Trump: Iran was planning to strike 4 US embassies before the killing of "Soleimani"

[GregHi]

1 hour ago, DinarThug said:

Sunday, January 12, 2020 02:49 PM

 

An earthquake measuring 4 on the Richter scale strikes Iran

 

On Sunday, an earthquake measuring 4 on the Richter scale struck the Ahram region of Bushehr Province, in southern Iran.

The seismological center of the Geophysical Institution at Tehran University said in a report that this tremor occurred today, Sunday.

He added that the tremor occurred at a depth of 10 km from the surface of the earth in the Ahram region, 55 km from Bushehr, the center of Bushehr Province, in southern Iran.

The center also recorded an earthquake measuring 3.9 on the Richter scale in the city of Iza, Khuzestan Province, southwestern Iran, 10 minutes before the earthquake that struck the Ahram region.

LINK

 

This makes at least 4 quakes in a week that has hit Iran. I can’t help but remember what Kim Clement said... something along the lines of “and the earth shall be shaken, and shake again.. “ something like that.. pretty crazy.

[Butifldrm]

13-01-2020 10:57 PM

In the absence of Al-Amri and the presence of Abdul Mahdi’s advisor, the PMF sets out his next priorities

 

 

Baghdad / Al-Ikhbaria:
The leaders of the Popular Mobilization held a meeting, on Monday, to discuss security and military priorities and plans during the coming period, in the presence of operations commanders, cooperatives, boycotters, brigade commanders and directorates of directorates, in the controlling headquarters of the Deputy Chairman of the crowd without the presence of Hadi al-Amiri after news of his nomination to succeed Lapu Mahdi, the engineer.
The Popular Mobilization website said in a statement that the meeting stressed "the perpetuation of the extensive exposure work and the carrying out of specific operations targeting the ISIS terrorist operatives and additions, in addition to fortifying defensive positions and protecting the borders from the recent infiltrations."
The meeting also stressed, according to the statement, "the necessity of continuing and developing training mechanisms and enhancing joint coordination with the security forces, while support for the decision of the Council of Representatives and the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces was renewed regarding the presence of foreign forces in Iraq."
He affirmed, "Going according to the operational plans and morale created by the martyr leader Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis and maintaining the record of achievements and victories achieved by the popular crowd over the past years."

http://www.ikhnews.com/index.php?page=article&id=207006

[Butifldrm]

 

 

14-01-2020 12:40 AM

Al-Fateh: The American forces ’circumvention of its exit decision will lead to military confrontations

 

 

Baghdad / Al-Ikhbaria:
The parliamentary bloc Al-Fateh warned against popular escalation and military confrontations in the event of a delay by the American forces for their continued presence in Iraq.
The head of the bloc, Deputy Muhammad Al-Ghabban, told a news agency followed by "Al-Akhbariya" that the Iraqi government is required to take measures to end the presence of foreign forces in the country, especially after the recent decision of the House of Representatives.
Al-Ghabban added that any delay or deterrence by the American forces will lead to popular escalation and military confrontations against them, warning against destabilizing the region’s security and damaging the relationship between Baghdad and Washington.
He pointed out that the National Security Council voted to remove the foreign forces after the leaders of the security and military services emphasized that they were not needed.

http://www.ikhnews.com/index.php?page=article&id=207012

 

[Butifldrm]

The night of the shooting down of the Ukrainian plane .. This is what happened between the government and the Revolutionary Guards

January 13, 2020

Satellite image of the crash site

 

Iranian officials are accusing each other of responsibility for the poor way of managing the Iranian plane crash file, as the authorities provided incorrect information before they recognized the Revolutionary Guards as being behind the disaster.

On Monday, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rubaie accused the Revolutionary Guards of hiding the truth and information about the government about the accident in the Ukrainian plane being shot down by air defenses.

Rabei said that the Revolutionary Guards refused to reveal the truth to the administration of President Hassan Rouhani, despite repeated inquiries directed to them, and they were not informed of what happened until Friday afternoon.

At a press conference, Rabei commented on the accusations leveled at the government by lying by saying: “The truth is that we did not lie. Lying means distorting the truth intentionally and knowingly.

"What we said Thursday was based on information provided to the entire government and it did not mention any link between the incident and the firing of rockets," he said, referring to the Revolutionary Guards' misinformation of the government, according to Rabei.

On Saturday, the Iranian authorities claimed responsibility for the disaster of the Ukrainian Airlines plane that shot down the dawn of January 8, after taking off from Tehran airport.

The Iranian Civil Aviation Authority and the government denied on Thursday and Friday the hypothesis that the plane had been shot down by a missile, a hypothesis referred to by Canada on Wednesday.

176 people on board were killed, the majority of whom were Iranians and Canadians.

The announcement of the responsibility of the armed forces in the disaster sparked a shock in Iran and a wave of denunciations. And a ceremony honoring the victims at Tehran University turned Saturday into an anti-authorities demonstration, in which protesters chanted "Death to liars", before the police dispersed them.

On Sunday evening, Tehran also witnessed angry demonstrations, according to videos posted on social media and it is not possible to verify its authenticity until now.

https://www.alhurra.com/a/ليلة-إسقاط-الطائرة-الأوكرانية-هذا-ما-درا-بين-الحكومة-والحرس-الثوري/529229.html

[Butifldrm]

Without details .. Iran announces arrests in the case of shooting down the Ukrainian plane

January 14, 2020

Tehran faces international pressure after the Ukrainian plane crashed shortly after takeoff

 

Iranian authorities announced arrests on the background of the Revolutionary Guards shooting down a Ukrainian plane and killing all its passengers, without specifying the number of detainees or their identity, at a time when the country is witnessing protests demanding accountability for the guilty.

Tehran faces international pressure after the Ukrainian plane crashed shortly after take-off from Tehran for Kiev, and its 176 passengers, mostly Iranians and Canadians, were killed, amid escalating military tension in the region.

A spokesman for the judiciary said that "extensive investigations have been conducted and some individuals have been arrested."

And the official Iranian media reported, on Tuesday, that he did not mention the number of people who were detained or named.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has called for the creation of a special court to try those responsible for firing a missile at the plane.

Rouhani said in a televised speech: "For our people, it is very important regarding this incident that anyone who was wrong or committed negligence at any level" be referred to the judiciary, adding that "all who should be punished will be punished."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau demanded that Iran provide Canada with "clearly" information about the shooting down of the plane.

In a press conference on Saturday, Trudeau said that he told Rouhani that admitting that the plane was shot down by Iranian missiles "is an important step, but several other steps must be taken as well," stressing the need to involve his country in the investigation.

Iran admitted, on Saturday, that it had "" mistakenly "shot down a Boeing plane of the Ukrainian International Airlines shortly after taking off from Tehran, coinciding with a missile attack launched by Iran on military bases in Iraq containing American soldiers.

https://www.alhurra.com/a/إيران-تعلن-اعتقالات-بسبب-الطائرة-الأوكرانية-دون-تقديم-تفاصيل-/529299.html

[Butifldrm]

Iran’s supreme leader calls Trump a clown, praises missile attack in rare appearance

 

 

By Edmund DeMarche | Fox News

 

Ayatollah Khamenei will reportedly allow a meeting between Tehran and Washington if US lifts sanctions

Retired Army Lt. Col. Daniel Davis says Iran wants to relieve the economic pressure from the U.S.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, addressed Friday prayers in Tehran for the first time since 2012 and used the platform to praise the country's retaliatory strike against the U.S. over the killing of one of its top generals and called President Trump a clown who cannot be trusted.

His decision to lead the prayers was seen as a "symbolically significant act," one usually reserved for an important message to the people, a Middle East scholar told the Washington Post.

Khamenei's message appeared to show little interest in forging a relationship with the U.S. He blamed Washington for its "cowardly" decision to take out the country's most effective commander in the fight against ISIS.

Video

Trump, who ordered the Jan. 8 airstrike in Baghdad, called Gen. Qassem Soleimani one of the "worst terrorists in history and the father of the roadside bomb," who had the blood of U.S. servicemembers on his hands.

Iran, in response, launched a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting U.S. troops in Iraq, without causing serious injuries. It was just revealed that 11 U.S. service members were flown out of Al Assad Air Base in Iraq-- one of the bases targeted-- and treated for concussion symptoms.

“The fact that Iran has the power to give such a slap to a world power shows the hand of God,” Khamenei said, according to Reuters.

As Iran's Revolutionary Guard braced for an American counterattack that never came, it mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian jetliner shortly after it took off from Tehran's international airport, killing all 176 passengers on board, mostly Iranians.

Khamenei called the shootdown of the plane a "bitter accident" that saddened Iran as much as it made its enemies happy.

Authorities in Tehran concealed their role in the tragedy for three days, initially blaming the crash on a technical problem. Their admission of responsibility triggered days of street protests, which security forces dispersed with live ammunition and tear gas.

Protesters in the country took to the streets calling for Khamenei to step down. Twitter users posted videos of protesters holding photos of the leader chanting, “Commander-in-chief (Khamenei) resign, resign,” according to Reuters.

Trump praised the protesters and pointed out one video that showed them refusing to step on Israeli and American flags.

Khamenei told the crowd Friday that Trump is not to be trusted and only pretends to support the Iranian people. He said Western countries are too weak to "bring Iranians to their knees." He said Iran was willing to negotiate, but not with the U.S.

As Tehran grappled with the fallout from protests stemming from a cover-up of its accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner, TV anchor Gelare Jabbari addressed her viewers on an Instagram post that appears to have been deleted.

GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“It was very hard for me to believe that our people have been killed," the post read, according to The Guardian. "Forgive me that I got to know this late. And forgive me for the 13 years I told you lies.”

https://www.foxnews.com/world/irans-supreme-leader-calls-trump-a-clown-praises-missile-attack

[Butifldrm]

 

 

[Pitcher]

To the person who got up real early this morning to pass out 20 plus Red Rubies to a number of news articles that I took the time to look up, read, decide if they were good enough to post on this website, well, you have a problem.  I know EXACTLY who you are and you obviously have a problem with me.  Seriously dude, you wake up early and go right to negging my posts going back months.  Who does that but a very sick, angry, in need of help individual.  This is the second time I’ve caught you doing this, the last time being Jan 7th.  

 

Now I could retaliate and give you a bunch of Reds, I could report you, or ignore your immature behavior.  I’m going to ignore your petulant outburst for now.   If you want to be a man give me a call and tell me what’s up.  My number is listed on my profile.  Leave a message because I screen my calls.  

[Pitcher]

That is my funny face emoji I gave myself because it’s kind of funny that a grown man would be so childish as to wake up very early and pass out 20 Reds going back months to find things to neg.  So very sad for you dude.  I hope you doing that made you laugh or feel good about yourself,  you obviously needed to do that.  I must also say it takes two to tango.  So if I upset you that much that you had to do that, then I apologize to you.  Life is too short to get up so early and go to negging.  

[Butifldrm]

Baghdad Post Sunday, January 19, 2020 04:24 PM

 

The truth about Rouhani's resignation ... the bone-breaking war ignites between the president and the Revolutionary Guards

 

 

The past few days have witnessed an escalation of tension between the components of the Iranian authority, amounting to a bone fracture. Many events have brought the old and high tensions between the government of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards out into the open.

For the past days in Iran, it was full of events that indicate the failure of the authority and the contradictions of its components. From the Kerman stampede and the killing of 59 people in the funeral of Major General Qasim Soleimani on January 7, to the tragedy of the Ukrainian plane the next day and the killing of 176 people, then 20 people were killed in a bus accident in Tehran on the ninth of it, until the floods in the southeast The country and the delay in relief operations, and revealed the fact that the plane was shot down with a missile from the Revolutionary Guards ... all of this raised the level of tension and political and social tension in the Iranian interior.

Repression of the regime and its restrictions,
but the most prominent event remains the shooting down of the Ukrainian plane, which reminded the Iranians of the tragedy of their emigration, after they metaphorically lost large numbers of their children who left to the world of alienation, to escape the regime’s repression and restrictions, they found that they were losing it physically by targeting them with Iranian missiles, 146 of the plane's passengers were Iranian Some of them are dual national.

The plane issue soon turned from a humanitarian issue to "Othman's shirt", which the Rouhani government sometimes waved, and the Revolutionary Guards again.

The government of resignations
On the eve of the Iranian armed forces issuing their statement in which they acknowledged responsibility for the downing of the Ukrainian plane, the Iranian political kitchen was boiling over its cooking contradictions.

There is no accurate news of what happened on Friday, the tenth of January, in the corridors of the regime, but what came out to the media confirms the severity of the dispute between the Rouhani government on the one hand and the "government" of the Revolutionary Guard on the other hand, with talk about the intervention of the Iranian leader, Ali Khamenei Between them to resolve a dispute it is said that Rouhani submitted his resignation.

The news of Rouhani ’s resignation, which was denied a day after its popularity, reminds us of the resignation of his government’s foreign minister, Muhammad Jawad Zarif, after his marginalization from the Revolutionary Guards, and his failure to inform him of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s visit to Iran in February 2019, before retracting it after statements and clarifications from the leaders of the Revolutionary Guards. And on top of them is Qasim Soleimani.

The rumor of Rouhani 's resignation lasted hours before it ended with the issuance of a statement commenting on the statement of the armed forces and their approval to shoot down the plane.

Assad appointed the American
officials in Rouhani's government, stressing that the government did not know the real cause of the crash, meaning that it was shot down by a "mistake" missile, which means that they were not familiar with the details of the decision to strike the American base of Assad in Iraq, the decision taken and implemented by the Revolutionary Guards, far away. From the eyes of the Ministry of Defense, which the Iranian street did not discover until after the crash, and the lack of coordination between the governmental aviation organization and the guards was exposed.

The Guards: Traitors are dealing with America
and the Revolutionary Guards ’first recognition was to shoot down the Ukrainian plane by the commander of the Air Force-Space Force, Brigadier Amir Ali Haji Zadeh, who admitted that the responsibility rests entirely with the guards without the involvement of any other party in the government.

But the next day, the head of the Guards Hussein Salami, in front of the Shura Council, went out to raise the responsibility not to suspend flights from the Guards and blamed unidentified parties for their failure. Meanwhile, the guards began spreading rumors of a conspiracy behind the crash, and of traitors in the Rouhani government dealing with America.

Rouhani, in turn, said on January 15 that it was not possible to believe that the plane had been accidentally close to the airport, in a clear indication of the deliberate bombardment of the civilian plane by the Revolutionary Guards, which means that new charges are brought against him.

Old, renewed disputes It
seemed clear that the Ukrainian plane incident, regardless of the circumstances of its occurrence, would deepen the differences between the government and the Revolutionary Guards, in a way in which each side exploits the blood of innocent citizens on its own account.

Last week saw tensions escalate among the components of the Iranian authority. Many events brought the old and high tension between the government of Hassan Rouhani and the Revolutionary Guards into public
view. The issue of the Ukrainian plane soon turned from a humanitarian issue to a "Othman shirt" that the Hassan Rouhani government sometimes hinted at, and the Revolutionary Guards again indicated the
differences between the two parties that are not absent from each internal issue Or foreign in Iranian politics, as happened previously in a similar scene when the Revolutionary Guard and Rouhani differed over the identity of who issued the missile attack on Deir Al-Zour in retaliation for the Iranian fighter Mohsen Hajji in June 2017. Then, Rouhani statedThat the strike was by a decision of the Supreme National Security Council, that is, with his knowledge of being one of its members in his capacity as President of the Republic, but the guards did not hesitate to deny it and confirm that the missile attack was by a decision of the armed forces and its general leadership, that is, the Iranian guide, without spiritual intervention.

The differences between the Rouhani government and the guards are not limited to a military or political file, but also to environmental and service files, as their dispute over the roadside bombing to change the path of torrents in April 2019, which ended with a confrontation between the two parties before the media, and was embodied in TV productions, the most famous of which was the Kandu series.

This rooted dispute between the two sides is a continuation of the dispute between the hardline and reformist currents, which appeared to the public with the arrival of the reformist President Mohammad Khatami to the presidency in 1997, and gave citizens freedom and reforms that the militants, including the Revolutionary Guards, did not like, so they sent Khatami a threatening message, after the events of university housing In 1999, it was a student uprising against the background of the closure of a reformist newspaper that ended with Basij forces attacking the uprisings, and the message was like a warning of a military coup signed by the leaders of the Guards, headed by Muhammad Ali Jaafari, Qasim Soleimani, Muhammad Baqer Qalibaf and others.

Muhammad Khatami
During the time of Khatami, the Revolutionary Guards began strengthening their institutions and building a state within the state and directly involved in the suppression of the Green Revolution in 2009. With Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's arrival to the presidency and eight years remaining in it, the guards were able to obtain higher budgets that enabled him to expand throughout Iran and beyond.

The Iranian-American negotiations, Khamenei's change of his previous policies and the launch of the "heroic softness" policy in which he gave the green light to the negotiations, constituted an important stage in the growing differences between the hardline guard and the moderate government.

The change in Khamenei's policy angered the guards because it came in favor of the reformists wishing to open up to the West, so he did everything in his power to thwart Rouhani, and took advantage of US President Donald Trump's coup on the nuclear agreement to raise the value of his shares, given that his theory of the lack of trust in the "devil" The Elder "proved correct.

And differences remain in the approach, policy and interests between the government and the Revolutionary Guards and the matter is similar to the stock exchange, when the shares of one party rise and the shares of the other fall, then the opposite happens, in a cycle that fluctuates with the fluctuation of Iran's relationship with internal and external forces.

Count

https://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/Category/15/Iraq-news

[Butifldrm]

 

01/20/2020 23:23

• Views 16
• Section: Iraq
•  

Reports of rockets falling near the US embassy in Baghdad

Baghdad / Obelisk: Reports of missile strikes near the US embassy in Baghdad follow ...

 

Share the news

 

http://almasalah.com/ar/news/186412/انباء-عن-سقوط-صواريخ-قرب-السفارة-الامريكية-في-بغداد

[Butifldrm]

21-01-2020 12:19 AM

Urgent: targeting the Green Zone with Katyusha rockets

http://www.ikhnews.com/index.php?page=article&id=207525

[Butifldrm]

3 missiles fell in the vicinity of the American embassy in Baghdad

Last update: Tuesday, 26 Jumada I 1441 AH - January 21, 2020 KSA 00:29 - GMT 21:29
Date of publication: Tuesday 26 Jumada I 1441 AH - January 21, 2020 KSA 00:18 - GMT 21:18

Source: Dubai - Arab.net

 

The US embassy complex in Baghdad (January 1, 2020 - Reuters)

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Al-Arabiya sources reported Monday evening that three missiles had landed in the vicinity of the American embassy in Baghdad.

It also indicated that the embassy siren sounded.

On the other hand, an Iraqi security source pointed to the fall of two Katyusha rockets in the vicinity of the embassy.

https://www.alarabiya.net/ar/arab-and-world/iraq/2020/01/21/أنباء-عن-سقوط-صواريخ-قرب-السفارة-الأميركية-في-بغداد.html

[Pitcher]

Poking the Bear again.  I guess they didn’t get the message when Soleimani was eliminated.  Thanks for being on top of thi news Butifldrm 

[ChuckFinley]

15 minutes ago, Pitcher said:

Poking the Bear again.  I guess they didn’t get the message when Soleimani was eliminated.  Thanks for being on top of thi news Butifldrm 

Some people just do not get it and will have to learn the hard way.

[ChuckFinley]

On 1/13/2020 at 5:28 PM, GregHi said:

This makes at least 4 quakes in a week that has hit Iran. I can’t help but remember what Kim Clement said... something along the lines of “and the earth shall be shaken, and shake again.. “ something like that.. pretty crazy.

I remember that.  Good catch GregHi. 

[Spartakus]

The quakes might be caused by their under ground clandestine tests they might be holding.

[Butifldrm]

21-01-2020 12:19 AM

Urgent: targeting the Green Zone with Katyusha rockets

 

 

Baghdad / Al-Akhbariya:
A security source said, on Monday, that 3 Katyusha rockets landed in the vicinity of the American embassy in the Green Zone in the center of the capital, Baghdad.
The source told "Al-Ikhbaria" that "three Katyusha rockets landed in the vicinity of the American embassy in the Green Zone in the center of the capital, Baghdad."
"The green zone sirens were heard, without immediately knowing if this missile strike caused losses or damage," he added.
http://www.ikhnews.com/index.php?page=article&id=207525

 

 

 

[Butifldrm]

Monday، 20 January 2020 06:05 PM

 

Iran Says Will Target Any Country Used for Anti-Tehran Plot

 

 

 

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi says the Islamic Republic reserves the right to target any other country – including the friendly state of Iraq – if they are used for conspiracy and attack against Iran.

Mousavi made the remarks in a press conference on Monday when asked about Iraq’s complaint against Iran’s “violation” of its sovereignty after the IRGC’s retaliatory missile attacks on a US base in Iraq.

The Iranian spokesman said Tehran had notified Baghdad of the attacks in advance, and they must answer why they have made such a complaint.

“As we had earlier stated, we will target any place used for conspiracy against Iran,” Mousavi said, stressing that the US’ Ain al-Assad base in Iraq had been used to attack top Iranian commander, General Qassem Soleimani, near Baghdad Airport.

“Iran has always wanted non-interference of foreign forces in the Iraqi territory, and once Iraq officially asked for Iran’s help, we provide assistance after notifying them,” he reminded.

https://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/Story/45601/Iran-Says-Will-Target-Any-Country-Used-for-Anti-Tehran-Plot

[Butifldrm]

The Security Media Cell confirmed that 3 rockets landed in the vicinity of the Green Zone, without any human casualties.

A security source revealed the location of the rocket launches that targeted the Green Zone, after midnight on Monday.

The source said that "the launch was made from the (Asaideh) area in the Za`faraniyah district, south of Baghdad, near the Tigris River."

http://altahreernews.com/11136/

 

[Butifldrm]

21-01-2020 04:17 PM

Negotiations to choose the successor of the "engineer" as president without a deputy ... Iran hands over the crowd to "al-Sadr" in exchange for its approach

 

 

Baghdad - news

Informed political sources revealed, today, Tuesday, that there are intense negotiations to choose a person to replace the deputy head of the crowd, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was killed by an American bombing on January 3, noting that the negotiations centered around the amendment of the position from one deputy to one president without a deputy.

The sources told Al-Ikhbaria: that negotiations took place during the past few days, which resulted in the amendment of the position to which the leader of the Alliance of the Hadi al-Amiri was nominated from the vice-president of the authority to its president, noting that "the results of these negotiations will not be announced before the street that has escalated From his protests again over the past 48 hours. "

She emphasized: "Three of the most prominent Iraqi militia leaders are competing for the role of the second man in the popular crowd, which was played by the engineer. They are the leader of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq movement, Qais Khazali, the leader of the Nujaba movement, Akram al-Kaabi, and the leader of the Imam Ali Brigades, Ali Shibl al-Zaidi."

The sources pointed out that "the competition between the three personalities is embodied in the extent of adherence to the Iranian decision on the one hand and the level of escalation against the United States in Iraq on the other hand," indicating that Tehran left the three leaders in the current state of competition, because it included their constant preparedness to face any emergency in At any time, including attacks on the interests of the United States or its forces in Iraq.

And she stated, "The biggest challenge comes from the Sadrist movement leader and the alliance of leaders of Muqtada al-Sadr, who leads a broad popular movement, and heads militias that include thousands of individuals previously known as the" Mahdi Army ", and now it is known as" the Peace Brigades. ", Stressing that it is" If the indications of Sadr's approach to the Iranian camp are confirmed after a years of estrangement between the two sides, the leaders of the "Peace Brigades" may play a pivotal role in reshaping the leadership of the PMF.

The sources concluded to "Al-Ikhbaria": "Iran has already offered a major role to one of Sadr's followers in leading the PMF, in case he becomes involved in the pro-US camp against the United States in Iraq."

 

http://www.ikhnews.com/index.php?page=article&id=207582

[new york kevin]

OMG. I guess the lull is soon to be over. As whoever takes over the PMF presidency will undoubtedly have their loyalty to Iran tested in a major way with an attack on American interests in Iraq. With Irans dirty hands on such acts of war may well result in another attack on the PMF and or Iran, depending on the target and damage.

[Butifldrm]

 

01/21/2020 14:24

• Views 170
• Section: Iraq
•  

Baghdad Operations finds a missile launcher towards the US embassy

Baghdad / Obelisk: On Tuesday, January 21, 2020, the Baghdad Operations Command announced the finding of the platform from which Katyusha rockets were launched toward the US embassy.

"After the American embassy in Baghdad was hit by Katyusha rockets, the Baghdad Operations Command mobilized its intelligence and security efforts," the command said in a statement received by the obelisk.

The statement added, "Rocket launchers have been found in the Za`faraniyah region, along with another new platform, with all its missiles, and a search operation is underway to reach those who committed this terrorist act."

Follow the obelisk

http://almasalah.com/ar/news/186445/عمليات-بغداد-تعثر-على-منصة-إطلاق-صواريخ-باتجاه-السفارة-الأميركية

 

 

[Pitcher]

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/38b0252b-4c3c-4130-9371-73f5b1b69d29
 

Iraq finds rocket launch pad it says targeted US embassy in Baghdad

A rocket launch pad found in the Za’faraniyah neighborhood of Baghdad, Jan. 21, 2020. (Photo: Baghdad Operation Command)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Baghdad Operations Command (BOC), which coordinates Iraq's police and military forces, on Tuesday announced that security force members had found the missile launching pad from which the rockets targeting the US embassy compound in the fortified Green Zone earlier in the day were fired.

US embassy sirens went off that morning as three missiles landed near the compound in the Iraqi capital, read a statement. 

Read More: Rockets land near US embassy in Baghdad

“The missile launching pad was found in the Za’faraniyah neighborhood along with another launching pad with the rockets still not fired,” said the BOC, adding that an “Investigation is still ongoing to find the culprits who conducted this terrorist act.”

A missile launch pad found in the Za’faraniyah neighborhood of Baghdad, Jan. 21, 2020. (Photo: Baghdad Operation Command)

A missile launch pad found in the Za’faraniyah neighborhood of Baghdad, Jan. 21, 2020. (Photo: Baghdad Operation Command)

While no group has claimed responsibility for the attack or other similar attacks – which have taken place several times in recent years and with increasing regularity – the United States often accuses Iraqi militia forces linked to Iran of carrying them out.

The attack comes amid a period of heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington, after a series of ***-for-tat attacks by the US and Iran and its proxies in Iraq.

Airbases in Iraq that house American and coalition forces have been the target of rocket attacks in recent months.  

A missile launch pad found in the Za’faraniyah neighborhood of Baghdad, Jan. 21, 2020. (Photo: Baghdad Operation Command)

On Jan. 9, two rockets landed in Iraq’s fortified Green Zone early but caused no casualties. The Iraqi Army said the Katyusha rockets landed near the US embassy in Baghdad. 

 

[Butifldrm]

 

'Perilous times' for Iraq's Shia militias after Soleimani killing

Death of powerful militia leader in US drone strike throws future of Popular Mobilisation Force into uncertainty.

by Gareth Browne & Zaheena Rasheed

2 hours ago

•  
•  

 

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis attends a funeral procession of PMF members killed by US air strikes in Qaim district [File: Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters]

 

Baghdad, Iraq - On January 3, soon after Iranian General Qassem Soleimani left Baghdad airport in an armoured vehicle, a US drone fired rockets at his convoy, killing the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iraqis accompanying him.

The brazen assassination sent shockwaves through the Middle East and beyond, triggering fears of an all-out war between the United States and Iran in Iraq, where the two foes compete for influence. 

Iran did choose Iraqi soil to retaliate, sending a volley of missiles at two bases hosting US forces outside Baghdad and Erbil. The attacks on January 8 ended without any fatalities, however, easing worries of a regional conflagration. As the smoke clears, what is worrying observers in Iraq is the death of the powerful Shia militia leader, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was killed in the same US strike targeting Soleimani. 

His killing leaves the paramilitary he commanded - the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) - without a clear successor, throwing the future of the 100,000-strong force into uncertainty and raising new concerns over instability in war-ravaged Iraq. The leadership vacuum is also likely to weaken Tehran's hand in Iraq, according to experts.

The PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi, was formed in 2014, in response to a fatwa by Iraq's most influential Shia leader, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. The religious leader had put out a call for volunteers to take on ISIL (ISIS) after the Sunni armed group conquered more than a third of Iraqi territory. 

Al-Muhandis, the widely used nom-de-guerre for Jamal Jaafar al-Ibrahimi, was "the creator of the PMF, its over-seer", said Sajad Jiyad, managing director of Baghdad-based think-tank al-Bayan. With military backing from Soleimani's Quds Force, al-Muhandis helped unite the group of 50 disparate militias - most of them Shia fighters - into an effective force against ISIL.

Mourners gather during a funeral procession for Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iran-backed militias in Basra, Iraq [AP]

A fluent Farsi speaker who spent most of his adult life in Iran, al-Muhandis was the dominant administrator in charge of handling logistics, supply, personnel administration and coordinating the various competing factions of the PMF - many of whom had a history of conflict with one another and represented a range of allegiances, including to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the powerful Iraqi nationalist and Shia leader, Moqtada al-Sadr. 

While Iran-aligned groups likely constitute a minority in the PMF's total number of fighters, al-Muhandis's command of the umbrella group gave Iran an influential stake in its affairs, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a London-based think-tank.

Some experts contend it was Iranian pressure that pushed Iraq's government to incorporate the PMF into the state's security apparatus in 2016, a move that provided the militia with heavy weaponry and significant financial resources. In 2019 alone, the group was allocated $2.16bn from the Iraqi state budget.

Al-Muhandis played a key role in the process. "He bought a visionary aspect to the PMF. He saw it not just as an organisation or state-sanctioned business, but more as a system relying on feedback loops, he understood the dynamics underlying the different divisions within the organisation," said Inna Rudolf, research fellow at the United Kingdom-based King's College, London.

'Perilous time'

In recent years, the PMF has also grown into a powerful political faction, with politicians aligned to the militia taking the most seats in Iraq's parliament in the 2018 legislative elections. Politicians from the Iran-allied factions in the PMF won 48 seats, coming in second behind al-Sadr's Sairun alliance, which took 54 in the 329-member assembly. 

The force's political and military clout has worried Washington, which has thousands of troops in Iraq to prevent a resurgence of ISIL, which was defeated in 2017.

And as US-Iran tensions escalated last year - in the aftermath of US President Donald Trump's pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal and reimposing punishing sanctions on Tehran - the US army and the PMF accused the other of attacks on their positions in Iraq.

The long-simmering hostilities boiled over late last year when a rocket attack on an Iraqi base hosting US troops killed an American defence contractor. Washington blamed the incident on Kataib Hezbollah, a militia founded by al-Muhandis, and carried out air raids on the group's bases in Syria and Iraq, killing 24 of its fighters. Days later, on December 29, PMF supporters stormed the US embassy, prompting a severe diplomatic crisis that culminated in the US killing of Soleimani.

A woman wears the words 'powerful revenge' on her hand, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, January 5, 2020 following the US air strike in Iraq that killed Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis [Maya Alleruzzo/ AP]

It is not clear if the US intended to kill al-Muhandis in the same attack, but the dramatic US escalation makes for "perilous times for Iraq's Shia militias", said Ranj Alaaldin, fellow at the Brookings Institute in Doha, Qatar. 

The heavily armed groups fear "becoming displaced or weakened by rivals", said Alaaldin, predicting a contentious succession battle pitting Iran-aligned groups that dominate the PMF against al-Sadr's bloc.

Tehran has a lot at stake. The main contender from the pro-Iranian faction is Hadi al-Amiri, a former transport minister and the head of the Badr Organization, which forms the backbone of the PMF. Al-Amiri is a fluent Farsi speaker and an admirer of Soleimani, and thus likely to prioritise Iran's interests, according to observers. Al-Sadr, however, has long opposed both US and Iranian influence in Iraq.

The uncertainty hanging over the PMF presents a rare opportunity for the US to curb Tehran's hold over Baghdad, said one Iraqi diplomat who spoke to Al Jazeera on the condition of anonymity.

"Since Qassem Soleimani was killed, Iranian influence has lost the aggressiveness, the expansionist idea it used to have. So we have three or four years for a functional US policy in Iraq, after that, we'll go back to how it was before Soleimani's death, so it's now or never to do something to confront the Iranian influence in Iraq."

Iraqi demonstrators gather during continuing anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq January 20, 2020 [Thaier al-Sudani/ Reuters]

Public opinion, too, appears to be turning against the PMF. There have been calls to disband the group from protesters who have taken to the streets across cities in Iraq since October. Many question the value of the group in the wake of ISIL's defeat, while human rights groups have accused some groups of war crimes and extortion in some of the areas they took back from ISIL. 

Yet, others said any attempts to sideline the group could provoke a backlash given its entrenchment in the Iraqi state. "Can you just suddenly clamp down on this behaviour? It's very difficult to do without leading to violence and blowback," said Jiyad of al-Bayan. 

For now, despite the lack of a figurehead, the PMF appears to be united.

Its various factions have promised to avenge al-Muhandis's killing by expelling US troops from the country. On January 13, al-Sadr held a meeting in the Iranian city of Qom to coordinate the PMF's efforts to expel US forces. In attendance were the leaders of several militias, including Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba.

The groups have now announced a "million-man march" against the US's military presence for Friday.

Meanwhile, PMF-aligned legislators pushed through a resolution on January 5 ordering caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's government to end US military presence in Iraq - something Washington has opposed vehemently.

Abu Hadi al-Daraji, spokesman for the PMF, told Al Jazeera the group would remain a force in Iraq. 

"As long as the Iraqi army, and the Iraqi police force are legitimate forces under the control of the Iraqi government, the Hashid Shaabi will be too," he said. "It's a legitimate organisation."

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/times-iraq-shia-militias-soleimani-killing-200122102304977.html