TOP STORIES
Turkey, Iran And Russia To Meet In Doha On Saturday To Discuss Syria, Turkish Source Says | Reuters
The foreign ministers of Turkey, Iran, and Russia will meet in Doha on Saturday to discuss a lightning rebel advance in Syria, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Friday. Syrian rebels have made their biggest battlefield gains since the civil war began 13 years ago, striking a devastating blow to President Bashar al-Assad. After years of being locked behind frozen frontlines, the rebels captured the main northern city of Aleppo last week before pushing as far south as the centre of Hama, taking the strategic central city for the first time. Turkey, Russia and Iran have regularly held talks on Syria's future in a trilateral format as part of what is known as the Astana peace process. While NATO member Turkey backs the political and armed opposition, Russia and Iran support Assad.
Iran, Hezbollah Aim To Bolster Assad As Rebels Bear Down On Homs | Reuters
Iran will send missiles, drones and more advisers to Syria, a senior Iranian official said on Friday, as rebel forces pushed their lightning offensive south towards the city of Homs in the biggest challenge for years to President Bashar al-Assad's rule. Seizing Homs would cut off Syria's capital Damascus from the coast, a longtime redoubt of Assad's minority Alawite sect and where his Russian allies have a naval base and air base. After years locked behind frozen front lines, the insurgents have burst out of their northwestern Idlib bastion to achieve the swiftest battlefield advance by either side since a street uprising against Assad mushroomed into civil war 13 years ago. Assad regained control of most of Syria after his key allies - Russia, Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah group - came to his support. But all have recently been diverted by other crises, giving Syrian Sunni Muslim militants a window to fight back.
Iran said Friday it conducted a successful space launch, the latest for its program the West alleges improves Tehran’s ballistic missile program. Iran conducted the launch using its Simorgh program, a satellite-carrying rocket that had had a series of failed launches, at Iran’s Imam Khomeini Spaceport in rural Semnan province. That’s the site of Iran’s civilian space program. The Simorgh carried what Iran described as an “orbital propulsion system,” as well as two research systems to a 400-kilometer (250-mile) orbit above the Earth. The system could allow Iran to change the orbit of a spacecraft, something Tehran long has wanted to have geo-synchronized orbits for its satellites.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Israeli airstrikes destroyed caches containing advanced weapons in northern Syria to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Islamist rebel groups advancing there, according to Syrian reports, cited by Army Radio... “Worth recalling reports from the Syrian opposition over the years that Hama Military Airport was a transportation hub for Iran weaponry to Hezbollah,” noted Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran. “There was even a story at one point that the Iranians established an intelligence base in the area. This further constrains Tehran in Syria,” he added. The capture of Hama just days after Aleppo fell into rebel hands is a dramatic achievement and one that critically endangers the stability of the Syrian regime.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Iran More Comfortable With Nuclear Saber-Rattling, US Intelligence Warns | Voice Of America
Iran is likely to respond to new attacks from Israel or additional Western sanctions by edging ever closer to crossing the nuclear threshold, according to a just-released U.S. intelligence assessment. The unclassified report, issued Thursday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, finds that while Tehran is not currently poised to build a nuclear weapon, it is undertaking activities "that better position it to produce one, if it so chooses." The report states that since July, Iran has continued to increase its stockpiles of 20% and 60% enriched uranium while also manufacturing and operating a growing number of advanced centrifuges.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Exiled Iranian Filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof’s Definition Of Home Is Shifting | Associated Press
Shortly before he was to be flogged and imprisoned for eight years, Mohammad Rasoulof fled Iran. His weekslong journey would take him from Tehran, through rural Iranian villages, on foot across a mountainous borderland and ultimately to Hamburg, Germany. As arduous and dangerous as the trip was, Rasoulof’s travels had an added wrinkle: He was trying to finish a movie at the same time. A week after arriving in Germany, Rasoulof would premiere his film, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” at the Cannes Film Festival in France. As he fled, Rasoulof was preoccupied with the movie’s edit, which was being carried out in Germany.
Sweeping Report Details Justice Denied For Iran's 2022 Protest Victims | Iran International
new report from a US-based rights group drawing on hundreds of interviews over more than two years has documented Iran's systematic denial of accountability and legal redress for killings and other grave human rights abuses. The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights (ABC) highlighted in its report released on Thursday the legal struggles of 16 victims' families who sought justice within the Islamic Republic's judicial system. Based on over 300 interviews conducted between the fall of 2022 and November 2024, the report sheds light on their ongoing struggle.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
Emerging Anti-US Axis Worrisome But 'Not Acting As A Bloc' | Voice Of America
Washington's most dangerous adversaries may be working together more closely than ever before, but U.S. intelligence analysts think that for now, they are falling short of forming a tight-knit alliance that could more effectively counter the United States. Concerns among the United States and its allies about growing cooperation among Russia, China, Iran and North Korea have been increasing steadily since Moscow launched its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine — sustained by intelligence showing Beijing, Tehran and Pyongyang providing Russia with technology, missiles, drones and even troops for the war effort. The former commander of U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific earlier this year went as far as to describe the growing ties between the four U.S. adversaries as a nascent "axis of evil."
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
Iran Aims To Send Missiles, Drones, Military Advisers To Syria, Senior Official Says | Reuters
Iran aims to send missiles and drones to Syria and increase the number of its military advisers there to support President Bashar al-Assad in his battle against rebels, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Friday. "It is likely that Tehran will need to send military equipment, missiles and drones to Syria... Tehran has taken all necessary steps to increase number of its military advisers in Syria and deploy forces," the official said on condition of anonymity. "Now, Tehran is providing intelligence and satellite support to Syria." For Iran, Assad is a crucial ally, part of its "Axis of Resistance" to Israel and U.S. influence in the Middle East. Over the past week, anti-Assad rebels have made their swiftest battlefield gains since the civil war began 13 years ago, striking a devastating blow to Assad.
Israeli Intelligence Sees Growing Chance Assad's Forces Collapse In Syria | Axios
Why it matters: The rapid advance of the rebels — who captured the city of Hama on Thursday, days after taking Aleppo — could precipitate a collapse of the Syrian Army. One of the senior Israeli officials said the fall of Damascus now seems more plausible than it had until very recently. A U.S. official agreed that the Syrian Army's defensive lines are rapidly collapsing. "The Syrian military forces are not really fighting," the official told Axios. "We don't think the regime is in immediate danger, but this is the biggest challenge for the Assad regime in the last decade." Israel, Egypt and Jordan have all expressed concern to the U.S. in recent days about the developments in Syria and the potential for a dramatic shift inside the country, the U.S. official said.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
Syrian Rebels Capture Key City Of Hama In Fresh Blow To Assad | Reuters
Syrian rebels captured the city of Hama on Thursday, a major victory in a week-old lightning advance across northern Syria and a devastating new blow to President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies. After years locked behind frozen frontlines, the rebels have burst forth to mount the swiftest battlefield advance by either side since a rebellion against Assad descended into civil war 13 years ago. The capture of Hama gives them control of a strategic central city they never managed to seize before.
Iran Funds Lebanon War Families Despite Economic Pain At Home | Iran International
Iran has funded the bulk of aid distributed to Lebanese families affected by a 14-month war between Israel and the country's Tehran-backed militia Hezbollah, the group's leader said, even as an economic crisis festers inside Iran. A total of $77 million has been earmarked for almost a quarter of a million families, Naeem Qassem said in a televised speech on Thursday, adding that most of the funds came from Iran. Families whose primary homes have been destroyed would eventually be paid $8,000 as compensation and between $4,000 to $6,000 for temporary accommodation for a year, depending on where they live.
IRAQ & IRAN
Syrian, Iraqi, Iranian Foreign Ministers To Meet On Friday, Iraqi State Media Says | Reuters
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein will meet his Syrian and Iranian counterparts on Friday to discuss the situation in Syria, the Iraqi state news agency said on Thursday. The Friday meeting comes after a whirlwind advance by Syrian rebels that started last week as they captured the main northern city of Aleppo from Iran-backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and then captured the city of Hama on Thursday. Earlier on Thursday, Syrian foreign minister Bassam Sabbagh arrived in Iraq's capital Baghdad, the Iraqi state news agency (INA) said, adding that the Iranian foreign minister is to arrive on Friday.
TURKEY & IRAN
Syrian Rebel Offensive Bolsters Turkey’s Geopolitical Influence | The Wall Street Journal
A rapid advance by Syrian rebels in recent days is giving the NATO member Turkey more power to limit Russian and Iranian influence in the region, but also risks triggering new instability on Ankara’s doorstep. Turkey has longstanding relations with rebels who entered the city of Hama on Thursday and captured Syria’s second largest-city, Aleppo, days earlier. The offensive marks the stiffest challenge in years for the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which is backed by Moscow and Tehran. The advance stands to bolster Turkey’s sway over Syria’s future, especially with Russia occupied by war in Ukraine and Iran locked in confrontation with Israel. The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is now in a stronger position to put pressure on Kurdish militias it opposes in Syria, some of which have ties to the U.S.
OTHER FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Two Men Charged Over Attack On British-Iranian Journalist | Reuters
British prosecutors said on Thursday they had authorised charges to be brought against two Romanian men over the stabbing of a journalist working for a Persian language media organisation in London in March. Pouria Zeraati, a British-Iranian journalist who works for Iran International, sustained leg injuries after being stabbed near his home in Wimbledon, southwest London. Counter-terrorism police have led the investigation into the attack over concerns he had been targeted because of his job at the Persian language television news network, which is critical of Iran's government.