Tag: iran

World On Fire: While Americans Sleep, Here Are 15 Ways That World War III Has Progressed During The Past 7 Days

By the time we got to this stage, I always thought that far more people would be awake.  Perhaps the reason why so many Americans are still sleeping is because the major wars that are currently raging are happening on the other side of the planet.  It is easy to relax when nobody that you know personally is in the line of fire.  But the truth is that if World War III continues to escalate, it is just a matter of time before the whole world will experience a tremendous amount of pain.

It has now been about a week since President Trump issued an ominous ultimatum to the Russians, but instead of backing down the Russians have only intensified their efforts in Ukraine.  Meanwhile, fighting in the Middle East has flared up on several fronts.  The following are 15 ways that World War III has progressed during the past 7 days…

#1 Israel is warning more local residents to evacuate as the IDF pushes even deeper into Gaza…

On Sunday, the Israeli military (IDF) issued new evacuation orders for parts of central Gaza, which even after years of war with Hamas is an area where Israeli ground forces have rarely operated, further restricting access between Deir al-Balah and the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis.

This strongly suggests that indirect efforts to achieve another ceasefire are far from producing anything effective, and it points to Prime Minister Netanyahu pursuing his ultra-controversial plan for mass resettlement of Gaza’s Palestinian population.

Netanyahu has continued to assert that intensifying military pressure in Gaza could compel Hamas to negotiate on terms favorable to Israel and for the return of remaining hostages.

#2 A series of IDF airstrikes just caused a tremendous amount of damage to the port of Hodeida in Yemen…

Israel pounded Yemen’s Huthi-held port of Hodeida with air strikes on Monday for the second time in a month, stoking fears of escalation as it warned Yemen could face the same fate as Iran.

Huthi-controlled areas of Yemen have come under repeated Israeli strikes since the Iran-backed rebels began launching missile and drone attacks on Israel, declaring they act in solidarity with Palestinians over the Gaza war.

In its latest raids, Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel struck “targets of the Huthi terror regime at the port of Hodeida” and aimed to prevent any attempt to restore infrastructure previously hit.

Keep reading

Top Iranian Cleric Demands Trump’s Execution

Leading Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami called for the execution of President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a sermon in Tehran on Friday.

Khatami accused Trump and Netanyahu of “murdering” tens of thousands of people in Gaza, as well as Iran’s top terrorism coordinator Qasem Soleimani, who was liquidated in Baghdad by a 2020 airstrike ordered by President Trump.

The Iranian regime has commanded its subjects to regard Soleimani as a religious “martyr,” but many Iranians refuse to show the mandatory respect to the slain Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) general.

The crowd at Khatami’s sermon, however, seemed to be on the same page as the fire-breathing cleric, chanting “Death to America,” “Death to England,” and “Death to Israel” as he called for Trump and Netanyahu to be executed. “Death to England” is a hardy perennial in Iranian murder chants.

“You are murderers, you need to be punished,” Khatami railed, aiming his diatribe at the American and Israeli leaders and pronouncing them both guilty of capital offenses under Islamic law, including “sowing corruption in the land” and “fighting Allah and his messenger.”

“The ruling regarding Trump and Netanyahu, according to sharia, is that the pair of them should be executed,” he declared.

Last week, a group of senior Shiite clerics in Iran issued fatwas, or religious edicts, condemning both Trump and Netanyahu. The fatwas damned them as moharebs, or warlords who fight against Allah, the same charge Khatami leveled in his sermon calling for their execution. The earlier religious orders said it was a crime for Trump and Netanyahu to discuss targeting Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Keep reading

Why new CENTCOM chief Brad Cooper is as wrong as the old one

If accounts of President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iranian nuclear facilities this past month are to be believed, the president’s initial impulse to stay out of the Israel-Iran conflict failed to survive the prodding of hawkish advisers, chiefly U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Michael Kurilla.

With Kurilla, an Iran hawk and staunch ally of both the Israeli government and erstwhile national security adviser Mike Waltz, set to leave office this summer, advocates of a more restrained foreign policy may understandably feel like they are out of the woods.

They would be sorely mistaken.

CENTCOM’s incoming commander, Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, is Kurilla’s deputy, and he would become just the second Navy officer ever to command CENTCOM. Unanimously confirmed by voice vote in the Senate and championed by both Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and his immediate predecessor, Cooper’s Senate confirmation testimony indicates more continuity than change.

For an administration that once talked a big game about realigning U.S. foreign policy in a more restrained direction, this selection implies the opposite: an indefinite commitment to U.S. primacy in the region in the name of counterterrorism and great power competition.

Forces in Iraq and Syria don’t make America safer

In his responses to written questions for his confirmation, Cooper argued that the United States should retain military forces in Iraq and Syria to “maintain the defeat of ISIS.” The primary reason for this, he argues, is that the U.S. presence denies the terrorist group safe haven from which to attack the U.S. homeland.

Yet, as the Trump administration itself acknowledged by reducing U.S. troop levels in Syria earlier this year, ISIS lacks the capacity to pose a serious threat to the U.S. homeland and other regional actors have an interest in suppressing ISIS. As Rose Kelanic at Defense Priorities writes, “While ISIS has morphed into an international ‘brand’ adopted by affiliates in far-off locales, notably ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K), a group based in Afghanistan and Iraq that was responsible for attacks in Russia and Iran earlier in 2024, whatever original ISIS elements still exist in Syria appear incapable of conducting sophisticated, international terrorist attacks.”

Furthermore, the “safe haven” concept has serious flaws — namely, that it is incredibly difficult to mount sophisticated military operations across the globe in a dysfunctional environment, especially given sophisticated U.S. over-the-horizon intelligence and counterterrorism capabilities and the interest regional partners have in suppressing terrorism. This is precisely why Afghanistan did not become a safe haven for terrorism after the 2021 U.S. withdrawal.

Keep reading

Iranian Pedophile Arrested in Germany For Driving 8 Children to Self-Harm And Suicide For Sexual Pleasure

A German citizen with an Iranian migration background was arrested last month for leading an alleged cyber-sadist gang while operating under the username “White Tiger.” Now, other parents are coming forward stating they feared their children were also victims of the 20-year-old.

The suspect was arrested at his parents’ home in Hamburg in June and was charged with murder and various other serious crimes while leading a group of cybercriminals. Based on sexual motivations, the group forced eight children between the ages of 11 and 15 to self-harm, and in some cases, even commit suicide online.

Investigators state the victims are from the United States, Germany, Canada, and England. Two victims are from Hamburg and one in Lower Saxony, according Welt newspaper.

The cyber sadist group, an international group known as “764” reportedly has other members, but prosecutors say there is no evidence anyone else from the group is operating out of Hamburg.

A 13-year-old American reportedly committed suicide because of the group, while the 14-year-old victim from Canada attempted suicide, according to the Hamburg Public Prosecutor’s Office 

The case has been met with shock in Germany, and highlights the growing threats young children and teens face online, where sadists and sexual abusers operate with little oversight. 

Now, other parents are coming forward, although details remain murky about how many children may have been targeted.

“We can confirm that parents have reported the incident as a result of the arrest,” said Senior Public Prosecutor Mia Sperling-Karstens. Investigations are ongoing. 

The German-Iranian has been charged with murder, attempted murder, previous bodily harm, sexual abuse of children, and possession of child pornography. 

It is unclear from media reports how the gang operated, but often cybersadists preying on children use blackmail and intimidation to convince children to get nude or perform other sexual acts on the web. Once these criminals record video of the act, they then tell their victims they plan to spread the material to friends and family members if they do not perform more depraved acts. In some cases, they can also threaten to release the videos if the victim does not harm themselves, driving the young victims into a psychological state that can quickly push them towards suicide.

The 20-year-old suspect studied medicine at a private university for a certain period of time, but reportedly stopped his studies. He denies being the leader of the ring of pedophiles. 

He is currently incarcerated at the youth prison on Elbe Island of Hahnöfersand, which is located in Lower Saxony.

Investigators are still going through evidence seized during the arrest.

Keep reading

Bombing Iran: From the Libya Model to the North Korea Model

Before the U.S. struck Iran’s civilian nuclear facilities in an unprovoked and illegal bombing, a diplomatic settlement to the nuclear standoff was on the table. Retired ambassador and former Iranian nuclear negotiator Seyed Hossein Mousavian says that he has been told by an informed Iranian source that “the key elements of the deal between [Trump’s special envoy] Witkoff and [Iran’s foreign minister] Araghchi were agreed upon.”

“Iran would accept maximum nuclear inspections and transparency,” including implementing the International Atomic Energy Agency Additional Protocol. They would either convert or export their stockpile of 60% enriched uranium, cease high-level enrichment and cap their enrichment at the 3.67% needed for a civilian energy program. Finally, Iran would fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in resolving any outstanding technical ambiguities. In return, Iran would be permitted to have its civilian nuclear program, and the U.S. would lift all nuclear-related sanctions.

Such a deal would satisfy Iran’s demand to exercise its “inalienable right to a civilian [nuclear] program” and America’s demand to ensure that Iran’s program never become weaponized. But before it could be signed, U.S. President Donald Trump succumbed to pressure and undermined the talks by demanding the Libya model. That demand killed any hope for a diplomatic resolution.

The Libya model is code for zero enrichment and the complete abandonment of Iran’s civilian nuclear program: a demand that Iran will never agree to.

Keep reading

Iranian fatwa crowdfunding effort claims to have raised $40M for bounty on President Trump’s head

A crowdfunding effort that claims to have raised a $40 million bounty for the assassination of President Trump has been linked to a former employee of Iran’s primary propaganda network.

The campaign, organized by a group known as the “Blood Covenant,” comes after multiple radical Iranian clerics issued fatwas, or death warrants, against Trump – denouncing him as an “enemy of Allah” after the US military bombed three of Tehran’s nuclear facilities last month. 

“We pledge to award the prize to whoever can bring the militants and those who threaten the life of the Deputy of Imam Mahdi (may our souls be sacrificed for him) to justice for their actions,” the Blood Covenant wrote on its website. 

The unhinged message also included a Trump image in crosshairs. 

Blood Covenant operates “under the aegis of the Iranian regime,” according to the US-based Middle East Media Research Institute think tank.  

Keep reading

Guess Which Crazy Place Just Criminalized WALKING THE DOG

The ruling elites of the Islamic Republic of Iran are not known worldwide for their friendly, sunny dispositions; in fact, they have a long and ever-growing list of pet hates, including America, Israel, women (at least if their heads are uncovered and they’re out in public), and man’s other best friend, dogs. The ruling Iranian mullahs have now extended a ban that was already in effect in over twenty Iranian cities to the entire country: it is now against the law to walk the dog. That means, of course, that while private ownership of dogs as pets is ostensibly permitted in Iran, it has for all intents and purposes been outlawed.

Wamiz, a French-language site devoted to news of our four-legged friends, reported on Tuesday that anyone walking a dog “on the streets of Iran now risks more than just a fine – and it’s all down to deeply religious reasons.” Walking a dog has been illegal for years in Tehran and many other cities, and now there is nowhere in the entire Islamic Republic that you can take your dog for a walk and not risk running afoul of the nation’s feared morality police. 

The ban is designed, according to Iranian authorities, to “maintain public order, ensure security and protect public health.” Wamiz, however, notes that “critics suspect a cultural-political message behind the crackdown.” This because for many Islamic hardliners in Iran, having a dog as a pet is not just unclean, but also shows that the dog owner has succumbed to the Satanic lure of the Western lifestyle. There are few things one can do to arouse more suspicion among Iranian authorities.

Owning a dog is such a bad thing to do in the Islamic Republic of Iran that the Ayatollah Khamenei himself has emphasized that “keeping dogs for reasons other than herding, hunting, and guard dogs is to be considered reprehensible.” He explained that “walking dogs damages Islamic culture as well as hygiene and the peace of others.”

Why would walking a dog damage Islamic culture? Quite simply, because Islam hates dogs. This goes for Shi’ite Islam, the dominant religion of Islam, as well as Sunni Islam, to which the overwhelming majority of Muslims worldwide adhere. Shi’ite collections of Muhammad’s words and deeds attribute quotes to him including “It is detestable for a Muslim to allow a dog to live in his house” (Al-Kafi H 12735, ch. 12, h 1); “Whoever keeps a dog, every day one qirat (a certain unit of measurement) is reduced from the (good) deeds of his owner” (Al-Kafi H 12736, ch. 12, h 2); and “There is nothing good in dogs except hunting dogs or that which guards cattle.” (Al-Kafi 12738, Ch. 12, h 4)

And so, Wamiz says, while “officially, keeping dogs isn’t banned in Iran, but anyone who has a four-legged friend lives an increasingly dangerous life.” The Iranian authorities are notorious, and feared and hated, worldwide for killing a woman they had arrested, Mahsa Amini, for not wearing her headscarf properly. In light of that and so many other incidents like it, it is no small matter for ordinary citizens even to consider flouting the rules of the regime. And those rules appear to be forever multiplying: “Authorities have repeatedly issued bans in recent years that prohibit taking dogs in cars or to parks or public spaces.”

Keep reading

French Intelligence Chief: US Overstated Iran Strike Impact & We Don’t Know Where The Uranium Is

The head of France’s foreign intelligence agency stated Tuesday that last month’s Israeli and American airstrikes on Iran had destroyed only part of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, though the reality is that the exact whereabouts of the remaining material are unknown.

Chief of the country’s Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE) Nicolas Lerner said in a televised interview the strikes had merely delayed Iran’s nuclear program by several months.

“Our assessment today is that each of these stages has been very seriously affected, very seriously damaged,” he said. “The nuclear program, as we knew it, has been extremely delayed, probably many months,” he added.

While France has some indications of where Iran’s uranium might be, Lerner emphasized in the remarks that definitive confirmation would only be possible once the UN’s atomic watchdog resumes inspections in the country; however, the problem is that Tehran just formally booted IAEA inspectors from the country.

“Today we have indications (on where it is), but we cannot say with certainty as long as the IAEA does not restart its work. It’s very important. We won’t have the capacity to trace it (the stocks),” Lerner said.

Iranian officials have accused IAEA officials of actually spying on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program, secretly passing information on to Tel Aviv and Washington, which helped with targeting in the recent 12-day war.

Lerner’s assessment somewhat partially aligns with the view of US intelligence and the military, given that last week Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the strikes likely pushed Iran’s nuclear ambitions back by one to two years.

But the Trump admin has consistently claimed that Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan had been destroyed, amid conflicting reports and some international pushback on his assertions.

Other Western officials have indicated a setback of merely “months”. And even some US intelligence officials have been quoted in CNN and the NY Times giving a similar assessment.

Keep reading

Iran ‘Rapidly’ Beefs Up Air Defenses With Chinese Help After Israel Ceasefire

Iran has taken possession of Chinese surface-to-air missile batteries as Tehran rapidly moves to rebuild defensives destroyed by Israel during their recent 12-day conflict, sources have told Middle East Eye.

The deliveries of Chinese surface-to-air missile batteries occurred after a de-facto truce was struck between Iran and Israel on June 24, an Arab official familiar with the intelligence told MEE.

Another Arab official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive intelligence, said that the US’s Arab allies were aware of Tehran’s efforts to “back up and reinforce” its air defenses and that the White House had been informed of Iran’s progress. 

The officials did not say how many surface-to-air missiles, or SAMs, Iran had received from China since the end of the fighting. However, one of the Arab officials said that Iran was paying for the SAMs with oil shipments.

China is the largest importer of Iranian oil, and the US Energy Information Administration suggested in a report in May that nearly 90 percent of Iran’s crude and condensate exports flow to Beijing.

For several years, China has imported record amounts of Iranian oil despite US sanctions, using countries such as Malaysia as a transshipment hub to mask the crude’s origin.

“The Iranians engage in creative ways of trading,” the second Arab official told MEE. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump likely heavily discussed Iran and its nuclear program when they meet on Monday. 

MEE reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication. 

Keep reading

Iran: Reward to Assassinate President Trump Rises – Jumps to $21 Million

The THAAR.IR regime-linked website in Iran is offering over $21 million to the person who assassinates President Donald Trump.

The reward size increased by several million in recent weeks.

The reward was first reported at the Iran So Far Away Substack.

The website was also includes several reasons why they are urging the assassination of the US leader.

The so-called crimes include bombing the Iranian nuclear sites, calling the regime ‘terrorists’, killing terror leader Qassem Soleimani and exiting the lousy JCPOA nuclear agreement.

An Iranian Ayatollah in June issued a fatwa calling on Muslims worldwide to assassinate President Trump.

Keep reading