Iranian Regime Bars Outspoken Lawmakers From Re-Election

She allegedly rammed her vehicle into the gates of the Eretz Synagogue and Cultural Center on Wilbur Avenue, not once but twice, just after midnight on Thursday.

The Los Angeles Police Department took Mottahedeh into custody for vandalism as a hate crime on a house of worship. The synagogue, which became the target of the attack, suffered damage to its gates.

Investigations revealed that Mottahedeh had an Instagram account under her name, featuring posts in Persian, Hebrew, and English. The account included critical writings against the government of Israel and the policies of the Iranian government. Similarly, her Meta (Facebook) account indicated that she is an Iranian Jewish woman.

However, Iran International cannot confirm whether the social media accounts truly belong to the assailant. The United States has detained her on a $25,000 bail but further details of the incident have not been disclosed.

The incident follows a series of anti-Jewish attacks in different countries, notably after Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, leading to conflict in the Gaza Strip.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in reaction on Thursday that he was "ashamed and outraged" at a recent wave of antisemitic incidents in Germany, warning Berlin would not tolerate such anti-Jewish hatred.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley had earlier called for stringent laws to combat extremism, especially in the aftermath of the Hamas-Israel conflict, highlighting a "gap" in dealing with extremism within the existing legal framework.

The head of the Rescue and Relief organization provided information regarding flood operations from November 2nd to 11th.

Babak Mahmoudi reported that more than 2,600 people in 13 different provinces in Iran were affected by flooding and received relief.

Furthermore, two people were reported dead in Golestan province, north of Iran, and a 40-year-old woman had gone missing in Semnan province.

The Red Crescent official announced they provided relief to 2,603 people, relocated 68 people to safe areas, and provided emergency accommodation to 270 individuals.

A recent report by World Weather Attribution stated that the drought which lasted 36 months from July 2020 to June 2023 in Iran, Iraq, and Syria, was “the second worst in the observed record.” However, Iran has been increasingly facing less precipitation since the early 2000s and its underground water resources have significantly declined.

According to the study, war and post-war transition, rapid urbanization in the face of limited technical capacity, and regional instability all contributed to the negative outcomes of the drought in the region. At the time of the report, the Ukraine war significantly affected food and energy prices. There is a possibility that the situation will deteriorate due to the ongoing Gaza war.

The Iranian regime has come under harsh criticism for its mismanagement of the environment, especially its water resources, as well as the treatment of activists in this field. Recent years have seen a number of Iranian environmentalists convicted of espionage for the US and UK governments and sentenced to prison.

The Israeli military confirmed it had struck targets in southern Lebanon, in response to drone and missile attacks on its forces. Hezbollah, for its part, published a video purporting to show its aerial operation.

Reporters who have visited the border areas of Lebanon and Israel say the reality on the ground is more serious than many think and that “there is a sense of impending conflict."

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is scheduled to speak Saturday at 3pm local time. This will be his second public appearance since October 7.

In his first speech, Nasrallah praised Hamas and denounced Israel but fell short of calling for war. He did say at the end, however, that the current conflict with Israel was of a different order to the previous ones, and that he was leaving all military options on the table.

Most experts say Nasrallah is reluctant to risk a full-blown war with Israel. But some say his second speech could be different, particularly given the scale of killings in Gaza.

On the eve of that speech, Hezbollah media have published a short video featuring soundbites of Nasrallah intercut with images of their operations. The video is titled “And it will not stop at that” –a title that could be read as a signal of potential escalation.

On Thursday, Iran’s foreign minister said that “with the intensification of the war on civilians in Gaza, expansion of the scope of the war has now become inevitable.”

Shortly after, Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, told CNN that the Islamic Republic will not expand this war front.

Put together, the two seemingly contradictory remarks may suggest that the regime in Iran wants to convey that the war would escalate in spite of the decisions made in Tehran.

Iran’s intentions might become clearer this weekend in Riyadh, where President Ebrahim Raisi is expected to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Before departing Tehran, Raisi squarely blamed the United States for lack of a ceasefire in Gaza. The Iranian regime has directed his verbal and proxy attacks at the US in recent weeks, with its militant proxies in the region launching more than 40 attacks against American troops in Iraq and Syria.

The two leaders talked on the phone a few days after the start of the Israeli onslaught on Gaza. The two states differ considerably in practice and tone when it comes to dealing with Israel in general and the current conflict in particular.

The Islamic Republic openly supports militant groups fighting with Israel and calls for an oil boycott of that country. Saudi Arabia has demanded that Israel show constraint.

On Friday, MbS accused Israel of violating international law and condemned the “targeting of civilians in the Gaza Strip.”

It remains to be seen whether the two regional powers can agree on a joint course of action or at least get closer in their stance.

Saudi Arabia has so far refused to consider a boycott of, or to break ties with, Israel. Iran, on the other hand, has warned of escalation by inaction.

“My assessment is that if the emergency meeting of the [OIC] in Saudi Arabia does not lead to helping and saving the Palestinian nation, the scope of conflicts in the region will increase,” Raisi said on the eve of his trip to Riyadh.

Raisi said time had come for action over the conflict in Gaza rather than talk. "Gaza is not an arena for words. It should be for action," he said at Tehran airport before departing for the summit of Arab and Islamic nations in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh.

"Today, the unity of the Islamic countries is very important," he added.

It is the first visit to Saudi Arabia by an Iranian head of state since Tehran and Riyadh ended years of hostility under a China-brokered deal in March.

The Iranian regime has rendered financial and military support to Hamas for more than two decades and glorified the October 7 terror attack by holding street celebrations on the same day. However, it has refrained from direct military involvement in the Gaza war, facing warnings from the United States.

"The summit will send a strong message to warmongers in the region and result in the cessation of war crimes in Palestine," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who is accompanying Raisi, was quoted as saying by a government website.

"America says it doesn't want an expansion of the war and has sent messages to Iran and several countries [to this effect]. But these statements are not consistent with America's actions," Raisi said in the televised comments at Tehran airport.

"The war machine in Gaza is in the hands of America, which is preventing a ceasefire in Gaza and expanding the war. The world must see the true face of America," Raisi claimed.

The placard, which is mounted on a truck, reads, “As long as you finance the murder of Jews, we will write about it.” The sign also displays an image of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Bild has earlier installed a similar sign with an image of Russian President Vladimir Putin in front of the Russian Embassy.

The Islamic Republic is the main supporter of the Islamist group Hamas, which declared war on Israel on October 7 and killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, during its multi-thronged attack in Israel. The attack was celebrated by the Islamic Republic, which is considered the main threat to Israel. Regime authorities, including ruler Khamenei, have repeatedly called for the destruction of "the Zionist entity” meaning Israel in the official jargon of the clerical regime.

Last year, German media reported that investigations were underway about the role of nearly a dozen people linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards who were accused of launching attacks on Jewish centers.

Earlier in the year, the Berlin Police cancelled for the third consecutive year the "Quds Day" demonstration, an annual anti-Israeli event which takes its name from the Arabic-language name for Jerusalem and is usually held to express support for Palestinians and oppose Israel and Zionism. In Germany there have been repeated discussions about banning rallies to mark the day as anti-Israel and anti-Semitic chants are regularly heard during the events.

Also on Thursday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was "ashamed and outraged" at a recent wave of anti-Semitic incidents in Germany, warning Berlin would not tolerate such anti-Jewish hatred as he marked the 85th anniversary of the Nazis' “Kristallnacht” pogrom. Scholz was speaking alongside Jewish leaders at a ceremony in a Berlin synagogue, which was attacked with Molotov cocktails in a surge of anti-Semitic incidents that followed the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and the subsequent Israeli retaliation.