Latest on the Iran War

The heads of Iran’s executive, legislative and judicial branches met today to discuss how Iran should respond to the Trump administration’s aggressive policy vis-à-vis the Islamic Republic. In the meeting, President Hassan Rouhani, Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani and Judicary Chief Sadegh Larijani focused on the latest U.S. sanctions and their impact on the country’s economy. Rouhani said the United States is “plotting” to undermine the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear agreement Iran signed with world powers in July 2015.

Leaders of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.) rushed to defend Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the paramilitary forces’ chief operational commander, after U.S. State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert called Muhandis a “terrorist” at a press briefing on Thursday. “These remarks indicate a direct threat to Muhandis’ life and we hold America responsible for any attempt or harm to the life of the deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Forces,” P.M.F.

The chief operational commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.) issued a statement yesterday outlining plans for the paramilitary forces and Iraqi troops to liberate the towns of Rawa and al-Qaim on the Euphrates River in western al-Anbar Province near the border with Syria. “We seek to lock down the entire Iraqi-Syrian border from north to south,” the statement said. In an interview with the Lebanese al-Mayadeen news outlet earlier today, P.M.F.

Senior Iranian clerics on Friday backed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s earlier remarks that Iran’s defense capabilities, including its controversial missile program, are non-negotiable. During their Friday prayer sermons, the clerics emphasized that the Islamic Republic will defy international pressure and continue to further enhance its military assets. They also encouraged worshippers to participate in the upcoming National Day against Global Arrogance to condemn the Trump administration’s anti-Iran policies.

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) announced on Thursday that its forces “dismantled a terrorist team” in Chaldaran region of northwestern Azerbaijan Province. According to a statement released by the public relations department of I.R.G.C.’s Hamze Sayyid al-Shohada Base, four “terrorists’ were killed in armed clashes between I.R.G.C. forces and the militants.

In their new report for the Atlantic Council, “U.S. Strategy Options for Iran’s Regional Challenge,” and an essay version published in the Washington Quarterly, Bilal Saab and Kenneth M. Pollack lay out a “pushback” strategy to weaken Iran’s regional influence. The co-authors join host Paul Salem to weigh the strengths and weaknesses of this and other strategies in this week’s podcast.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei told visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi today in Tehran that he should not trust the United States as a reliable partner in the fight against terrorism, the Iranian media reported. “The Americans themselves created Daesh [Islamic State]. But now that the terrorists are defeated by the Iraqi government and people, they pretend to be supportive and helpful.

Defying U.S. pressure, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei reiterated on Wednesday that the country’s defense capabilities and assets are non-negotiable, Tasnim News Agency reported.

Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iranian-sponsored Iraqi militia group, said today that the United States and its regional allies created the Islamic State three years ago to destabilize Iraq and Syria. A statement released by the group claimed that “heroes of the Hezbollah Brigades had the privilege of firing the first shots at the U.S.

The 2003 ouster of the Saddam regime and the emergence of the Islamic State in 2014 in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal helped Iran to become the most influential foreign power in Iraq. However, there is a growing concern in Tehran that the latest U.S.-backed diplomatic efforts by Saudi Arabia to forge close ties with the Iraqi government and Shiite leaders may undercut Iranian influence in Iraq.

After a long period of disengagement, Saudi Arabia is improving its relations with the Iraqi government and Shiite leaders to challenge Iran’s long-established influence in the country. Riyadh has recently hosted several Iraqi leaders for talks, including Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Interior Minister Qasim Mohammad Jalal al-Araji, and Muqtada al-Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric and politician.

Iran will launch a satellite called Sharif-Sat into orbit this year, the Iranian media reported today.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s recent remarks about the role of Iranian-led militias in Iraq have sparked a lot of controversy. “Certainly, Iranian militias that are in Iraq, now that the fight against Daesh and ISIS is coming to a close, those militias need to go home,” Tillerson said at a press conference in Riyadh on October 22 just before departing for Baghdad.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s call for Iranian-sponsored militia forces in Iraq to be disbanded drew angry reactions from leaders of Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.). Qais al-Khazali, the head of Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, said Washington should immediately withdraw its troops from the Arab country as soon as the fight against the Islamic State is over.

Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Mohammadi Golpaigani, the head of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s office, credited the Iranian leadership for preventing the establishment of a “second Israel”  in northern Iraq. “America and Israel had planned to create a second Israel in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. And it is a shame that the Israeli flag was hoisted there,” Golpaigani said at the inauguration ceremony of 200 mosques and a cultural center today.