Iran

Spotlight on Iran (June 24, 2021 – July 8, 2021)

The President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, spoke on the phone with Iranian President-Elect, Ebrahim Raisi, and wished him success in his role. The two stressed the need to bolster cooperation between the two countries and to maintain coordination between them. In light on the ongoing confrontation between the United States and Shia militias along the Syria-Iraq border, the commander of Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), condemned the American presence in the region. The Iranian embassy in Beirut issued a statement insisting that the arrival of oil tankers from Iran to Lebanon does not require approval by the United States. In a TV interview, the former head of Hamas’ Politburo, Khaled Mashal, confirmed once again that Iran provides Hamas with weaponry and technology. He added, however, that Hamas is interested in also improving its ties with Saudi Arabia.
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ISIS spokesman releases an audiotape calling on the operatives to intensify their attacks, lashing out against Iran, Turkey and the leaders of the Arab states, and expressing support for the Palestinians but not for Hamas

ISIS Spokesman Abu Hamza al-Qurashi. The tape, which lasts about 38 minutes, is entitled “You are the sublime ones if you believe.” It mainly contains words of encouragement to ISIS’s fighters around the world, calls on them to intensify their activity and asks them to choose more substantial targets for their attacks (Telegram, June 22, 2021).
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Spotlight on Iran (June 10 – June 24, 2021)

Leaders of the “Resistance Front” and Middle Eastern officials congratulated the elected Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi, for his victory in the presidential elections, held on June 18, and wished him success in his role. Iran’s incoming Ambassador to Syria, Mehdi Sobhani, presented his credentials to Syria’s President, Bashar al-Assad. An Iranian delegation made up of senior economic officials, headed by Iran’s minister of transportation and urban development, conducted a visit to Syria, lasting several days, and met with senior Syrian officials. The Lebanese paper al-Akhbar reported that the head of Hamas’ Politburo, Ismail Haniyeh, intends to visit Iran soon and meet with senior regime officials in Tehran.
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Spotlight on Iran (May 27, 2021 – June 10, 2021)

Two senior officers, IRGC advisers to the Syrian army, were ambushed by ISIS and killed in Syria on their way from Deir ez-Zor to Palmyra. The Iranian media avoided referring to them as senior officers. On June 9, the commander of the IRGC’s Qods Force arrived for talks in Baghdad with senior Iraqi politicians and commanders of Shia militias. The New York Times reported that Iran is behind several attacks carried out in recent months against American targets in Iraq using advanced armed drones. The Iranian minister of energy announced that Iraq agreed to release 125 million dollars of the Iranian funds frozen in Iraqi banks to allow Iran to purchase vaccines against COVID-19.
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Spotlight on Iran (May 13, 2021 – May 27, 2021)

During the Israeli military operation in Gaza (“Guardian of the Walls”), senior Iranian officials maintained constant contact with the senior leaderships of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. On May 22, following the visit of the Iranian minister of foreign affairs to Damascus, Iran opened a consulate in the city of Aleppo. The Iranian minister of defense met with deputies of the ministers of trade and industry in Syria and discussed with them the participation of conglomerates linked to the Iranian ministry of defense in Syria’s reconstruction.
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Spotlight on Iran (May 2, 2021 – May 13, 2021)

Sources in Syria reported that the Afghan militia, the Fatemiyoun Brigade, which operates in Syria under the guidance of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has begun recruiting local Syrians into its ranks. Iran’s newly appointed Ambassador to Damascus, Mehdi Sobhani, assumed him position after it was confirmed by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Iraqi protesters in the city of Karbala in southern Iraq torched the wall of the Iranian consulate in the city. The Head of Hamas’ Politburo, Ismail Hanniyeh, sent a message to the supreme leader of Iran, updating him about the latest developments in Jerusalem, and calling on the Muslim world to stand by the Palestinians in the struggle against Israel’s policies in the city, and to support to the Palestinian “resistance.”
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