the Taliban, the Afghan peace process, the Afghan refugees’ situation in Iran, and other current topics.
Below is the full transcript (the original is in Farsi).
Lotfullah Najafizada (LN): Hello. Afghan-Iran relations have had many ups and downs. A common history, culture, and language between the two nations have been overshadowed by politics, Afghanistan’s relations with the US, the Afghan refugees’ situation in Iran, and Iran’s relations with the Taliban.
Is Iran in favor of the Republic or it is a friend of the Taliban? What is Iran’s actual policy toward Afghanistan? Who is the real decision-maker of this policy?
Iran’s Quds Force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs?
Does Afghanistan’s friendship with anti-Iran America mean friendship with Iran or enmity? My guest on this program is Iran Foreign Minister Mr. Javad Zarif.
LN: Thank you for the opportunity.
Javad Zarif (JZ): In the name of God, I pass on my Salam to you and your dear viewers, our good brothers and sisters in Afghanistan.
LN: Mr. Zarif, is Afghanistan an occupied country–by the US?
JZ: We see Afghanistan as an independent country that has made many achievements in the areas of democracy, human rights, women’s rights, and the rights of minorities over the past 19 years, since the Bonn conference in 2001.
People’s participation to decide their fate is a reality in Afghanistan and we must recognize this reality. These are the events that happened in the past. We have always opposed the presence of foreign troops in the region.
LN: But the word occupation has been sometimes used by Iranian officials.
Could Iran Be the Middle East’s First Aircraft Carrier Power?
Exactly what the purpose of this aircraft carrying vessel has yet to be seen. One factor could be a matter of internal jurisdiction within the Islamic Republic.
While the Iranian Navy patrols the waters of the Gulf of Oman and beyond, the IRGC-N’s role has largely been to patrol the waters of the Persian Gulf.
Warships capable of carrying aircraft are used by navies around the world, but to date, the Iranian Navy isn’t one of those countries that operate a carrier.
The closest that the Islamic Republic of Iran has come to building an aircraft carrier is to “simulate” an American carrier as a weapons test platform.
It was used in the February 2015 “Great Prophet IX” exercises and again this past summer in similar exercises.
Embarrassingly for the IRGC-N, the faux carrier proved difficult to sink – that is until it floundered in waters in the channels near the Iranian naval base at Bandar Abbas.
Now, Tehran could be inching closer to developing a true carrier.
The Associated Press reported this month that the IRGC-N reportedly launched a heavy warship that was capable of carrying helicopters, drones, and missile launchers. From the photographs that have been released online, it appears to be a large cargo vessel rather than a true warship.The vessel, which was named after the “martyred” Guard Naval Commander Abdollah Roudaki, was photographed carrying truck-launched surface-to-surface missiles and anti-aircraft missiles. It lacks anything resembling a flight deck and instead has a flat section mid-hull.
Israeli Defence Company is Investigating Cyberattack Claimed by Group With Alleged Links to Iran
A number of Israeli firms, including state-owned ones, became targets of a series of hacking attacking in recent months, with their data reportedly being stolen and released to the wider net.
Pay2Key hacking group, which is suspected of having links to Iran, has indirectly claimed responsibility for a recent cyberattack on state-owned Israeli Aerospace Industries (IA), one of the country’s largest aviation[clear] manufacturers.
The group posted a dubious message on its Twitter account, announcing that “tonight” was “longer than longest night” for IAI.
It also claimed to have unleashed a password of Elta subsidiary’s systems administrator, Koby Fiada, without giving any further details into the breach.
A number of Israeli firms, including state-owned ones, became targets of a series of hacking attacking in recent months, with their data reportedly being stolen and released to the wider net. Pay2Key hacking group, which is suspected of having links to Iran, has indirectly claimed responsibility for a recent cyberattack on state-owned Israeli Aerospace Industries (IA), one of the country’s largest aviation manufacturers. The group posted a dubious message on its Twitter account, announcing that “tonight” was “longer than longest night” for IAI. It also claimed to have unleashed a password of Elta subsidiary’s systems administrator, Koby Fiada, without giving any further details into the breach. A number of Israeli firms, including state-owned ones, became targets of a series of hacking attacking in recent months, with their data reportedly being stolen and released to the wider net. Pay2Key hacking group, which is suspected of having links to Iran, has indirectly claimed responsibility for a recent cyberattack on state-owned Israeli Aerospace Industries (IA), one of the country’s largest aviation manufacturers. The group posted a dubious message on its Twitter account, announcing that “tonight” was “longer than longest night” for IAI. It also claimed to have unleashed a password of Elta subsidiary’s systems administrator, Koby Fiada, without giving any further details into the breach. Israeli Defence Company Israeli Defence Company Israeli Defence Company
U.S. nuclear submarine transits waterway near Iran amid tensions
An American nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine traversed the strategically vital waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula on Monday, the U.S. Navy said, a rare announcement that comes amid rising tensions with Iran.
The Navy’s 5th Fleet based in Bahrain said the Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Georgia, accompanied by two other warships, passed through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passageway through which a fifth of the world’s oil supplies travel.
The unusual transit in the Persian Gulf’s shallow waters, aimed at underscoring American military might in the region, follows the killing last month of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, an Iranian scientist named by the West as the leader of the Islamic Republic’s disbanded military nuclear program. It also comes some two weeks before the anniversary of the American drone strike in January that killed top Iranian military commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Iran has promised to seek revenge for both killings.
An American nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine traversed the strategically vital waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula on Monday, the U.S. Navy said, a rare announcement that comes amid rising tensions with Iran. The Navy’s 5th Fleet based in Bahrain said the Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Georgia, accompanied by two other warships, passed through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passageway through which a fifth of the world’s oil supplies travel. The unusual transit in the Persian Gulf’s shallow waters, aimed at underscoring American military might in the region, follows the killing last month of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, an Iranian scientist named by the West as the leader of the Islamic Republic’s disbanded military nuclear program. It also comes some two weeks before the anniversary of the American drone strike in January that killed top Iranian military commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Iran has promised to seek revenge for both killings.
