Senator Cardin Holding Up Bill Sanctioning Iran's Leaders

“Let our message now be clear: we call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews,” the statement said.

Immediately after the White House issued the joint statement, the US Central Command posted the following excerpt on X. “The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways.” 

After Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called for a trade blockade with Israel in November, Tehran's proxy allies, the Houthi movement in Yemen, started launching missiles and drones at vessels in international waters around the Red Sea.

The attacks escalated in recent weeks, leading 44 nations to form a naval coalition to ensure maritime security in the region.

However, the United States has chosen not to retaliate on Yemeni soil while defending against the Houthi attacks by intercepting incoming projectiles and deterring boats that pose threats to ships.

Wednesday’s joint statement appears to be a warning of impending retaliation if the attacks continue.

Mazut, known for its environmental hazards, is typically banned in most countries unless blended with less polluting fuels; however, in Iran, it is regularly employed due to limited export market options.

According to reports from the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), government officials stepped in to ban the gathering.

Arak is one of eight major Iranian cities grappling with severe air pollution. Despite this, the authorities in the central province recently approved the re-use of mazut in the Shazand power plant, sparking concerns among the populace.

In response to the decision, several professors from Arak University issued a call to cease the use of the highly polluting fuel. In a statement, they emphasized that the burning of mazut in the Shazand power plant "poses a serious threat to the health of over a million residents of Arak and Shazand."

It was the second protest against air quality in events days. Last Tuesday, hundreds of residents in Ardakan, Yazd province, took to the streets to express their discontent with the air quality in their city.

The longstanding practice of using mazut in industries and power plants during the second half of each year, attributed to a gas shortage, has raised environmental and health concerns among the Iranian populace.

The action was part of a broader trend where Iranian regime opponents observed the anniversary of former IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani's killing as "Cutlet Day" on various social media platforms, referring to his mutilation in a US drone strike in 2020.

Iranian regime opponents and activists took to social media this month sending "Cutlet Day" viral, drawing a parallel to a popular Iranian dish consisting of ground beef and potatoes. 

The prosecutor of Bojnourd confirmed the arrest, stating that "insulting the martyrs is considered an insult to sanctities," the two top military men deified by the regime since their deaths. Like Soleimani, Mousavi, reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike in Syria, played a pivotal role in fortifying Iran's proxy forces in the region.

The arrest aligns with a pattern of Iranian authorities cracking down on dissent. Earlier in January, a prominent chef and Instagram influencer, Navab Ebrahimi, faced detention for sharing a Persian cutlet recipe on the anniversary of Soleimani's death. Ebrahimi was released on bail after a few days, though the specific charges against him remained unclear.

The Iranian government's intensified response to dissent is evident, particularly in the aftermath of the September 2022 death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. Amini was arrested for allegedly improperly wearing a headscarf, fueling nationwide anger and prompting increased measures to suppress signs of dissent across the country amid mass protests.

Beheshti, known for his recent hunger strike in London in a bid to pressure the UK government to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, said direct action is "the only language they understand”.

“Help us overthrow the government. Try to imagine what the Middle East would look like without the Iranian government,” he urged.

Speaking before the Israel Victory Caucus, which consists of Knesset members, security experts, and political leaders, Beheshti highlighted the pressing challenge to regional security posed by Iran, which last month was exposed for rapidly progressing its enrichment in the race towards nuclear weapons.

Since October 7 when Iran-backed Hamas invaded Israel, killing 1,200 mostly civilians and taking 240 or more hostage, attacks on both Israel and US facilities in the region have spiked. Iranian proxies in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria have been activated triggering the worst crisis in recent years.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his calls this week to ensure Iran does not achieve nuclear capabilities while the country continues to fight Hamas in Gaza. Israeli strikes on Iranian linked facilities in the region also continue alongside the war against Hamas, including an alleged assassination of the regime's most senior military figure in Syria.

Beheshti said the Iranian government is at its weakest in 44 years in the wake of the 2022 uprising which has seen the strongest resistance to the government since the foundation of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

He urged Israel to recognize the potential support from approximately 80 million Iranians yearning for freedom and democracy.

Beheshti, an independent journalist and Iranian human rights activist based in London, recently concluded a 72-day hunger strike, followed by a sit-in last month. His protest aimed to persuade the British government to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist organization, serving also as a demonstration against the regime.

Participating as a speaker in the Knesset Israel Victory Caucus (KIVC), Beheshti will explore the question of what Israel's victory will resemble at the conclusion of the war, the Israel Victory Project announced in a press statement released on Monday. The conference, led by MK Ohad Tal of the Religious Zionist Party and Yifat Shasha-Biton of National Unity in collaboration with the Israel Victory Project, will bring together members from both the coalition and the opposition.

The Israel Victory Project, which seeks to guide US and Israeli policy towards supporting an Israeli victory over the Palestinians to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict, underlines its mission to safeguard Western values from "Middle Eastern threats."

Beheshti's visit aims to convey support for Israel on behalf of the Iranian people and advocate for the Jewish state to shift its attention to the Iranian regime rather than just its proxy arms, including terror organizations like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.

The visit follows last year's historic visit of exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi who visited Israel to show support to the Jewish state.