Iran-Backed Hashd Al-Shaabi Forces Hold Military Parade In Iraq

Darya Safai, an Iranian-born member of the Belgian parliament, released a document by the Brussels Court of Appeal on twitter on Friday evening showing the decision.

Following numerous complaints after the Belgian Parliament ratified a controversial prisoner swap treaty with Iran on July 20, the court ordered that Belgium be “provisionally prohibited from releasing Assadi […] from the Belgian prison where he is serving a sentence of 20 years […] and transferring him to any foreign state whatsoever.”

Assadi is imprisoned for “attempted murder and involvement in terrorism” for his role plotting to bomb a gathering of the exiled opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) near Paris in 2018.

After being rejected by the court of first instance in Brussels on Thursday, the opponents of the prisoner-swap deal with Tehran -- including victims who had registered as civil parties to the trial -- won their appeal on Friday. 

Georges-Henri Beauthier, a lawyer acting for the National Council of Resistance of Iran – an umbrella organization with MEK as its main member, said that according to the order, any proposed release of Assadi be subject to “cross-examination before a judge”.

The court noted that the rights of the plaintiffs “could be irreparably violated” if Assadi were handed over to the Iranian authorities, without allowing the decision to be legally challenged and confirmed by a judge through an adversarial procedure – a hearing where both parties are present or represented by a lawyer. The ban will apply until such a hearing is held, the court added.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani tweeted on Friday in English that the “false dichotomy between JCPOA, of which Iran unlike US remains a party, and good ties between Iran and its neighbors, including Russia, doesn't hide the fact that indecision of the unfaithful US is the main hurdle for a deal.”

He added, “Our neighborly policy is not contingent on JCPOA or US permission.”

Kanaani made the comments in reaction to remarks by US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley who said Iran either agrees to return to the nuclear deal and mend its relations with the world or stick to Russia and become more isolated. 

Following a trip to Tehran by Russian President Vladimir Putin this week, Malley, said on July 19 that Iran "can opt for a position of relative dependency on Russia ... or it can choose to come back into the deal that’s been negotiated."

Echoing the comment, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said on July 20 that Iran has a choice; siding with Russia, or choosing the path of diplomacy and taking up the deal that has been on the table for some time now, to have an economic relationship with other countries around the world.

On July 21, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Iran is making efforts to strengthen relations with its Persian Gulf neighbors, UAE and Kuwait, noting that both countries will be sending their envoys to Tehran soon.

In an interview broadcast on state television Thursday evening, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, "Last week we received a message from Iraqi foreign minister [Fuad Hussein] saying that the Saudi side is ready to move the talks from a security phase to a political and public one.”

"We also expressed our readiness to continue talks at the political level so that it leads to the return of Iran-Saudi Arabia ties to the normal level," he added. 

Late in June, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi traveled to Iran and met with President Ebrahim Raisi after a visit to Saudi Arabia and meeting with the kingdom’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aimed at jumpstarting stalled talks between Tehran and Riyadh. 

Iran and Saudi Arabia -- which are locked in proxy conflicts around the region -- have held several rounds of talks mediated by Baghdad since 2021. In April, they finally held the much-anticipated fifth round of negotiations, saying that a clear outlook was reached for the resumption of regular talks. 

However, it was the Islamic Republic that suspended the talks earlier in April a day after Saudi Arabia announced it had beheaded 81 men, for “heinous crimes.” Forty-one were Saudi Shiites, Human Rights Watch reported, apparently convicted over protests.

Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran in 2016 when mobs attacked its embassy in Tehran after Riyadh executed 47 dissidents including the leading Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

As he stepped into his new role -- with responsibility for military operations in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and across the region, Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich told reporters at al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Thursday that such assaults could lead to a new escalation, while Russia and China are vying for economic and military influence across the Mideast.

“We’re in this position where we’re not under attack constantly, but we do see planning for attacks ongoing. Something will occur that unleashes that planning and that preparation against us,” Grynkewich said. 

He also expressed concerns about Iran preparing to send Russia armed and unarmed drones to use in its war on Ukraine, saying it “is not a surprise … but it’s concerning.”

He also referred to Tehran’s rapidly growing stockpile of near-weapons-grade nuclear fuel in recent months, saying, “Everyone in the region is very concerned.”

His remarks came as the Syrian defense ministry said an Israeli strike killed three Syrian soldiers and wounded seven others near Damascus early Friday. 

According to The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor the attack targeted an "Iranian weapons depot", an air force intelligence facility and a high-ranking officer's office, as well as a car near the Mezzeh military airport.

It said three Syrians were killed in military positions hosting air defense batteries in the perimeter of the Mezzeh airbase, as well as three non-Syrians and two “collaborators” of the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group at a workshop for manufacturing Iranian drones near the town of Sayyidah Zaynab, commonly known as Sitt Zaynab, 10 kilometers south of Damascus.

Asked by Iran International correspondent Arash Aalaei about Islamic Republic’s ruler, Ali Khamenei praising Vladimir Putin’s “initiative” to invade Ukraine, Pelosi said, “Tyrants find their friends and there’s no surprise in any of that. I don’t think anybody has ever recognized Khamenei as a respecter of boundaries or people.”

During Putin’s trip to Tehran July 19, Khamenei lauded the Russian leader’s initiative in attacking Ukraine, saying that NATO would have launched a war sooner or later in Ukraine.

Pelosi added, “To me what Khamenei said was practically irrelevant, but what is relevant is the weapons he may supply Russia with.”

The United States has warned that Russia is preparing to receive Iranian military drones to use in Ukraine and has even sent teams to Iran to review its options. Iran has half-heartedly denied the accusation, but Khamenei’s strong endorsement of the invasion is a signal that Tehran would have little hesitation in supplying the drones.

Pelosi sounded resigned that Iran will cooperate with Russia. “It’s tyrant-to tyrant; doesn’t matter what any of us think; it’s what they will do,” she said.