TOP STORIES
Iran’s president has vowed to completely destroy Israel, should it proceed with even the "tiniest invasion" of its country. President Ebrahim Raisi spoke Wednesday at an annual army parade warning Israel of a "massive and harsh" response, as the country braces for potential Israeli retaliation after Iran’s missile and drone attack over the weekend. Iran launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel on Saturday in response to an apparent strike on Iran’s embassy compound in Syria on April 1 that killed 12 people, including two Iranian generals. Iran blames Israel for the attack, although Israel has not claimed any involvement. Raisi said Saturday’s attack was a limited one, and that if Iran was provoked to carry out a bigger attack, "nothing would remain from the Zionist regime," the official IRNA news agency reported.
World Braces For Iran-Israel Cyberattacks Following Missile Attack | Axios
Cyberattacks are likely to be high on the list of options Israel and Iran are considering this week as they map out retaliatory actions, experts say. Why it matters: Iran's drone and missile attack against Israel on Saturday brought the two nations into unprecedented territory. Israel's military leaders have already vowed to respond to the attack. The big picture: Israel and Iran have long had a fraught relationship, filled with covert operations and destructive cyberattacks. Iran's weekend attack was the first time either country had launched a missile from its own territory toward the other. What they're saying: "The overt hostility and the overt physical aspects of the state-on-state confrontation moved things into a different sphere," Andrew Borene, executive director for global security at Flashpoint, told Axios.
U.S. To Hit Iran With Fresh Sanctions After Israel Attack | Axios
The U.S. will impose new sanctions on Iran's missile and drone program after the country's unprecedented attack on Israel over the weekend, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan announced Tuesday evening. Why it matters: President Biden is urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to exercise military restraint. But in the economic sphere, the administration is demonstrating a willingness to retaliate against Iran. These new sanctions and other ones Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is preparing represent a subtle message to Israel that there is more than one way to harm the ruling regime in Tehran. Driving the news: Sullivan said in a statement that Biden is working in coordination with international partners including G7 nations and bipartisan leaders in Congress on a comprehensive response to Iran's attack. U.S. defense agencies are working on strengthening air and missile defense and early warning systems across the Middle East.
UANI IN THE NEWS
UANI Director of IRGC Research Kasra Aarabi | Times Radio
Kasra Aarabi, Director of IRGC Research at UANI spoke to Times Radio. Aarabi underscored that part of Israel and the West's response to Khamenei's regime should be supporting the Iranian people's aspirations for regime change in Iran.
Israel must respond to the unprecedented attack launched by Iran on Saturday. This is the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that the Islamic Republic’s leaders have initiated such an operation from Iranian territory targeting the Jewish state. The retaliation should be large enough to deter but targeted smartly for alliance management purposes. One way for Israel to thread the needle is for it to spearhead airstrikes on Iran’s defence industries, which have been arming Russia in its war against Ukraine. In the hours after Tehran launched Operation True Promise on 13 April, the Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Hossein Salami proclaimed that “we have adopted a new equation with the Zionist entity, which is to respond to any aggression from its side directly from Iranian territory.”
Iran's Attack On Israel Shines Spotlight On Tehran's Advancing Nuclear Weapons Program | Fox News
…Jason Brodsky, the policy director of the U.S.-based United Against a Nuclear Iran, told Fox News Digital, "After the Trump administration withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, Iran only took an incremental and modest expansion of its nuclear program. But after the Biden administration took office, it grew dramatically, especially enriching to 60%. Iran’s risk tolerance increased under the Biden administration because of its perceived desperation for diplomacy. That has resulted in failed negotiations and an adrift Iran policy."
After Unprecedented Missile Attack, Top Iranian Official Still Has A Valid U.S. Visa | Townhall
…"I write to request immediate action to revoke the visa of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian ahead of his planned travel to attend a United Nations Security Council meeting on April 18, 2024," Republican Senator James Lankford wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken late Monday. "As documented by United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) in its letter to you last week, Amir-Abdollahian is a senior card-carrying member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and has direct ties to the heinous October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel and the ongoing attacks that Iran continues to orchestrate through Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Houthis. In the wake of Saturday’s direct attack by Iran on our ally, Israel, I urge you to prevent Iran from using American soil as a platform to amplify its anti-Israel and anti-American rhetoric."
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Iran Shuts Down Nuclear Facilities Over Fears Of Israel Attack | Yahoo News UK
Iran has closed down nuclear facilities in the country amid fears of a retaliatory attack from Israel, according to the United Nations. UN inspectors in Iran "were informed by the Iranian government … all the nuclear facilities we are inspecting every day would remain closed on security considerations”, the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said. The move came as Iran threatened a ‘severe and widespread response’ to any Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strike amid fears of an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. World leaders are trying to ease tension following Iran’s first-ever direct attack on Israel on Saturday with a barrage of 300 missiles and drones. On Monday, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu summoned his war cabinet for the second time in less than 24 hours to weigh their response.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
EU Weighs Expanded Iran Sanctions After Israel Attack | Financial Times
The EU is drawing up expanded sanctions on Iran’s missile and drone programme in response to the Islamic republic’s attack on Israel, but the UK and European governments are resisting pressure to designate the elite Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation. A growing majority of EU capitals support the new sanctions, which would target the Iranian networks that supply Iran-backed militant groups across the region, according to four people briefed on the matter. But some officials are wary of further escalating tensions with moves that target the axis — which includes Hizbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, Houthi rebels in Yemen and Iraqi militias — during such a volatile period in the Middle East.
US Will Use Sanctions To Disrupt Iran's 'Malign' Activity, Yellen Says | Reuters
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday said Iran's attack on Israel last weekend and its financing of militant groups in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq threatened stability in the Middle East and could cause economic spillovers. Yellen began remarks prepared for a news conference by addressing what she called an unprecedented attack on Israel by Iran and its proxies, saying Treasury would use its sanctions authority and work with allies to "continue disrupting the Iranian regime’s malign and destabilizing activity." The United States is using financial sanctions to isolate Iran and disrupt its ability to fund proxy groups and support Russia's war in Ukraine, the Treasury Department said. Treasury has targeted more than 500 individuals and entities connected to terrorism and terrorist financing by the Iranian regime and its proxies since the start of the Biden administration in January 2021, Yellen said.
MISSILE PROGRAM
Israel, U.S., Partners Neutralize Iranian Airborne Attacks | US Department Of Defense
Among the weapons launched from locations in Iran, Syria and Yemen were over 110 medium-range ballistic missiles, more then 30 land-attack cruise missiles, and over 150 uncrewed aerial vehicles. The attack began in Israel late Saturday evening and ended early in the morning on April 14. U.S. Central Command forces, supported by the U.S. Navy destroyers USS Arleigh Burke and USS Carney, destroyed more than 80 one-way attack UAVs and at least six of the ballistic missiles, said Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder during a briefing yesterday. "As our actions demonstrated, the U.S. support for the defense of Israel is robust," Ryder said. "It also demonstrates the long-standing security cooperation relationship that the United States has — not only with Israel, but with countries throughout the region — when it comes to addressing regional threats. Those kinds of things don't happen overnight. Those kinds of relationships and the ability to work together, to interoperate together all played out and saved many lives."
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
Blinken: Escalation With Iran Is Not In U.S. Or Israel's Interests | Axios
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a group of American Jewish leaders on Tuesday that further escalation with Iran is not in the interests of either the U.S. or Israel, three people who attended the meeting told Axios. Why it matters: The Biden administration and several other Western countries allied with Israel are urging Benjamin Netanyahu's government not to rush into a retaliation against Iran that could lead to a regional war. The U.S. assessment is that Iran would respond to any significant, overt Israeli strike on Iranian soil with a new round of missile and drone attacks, a senior U.S. official told Axios. "We think it will be very hard to replicate the huge success we had on Saturday with defeating the attack if Iran launches hundreds of missiles and drones again — and the Israelis know it," another U.S. official said. Behind the scenes: A person who attended the meeting said Blinken did not say that Israel should refrain from responding to Iran, stressing it was Israel's decision to make.
Israel’s Military Chief Warns Iran Will ‘Face Consequences’ For Attack | The Washington Post
Israel’s military chief said “Iran will face the consequences for its actions,” without providing further details, as Israel weighs its response to Iran’s unprecedented attack. The Biden administration said the United States would not participate in any Israeli reprisal, while world leaders urged Israel to exercise restraint to avoid a wider war. Iranian officials vowed to retaliate to any further escalation.
Since Iran’s unprecedented retaliatory attack against Israel was thwarted over the weekend with the help of the U.S. and its Middle Eastern allies, the Biden administration has crowed that the “coalition” averted a regional war. An Israeli response, however, would test the durability of an informal coalition of awkward bedfellows, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, whose recent cooperation against Iran has the potential to be damaging on the home front, analysts say. “Those Arab countries are in a very critical situation,” said Oraib Al Rantawi, director of the Al Quds Center for Political Studies, a think tank based in Jordan’s capital, Amman. “There is no easy position to take for all of them, especially Jordan, which for geopolitical reasons has found itself trapped between two troublemakers — Iran and Israel."
CONGRESS & IRAN
The U.S. House of Representatives passed four pieces of bipartisan financial services legislation to hold Iran accountable for acts of international aggression and financing of terrorism. The financial services bills passed by the House include: H.R. 5923, the "Iran-China Energy Sanctions Act of 2023," sponsored by Rep. Mike Lawler (NY-17), H.R. 5921, the "No U.S. Financing for Iran Act of 2023," sponsored by Rep. Bill Huizenga (MI-04), H.R. 6245, the "Holding Iranian Leaders Accountable Act," sponsored by Rep. French Hill (AR-02), H.R. 6015, the "Iran Sanctions Accountability Act of 2023," sponsored by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03).
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
Russia’s Putin Urges Restraint In Call With Iran’s Raisi As Tensions Soar | Al-Jazeera
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for restraint as Israel weighs its response to Iran’s unprecedented weekend drone and missile attack. Putin made the remarks in a phone call with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday. The leaders discussed what the Kremlin called “retaliatory measures taken by Iran” after an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on April 1. Putin urged all sides to refrain from action that would trigger a new confrontation that would have catastrophic consequences for the Middle East, the Kremlin said. Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel late on Saturday in response to the Israeli strike in Damascus, which killed seven officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two generals. Putin, in his first publicly aired comments on Iran’s attack, said the root cause of the current instability in the Middle East was the continuing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
CHINA & IRAN
China said it believed Iran could "handle the situation well and spare the region further turmoil" while safeguarding its sovereignty and dignity, referring to an attack on Iran's embassy in Syria and its retaliatory strike over the weekend. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian via a phone call on Monday that China appreciated Iran's emphasis on not targeting regional and neighbouring countries, according to the official Xinhua news agency on Tuesday. Wang also said he noted Iran had described its actions as limited and carried out in self-defence. China strongly condemns and resolutely opposed the embassy attack, and calls the incident "unacceptable", Wang said. After briefing Wang on Iran's position, Amir-Abdollahian told Wang that Iran is aware of the regional tensions, is willing to exercise restraint and has no intention of further escalations.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
Saudis And UAE Warn Of War Dangers As Israel-Iran Tensions Boil | Bloomberg
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates called for maximum “self-restraint” in the Middle East to spare the region “from the dangers of war and its dire consequences,” in an unusually frank joint statement Wednesday. The comments came after a call between Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and UAE President Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as tensions escalate following Iran’s missile and drone strikes on Israel on Saturday night. Israel is weighing a response to what was the first attack on the Jewish state from Iranian soil. Tehran said it was retaliating against an Israeli airstrike on its consulate in Damascus earlier this month that killed some of its top commanders there. The two Gulf Arab leaders discussed developments in the Middle East and the dangerous repercussions on security and stability, the UAE’s state-run WAM news agency reported.
MISCELLANEOUS
Turkish President Says Netanyahu To Blame For Iran’s Attack On Israel | The Hill
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the main party to blame for Iran’s unprecedented missile attack on Israel over the weekend. “The main one responsible for the tension that gripped our hearts on the evening of April 13 is Netanyahu and his bloody administration,” the Turkish leader, who regularly criticizes Israel and its leadership, said in televised remarks. “Those who have been silent for months about Israel’s aggressive attitude immediately condemned the Iranian response,” he said. “But it’s Netanyahu himself who is the first who should be condemned.” Iran fired over 300 attack drones and missiles at Israel on Saturday, in retaliation for a deadly April 1 strike on what it said was a building in Tehran’s embassy compound in Syria, in which several commanders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed, that it blames on Israel.