Haniyeh killed by short range projectile

Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed with a "short-range projectile" fired from outside his guesthouse in Tehran, according to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reports Saudi Gazette.

The paramilitary organization said the projectile weighed about 7kg (16lbs) and caused a "strong blast," killing Haniyeh and his bodyguard last Wednesday. Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend inauguration of President Massoud Pezeshkian.

The IRGC accused Israel, with US support, of designing and implementing the operation. Israel has not commented on Haniyeh's death.

Western media reports suggest that explosives were planted in the guesthouse by Israeli operatives, conflicting with the IRGC's account. The incident has embarrassed Iran and the IRGC, especially given the intense security on the day of the attack.

Dozens of IRGC officers have been arrested or dismissed since Haniyeh's death, according to the New York Times.

The IRGC's intelligence agency has taken over the investigation, interrogating staff members at Haniyeh's guesthouse and seizing their electronics.

In response to the security breach, the security details of Iranian politicians have been overhauled.

The IRGC's statement followed a report by Britain's Daily Telegraph that Haniyeh was killed by bombs planted in his room by agents of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency.

The New York Times also reported that Haniyeh was killed by explosives, potentially planted up to two months earlier. Hamas officials noted that Haniyeh had stayed at the guesthouse before and had made numerous visits to Iran since becoming the head of the political bureau in 2017.

If true, these reports would indicate a significant failure for the IRGC, highlighting Mossad's ability to operate within Iran.

Both Iran and Hamas have vowed to retaliate for Haniyeh's death. The IRGC promised "severe punishment" for Israel at an appropriate time, while Hezbollah has also vowed reprisals after one of their commanders was killed in an Israeli strike.

The situation has escalated regional tensions, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning Israelis of challenging days ahead and preparing for any scenario.

The US has deployed additional warships and fighter jets to the Middle East to help defend Israel from potential attacks by Iran.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy warned of a rapidly deteriorating situation on the ground.

Israeli officials, including the heads of Mossad and Shin Bet, are in Cairo for ceasefire talks with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.

US President Joe Biden acknowledged that Haniyeh's death had damaged the ceasefire negotiations. The conflict, which began in October 2023, has resulted in significant casualties.

IRGC confiscates oil tanker smuggling diesel

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy has once again demonstrated its commitment to securing the Persian Gulf, this time by confiscating a foreign oil tanker carrying a substantial amount of smuggled diesel fuel. 

General Heidar Honarian Mojarrad, Commander of the IRGC Navy’s 2nd naval zone, confirmed the seizure on Monday, revealing that the tanker, flying the flag of Togo, was apprehended near the port of Bushehr while transporting a staggering 1.5 million liters of diesel. 

The General stressed that the seizure was conducted under a judicial warrant. The confiscated tanker, along with its crew of 12 foreign nationals, was promptly transferred to a terminal operated by the Bushehr Oil Products Co. for the unloading process.

This latest seizure follows a similar incident in late January when the IRGC Navy apprehended another foreign tanker carrying two million liters of smuggled fuel in the same region. 

The IRGC Navy's success in these operations is attributed, in part, to the deployment of advanced detection equipment. This sophisticated technology enables the Navy to meticulously monitor all maritime movements in the Persian Gulf, ensuring the safety and security of the vital marine route. 

 

 

Canada declares IRGC a terrorist group

Canada has listed Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, after years of pressure from opposition legislators and some members of the Iranian diaspora.

Announcing the decision on Wednesday, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc called it a “significant tool in fighting global terrorism”.

The move will mean that thousands of senior Iranian government officials, including top IRGC officials, will be barred from entering Canada.

The IRGC is a major military, political and economic force in Iran, with close ties to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

It is estimated to have more than 190,000 active personnel with its own ground forces, navy and air force that oversee Iran’s strategic weapons.

The IRGC exerts influence elsewhere in the Middle East by providing money, weapons, technology, training and advice to allied governments and armed groups through its shadowy overseas operations arm, the Quds (Jerusalem) Force, according to the government.

The Quds Force was already listed as a terrorist group by Canada, but Wednesday’s announcement extends the designation to the entire IRGC.

Speaking to reporters, LeBlanc said the action “sends a strong message that Canada will use all of the tools at its disposal to combat the terrorist entity of the IRGC".

“The Iranian regime has consistently displayed disregard for human rights, both inside and outside of Iran as well as a willingness to destabilize the international rules-based order,” he said.

After this designation, current and former senior Iranian government officials already in Canada may also now be investigated and removed.
Canada's foreign affairs minister, Melanie Joly, warned that Canadians in Iran could be at risk of arbitrary detention following the announcement. “My message is clear for those who are in Iran right now, it’s time to come back home,” she said. “And for those who are planning to go to Iran, don’t go.”

The Canadian government under the leadership of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had previously declined to extend the terrorism designation to the IRGC, despite pressure from some diaspora members — including the families of those who died after Flight PS752 was shot down by the IRGC in January 2020 in Tehran.

All 175 passengers onboard the plane were killed, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents of Canada.

Tehran had claimed that the missile strike on the plane was done by mistake.

Trudeau had previously said in 2022 that he feared a terrorism designation would unfairly target Iranians in Canada who opposed the regime and fled, but had to serve in the IRGC in the past.
Asked why now by reporters, LeBlanc said the decision to designate a group as a terrorist entity is a “deliberative process” made on advice of security services and with foreign policy considerations.

“It is a threshold that must be met under the criminal code of Canada,” he said.

The move makes Canada the second country in North America after the US to label the IRGC as a terrorist organization, which did so in 2019. The UK had previously indicated its intent to make a similar move as recently as 2023, but has yet to do so. 

Iran committed to Persian Gulf security

The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy has delivered a resolute message reaffirming Iran's unwavering dedication to fostering peace, security, brotherhood, and friendship in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri made the remarks on Persian Gulf Day as he shed light on the momentous historical event of the Portuguese occupation of the Persian Gulf, which finally ceased on April 29, 1622, after 117 years.

In a comprehensive address, Tangsiri underscored the economic significance of the Persian Gulf, revealing that a staggering 40% of the globe's gas and a commanding 62% of its oil reserves are nestled within its shores. 

He also reiterated Iran's steadfast commitment to safeguarding the vital Strait of Hormuz, a bustling maritime thoroughfare facilitating the passage of 83 vessels daily and ensuring uninterrupted global trade.

Despite external challenges, Tangsiri emphasized Iran's proactive policy to foster peace and solidarity with fellow Muslim nations in the region. 

He articulated Iran's steadfast rejection of warmongering agendas juxtaposed against Tehran’s steadfast advocacy for diplomacy and cooperation.

"The region holds strategic and economic significance for both Iran and our neighboring nations," asserted the IRGC navy chief, underscoring that foreign entities harbor nefarious intentions through illegitimate presence and arms sales in the Persian Gulf.

He further remarked, "Those arriving from distant lands to this region aren't seeking security. We've extended a message of peace, friendship, and solidarity to the Muslim nations in the vicinity."

Tangsiri went on to emphasize Iran's commitment to "mutual interests with regional countries."

Concluding on a forward-looking note, Tangsiri echoed the imperative of executing the directives of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, particularly in cultivating maritime awareness among the nation's youth. 

The Persian Gulf, spanning around 251,000 square kilometers, is bordered to the north by the Arvand River, delineating the boundary between Iran and Iraq, and to the south by the Strait of Hormuz, linking the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean.

This crucial waterway acts as a vital international trade route, facilitating commerce between West Asia, Africa, India, and China.

 

IRGC seizes two vessels carrying smuggled fuel

Two vessels carrying more than 4.5 million liters of smuggled fuel were seized on Wednesday by the IRGC Navy in the Persian Gulf.

After three days of monitoring, the IRGC Navy carried out an operation and seized the two vessels in the south of Bomusi Island, it said in a press release. 

The IRGC Navy also said that the vessels have been handed over to the judicial authorities for legal procedures.

Brigadier General Ali Ozmaei, commander of the Imam Muhammad Baqir operational base of the IRGC Navy, said the first vessel was carrying 2,280,000 liters of smuggled fuel and had 13 crew members, while the second one was carrying 2,300,000 liters and had 21 crew members.

 

Collective security alliance for Persian Gulf

Rear Admiral Ali Reza Tangsiri, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy, has put forth the idea of forming a security alliance in the Persian Gulf that would include all the countries of the region. 

He suggested that eight littoral states of the Persian Gulf should form a naval alliance to ensure regional security without the presence of outsiders.

In comments at a televised program on Sunday, Tangsiri said the Persian Gulf countries are capable of ensuring regional security through mutual cooperation within the framework of an 8-nation alliance, according to Tasnim News. 

He added that the naval alliance would help the regional people live in peace, reminding the neighboring states that the outsiders provoke Iranophobia to justify their illegitimate presence in the region.

The commander warned that the foreign military forces are in the region with the purpose of selling arms and plundering the oil resources.

In June, Shahram Irani, the chief commander of the Iranian Army’s Navy, dropped a bombshell that jolted the US into reiterating its presence in the Persian Gulf.

Irani said a maritime coalition in the north Indian Ocean will be established with the participation of Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Pakistan, and India.

“Today, the countries of the region have reached the point, where they believe, that if there is to be security in the region, it can be done and established through synergy and cooperation,” he said, adding that new coalitions are taking shape in the region and beyond in this regard. 

Irani continued, “Soon we will witness that our region will be free from any unjustified force and the people of the region will be dominant in their security field using their soldiers.”

The commander said Iran had already launched joint regional action with Oman. Saudi Arabia has entered this action, he noted. “The UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, Pakistan, and India are also included,” Admiral Irani stated. 

He pointed out, “Almost all the countries of the north Indian Ocean area have come to believe that they should stand by the Islamic Republic of Iran and jointly establish security with significant synergy.”

The US was quick to dismiss the Iranian initiative. It described the Iranian proposed maritime coalition as defying reason.

“It defies reason that Iran, the number one cause of regional instability, claims it wants to form a naval security alliance to protect the very waters it threatens,” US 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces spokesperson Cmdr. Tim Hawkins said, according to Breaking Defense.

 

Admiral Tangsiri warns against unloading Iranian oil

Navy Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy, warned that any oil company unloading hundreds of thousands of barrels of seized Iranian oil sitting in a Greek tanker off the coast of Texas would be held accountable.

“We hereby declare that we would hold any oil company that sought to unload our crude from the vessel responsible and we also hold America responsible," Tangsiri said, according to Press TV. 

"The era of hit and run is over, and if they hit, they should expect to be struck back," Tangsiri added. 

The rear admiral's remarks came on the anniversary of Iran's confiscation of a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz in 2019 after Britain had seized an Iranian oil tanker off Gibraltar. 

The confiscation came in response to the maliciousness of the British, and when our ships went towards that tanker, the escort helicopter came above the tanker, which we warned that if it does not land, we will shoot it, which it complied, and after that an escorting warship also approached our waters, which we also warned, if it does not move away from the area, it will be targeted, and it also followed the order," he recalled.  "England has a lot of maliciousness and is more malicious than America."

On July 19, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) revealed that at least 800,000 barrels of seized Iranian oil remains untouched in US waters.

According to the paper, American firms are reluctant to buy the Iranian cargo, which is worth US$56 million as they fear potential reprisals from Iran.

“Companies with any exposure whatsoever in the Persian Gulf are literally afraid to do it,” said a Houston-based energy executive involved in the matter, citing worries “that the Iranians would take retribution against them.”

Another executive at a shipping company involved in lightering in the Gulf of Mexico also flagged concerns over retaliation. “I don’t know if anybody’s going to touch it,” the executive said, according to the INSTAPUNDIT.COM.

More people concerned with the issue have also told the WSJ that they don’t think the oil will ever be sold off. 

The impasse over the seized oil illustrates the difficulties the US government faces when it comes to enforcing sanctions against Iran.

All of the fuel is boarded on an oil tanker called Suez Rajan, which was seized by the US in April. The vessel was seized near southern Africa and anchored off the coast of Texas in May, while the Greek owner was charged with sanctions evasion.

A few days the tanker was seized, Iran's Navy seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Sea of Oman, which was carrying Kuwaiti oil for the second largest energy company in the US.

The oil tanker, named Advantage Sweet, had been involved in a maritime accident with an Iranian fishing craft, which resulted in the injury and missing of a number of its crew.

After the collision, the oil tanker attempted to flee the scene in serious breach of international laws and regulations, which require provision of medical treatment and supply of proper and sufficient medicine to seamen in case of sickness or injury.

The Iranian fishermen managed to issue a distress call long after recovering from the shock.

Washington has claimed to have hijacked oil tankers carrying Iranian oil several times, claiming that the ships had been flouting US sanctions.

The US usually auctions off Iran’s stolen assets, claiming it would use the money to pay damages to alleged victims of the Islamic Republic's actions.

 

Mossad abducts terror leader from inside Iran

Mossad announced on Thursday its method for recently thwarting a Cyprus terror attack by kidnapping the mastermind from within Iranian territory, reports The Jerusalem Post.

The stunning revelation, including the identity of the mastermind, Yusef Shahabazi Abbasalilu, was the latest in the saga which itself first broke on last Sunday.

“In a unique daring mission within Iranian territory, the Mossad was able to seize the mastermind of the terror cell, who then admitted to the terror plot in detail during his interrogation, which led to exposing and the taking apart of the Cyprus terror cell,” said a Mossad statement.

A senior Mossad official said, “We will get to every official who advances terror against Jews and Israelis anywhere in the world, including within Iranian territory.”

Abbasalilu had received detailed instructions from senior members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and told his interrogators exactly how the plot was to be carried out and where to find all the related supplies and cell members, said the Mossad.

Next, the spy agency passed on the information to Cyprus’ authorities who arrested most of the cell’s other members.

On Sunday, The Jerusalem Post and Phile News reported that the Mossad and Cyprus thwarted a planned Iranian terrorist attack on Jews on the island state.

That initial report said that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps planned the attack, which was stopped in cooperation between Cyprus and Western partners, which named the US and Israel as among the likely partners.

Jerusalem and Nicosia have worked together to foil Iranian plots to attack Israelis in the past. In 2021, they arrested a Russian-Azerbaijani hitman hired by the IRGC to kill Israeli businessmen in Cyprus. Billionaire Teddy Sagi, among others, was evacuated to Israel at the time.

Channel 12 added on Sunday that the terror cell targeted a Jewish real estate businessman, a Chabad site and hotels where Israelis tend to visit. Seven members of the cell were arrested, with one having escaped.

In March, Greek police disrupted what they called a foreign terrorist network operating within the country and arrested two foreign nationals.

According to both the Mossad and AFP, the terrorists were plotting to attack Israelis in Greece. “This is another example of Iran trying to use terror against Israeli and Jewish targets overseas,” said the Mossad at the time.

The Mossad had also helped identify the connection between the local terror cell in Greece and Iran’s broader global terror operations.

According to the intelligence agency, along with our intelligence partners, we will act in our role without rest to thwart Iran’s intentions to cause harm throughout the world.

In the Greece instance, the terrorists planned to strike a target of high symbolic value, a Jewish synagogue, which also functions as a restaurant, located in the center of Athens, Greek media reported.

In 2022, Greek media noted that Pakistani nationals were involved in an attempted attack on an Israeli in Istanbul, Turkey.

It was unclear if Greek media were referring to the September 2022 joint Turkey-Mossad operation which saved the lives of a large number of Israeli tourists.

In mid-2022, the Mossad kidnapped another senior IRGC official who revealed a variety of Iranian plots in the midst of a series of operations in which a number of other IRCG operatives and nuclear scientists were assassinated, with Iran accusing Israel.

 

US declares Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran "Terrorist Organization"

On 8^th April 2019, the US declared Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran, a Foreign Terrorist Organization. The IRGC is Iran’s most powerful military and security organization as well as a key economic player. "This unprecedented step, led by the Department of State, recognizes the reality that Iran is not only a State Sponsor of Terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft," said the US President Donald Trump.

The IRGC was created after the 1979 revolution to enforce Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s concept of an Islamic state. The Guards played a crucial role not only in crushing early opposition to Khomeini’s vision, but also in repelling Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Iran in 1980. Since then, the Guards have functioned as both the primary internal and external security force. 

This declaration represents the latest escalation of the US administration’s "maximum pressure" campaign targeting Iran’s malign activities. The IRGC was already designated under US Treasury counter-proliferation authorities (EO 13382) in 2007, and then again for human rights abuses ‑ along with the Basij Resistance Force and the Law Enforcement Forces ‑ under EO 13553 in 2011.  

Iran responded to this action by saying, “The major effect of this designation is to make it extraordinarily difficult for the US to bring Iran back into the global community of nations and global financial system at any point in the future if political circumstances merit such a climb down.” Iranian officials also do not view this latest development as a precursor to a military conflict between Iran and the US. 

Detaining additional US citizens, testing missiles, or renewing harassment of US vessels in the Gulf are low-risk options that Iran could pursue in response to the IRGC designation.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) responded to the State Department’s designation of the IRGC by designating the US government as a state sponsor of terrorism and US Central Command (CENTCOM) and all its forces as a terrorist organization. President Hassan Rouhani threatened to restart Iran’s nuclear program in a speech marking the National Day of Nuclear Technology. 

Iranian newspapers spanning the country’s political spectrum reacted to the US State Department’s designation of the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization with a mix of outrage, bombast, and expressions of solidarity with the IRGC.  

International reaction to the IRGC designation has been mixed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked President Donald Trump for the move in a pair of tweets in English and Hebrew. Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi said that his country tried to dissuade the US from proceeding with the designation.