TOP STORIES
An Israeli strike on the Syrian capital on Saturday destroyed a building used by the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, killing at least five Iranians, Syrian and Iranian state media reported. The Syrian army said the building in the tightly guarded western Damascus neighborhood of Mazzeh was entirely destroyed, adding that the Israeli air force fired the missiles while flying over Syria’s Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The Israeli military did not comment.
Two US Navy Seals Declared Dead After Raid To Seize Iranian Weapons Bound For Houthis | The Guardian
Two US Navy Seals who went missing during an operation to seize Iranian weapons bound for Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been declared dead after a 10-day search failed to locate them, the US military has said. US Central Command (Centcom) had previously said that two Seals who were reported as lost at sea were involved in the 11 January operation, in which the elite special operations personnel boarded a dhow off the coast of Somalia and seized missile components made in Iran. “We regret to announce that after a 10-day exhaustive search, our two missing US Navy Seals have not been located and their status has been changed to deceased,” Centcom said in a statement on Sunday. “The search and rescue operation for the two Navy Seals reported missing during the boarding of an illicit dhow carrying Iranian advanced conventional weapons … concluded and we are now conducting recovery operations,” the statement said.
Iran said Saturday it had conducted a successful satellite launch into its highest orbit yet, the latest for a program the West fears improves Tehran’s ballistic missiles. The announcement comes as heightened tensions grip the wider Middle East over Israel’s continued war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and just days after Iran and Pakistan engaged in tit-for-tat airstrikes in each others’ countries. Meanwhile Saturday, the U.S. conducted new strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have been targeting shipping in the Red Sea over the war, and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq struck a base housing U.S. troops, wounding several personnel. The Iranian Soraya satellite was placed in an orbit at some 750 kilometers (460 miles) above the Earth’s surface with its three-stage Qaem 100 rocket, the state-run IRNA news agency said.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Iran Sets Mideast On Fire As Critics Say Biden Policies Failed: 'Further Recklessness' | Fox News
… Jason Brodsky, the policy director of the U.S.-based United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital that he views the Biden administration's marriage to rekindling the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the formal name for the Iran nuclear deal, as the first flawed departure point of the White House. Biden wishes to inject more than $100 billion into Iran’s coffers as part of a revived JCPOA deal, according to one think tank estimate, in exchange for Tehran pledging to impose temporary restrictions on its nuclear weapons program.
Iran Condemns Suspected Israeli Strike Killing 5 IRGC Officers | Iran International
“… This could be Iran’s Axis of Resistance retaliating for the earlier strikes by Israel killing IRGC officers in Syria,” Jason Brodsky, Policy Director at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), wrote on X. Though the Iranian regime has avoided any direct military involvement in the Gaza war, Tehran has used its proxy groups in the region such as Houthis and Hezbollah to attack Israeli and American targets. Yemeni Houthis, in particular, have disrupted regional stability and international trade by targeting shipping lanes in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Israel-Saudi Deal Hinges On Iran, Energy Minister Cohen Says | Jerusalem Post
…His new office, much like his old one, puts him in the center of the issue, except instead of building bridges for Israel through diplomacy he will be doing it through regional and European energy projects. He has a one-word central answer to the question of why he is so certain that Israel is on the verge of normalized relations with its neighbors – and that is “Iran.” A brown block with large, white-colored words “United Against Nuclear Iran,” from the US-based nongovernmental group dedicated to that goal, sits on Cohen’s shelf, next to a stand-alone pole with an Israeli flag, in his mostly bare new office.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Iranian officials continue to frustrate International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, who have suggested that Tehran has stockpiled enough enriched uranium to make "several" warheads. "Though it may be drowned out due to all the other bad news out of the Middle East involving Iran, the regime is getting closer and closer to establishing itself as a threshold nuclear state," Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) with a focus on Iranian security, told Fox News Digital. "If anything, Iran seems to be capitalizing on all the mayhem in the Middle East, mayhem which Washington has failed to curb or manage well, to press ahead in what appears to be a quest for the ultimate deterrent," Taleblu added. The IAEA, a U.N. nuclear watchdog, has tried for months to monitor and examine Iran’s stockpiles of enriched uranium. Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the IAEA, in Jan. 2023 warned that Iran had enough highly enriched uranium to build "several" nuclear weapons if it so chose.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
Iran Says International Financial Watchdog Showed Leniency | Iran International
The Iranian government has announced that the International Financial Task Force (FATF) has accepted Tehran’s request to remove Iran from one of its warning categories. Iran has been on the financial watchdog’s ‘blacklist’ in recent years for not adhering to transparency and international conventions against money laundering and terrorism financing. The Iranian government sent a letter to FATF earlier this month requesting Iran’s removal from its worst category that only two other countries in the world share: Myanmar and North Korea. According to Iranian state media on Sunday, and an official post on X, the government has received a written response from the head of the FATF, confirming that it has instructed members to remove Iran from recommendation number 7. However, it seems that this does not mean Iran has been removed from the inter-state agency’s blacklist.
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
UK New Police Unit To Counter Iran, Russia, China Ahead Of Election | Iran International
A new unit has been established in the British police to deal with threats posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, Russia and China ahead of the UK’s general election. Assistant Commissioner Matt Jukes, the UK’s head of counter-terrorism policing, announced on Friday that the new unit will be dedicated to specialist investigations regarding the increasing security challenges presented by the three countries. “I don’t want to be coy. We are talking about parts of the state apparatus of Iran, China and Russia,” said Jukes, further adding that the threats of hostile states are considered to be “greater now than since the days of the Cold War.” The new police unit will exercise the powers set forth in a national security act passed last year. The act was introduced to counter attempts made by certain foreign states to interfere with the UK’s political affairs, steal confidential trade information, and spy. “We will be the most overt part of the UK security community stepping up its response to those hostile state actions,” Jukes stressed in reference to the new specialist investigations unit in the British police.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
The United States is taking "extremely seriously” a weekend attack by Iran-backed militants on a base that hosts U.S. forces in Iraq, the White House said Sunday. "It was a very serious attack, using a capability of ballistic missiles that posed a genuine threat," White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said Sunday during an appearance on ABC's “This Week.” "We are going to respond... to establish deterrence in these situations, and to hold these groups accountable that continue to attack us," Finer added. "Multiple ballistic missiles and rockets" were fired by Iran-backed militants at Al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq late Saturday, the U.S. military said, leading to one Iraqi and possible American casualties. The Pentagon said most of the projectiles fired at the base were intercepted by air defense systems.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Shooting Of Iranian Student Sparks Controversy | Iran International
Anahita Amiripour, a 20-year-old student, was shot dead by plainclothes intelligence ministry agents in the city of Borujerd, Lorestan province. It is believed that Amiripour, a first-semester physical education student at Azad University lost her life when intelligence forces pursued the car she was in. The car's driver, M. Jalayi-far, also a student and Borujerd resident, sustained severe injuries and is currently hospitalized. Hengaw Human Rights Organization, a Kurdish rights group, says the intelligence forces claim the incident was linked to a recent terror attack in Kerman. Two explosions during the fourth memorial of former IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani on January 3 killed around 90 people in Kerman. The strategy aims to reframe the intentional killing as part of a scripted security case. It is not clear why the agents tried to stop the car, although some speculate that it could be hijab enforcement related.
Support Of Daring Iranians Inspires Vahid Beheshti To Keep Protesting | The National
Anti-Iranian regime activist Vahid Beheshti said he was inspired to see a show of support for his campaign from inside the country after protesters hung a banner on a Tehran bridge saying “Vahid is our voice”. The human rights activist, who is a native of Iran, was arrested there twice before escaping to the UK more than 24 years ago. He has been staging a sit-in protest round the clock for almost a year outside the Foreign Office to call for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to be officially listed as a terrorist group.The banner appeared days after Mr Beheshti returned from a trip to Israel earlier this month where he addressed the Knesset, telling members the populations of both countries needed each other in their fight against Iran’s “terrorist regime”. He said the “brave people of Iran risked their lives” once again to stage the protest.
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
Pakistan Tells Iran It Wants To Build Trust After Missile Strikes | Reuters
Pakistan expressed its willingness to work with Iran on "all issues" in a call between their foreign ministers on Friday after both countries exchanged drone and missile strikes on militant bases on each other's territory. The tit-for-tat strikes by the two countries are the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years and have raised alarm about wider instability in the region since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted on Oct. 7. However, while Iran and Pakistan have a history of rocky relations, both sides have already signalled a desire to cool tensions. A statement from Pakistan's foreign office said Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani had spoken to his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, on Friday, a day after Pakistan carried out strikes in Iran.
IRGC Holds Drills As Iran Dispatches Naval Mission To International Seas | Al-Monitor
Iran deployed a military flotilla to international waters on Friday as it kicked off the second day of an air defense drill amid heightened tensions in the region. The Iranian navy dispatched a “combat and training” flotilla consisting of several warships for what Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, commander of the Iranian navy, called a “heavy and multidimensional mission,” according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency. The flotilla departed from the southern port city of Bandar Abbas and will join four other combat flotillas currently assigned to missions in international waters. Irani said Iran's navy continues to be active in international waters despite what he described as “hostile plots by enemies.” Speaking on Friday at the Imam Khomeini Maritime University, in Noshahr, Mazandaran province, he hailed the navy’s operations in international seas, referring specifically to the seizure of a US-linked oil tanker, which he said had violated the rules in the Sea of Oman.
Israel Says Iran Ramping Up Efforts To Recruit Spies, Sow Dissent On Social Media | Fox News
As Israel wages a fierce war in Gaza against one of Iran’s best trained proxies, Hamas, the Islamic regime in Tehran is ramping up its effort to attack the Jewish State directly via social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Telegram. It's recruiting Israelis of Iranian origin for spying and spreading divisive misinformation, Israel’s Security Agency revealed in a statement this week. According to the agency, which is better known by its acronym, Shin Bet, Iranian security forces have succeeded in recent weeks in recruiting several Israeli citizens, setting them on missions such as photographing the residences of security establishment officials and of prominent figures who have publicly criticized Iran. Additionally, the Shin Bet said, the Iranians tasked their unwitting Israeli agents to send bouquets of flowers and messages to some of the families of those taken hostage by Hamas during its deadly Oct. 7 terror attack on southern Israel.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Iranian Soldier Kills 5 Comrades Where Is Attack Killed Dozens | Iran International
An Iranian soldier opened fire on fellow soldiers Sunday, killing five of them in the southeastern city of Kerman, where 94 people were killed in a bombing attack earlier this month, Iranian state TV reported. State TV said the shooting happened when the soldier arrived at a barracks dormitory and opened fire on the resting soldiers. It said the motive wasn't immediately clear and the suspect, who wasn't identified, was at large. No other details were released. The report said the attack took place in Kerman some 830 kilometers (515 miles), southeast of the capital Tehran. Kerman was the scene of two deadly explosions earlier this month that killed 94 people and wounded hundreds of others during an anniversary ceremony for the death of an Iranian general killed in a 2020 U.S. drone strike in Iraq. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Similar shootings at military bases have been occasionally reported in Iran.
Iranian Student Unions Decry Death Sentences Of Protesters | Iran International
Seventeen student groups across Iran have issued a joint statement against death sentences for several political prisoners, labeling them "state-sponsored murder." In a joint statement released Thursday, the student activists asserted their refusal to remain silent under any circumstances, stating, "We will not tolerate executions, and we will obliterate the executioner government." The signatories, who identified themselves as "fighters and revolutionaries of Women, Life, Freedom,” also urged nationwide protest rallies against the recent surge in executions throughout the country. A recent report by the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) group disclosed a shocking 33-percent increase in executions in Iran last year, with at least 791 individuals put to death. Over one-fifth of those executed belonged to the predominantly Sunni Baluch community, indicating a disproportionate impact on ethnic minorities. According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), at least 12 prisoners in Iran charged with political or security-related offenses now face death sentences.
Explosion Heard On Iran Industrial Site Near Tehran, IRNA Says | Bloomberg
A large explosion was heard in an industrial complex in Garmsar, southeast of Iran’s capital Tehran, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. The cause of the explosion isn’t yet known, it said, adding that authorities have been sent to the scene.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
Iran Blames Israel For Damascus Strike That Killed Five Revolutionary Guards | Financial Times
Iran has accused Israel of killing five members of its elite Revolutionary Guards and a number of Syrians forces in an air strike that targeted a building in Damascus. Tasnim, an Iranian news agency affiliated to the guards, described the Iranians killed on Saturday as “military advisers”. The guards confirmed the deaths of its members, blaming an Israeli air raid, but it did not give their rankings. Iranian state television said the site hit in the strike was a residential building used by guards members. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said the Islamic republic would not leave “the criminal and terrorist acts . . . unanswered” and that the US was complicit. The attack is the latest escalation in regional hostilities that have erupted since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7. The raid on Damascus comes four days after the guards launched a barrage of missiles against what it described as an Israeli “espionage centre” in Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
Saudi Arabia Urges Iran To Strive For Regional De-Escalation | Iran International
The Saudi Foreign Minister has called on Tehran for collective efforts to bring peace to the region amid the war in Gaza and attacks in the Red Sea. Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud in an interview with NBC on Friday emphasized the crucial need for de-escalation and conveyed a message to all regional actors. "We all need to work towards de-escalation. The region is already in turmoil. Our message to everyone, including to our neighbors in Iran, is that we need to work towards de-escalation." The conflict in Yemen has evolved into a proxy battle between the Saudi and Iranian governments. In 2014, Iran-backed Houthi rebels aimed to overthrow the Yemeni government, while Saudi Arabia supported the established government during the ensuing civil war. Hoping to establish a permanent cease-fire, Saudi Arabia sent a delegation to meet with Houthi officials last year. Currently, the Houthis are actively attacking vessels in the Red Sea as part of Iranian pressure amid the Gaza war. They have declared that these assaults will continue until Israel ends its siege on Gaza.
Iranian And Hezbollah Commanders Help Direct Houthi Attacks In Yemen | Reuters
Commanders from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Lebanon's Hezbollah group are on the ground in Yemen helping to direct and oversee Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, four regional and two Iranian sources told Reuters. Iran - which has armed, trained and funded the Houthis - stepped up its weapons supplies to the militia in the wake of the war in Gaza, which erupted after Iranian-backed militants Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, the four regional sources said. Tehran has provided advanced drones, anti-ship cruise missiles, precision-strike ballistic missiles and medium-range missiles to the Houthis, who started targeting commercial vessels in November in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, the sources said.
OTHER FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Egypt, Iran Tighten Relations Amid Israel's War In Gaza | Ynet News
Qatari reports released on Friday highlight an ongoing development between Egypt and Iran that should concern Israeli officials. According to Egyptian sources who recently spoke with Arab news outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, intensive contacts are taking place between Cairo and senior Houthi and Iranian officials, aiming to prevent the maritime confrontation between Israel and the Houthis from escalating, with concerns such escalations could also impact the Suez Canal route. The source noted that Egypt recently engaged in discussions with Houthi leaders following the U.S.-UK strikes in Yemen last week, attempting to understand the terror group’s possible response and assess the implications.
Iran's FM To Visit Pakistan To Rebuild Ties After Missile Strikes | Reuters
Pakistan said on Monday Iran's foreign minister will visit the country next week, signaling efforts to mend relations after the neighbours exchanged missile strikes last week at what they said were militant targets. Ambassadors of both countries have also been asked to return to their posts by Jan. 26, the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement. Iran's foreign ministry confirmed that Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian would visit on Monday, and said its ambassador would resume duties in Islamabad on Friday. Pakistan had recalled its ambassador to Tehran and had not allowed his counterpart to return to Islamabad, as well as cancelling all high-level diplomatic and trade engagements. "At the invitation of Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, will undertake a visit to Pakistan on 29 January 2024," a Pakistani foreign office statement said.
What's Behind Turkey's Muted Response To Iran-Pakistan Escalation? | Al-Monitor
Turkey has found itself in an unexpected tough spot following the attacks against Iran by a Pakistan-based militant group, the Iranian retaliation on Pakistani soil and Pakistani counter-retaliation against Iran. As tensions between Iran and Pakistan escalated into missile attacks on each other’s territory, a muted response was Turkey's only reasonable choice. While Ankara is unwilling to confront its “frenemy” Tehran, a trade and energy partner that is also a regional rival, it can also hardly risk offending Pakistan, a good friend, major importer of Turkish weapons and Ankara’s critical backer in international forums. Turkish-Iranian relations have had their ups and downs for decades (if not centuries), but things turned sour in the early 2010s because of the Syrian civil war. While Tehran backed President Bashar al-Assad's regime as part of its “axis of resistance” outlook, Ankara sided with the armed opposition groups.
MISCELLANEOUS
Iran To Take Presidency Of UN Conference On Disarmament | Jerusalem Post
Iran will take the Presidency of the UN Conference on Disarmament this year from March 18 to March 29 and from May 13 to May 24, the UN announced on Thursday. Israel will also receive the Presidency of the conference from August 19 to September 13.