Top Official Says US Killed Soleimani After Israel Warned Of His Plans
Iran's General Qasem Soleimani. FILE PHOTO
The US targeted Iran’s Qasem Soleimani when Israel provided information about his plans to attack US forces, the head of Israeli Military Intelligence has said.
General Tamir Heiman told Walla News that Iran’s top Middle East operative and the commander of its extra-territorial Qods (Quds) Force Soleimani intended to launch large-scale operations against US forces in the Persian Gulf region. Israel shared this information with Washington, which changed its calculus in regards with Iran.
Soleimani was targeted by the United States on January 3 last year when he landed in Baghdad airport and his motorcade began to drive away. Missiles from drones hit his motorcade instantly killing him and the top Iraqi Shiite militia commander.
Iran has vowed revenge for Soleimani’s death. Heiman said that Iran is at the center of regional crisis and tries to take action in several countries. He added that Israel’s repeated attacks on Iranian bases in Syria has imposed a high cost on Tehran and the regime of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.
First Iranian tanker beginning its journey to deliver fuel to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Undated
The third Iranian tanker carrying fuel for Hezbollah in Lebanon, has reappeared on a satellite tracking system in the Gulf of Suez, TankerTrackers has reported.
The tanker Fortune has been identified through the Automatic Identification System (AIS) that uses transceivers on ships and is used by vessel traffic services. TankerTruckers.com tweeted the news on Friday.
The Lebanese Hezbollah announced in August that Iran will be sending diesel and gasoil to energy-starved Lebanon, in a challenge to the United States that has sanctioned both Iran and Hezbollah.
The first tanker anchored at the Syrian port of Baniyas and some of its fuel has already been shipped to Lebanon by tanker trucks.
While Hezbollah insists that the some of the fuel will be distributed among hospitals and other public services, the rest will be sold. This would generate money for the Shiite militant organization, which has always depended on Iran for financial support.
Photo issued by Iran's military showing drills near the Azerbaijani border. October 1, 201
Iran-Azerbaijan tension grew Friday as Iranian officials continued to criticize Baku’s links with Israel as the Iran military conducted exercises near the Azeri border.
In an interview on the side-lines of the maneuvers, Brigadier-General Kiumars Heidari said Iran would not tolerate any change in Armenia’s borders. Some weeks ago Azerbaijan arrested Iranian truck drivers using a land corridor that emerged from the Azerbaijan-Armenia war of 2020 when Azerbaijan acquired Nagorno-Karabakh.
Tehran was also alarmed at Azerbaijan’s military drills with Turkey and Pakistan beginning September 12 in Baku, about 250km from the Iranian border.
Abdollah Ganji, managing director of Javan newspaper, which is affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), in a tweet Friday alluded to Azerbaijan being historically Iranian territory. He said Iran had "showed respect and recognized the rulers of Azerbaijan" but warned that they should not use "borrowed power to threaten" Iran.
People living on the two sides of the Aras River, which separates Iran and Azerbaijan, "have had Iranian identity for several thousand years," Ganji continued. The territory was acquired by the Russian empire from the Qajar dynasty after the Russo-Persian War of 1826-28, dividing Azeri speakers between northwest Iran and the Russian empire.
Attending the Iranian military exercises, Mohammad-Ali Ale-Hashem, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's representative to the northwestern province of Ardabil, accused Israel of "seeking to create disruption and tension in good relations between Muslim countries."
Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said Thursday evening during a visit to the northwestern province of Ardabil that Israel and the "enemies of the friendship between Iran and Azerbaijan" had been trying to sabotage their relations.
Iran's ambassador to Azerbaijan, Seyed-Abbas Mousavi, took to Twitter Friday to respond to the Israeli ambassador's tweet claiming that unlike Iran, Israel, the United States and Azerbaijan invested in "diversity and tolerance."
"We have special respect for all Jews, Christians and other followers of the divine religions, " Mousavi tweeted. “But we are sure that the Republic of Azerbaijan and Palestine will remain Islamic countries forever. The dreams of Zionism for this region will never be interpreted.”
In an interview with Anadolou, a Turkish state news agency, published Monday, the first anniversary of the 2020 war, the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, said he was "very surprised" that Iran was holding military exercises in a border region and questioned whether they were linked to Azerbaijan acquisition of territory from Armenia.
Many border issues between Azerbaijan and Armenia remain unresolved, and there have been intermittent clashes since May.
Qasem Soleimani, Iran's top operative in the Middle East, killed by a US strike on January 3, 2020
Mike Pompeo has said Friday that the Taliban took the Trump Administration seriously after the killing of Iran's Qassem Soleimani in 2020.
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted: "The Taliban knew our government was very serious because they saw our attack on Qassem Soleimani and the elimination of ISIS. "They knew that if they acted in a way that was inconsistent with American interests, we would destroy them."
President Joe Biden has been criticized for the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan that led to a quick takeover by the Taliban. The Biden administrations says that the decision to withdraw and an agreement with the Taliban was reached by the Trump administration.
Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad on January 3, 2020, ordered by former president Donald Trump, to eliminate impending terror threats, the US said at the time.
US troops conducting drills in Syria, June 14, 2021
A recent pledge by US president Joe Biden that the US would not abandon Kurdish allies in Syria has gone a long way to allay their fears, according to Reuters.
In meetings held in August and September between US officials and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Biden’s pledge was conveyed to the Kurds who have played a pivotal role in the fight against the Islamic State group. They are supported by around 2,000 US troops stationed in Syria.
The US military presence in Syria is also needed to curb Iran’s influence in both Iraq and Syria and address the security concerns many US allies – particularly Israel – in the region feel as a result.
The hasty and badly organized US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August prompted fears among Washington’s other allies about the durability of US friendship. Kurdish troops in northeastern Syria, facing multi-pronged opposition from Islamic State fighters as well as the Assad regime and the prospect of Turkish incursion, have felt particularly vulnerable.
The election of Joe Biden in November 2020 raised the hopes that the US would adopt a steadier approach in its dealings with the Kurds in Syria. And it seems that, on appearances at least, the US is willing to do so.
Iraqi protesters gather to mark the second anniversary of the anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq October 1, 2021.
Iraqis marched in Baghdad Friday to mark two years since mass anti-government protests erupted in the Iraqi capital and southern provinces calling for reform.
Around 1,000 protesters took part in the event in the center of Baghdad, many of them carrying photos of loved ones who were killed by security forces during the protests.
The commemoration comes a week before Iraq plans to hold early elections, which had been a key demand of tens of thousands of protesters who thronged streets and public squares in October 2019 until early 2020.
Demonstrators camped out in the capital's Tahrir Square for months, most of them Iraqi youth decrying endemic corruption, poor services and unemployment.
The movement petered out owing to the government's heavy-handed response and the coronavirus pandemic.
Over 600 people died as security forces used live ammunition and tear gas canisters to disperse crowds.
Now, many among the protest movement are calling for a boycott of the elections scheduled for October 10, convinced that nothing will change.
They decry in particular a string of targeted assassinations against civil society groups and outspoken activists for which no one has been held accountable.
The killings have created a climate of fear and widespread reluctance to take part in the voting, particularly among young Iraqis who constitute the largest group of voters in Iraq.
