Important Takeaways:
- How ancient hatreds are reshaping the Middle East and forging unlikely alliances. The rise of Iran – and its chilling proximity to a nuclear weapon – has driven old foes closer, explains STEPHEN POLLARD
- The competition is strong, but for my money the most important geopolitical statement so far this year came on Monday from an obscure Israeli news site.
- A member of the Saudi Arabian royal family had reportedly told the broadcaster Kan that, in his view, Iran had started the Gaza war by instructing its proxy group Hamas to massacre Israelis on October 7.
- Tehran’s intention, according to this nameless royal, was to thwart the imminent normalization of diplomatic relations between Israel and the Saudis.
- Why is that so important? Because it symbolizes the extraordinary transformation under way in the politics of the Middle East. For a Saudi royal to express such a view – that a Muslim country instigated the conflict for the purpose of spreading discord – would have been unimaginable only a few years ago. But that’s not the only way in which the winds of change are resettling alliances in this volatile region.
- On Saturday night, the ayatollahs of Iran inflicted their first direct attack on Israel since they came to power in the 1979 revolution.
- Allies such as the US and UK played a role in this. But they were joined by two other countries for whom defending the Jewish state would have been fanciful until recently: Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
- For most of the time Israel has existed, Saudi, as one of the world’s leading Muslim nations and home to the holy city of Mecca, has been its implacable foe. But now it is on the verge not just of tolerating Israel but becoming an ally.
- Similarly, back in 1967, Jordan actually invaded Israel – a disastrous move which lost it the territories of East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Yet now Jordan, too, has stood alongside Israel to protect it from Iranian bombs. This newfound co-operative spirit continues: just yesterday it emerged that both the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates had passed helpful intelligence to America to use in Israel’s defense, with Jordan further agreeing to let the US and ‘other countries’ warplanes’ use its airspace, as well as sending up its own jets.
- One thing is clear. The rise of Iran – and its chilling proximity to a nuclear weapon – has driven old foes closer.
- There is a logic, then, to the gradually deepening alliances between Sunni states and Israel. The Arab nations understand that while Israel has no ambitions to dominate its neighbors, Iran [the Ayatollah] seeks to control all of the Middle East.
- In Gulf states such as the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and especially Saudi Arabia, the Shia threat – in other words the threat from Iran – is seen as existential.
- It needs to be stressed that the vast majority of Sunnis and Shias would rather just get on with their lives than embroil themselves in these disputes
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Important Takeaways:
- How could Iran’s attack on Israel affect gas prices? What you should know
- Iran, one of the world’s largest producers of crude oil, has long been engaged in a shadow war with Israel, but there have been concerns the Israel-Hamas war could become a broader regional conflict.
- Any ripple effects on gas prices depend on the countries’ next moves and whether they seek further retaliation against the backdrop of an already raging war, said Michael Walden, Reynolds Distinguished Professor Emeritus at North Carolina State University.
- “We’re uncertain about what’s going to happen,” he said. “And so the impacts are going to be very dependent upon what does evolve.”
- The average price for a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. was $3.63 as of Monday, according to AAA, up almost 4 cents from a week earlier and 22 cents from a month ago. The price was down 3 cents from a year ago, however.
- Oil benchmarks had risen on Friday in anticipation of Iran’s retaliatory assault, with prices soaring to their highest since October.
- If you are planning a last-minute road trip, though, it may be worth going somewhere closer or putting off travel until a later date. Drivers who can take other modes of transportation, such as walking or biking, could consider that as well.
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Important Takeaways:
- Russia has called for restraint from both Iran and Israel as a wider war in the Middle East becomes a real possibility.
- Russia has sent a navy frigate, Marshal Shaposhnikov, armed with Kinzhal supersonic missiles into the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal just hours after Iran attacked Israel with hundreds of missiles and drones.
- The Kremlin confirmed the ship’s presence in the area, adding that it will continue performing the tasks assigned to it under the expedition plan.
- Dmitry Peskov said: “Right now it is very important for everyone to maintain restraint in order not to lead to a complete destabilization of the situation in the region, which does not exactly shine with stability and predictability.”
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Important Takeaways:
- We Are Just One Step Away From An Apocalyptic War In The Middle East
- Did you see what just happened in Damascus? In an absolutely stunning move, Israel took out the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Needless to say, the Iranians are absolutely furious and they are promising a “harsh” response.
- The building that was destroyed by the IDF airstrike was reportedly directly next to Iran’s embassy in Damascus…
- A building next to Iran’s embassy in Damascus has been destroyed in an airstrike, reportedly killing a senior commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and five others – with state media saying Israel was behind the attack.
- Pictures show the building in Syria’s capital razed to the ground, with huge plumes of smoke rising from the site following the explosion this afternoon and emergency workers rushing to the scene.
- This particular building was apparently the residence of the Iranian ambassador to Syria.
- The Syrian government says that the missiles that destroyed this building were fired from the Golan Heights…
- The Syrian Ministry of Defense responded with a statement.
- “This evening, the Israeli enemy launched an air aggression from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting the Iranian consulate building in Damascus,” it said.
- “Our air defenses responded to the missiles and shot down some of them. The aggression led to the destruction of the entire building and the martyrdom and injury of everyone inside.
- “Work is underway to recover the bodies of the martyrs, treat the wounded and remove debris.”
- It appears that the IDF was targeting a gathering of very important regional leaders.
- Mohammad Reza Zahedi was among those that were killed. He was the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps…
- Another important Iranian military official named Haji Rahimi is also dead…
- In fact, Iran’s ambassador to Syria has already publicly stated that the response will be “harsh”…
- As Zero Hedge has aptly noted, if Iran’s response is too severe, it could spark “an all-out regional war”…
- Depending on Iran’s response, this could be the start of an all-out regional war. For months now, Iranian-made ballistic missiles and drones have rained down on Israel, fired by Iran’s proxies in Lebanon and Yemen. This new brazen Israeli attack on Iran’s embassy takes things into uncharted territory, and also opens up the potential for the Iranians to target Israeli embassies abroad.
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Important Takeaways:
- Pentagon insider warns ‘we are on the brink’ of World War 3 after latest Iran attack
- A source inside the US Pentagon has warned the world is on the brink of a major conflict as Iran and its allies continue to launch attacks across the Middle East.
- The warning comes as Iranian-backed proxies destabilize the Middle East by attacking Israel and US targets, as well as international shipping in the region.
- Iran itself has also carried out strikes in neighboring Iraq and Pakistan as well as Syria sending tensions soaring.
- Defense expert Nicholas Drummond echoed concerns that the conflict in the Middle East could potentially escalate but warned that if Tehran directly attacked Israel, the ensuing war would be “the end of Iran”.
- Speaking to Daily Express US, he said: “Iran’s agenda in the region, and globally, has been exposed. And Iran is on the back foot.
- “The West is saying to Iran ‘behave yourself, or we will attack you directly’.
- He added: “I think Iran has to be very, very careful. It has been playing a dangerous game. And it’s about to get punished if it doesn’t step back.
- “You saw that [Iran] fired a missile into Syria and… it was ostensibly taking out rebel targets but it was [also] demonstrating, it has a missile capable of reaching Israel from Iran that could have with a nuclear warhead – it could target Tel Aviv.
- That’s the message it’s sending. And, of course, if Iran did that, it would be the end of Iran, frankly.”
- Drummond branded Iran as “the biggest threat to world peace” at the moment.
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Important Takeaways:
- Iran-Backed Attacks on U.S. Troops in Middle East Reach Nearly 100
- The number of attacks as of Thursday was 97 since October 17, the official said. At least 66 troops have been injured in these attacks, including at least 19 who were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries.
- Despite the Pentagon conducting five counter strikes — three against weapons storage facilities linked to the attacks and two against perpetrators, the attacks have not stopped.
- The uptick in attacks against U.S. forces has occurred against the backdrop of the Israeli military offensive against Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, after it conducted an attack against Israel on October 7, killing more than 1,200.
- The Pentagon announced Thursday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is heading to the Middle East this week to meet with the leaders of Bahrain, Qatar, and Israel.
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Important Takeaways:
- Biden Administration’s $10 Billion Prize to Iran: Just A Small Thank You for Engineering a War, Wounding 56 US Troops and Trying to Drive the US Out of The Middle East
- From the Iranian regime’s perspective, annihilating Israel and the Jews would presumably be a major breakthrough, giving them a dominance over the Muslim world, even greater than Saudi Arabia’s.
- The dedicated funds that this new $10 billion will release can now be used to put the finishing touches on the mullahs’ nuclear bomb – to threaten their Sunni neighbors in the Gulf, Europe, and above all, “The Great Satan, the United States. Iran’s plans for cutting “The Great Satan” (and others) down to size are already underway in Cuba and throughout South America. Earlier this month, Israel helped Brazil thwart an attack by the Iran-backed terrorist group Hizballah on Brazil’s Jews.
- Sadly, the $10 billion looks suspiciously like a “pretty please” bribe not to try to drive the US out of the region this year [before the 2024 US election]; instead, wait for next year.
- The solution is not to give Iran $10 billion as a prize for practicing extensive regional aggression and engineering mass-murder. Real solutions would include cutting the flow of funds by re-imposing — and enforcing — primary and secondary sanctions; incapacitating the port from which Iran sends oil to China; sending Ayatollah Khamenei and the leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG) pictures of their homes; making the ruling mullahs seriously aware of military options, such as taking out the training bases and leadership of the IRGC, and employing significant military force when required — for instance now.
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Important Takeaways:
- FBI Director Warns House Panel Threat of Terror Attack Now at Whole ‘Nother Level’
- The directors of the FBI and Homeland Security were in front of Congress Wednesday warning Americans to stay vigilant given the situation in the Middle East.
- Those most responsible for protecting the country fear lone wolf attacks could happen here based on antisemitism, islamophobia, or just hate for America.
- “In a year where the terrorism threat was already elevated, the ongoing war in the Middle East has raised the threat of an attack against Americans in the United States to a whole ‘nother level,'” FBI Director Christopher Wray told a House panel.
- Wray confirmed multiple investigations were underway nationwide into people who may have connections to Hamas.
- “Our most immediate concern is that individuals or small groups will draw twisted inspiration from the events in the Middle East to carry out attacks here at home,” he said
- Concern quickly shifted the conversation to the southern border after nearly 200 people on the terror watch list were encountered there.
- “200 is alarming to me, does that give you concern?” asked Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX).
- “Certainly, the numbers give us concern. I think it’s important in some ways to say that numbers alone don’t really tell the problem. We’ve all seen how much damage just a small number of foreign terrorists could cause. As crazy as it sounds people tend to forget it was 19 who killed 3,000,” Wray replied.
- “That’s the point I was going to make. It only took 19 to create 9/11,” McCaul said.
- One point Wray stressed to the American people is, that while continuing to live their lives, there should be a heightened awareness.
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Important Takeaways:
- China JUDGES United States: “War Addicts” Will an “Intervention” to stop our addiction come next?
- The People’s Republic of China has JUDGED the United States of America as being “War Addicts.” As families of anyone with Chemical Dependency know, making such a determination is the step before an “intervention” to put a stop to an addiction!
- A uniformed spokesman from China’s People’s Liberation Army brought the judgement to the world via a Press Conference. “”The USA are war addicts.” The country has existed for 240 years, and only 16 years it did not go to war. They built 800 military bases around the world. “Wherever the US military goes, people die everywhere,” said a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Defense.
- RUSSIA CHIMES-IN
- Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday “The terrible events in the Gaza Strip cannot be justified by anything.”
- He went on to say “We see that in the Middle East, instead of punishing terrorists, they began to take revenge on the principle of collective responsibility.
- When you look at bloodied, dead children, the suffering of the elderly, the death of doctors in the Middle East, your fists clench, but emotions are unacceptable,” the president said.
- Then Putin let loose with the quiet part that isn’t supposed to be said out loud:
- “Behind the conflict in the Middle East, Ukraine, Iraq, and Syria are the ruling elites of the United States and their satellites
- “They don’t need lasting peace in the Holy Land, they need constant chaos in the Middle East,” said the Russian President.
- The US ruling elites, without achieving success on the battlefield, are trying to weaken Russia from within.
- Putin’s key statement to Palestine sympathizers:
- “We can only help Palestine in the fight against those who are behind this tragedy. We are Russia, and we are fighting them as part of a special military operation. Exactly with them. Both for ourselves and for those who strive for real true freedom.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Intelligence shows Iranian-backed militias are ready to ramp up their attacks against US forces in the Middle East
- The US has intelligence that Iranian-backed militia groups are planning to ramp up attacks against US forces in the Middle East, as Iran seeks to capitalize on the backlash in the region to US support for Israel, according to multiple US officials.
- The militia groups have already launched multiple drone attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria.
- But the US now has specific intelligence that those same groups could escalate even further as the war between Israel and Hamas continues.
- There are “red lights flashing everywhere,” a US official in the region told CNN.
- A senior defense official echoed that concern on Monday.
- “We see a prospect for much more significant escalation against US forces and personnel in the near term,” the official said. “And let’s be clear about it. The road leads back to Iran. Iran funds, arms, equips and trains militias and proxy forces all across the region. … We are preparing for this escalation, both in terms of defending our forces and being prepared to respond decisively.”
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