TOP STORIES
Iran Vows Revenge After Biggest Attack Since 1979 Revolution | Reuters
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards and First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber vowed revenge on Thursday for explosions that killed nearly 100 people at a ceremony to commemorate top commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a U.S. drone in 2020 in Iraq. "A very strong retaliation will be handed to them on the hands of the soldiers of Soleimani," Mokhber told reporters at a hospital were some of the wounded were receiving treatment for the bloodiest attack since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. No one claimed responsibility for the blasts. A senior official in U.S. President Joe Biden's administration said the blasts appeared to represent "a terrorist attack" of the type carried out in the past by Islamic State militants.
Leader’s Killing Is A Blow, But Not A Knockout, For Hamas | New York Times
The killing of Saleh al-Arouri, a top Hamas leader, on Tuesday deprives the group of one of its most skilled tacticians, who helped route money and weapons to its operatives in the Gaza Strip and elsewhere in the Middle East and integrated Hamas more tightly into Iran’s network of forces committed to fighting Israel, according to analysts. But it was far from clear on Wednesday that his death would be a debilitating blow to the organization, which has rebuilt again and again after assassinations of its leaders, and remained agile enough to plot the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in southern Israel.
Russia Goes Ahead With Plans To Buy Iranian Short-Range Ballistic Missiles: Report | Al Arabiya
Russia is planning to buy short-range ballistic missiles from Iran, a step that would enhance Moscow’s ability to target Ukraine’s infrastructure, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing US officials. Last year, the White House said it was seeing more indications that Russia and Iran were expanding an unprecedented defense partnership that would help Moscow prolong its war in Ukraine as well as pose a threat to Iran’s neighbors.
UANI IN THE NEWS
... Without the U.S. taking decisive action to restore order and stability, Panama will continue in its failure to exercise due diligence over its flagged vessels. This would allow Iran and other belligerent nations to defy embargoes and fiscally support their nuclear-weapons programs and the terror groups that are now wreaking havoc on the United States and its allies throughout the Middle East. Sanctions are only as valuable as the enforcement behind them, and it is incumbent upon the Biden administration to reassert U.S. leadership in Central America before Panama transforms into a regional Chinese-backed adversary.
At Least 84 Killed In Blasts At Memorial For Top Iranian General Soleimani | NBC News
The reported details of the attack suggest “the operation was not a state-sponsored operation as these avoid civilian casualties and are focused against specific actors or facilities,” said Norman Roule, who served for 34 years in the Central Intelligence Agency. “Instead, those behind this operation demonstrated unsophisticated tradecraft, lacked a capability to place explosives close to the ceremony, and sought to inflict as many civilian casualties as possible,” said Roule, who oversaw intelligence related to Iran during his career.“ Although a number of potential candidates come to mind, the attack does look like the work of the Islamic State’s Wilayet Khorasan or perhaps the Baluch group Jaish al-Adl. Both groups have engaged in high-profile mass casualty attacks against Iran in the past,” said Roule, now a senior advisor to United Against Nuclear Iran, a nonprofit that focuses on “threats posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Tanker Rates Soar On ‘Red Hot’ Red Sea Routes As Owners Embrace Danger Zone | TradeWinds
... The Omega hauled sanctioned Iranian crude last year, according to United Against Nuclear Iran and cargo trackingdata, but was still listed, via AIS signals, as having armed guards on board as it sailed south through the Red Sea.
The Sovcomflot-controlled 47,200-dwt product tanker SCF Yenisei (built 2007) was also nearing the strait with a Russian-sourced cargo and is dueto arrive in the United Arab Emirates next week, according to Kpler.
The tensions have meant rates for product tankers from the Mediterranean to the Far East spiked in December and continue to climb.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
US Says ISIS Could Have Carried Out Iran Bombing | The Hill
The U.S.-designated terrorist group ISIS could have carried out the deadly bombing in Iran on Wednesday that killed more than 100 people, according to a senior U.S. official. “It does look like a terrorist attack. The type of thing we’ve seen ISIS do in the past,” said the official. “And as far as we’re aware, that’s … our going assumption at the moment.” Iranian officials have also blamed the bombing in the southeastern city of Kerman on a terrorist attack, without elaborating on who was behind it.
Former NATO Chief Pushes Biden For ‘More Aggressive’ Response To Houthi Attacks | The Hill
Former NATO chief James Stavridis urged the Biden administration to move toward a “more aggressive” response to the attacks from the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on shipping vessels in the Red Sea. “What I think the White House is going to be grappling with today, in addition to what you and I have just discussed, is how to respond to these pirate attacks at sea, these Houthi rebels — you can call them Iranian pirates if you want,” Stavridis told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Wednesday.
Iran Blames Israel, US For Deadly Blasts Near Grave Of Guards General Soleimani | AI-Monitor
Iran blamed Israel and the United States on Wednesday for twin bomb blasts that killed at least 95 people in the country's south, ripping through a crowd commemorating Revolutionary Guards general Qasem Soleimani four years after his death in a US strike. The two explosions -- labelled a "terrorist attack" by state media and regional authorities -- came amid high Middle East tensions over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and the killing of a Hamas senior leader in Lebanon on Tuesday. The unclaimed attacks, which sparked fears of a widening conflict in the region, rattled global markets, where oil prices jumped more than three percent and sparked global condemnation.
CONGRESS & IRAN
Senator Cardin Holding Up Bill Sanctioning Iran's Leaders | Iran International
US Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is refusing to move forward with a bill sanctioning Iran's leaders. The bipartisan Mahsa Amini Human rights and Security Accountability Act (MAHSA Act) sanctions the Supreme Leader and the President of the Islamic Republic, among others, for their role in human rights abuses. It passed the House of Representatives with overwhelming majority in September 2023, but has not yet been marked up for a vote in the Senate. Iranian-American activists –who have been chasing Cardin for months to no avail– say they will stage a peaceful protest at the senator’s office next week, hoping to highlight “the importance of holding the leaders of the Islamic Republic in Iran accountable.”
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis: Iran’s ‘Axis of Resistance,’ Explained | Wall Street Journal
Iran-backed groups form a land bridge across the Middle East and connect in an alliance that Tehran calls the "Axis of Resistance." Here’s what to know about the alliance that includes Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
Russia’s Putin, EU, Saudi Arabia condemn twin blasts in Iran | Al Arabiya
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday expressed his condolences over twin blasts that killed at least 103 people in Iran near the grave of the slain general Qassem Soleimani. “The killing of peaceful people visiting the cemetery is shocking in its cruelty and cynicism,” Putin said in a letter to Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In a statement posted on X, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned the “terrorist bombings that targeted civilians” in Iran.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
The United States and 12 allies issued what amounted to a final warning to Houthi rebels on Wednesday to cease their attacks on vessels in the Red Sea or face potential targeted military action. The Yemen-based militants have carried out at least 23 attacks in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza since Dec. 19. A senior Biden administration official declined to detail rules of possible engagement if the attacks continue, but underscored that the Iranian-backed Houthis should “not anticipate another warning” from the U.S. and its allies.
IRAQ & IRAN
An airstrike on the logistical support headquarters of an Iran-backed militia in central Baghdad Thursday killed a high-ranking militia commander, militia officials said. Thursday’s strike comes amid mounting regional tensions fueled by Israel-Hamas war and fears that it could spill over into surrounding countries. The Popular Mobilization Force - a coalition of militias that is nominally under the control of the Iraqi military - announced in a statement that its deputy head of operations in Baghdad, Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi, or “Abu Taqwa,” had been killed “as a result of brutal American aggression.”
US Carries Out Strike In Baghdad Against Militia Leader | Reuters
The U.S. military has carried out a strike in Baghdad against an Iraqi militia leader it blames for attacks against U.S. forces in the country, killing him and another person, a U.S. official told Reuters on Thursday. The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the strike hit a vehicle in Baghdad. It targeted a leader of Harakat al Nujaba, the official said, without naming the person.