Iran Gears Up For Energy Challenges In Face Of Tough Summer

Having hit several locations in Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan Monday, IRGC missiles and drones targeted Pakistan Tuesday, in an operation that Iran said was against the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl.

Pakistan called the attack “illegal” and “completely unacceptable”, claiming it had killed two children and warning of “serious consequences”.

“Such unilateral acts are not in conformity with good neighborly relations and can seriously undermine bilateral trust and confidence,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement shortly after the attacks. “The responsibility for the consequences of this action will lie squarely with Iran.”

Iran and Pakistan have difficult but functioning relations. Clashes in border areas occur from time to time, mainly involving groups such as Jaish al-Adl, which has claimed responsibility for attacks on, and killing of, several Iranian border patrol.

On Tuesday, hours before the airstrikes, Iran and Pakistan had a joint military exercise in the Persian Gulf, according to Iran’s official news agency IRNA, and Iran’s foreign minister met Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Some experts say it’s likely that Iranian officials had informed their Pakistani counterparts about the attacks, even though the reaction from Islamabad may suggest otherwise. "An ‘unprovoked’, surprise attack on the territory of a nuclear power seems to be one step too far for a regime that has proven time and again to bark more than it bites," an observer noted.

Iran’s muscle-flexing –using ballistic missiles on targets, some of which were well over 1,200 km away– comes amid US and UK airstrikes on Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, who, nonetheless, continue to target vessels in the Red Sea as a show of support for Palestinians in Gaza.

On the face of it, the IRGC attacks have no connection to the Israeli onslaught in Gaza, and are merely retaliatory operations against those who the regime in Tehran says have attacked Iranians and Iranian interests. Set against the backdrop of ‘contained’ conflicts from Yemen to Lebanon, however, it is hard not to see these attacks as part of a regional power struggle between Iran and Israel –and therefore connected to what is happening in Gaza at the moment.

The Iranian regime funds, trains and equips various armed groups across the Middle East, whose shared objective is to push back "the Americans from the region" –and "liberate Palestine from the Zionists."

In the US, many blame the Biden administration for this reinvigoration of the embattled, Iran-led “Axis of Resistance”. The critics say Biden, in his eagerness to find a nuclear agreement with Iran, “appeased” the Ayatollah and lost all deterrence in relation to the regime and its regional allies.

“From day one, the Biden Administration met Iranian aggression with accommodation and squandered the credibility of American deterrence,” US Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell posted on X Tuesday. “It’s time for POTUS to explain how exactly he intends to compel Iran and its proxies to change their behavior.”

The US military targeted more Houthi sites in Yemen Tuesday, in the third such assault on the Iranian-backed group in recent days. And the Biden administration is expected to announce that it will redesignate the Houthis as "global terrorists" Wednesday, almost three years after it delisted the group to facilitate humanitarian aid to Yemen - or to appease Iran, depending on whose view one believes.

Too little too late, many Biden critics say.

“In February 2021… the President delisted Yemen’s Houthi rebels as a foreign terrorist organization,” Congressman Dan Meuser posted on X Tuesday. “Now, because of Biden’s appeasement, the Houthis are stronger than ever and attacking American commercial and military ships at Iran’s direction. As former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said of Joe Biden, “he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”

A spokeswoman for Australia’s Home Affairs Department told Iran International: “Last year, the Australian Government made it clear that it is concerned by reports of harassment and monitoring of people in Australia by foreign governments, including Iran.”

Earlier this month, The Australian Financial Review published an interview with the Islamic Republic’s Ambassador to Australia, Ahmad Sadeghi, during which he rejected claims by Australia's Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil that the Iranian government had been spying on dissidents in Australia, insisting they were safe from harm or kidnapping.

However, last year, O’Neil revealed that Australia had disrupted the activities of suspected Iranian intelligence who had conducted surveillance of the home of an Iranian-Australian dissident, as well as their family, part of a wider global crackdown in the wake of the 2022 uprising.

"I just want to step back and say this again: we have here someone living in our country who is being followed, watched, photographing their home invaded by people at the direction of a foreign power. This is happening in Australia, and this is something ASIO was onto like a shot," O'Neil said last year.

And the threat does not seem to have disappeared. “Espionage and foreign interference represent a serious threat to Australia’s security and the integrity of our national institutions,” the Department of Home Affairs told Iran International this week.

While stressing it is not only Iran which represents a threat, other nations such as China are equally troubling, the spokeswoman added: “It is unacceptable for any foreign government to target members of our community in ways that prevent individuals exercising their fundamental rights and freedoms in Australia. We will continue to take strong action to deter foreign interference, protect the Australian community and uphold our laws and values.”

Tina Kordrostami, an Australian-Iranian woman, spoke out about her own ordeal after experiencing harassment on Australian soil by a suspected regime agent in December 2022 amidst the protests.

Not only was she followed, but a strange man got into her car while stationary, issuing threats.

Kordrostami's father also started receiving threats against her life, and she found herself under surveillance, with unidentified men taking photographs of her during rallies and public events.

After she made the revelations to Iran International, several other Australian-Iranians since broke their silence, highlighting how the Iranian regime monitors their activities in Australia. This has raised concerns among the community, who are now demanding protection from the Australian government.

While Australia has been among the nations to sanction Iran in the wake of both the brutal crackdown of protesters since 2022, and Iran’s arming Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, it has not stepped up to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps which has had foreign plots foiled in countries from the UK to Cyprus and Azerbaijan.

The Australian Shadow Assistant Foreign Minister expressed disappointment in November that Australia has not listed Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

"It's incredibly disappointing that governments like Australia have not yet listed Iran's IRGC as a terrorist organization up to this point," she told Iran International, not least for its backing of regional proxies such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon and its destabilizing effects now felt across the Middle East and beyond.

The US Ambassador to Iraq, Alina L. Romanowski, said the missile strikes on the Iraqi Kurdistan Region were “reckless and indiscriminate attacks on civilians" which violated Iraq's sovereignty.

The UK's Ambassador to Baghdad, Stephen Hitchen, also condemned the aggression against Erbil, denouncing it as a breach of Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Hitchen extended condolences to the victims' families and expressed support for the Kurdistan Regional Government.

His sentiments were echoed by UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron who issued a statement on X condemning the Iranian attacks as "unprovoked and unjustified actions," constituting a violation of Iraq's territorial integrity. Germany, France, and the Netherlands also condemned the assault.

Canada's Ambassador to Iraq, Kathy Bunka, and Japan's envoy to the country, Futoshi Matsumoto, joined in condemning the attack. Matsumoto stressed the importance of respecting Iraqi sovereignty and peace by all parties, while Bunka conveyed condolences to the victims' families and the injured.

The incident occurred late on Monday when Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched 10 ballistic missiles, purportedly targeting the "spy headquarters" of anti-Iran groups in Erbil. The attack resulted in a minimum of four fatalities and 17 injuries.

Iraq's foreign ministry also denounced the Iranian aggression against Erbil, taking diplomatic action by summoning the Iranian charge d'affaires in Baghdad, delivering a protest note condemning the attack. Additionally, Iraq recalled its ambassador to Tehran for consultations in response to the recent Iranian attacks on Erbil.

Nasser Kanaani, the spokesperson for the Iranian foreign ministry, asserted that the attacks aimed “at defending the country's sovereignty and security, combating terrorism.”

Although Iranian state media and news websites affiliated with the IRGC were the first to report the missile and drone attacks, they did not explicitly say that Iran conducted the strikes. Some news websites in Tehran, however, did report that IRGC launched the attack.

However, a statement by the Pakistani government condemned what it said was Iran's violation of its airspace.

"Pakistan strongly condemns the unprovoked violation of its airspace by Iran and the strike inside Pakistani territory which resulted in death of two innocent children while injuring three girls. This violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty is completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences," Islamabad's statement said.

"These bases were hit and destroyed by missiles and drones," Iranian state media reported, without elaborating. The state-run IRNA news agency and state television had said that missiles and drones were used in the attack. IRNA later pulled the report.

In a statement in response to the attack, Jaish al-Adl said the strikes hit the homes of two of its members, killing two children and injuring two women and a teenage girl.

"At least six suicide drones and several missiles targeted homes where the families, including children and spouses, of members of the Jaish al-Adl organization were residing," read the statement. The group decried the Islamic Republic regime for targeting children, women, and innocent people, saying that "the Revolutionary Guards and decision-makers should be aware that such heinous attacks... will strengthen the determination of the Jaish al-Adl to overthrow their palace of tyranny."

Jaish al-Adl, or the “Army of Justice,” is a Sunni militant group founded in 2012 which largely operates across the border in Pakistan. The group has claimed bombings and kidnapped Iranian border police in the past. Iran has fought in border areas against the militants, but a missile-and-drone attack on Pakistan would be unprecedented for Iran.

Nour News, affiliated with Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said the attack by Iran's Revolutionary Guards targeted bases in the in Zarghoon Mountains in the east of the Quetta District in Pakistan's Balochistan Province.

Nour News claims the Pakistani government does not have full control over this region, and it has turned into a safe haven for militant groups.

Also on Tuesday, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. The attack also happened two days after Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, the special representative of the Iranian president for Afghanistan affairs, arrived in Islamabad at the head of a political delegation upon an invitation by his Pakistani counterpart Asif Durrani.

However, Pakistan's statement made it clear that Tehran did not warn Islamabad about the impending attack. "It is even more concerning that this illegal act has taken place despite the existence of several channels of communication between Pakistan and Iran. Pakistan's strong protest has already been lodged with the concerned senior official in the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran."

The strikes came a day after Iran's Revolutionary Guards attacked targets in Iraq and Syria with missiles which Tehran claimed targeted an Israeli “spy center” but Iraqi Kurdish leaders condemned the ballistic missile launch that killed a wealthy and influential member of their community.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards and regime officials in Tehran took a victory lap on Tuesday while also highlighting that they fired ballistic missiles at northern Syria, in their longest-range attack to date. They claimed they hit ISIS bases, where Afghan Islamic State forces were being trained.

The Afghan ISIS had claimed responsibility for a January 13 twin suicide bombing in Iran that killed nearly 100 people.

In a speech on Tuesday, Ali Khamnenei claimed that the Houthis have struck a blow to the "vital arteries of Israel."

The Shiite Houthi group in Yemen, known as Ansarullah, which has long enjoyed significant financial and military support from the Islamic Republic, has committed dozens of attacks on global shipping, including US and Israeli linked vessels since November.

US and British forces jointly targeted dozens of positions of the militants in response to Houthi attacks on international shipping routes in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden last Thursday.

Subsequently, the US President announced that Washington had delivered a "private message" to Iran regarding the Houthis and their attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, which is a major trade passage, forcing many companies to go longer, more costly routes. The Iranian Foreign Minister confirmed receiving the message but stated that the Houthis would continue their attacks in the Red Sea until the end of the Gaza conflict.

In his speech to Friday prayer leaders in Tehran, Ayatollah Khamenei, who first called for the blockade in the wake of the Gaza war sparked by Hamas's invasion of Israel on October 7, praised and prayed for the "struggle and resistance" of the Shiite Houthis, urging it to "continue until victory."

He said, "What they did in supporting the people of Gaza is commendable. They struck blows to the vital arteries of the Zionist regime, without fearing the United States."

Khamenei's comments recall his statements about the extremist group Hamas in response to its attack on Israeli soil on October 7 when he said, "We kiss the foreheads and arms of the resourceful and intelligent designers [the operation] and the Palestinian youth." Hamas has also long been supported financially and militarily by Iran in its battle against Israel and the West.