TOP STORIES
The volume of global terrorist attacks planned by Iran against Jews and Israelis in foreign countries since Oct. 7 and prevented by the Mossad has at least doubled that of the preceding year, reaching more than 50 such attempted attacks worldwide, The Jerusalem Post has learned. Although the world has learned about a relatively small number of these incidents, there are far more that the world has no idea about. In September 2023, Mossad Director David Barnea revealed in a speech at Reichman University that Mossad had thwarted 27 global terrorist incidents in foreign countries that Iran had planned against Jews and Israelis.
US Issues Sanctions Over Shipment Of Iranian Oil To Syria, East Asia | Reuters
The U.S. Department of Treasury on Wednesday sanctioned more than a dozen entities and vessels over their involvement in the shipment of Iranian crude oil and liquid petroleum gas to Syria and East Asia on behalf of Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah. Four ships associated with the fleet of Syrian shipping magnate Abdul Jalil Mallah, who was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2021, and his brother, Luay al-Mallah, were among the vessels included in Wednesday's action, the Treasury Department said in a statement. Luay al-Mallah was designated under U.S. sanctions on Wednesday.
While Israel is seeking to turn the tables on Hezbollah, Iran’s president and his delegation are in New York seeking to turn the tables on Israel at the United Nations. This has been clear from the large number of meetings Iran is hosting while the Iranians are in the Big Apple. Iran is focused today on gaining inroads globally and isolating Israel on the global stage. Iran’s regime believes that Hezbollah can suffer some blows while Iran makes other moves. In fact, it seems like Iran is willing to sacrifice a lot of people in Lebanon, Gaza, and other places in order to drag Israel into wars of attrition while Iran makes broader moves.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Former US Hostage Criticizes Iranian Presence In New York | Iran International
former US diplomat held hostage in Iran has called the presence of the Iranian president's delegation for the UN General Assembly in New York a lavish escape while Iran grapples with severe domestic crises. “This is a great vacation for them, believe me. They love this—they can get out of Iran, relax, have a great meal, and see things they couldn't see in Iran. So, this is an excuse to get out,” Barry Rosen, senior advisor at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Iran International.
The United States, Australia, Canada, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar called jointly on Wednesday night for an “immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy towards the conclusion of a diplomatic settlement.”...“Imagine releasing two statements calling for a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon as if the government of Lebanon has any agency and sovereignty without mention of Hezbollah, which holds the power here,” wrote Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran. “That’s how disconnected from reality this sounds,” Brodsky wrote.
I Was In A Hezbollah Tunnel – This Is What Awaits Israel | The Telegraph
…Dror Doron, a senior adviser at the campaign group United Against Nuclear Iran, who also worked as a senior analyst in the Israeli prime minister’s office, said that Imiyadh Mughniyeh, Hezbollah’s military chief at the time, initiated the process of re-armament. After Mughneih was killed by Israel in 2008, “the IRGC took over the project. It was an Iranian-based project”, Mr Doron said. The smuggling of ballistic missiles and other long-range precision-guided missiles into Lebanon via Syria caused Israel to launch a campaign of airstrikes in Syria in 2014 to target the convoy carrying the missiles, he added. “Israel identified Syria as being a critical element in the route of supplying those missiles,” Mr Doron said.
Watch: Suez Rajan Documentary | Iran International
A new documentary produced by @IranIntl_En focuses on the illicit shipping of Iranian oil and the events leading to the US seizure of the Suez Rajan vessel in 2023. The film premiered Tuesday in a ceremony hosted by @UANI, which played a key role in the tanker seizure.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Return Of Barred Inspectors To Iran Unlikely. IAEA Chief Says: 'Ship Has Sailed’ | Reuters
The U.N. nuclear watchdog has been pushing Iran to lift its ban on several uranium-enrichment inspectors from Iranian nuclear sites, but the IAEA chief told Reuters that success seems unlikely. "Unfortunately, this ship has sailed," Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in an interview on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. The IAEA has strongly condemned the step taken by Iran a year ago as "unprecedented" and called it a "very serious blow" to its ability to carry out meaningful inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
Biden Administration Divided Over Israel’s Escalation Against Hezbollah | Washington Post
The Biden administration is divided over Israel’s military escalation against Hezbollah, with some senior officials viewing it as a reckless bombardment likely to produce more deadly cycles of violence and others seeing it as a potentially effective means of degrading the Lebanese militant group and forcing it to back down. Senior officials are publicly calling for de-escalation as the administration tries to find a diplomatic off-ramp to the metastasizing Middle East conflict. In the past two weeks, Israel’s brazen sabotage of thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies and a series of airstrikes have killed hundreds, including a top Hezbollah commander on Friday.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
Hezbollah's Tunnels And Flexible Command Weather Israel's Deadly Blows | Reuters
Hezbollah's flexible chain of command, together with its extensive tunnel network and a vast arsenal of missiles and weapons it has bolstered over the past year, is helping it weather unprecedented Israeli strikes, three sources familiar with the Lebanese militant group's operations said. Israel's assault on Hezbollah over the past week, including the targeting of senior commanders and the detonation of booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies, has left the powerful Lebanese Shiite militant group and political party reeling.
It has been a devastating week for Hezbollah and the people of Lebanon. Bombs hidden in the group’s pagers and walkie-talkies killed dozens of people and wounded thousands — many of them Hezbollah members. Israeli strikes on Beirut killed two of Hezbollah’s top commanders. Israel has bombed what it said were 1,600 militant sites across large parts of Lebanon, killing hundreds of people and displacing thousands. Israel says its objective is to secure its northern border so that tens of thousands of people who fled under Hezbollah fire nearly a year ago can return to their homes. But it’s far from clear that its recent operations — as tactically successful as they were — will bring that about.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
Iran Brokering Talks For Russia To Send Missiles To Houthis | Jewish News Syndicate
Tehran is brokering secret talks between Moscow and the Houthis in Yemen to transfer advanced anti-ship missiles to the Iranian-backed terror army, Reuters reported on Tuesday. According to the article, Russia has not yet decided to send the P-800 Oniks cruise missiles, marketed as Yakhont, which experts say would allow the terrorist group to more accurately target commercial vessels in the Red Sea, posing a greater threat to American and European warships positioned to defend commercial shipping lanes.