Iran Denies Rumored Attempt On Qatari Ambassador’s Life

A statement issued Friday by the provincial office of the intelligence ministry said that all members of the cell had been arrested, thwarting plans by the “terrorist outfit” for operations timed to coincide with international Quds Day, which falls on the last Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, April 29 in 2022, and Labor Day, May 1.

“Gathering information from labor unions, inciting rallies in front of governorates, trying to provoke clashes and riots, documenting protests, spreading false news about the killing or suicide of Kurdish women, and insulting religious sanctities have been the core activities of this group,” the announcement said.

Along with other Kurdish groups and parties, Komala uses bases in the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, and its peshmerga have for decades been involved in intermittent clashes with Iran’s armed forces.

Generally, the Kurdish parties − including Komala and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) − favor Kurdish autonomy within a federal Iran. Pejak (the Free Life Party of Kurdistan), an affiliated of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), formed in Turkey but also based in northern Iraq, has generally favored a unified, independent Kurdistan uniting Kurds in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and Iran.

Khamenei in televized remarks claimed that "everything is signalling a new equation in Palestine’s present and future," as the Israeli army "has been forced to turn its aggressive formation into a defensive one."

However, he did not explain the reasons for his perception of a change in the region. Khamenei also tried to portray the United States as "the most important supporter of Israel," finding itself in a weak state.

"The United States of America, has suffered consecutive defeats in the war in Afghanistan, in its maximum pressure policy against Iran, in trying to control the economy of the world, in the internal management of its own affairs and the deep rift that has developed in the US establishment." He also said that America has been defeated by "Asian powers," probably meaning China and North Korea.

Meanwhile, the 83-year-old cleric claimed that opinion "polls show almost 70% of Palestinians in the 1948 and 1967 borders and in the surrounding camps (Lebanon, Syria) encourage their leaders to carry out attacks on Israel." He did not mention the source of the poll in question.

Referring to recent sporadic unrest in Jerusalem, Khamenei also claimed that moves by "Palestinian youth, and the military manoeuvres in Gaza indicate that all of Palestine has turned into an arena of resistance."

Khamenei's uncompromising remarks came as nuclear talks with the US have come to a standstill because of the destablizing role of the Revolutionary Guard in the region.

He further claimed that "the Zionist regime is out of breath," and that "the formation of the resistance in West Asia has been the most blessed phenomenon in this region in recent decades."

The Islamic Republic calls its campaign against Israel the ‘resistance’, including militant forces it supports in the region.

While renewing his support for jihadists in Palestinian territories, Khamenei condemned regional countries for normalizing their ties with Israel. He said: "The Islamic Republic supports the resistance camp. It advocates and supports the Palestinian Resistance. We have always said this, we have always acted on this, and we have stood by it."

Khamenei added: "We condemn the treacherous move to normalize relations with Israel. We condemn the policy of a normalization of relations." He further charged that those Arab states which have normalized ties with Israel "have behaved treacherously and have brought disgrace to the Arab world."

Meanwhile several military commanders and politicians boasted about Iran's power and condemned regional countries for trying to normalize relations with Israel. IRGC Commander Hossein Salami in a televised message to Palestinians that was broadcast on Iran's Arabic speaking Al-Alam TV once again promised that "Israel will soon be wiped off the map."

In another development, IRGC Intelligence Chief Hosein Taeb said that the Islamic Republic has empowered its forces to launch intelligence offensives against Israel.

President Ebrahim Raisi in speech delivered in Tehran warned the regional Arab states who have normalized their ties with Israel that "Normalization of relations with Israel is tantamount to nurturing a snake up your sleeve."

The Speaker of the Iranian Parliament (Majles) Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said during a meeting with senior Hamas officials in Tehran that "resistance groups should make normalization of ties with Israel costly for Muslim countries."

The statement by Stockholm was issued on Thursday after the Swedish prosecutors requested a life sentence for former Iranian prison guard, Hamid Noury (Nouri), on trial in Sweden for his role in the killings of thousands of prisoners in 1988.

Sweden is probably worried that Iran may detain Swedish citizens to have more bargaining chips for the release of Nouri, who was arrested in November 2019 while visiting Sweden and charged with war crimes for his role in the execution of up to 5,000 political prisoners. Sweden used the principal of universal jurisdiction to arrest and prosecute Noury, because the alleged crimes amounted to war crimes.

According to the ministry, this means travel advisory with the purpose of visiting or tourism will be valid until further notice and covers the whole country.

The statement said law enforcement’s activities and interpretation of the law may violate international norms in the Islamic Republic and foreign travelers can be arbitrarily detained and prosecuted without clear reasons.

A Swedish-Iran scientist Ahmad-Reza Djalai faces the death sentence in Iran after he was arrested on trumped-up charges of spying.

Sweden on March 10 deported back to Iran two alleged Iranian agentswho were arrested for links to a terrorist plot, instead of putting them on trial, since it does not want more tensions in its relations with Tehran.

Tasnim news website affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard said that the new "Kheybar Shekan" solid-fuel missile with a range of close to 1,500 kilometers was displayed for the second time this month.

The word Kheybar refers to an attack by early Muslims in 628 AD led by Prophet Muhammad on Jews living in Khaybar (Arabic pronunciation of Kheybar). The word Shekan means destoryer and Kheybar Shekan means "destroyer of Kheybar".

The ballistic missile Emad, with a range of 1,700 km was also paraded, as anti-Israeli banners installed by state organs covered major streets in Tehran and other cities.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami said on Friday that Israel was creating conditions for its own destruction with its "evil actions".

"Stop your vicious deeds. You know well that we are people of action and reaction. Our responses are painful. You create conditions for your own destruction. We will not leave you alone. Wait [for us]," Salami said during Quds Day in Tehran.

"You know better than us what will befall you if you take evil action."

The Revolutionary Guard Intelligence Organzation chief Hossein Taeb, a cleric, referring to "resistence forces" and Palestinians said that "Quds…God willing, will be freed soon" and Iran knows that Israel is in fear. Zionists, he said, have reached "the edge of the abys."

Messagaes in similar state-organized events are also directed at the supporters of the régime and feed the coverage in media controlled by the government.

Taeb also said that the "supporter of the occupyer of Quds, Ameirca is not in a good state. The arrogant and dominating power of America is declining," he said, and added that American leaders are lost amid numerous domestic and foreign challenges. They cannot free themselves from the humiliating situation they face in West Asia, and other foreign powers who might want to fill America’s shoes should learn the leasson, Taeb said.

The head of IRGC intelligence went on to say that "We will not také away our gaze from the enemy," and will watch their every move.

The commander of IRGC’s extraterritoral Quds Force, Esmail Ghaani also told the crowd at he Tehran Friday Prayer that the founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini always supported the Palestinians and the Islamic Republic in its four-decade history tried to follow his teachings to "liberate Palestine."

He then praised the Lebanese Hezbollah, created in the early 1980s with planning and support by Iran’s nascent régime. Ghaani warned that "children of the Islamic Republic are present all over the world," and have organized "resistence fronts" everywhere.

Tehran calls all militant forces and groups that follow its policies and receive support the "resistence front."

"Both sides had proposals that led to an agreement after the meeting Thursday [April 23] over a road map for future [talks]," Iraj Masjedi said according to the official news agency IRNA's report Friday.

Masjedi said the re-opening of embassies still needed to be negotiated but added that the agreement in the latest round was important as both sides needed a framework for future talks.

Masjedi said some of the agreements reached on April 23 included "building trust", as well as cooperation over matters such as acceptance of Iranian pilgrims for hajj in Mecca, re-opening of embassies, and "regional and internationals issues" but did not elaborate on any of these topics.

Nour News, a website affiliated to the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali Shamkhani, reported April 23 that high-ranking Iraqi and Omani officials had played an important role in organizing the meeting between Iranian and Saudi officials in Baghdad. Tehran and Riyadh. According to Nour News, representatives of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief, Khalid bin Ali Al Humaidan, had attended the talks.

In his weekly press briefing Monday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the talks in Baghdad were "forward-looking and positive". He also told reporters that initial talks were underway between Tehran and Riyadh on acceptance of 40,000 Iranian pilgrims to Mecca this year.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein has said the Saudi and Iranian sides reached agreement on a 10-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) during the fifth round of talks. “The Saudi-Iranian dialogue in Baghdad discussed the continuation of the ceasefire in Yemen”, he said, noting that this round of talks came at the request of Oman.

Predominantly Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Iran started direct talks in Baghdad in April 2021 for possible rapprochement and held five rounds to resolve their differences and ease tensions in the Middle East where they have been supporting opposite sides but so far there has been no breakthrough.

Iran suspended the talks in March without giving a reason as a new round of talks was due to start. The suspension of talks came after Saudi Arabia executed 8, including 41 Saudi Shiites, in its biggest mass execution in decades.

They have been at odds particularly over Lebanon where the Iran-backed Hezbollah has grown its political power, and influence and Yemen where a Saudi-led coalition has been at war with Iran-backed Ansarallah, also known as the Houthis, since 2016.

Saudi Arabia has also repeatedly voiced concerns over Iran's nuclear program and its long-range ballistic missiles. The United States, its Western allies and others blame Iran’s drones and missiles for Houthi attacks on Saudi and Emirati energy facilities.

Riyadh severed ties with Tehran in January 2016 and expelled Iranian diplomat after mobs stormed the its embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad in protest to the Saudi's execution of a Shi'ite cleric, Shaikh Nimr al-Nimr.

Protesters ransacked and set fire to embassy offices. Iran has never officially apologized for the incident. Then-president Hassan Rouhani, however, in a speech in June 2021 accused his hardliner rivals of sabotaging relations with Saudi Arabia by attacking the Saudi diplomatic missions. "May God never forgive those who did not let our relations with some neighbors improve," he said.