Research & Commentary Results

On Thursday, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the operational chief commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, announced the start of the first phase of a military operation to liberate the town of Hawija in the disputed province of Kirkuk. The P.M.F. vice-chairman explained that the offensive began from four main fronts: the Iraqi security forces and P.M.F. paramilitary troops will first capture al-Shirqat, a Sunni Arab town in Salahuddin Province, and then advance into Hawija.

American troops and U.S.-backed Syrian rebel forces plan to vacate the strategic military base in al-Tanf region along Syria’s border with Iraq and Jordan, Iran’s Fars News Agency reports. Quoting an unidentified military official, F.N.A. adds that the U.S. military is seeking to hand over the base to a rebel group. It also referred to a report in a Jordanian newspaper which claimed the U.S. has decided to leave al-Tanf but has not yet set a withdrawal timetable.

Iranian leaders have reacted angrily to President Donald Trump’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly and threatened retaliatory measures if Washington leaves the Iran nuclear deal and imposes new sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Under pressure from hardliners in Tehran, President Hassan Rouhani delivered a fiery rebuke of Trump’s anti-Iran remarks and warned that Tehran would respond decisively if Washington violates the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – the nuclear accord Iran signed with world powers in July 2015.

Iranian leaders today rejected France’s President Emmanuel Macron’s suggestion that the Iran nuclear accord could be supplemented to address Iran’s ballistic missile program and Iranian nuclear program after 2025.

A prominent voice for Iran’s hardliners has denounced the 2015 nuclear deal and demanded that the Islamic Republic emulate North Korea in resisting American pressure and threats. “They say the J.C.P.O.A. is a good model,” said Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor-in-chief of Kayhan newspaper, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. “Yes, it certainly is so but for the Americans not for Iran,” he added. “Iran only granted concessions in J.C.P.O.A. A J.C.P.O.A.

Iran continues to inflame the civil war in Yemen by smuggling illicit weapons and technology to Houthi rebels, the top American admiral in the Middle East has said. In an interview with the New York Times, Vice Adm. Kevin M. Donegan pointed out that Tehran is also enabling Yemeni rebels to fire more advanced missiles into neighboring Saudi Arabia and target allied ships in the Red Sea. “These types of weapons did not exist in Yemen before the conflict,” Donegan said.

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the operational chief commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.), traveled to the disputed province of Kirkuk on Monday and met with Abu Reza al-Najjar, the military commander of the northern zone in the province. According to Iran’s Fars News Agency, the Kurdish Regional Government last Wednesday deployed two battalions of Peshmerga forces and PKK militants to Kirkuk to assist Kurdish forces in the region against a perceived threat from P.M.F.

As Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was leaving Tehran to attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei gave a fiery speech accusing Washington of reneging on the terms of the nuclear deal and pursuing hostile policies toward the Islamic Republic. Speaking to a gathering of law enforcement students in Tehran, Khamenei stressed that the Islamic Republic will not be bullied by the United States and will react forcefully to any “wrongdoing” by Washington with regards to the nuclear issue.

Iran’s Minister of Communication and Information Technology announced today that the country has three satellites that are ready to be launched in the near future. “We have had talks with the Ministry of Defense as required and we will launch the satellites whenever they say,” Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi told reporters in Tehran.

At the 61st General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (I.A.E.A.) in Vienna earlier today, the top Iranian nuclear official warned that U.S. “hostile” actions are undermining the nuclear agreement Tehran signed with world powers two years ago.

On Monday, the new chief commander of Iran’s Army said Israel had a maximum life span of 25 years and that the Jewish state would perish even earlier if it “makes any mistake” over its remaining lifetime. “The notion that the Zionist regime of Israel will not be existing 25 years from now does not mean that it would have a full time span of 25 years to live,” Tasnim News Agency quoted Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi as saying. He also warned that any Israeli mistake would result in the destruction of Haifa and Tel Aviv.

Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iranian-supported Iraqi militia group, has threatened to “fight American occupiers” and accused U.S. troops of aiding the Islamic Statein Iraq. “Washington is engaged in smuggling and evacuating Islamic State criminals from Iraq,” Jafar al-Husseini, the spokesman of the group, was quoted as saying in an article published on the organization’s official website. It added that the group will release evidence to substantiate the allegations in the future.

Iran, Turkey and Russia have agreed to establish the fourth de-escalation zone in Syria’s Idlib Province, according to a joint statement issued by the three countries at the end of the sixth round of talks in Kazakhstan today. Iranian media published the full text of the statement in Farsi and English.

Head of Civil Aviation Organization of Iran Ali Abedzadeh has said that the latest U.S. Congressional bill will have no impact on the implementation of contracts between Tehran and international companies for the purchase of commerical aircraft. “All agreements with airplane manufacturing companies are signed in accordance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which is an agreement between Iran and the international community and endorsed by the United Nations as well,” he added.

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani ruled out the possibility of allowing foreign inspectors to visit Iranian military sites. “There is no nuclear activity or even research in any of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s military centers, and visits by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over the past years have confirmed the issue,” he said.