TOP STORIES
Iran Threatens Retaliation After Ambassador Hurt In Pager Blasts | Bloomberg
Iran threatened to retaliate after its ambassador was wounded in a wave of explosions that targeted pagers and other wireless devices in Lebanon, fanning fears of a new wave of tit-for-tat violence in the Middle East. Iran “reserves its rights under international law to take required measures deemed necessary to respond to such a heinous crime and violation,” United Nations Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani wrote in a letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council.
Second Wave Of Exploding Devices Raises Fears Of Wider Israel-Lebanon Conflict | Reuters
Hand-held radios used by armed group Hezbollah detonated on Wednesday across Lebanon's south in the country's deadliest day since cross-border fighting erupted between the militants and Israel nearly a year ago, stoking tensions after similar explosions of the group's pagers the day before. Lebanon's health ministry said 20 people were killed and more than 450 injured on Wednesday in Beirut's suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, while the death toll from Tuesday's explosions rose to 12, including two children, with nearly 3,000 injured.
US Sanctions 12 Officials Linked To Iran's Crackdown On Dissent | Iran International
The United States on Wednesday issued fresh sanctions against 12 Iranian officials accused of violating the human rights of its citizens within and beyond the countries’ borders. Those sanctioned include members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and officials from Iran’s Prisons Organization who played a role in suppressing widespread protests that followed the death of a young Iranian woman in September 2022.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Following the first U.S. presidential debate on September 10, UANI Research Director Daniel Roth discussed the approaches Vice-President Harris and former President Trump are likely to adopt regarding Middle East and Iran policy as President.
The events this week in Lebanon sound like they were taken out of a James Bond movie, as sabotaged pagers used by Hezbollah exploded simultaneously across the country, injuring some 3,000 people, the vast majority of whom were members of the terror organization. Experts believe that Israeli security apparatuses were able to access Hezbollah’s supply chain, plant the explosives and simply wait for an opportune time to detonate the devices remotely.
The two-way radios that exploded in Lebanon on Wednesday were larger and heavier than the pagers that blew up across the country on Tuesday, and in some cases set off larger fires, according to a New York Times analysis of the available visual evidence…In 2022, United Against Nuclear Iran, a privately funded group advocating stronger sanctions on Iran, had warned that Hezbollah was using Icom’s devices. And a Hezbollah fighter was photographed in 2022 wearing an Icom two-way radio.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
The head of Iran's Supreme Court has made a veiled threat after a female journalist mentioned the morality police at President Masoud Pezeshkian’s inaugural press conference. Mohammad Jafar Montazeri stated, "If the morality police are to be addressed, then the 'inappropriateness' of that journalist should also be considered," seemingly alluding to Maryam Shabani's headscarf, which revealed a small portion of her hair. Iran has been named by Freedom House as the world's most oppressive nation for press freedom, with dozens imprisoned in the wake of the 2022 uprising.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
At UN Iran And Europeans To Test Diplomacy With US Election Looming | Reuters
Iranian and European officials will meet at the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week in a test of whether the two sides can find a path back to diplomacy over Iran's nuclear program, while lowering tensions with Israel and the West. In his first trip to the West since his election in July, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will land on American soil six weeks before a close Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election that could put former President Donald Trump - a staunch opponent of compromise with Iran - back in office.
The State Department’s internal watchdog concluded Wednesday that officials did not follow proper protocol when handling the security clearance suspension of the U.S. special envoy for Iran following allegations last year that he may have mishandled classified information. The department’s inspector general report, obtained by The Associated Press, stated that in several instances officials “deviated” from the standard process, allowing envoy Rob Malley to access classified meetings and information that would have otherwise been restricted.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Pezeshkian Criticized For Suggesting Relocation Of Iran's Capital | Iran International
Iranian media and experts have criticized President Masoud Pezeshkian for proposing the relocation of the capital to the south, especially given the country's dire economic conditions. “Tehran is facing problems that leave us no solution other than the relocation of the [political and economic] center,” he said during a visit to the Revolutionary Guards’ contracting arm, the Khatam ol-Anbiya Headquarters, earlier this month.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
Israeli security services said on Thursday they had arrested an Israeli citizen on suspicion of involvement in an Iranian-backed assassination plot targeting prominent people including the prime minister. A statement said the person was a businessman with connections in Turkey who had attended at least two meetings in Iran to discuss the possibility of assassinating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant or the head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency.
Hezbollah Targeted Ex-Defense Minister, IDF Chief Of Staff | i24 News
Former defense minister and IDF chief of staff Moshe "Boogie" Yaalon was the intended target of a Hezbollah attack in Tel Aviv's HaYarkon Park last year, according to the Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police on Wednesday. This week, the Shin Bet said the same terrorist network attempted a similar attack against a senior defense official, which reports suggested was former IDF chief of staff Aviv Kochavi.
TURKEY & IRAN
Turkey Accuses Israel Of Expanding Gaza War To Lebanon | Al-Monitor
Turkey on Thursday accused Israel of seeking to expand the war in Gaza to Lebanon with the "alarming" wave of deadly explosions that swept through Hezbollah strongholds. "The escalation in the region is alarming," Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on state-run TRT television. "We see Israel mounting its attacks towards Lebanon step by step." The blasts have killed 32 people in two days, including two children, wounding more than 3,000 others, according to Lebanese health ministry figures. Israel has not commented on the unprecedented operation in which Hezbollah operatives' walkie-talkies and pagers exploded in supermarkets, at funerals and on streets.
CYBERWARFARE
Iranian hackers sought to interest President Joe Biden’s campaign in information stolen from rival Donald Trump’s campaign, sending unsolicited emails to people associated with the then-Democratic candidate in an effort to interfere in the 2024 election, the FBI and other federal agencies said Wednesday. There’s no indication that any of the recipients responded, officials said, and several media organizations who have said they also were approached with stolen material did not publish it. Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign called the emails from Iran “unwelcome and unacceptable malicious activity” that were received by only a few people who regarded them as spam or phishing attempts.