Important Takeaways:
- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday. Their meeting follows a heart-wrenching Saturday when the Hamas terror group released three more hostages to their families. Monday also marks 500 days since the October 7th, 2023, attacks
- After their meeting, Rubio and Netanyahu agreed that Hamas must be destroyed.
- “Hamas cannot continue as a military or government force,” Rubio stated. “And frankly, as long as it stands as a force that can govern or as a force that can administer, or as a force that can threaten by use of violence, peace becomes impossible. They must be eliminated. It must be eradicated.”
- Netanyahu once again backed President Donald Trump’s plan to help all Gazans leave their war-torn, devastated region while others rebuild it under U.S. control. He believes many Palestinians want to leave but Hamas won’t let them.
- “Everybody says this is the largest open-air prison in the world. Not because of us,” Netanyahu declared. “We tried to get the population to leave – to get them out of harm’s way. And Hamas – with rifles, with gunfire – try to prevent them from leaving.”
- Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff recently visited Gaza and saw why people can’t reasonably live in much of it now.
- “It’s completely devastated,” Witkoff observed. “And that begs the question: should people be allowed in there in those dangerous conditions? Thank God we’ve had no incidents. But, there’s 30,000 unexploded shells throughout Gaza, and the buildings are all down. It’s utter destruction.”
- Netanyahu also indicated this weekend he and the Trump administration see eye-to-eye on the threat from Iran.
- “Israel and America stand shoulder to shoulder in countering the threat of Iran,” he claimed. “We agree that the ayatollahs must not have nuclear weapons.”
- “Them getting a bomb is devastating to the region,” Witkoff said. “It’ll force every other country in that region to get a bomb, too. We’ll have a nuclear arms race, and that simply can’t happen.”
- Rubio concurred, saying, “Behind everything that threatens peace and stability for the millions of people who call this region home is Iran. And by Iran, I mean the ayatollahs. By Iran, I mean its regime, a regime who, by the way, its people don’t support. The people of Iran are victims of that regime.”
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Important Takeaways:
- As a result of decades of sanctions and the inability of Iran to acquire many sophisticated platforms such as new aircraft or ships, the country tries to build most of its defense systems at home, with R.-Adm. Habibollah Sayyari saying this week that Tehran produces over 90% of its own defense equipment.
- The overall goal here is for Iran to be able to build many sophisticated systems, such as air defenses and missiles, at home. However, Tehran has trouble building advanced warships as well as tanks and warplanes.
- Iran’s investment in indigenous technology may only go so far. The country now has to decide if it will continue to invest in its nuclear program and weaponization of it. If the country does go down that road, it could lead to a regional crisis.
- However, the regime is hinting it may want a deal with the new US administration of President Donald Trump. If that happens, then Tehran can move money from its defense investments to other sectors.
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Important Takeaways:
- Israel sees opening for strikes on Iranian Nuclear Sites, U.S. Intelligence finds
- The finding was included in an analytical assessment produced around the new year as the Biden administration wound down. The analysis highlighted the risks of further high-stakes military activity in the Middle East after the degradation of Iran’s capabilities over the past year.
- The intelligence analysis concluded Israel would push the Trump administration to back the strikes, viewing him as more likely to join an attack than former President Joe Biden and fearing the window for halting Tehran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon was closing, two of the people familiar with the intelligence said.
- The U.S. intelligence community produced a second report delivered during the early days of President Trump’s administration reiterating that Israel is considering such strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, according to one of the U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence.
- S. military support and munitions would likely be needed for an Israeli attack on Iran’s heavily fortified nuclear sites given their complexity, U.S. military officials say.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment, and Israel’s military declined to comment. Israeli officials have repeatedly signaled that there is an opportunity for more aggressive action against Iran.
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Important Takeaways:
- President Donald Trump says rumors of conflict with Iran ‘are greatly exaggerated’
- Trump made the statement on social media Wednesday morning, reaffirming the U.S. position that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon. It comes just one day after Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
- “I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon. Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED,” Trump wrote.
- “I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper. We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed. God Bless the Middle East!” he added.
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Important Takeaways:
- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has unveiled a new underground base, reportedly located somewhere on the country’s southern shores. Dubbed ‘missile city’, the facility houses dozens of missile launchers mounted on trucks, according to a video published by the Iranian military on Saturday.
- A two-minute video shows IRGC Chief Commander Major General Hossein Salami and Naval Force Chief Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri inspecting the underground network of tunnels where the mobile missile launchers are stationed.
- According to Tangsiri, the base is home to Iran’s Qadr 380 cruise missiles, which can be deployed and launched in under five minutes. These missiles have a range of over 1,000 kilometers and are equipped with anti-jamming systems to counter electronic warfare, IRNA news agency reported.
- The facility showcased on Saturday is the third such base in Iran, according to IRNA. In mid-January, the IRGC Navy unveiled another underground anti-ship missile base along the Persian Gulf’s coastline. A similar facility was previously revealed by the IRGC Air Force on January 10, though its exact location was not disclosed.
- Iran has said that its missile program is a deterrent against adversaries such as the US and Israel. During the inspection on Saturday, Salami stated that the unveiling was intended to prevent Tehran’s enemies from making “miscalculations” that could lead to serious consequences.
- Earlier in January, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi praised the country’s missile program as a crucial factor in deterring foreign threats. “I have said many times and firmly believe that if it weren’t for our missile capabilities, no one would be negotiating with us,” Araghchi said at the time.
- Araghchi argued that the US and its allies only respond to strength, and Iran’s missile power compels them to engage diplomatically rather than resorting to force. His remarks followed heightened tensions between Israel and Iran, which involved a series of long-range strikes between the two nations last year.
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Important Takeaways:
- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted a secret raid to destroy an underground missile factory funded by Iran inside Syria prior to the fall of the Assad regime, Israeli military censors revealed on Thursday.
- The declassified photos and videos of the operation, which involved over 100 Israeli commandos from the elite Shaldag (“Kingfisher”) unit, went viral in Israel.
- In a statement, the IDF said:
- On September 8th, 2024, during a special operation by the Israeli Air Force, troops from the Shaldag Unit raided and destroyed an underground compound for manufacturing precision missiles in the Masyaf area, deep in Syrian territory.
- For years, the Intelligence Directorate conducted extensive intelligence gathering and monitoring, confirming the value of the target. In the months leading up to the operation, a plan was launched for the Israeli Air Force to destroy it.
- The soldiers landed using helicopters, with fire and intelligence-gathering support from aircraft, fighter jets, and naval vessels of the Israeli Navy. The raid’s target was an underground compound deep in Syrian territory, funded and supported by Iran. The compound was a flagship project for Iran’s efforts to arm its terror proxies on Israel’s northern border. The compound included advanced assembly lines designed to manufacture precision-guided missiles and long-range rockets, significantly increasing the supply of missiles to Hezbollah and other Iranian terror proxies in the region.
- During the operation, the forces reached critical machinery for manufacturing precision missiles, including a planetary mixer, numerous weapons, and intelligence documents, which were transferred for investigation. The soldiers destroyed the compound and safely returned to Israeli territory.
- The IDF will continue to act strategically and professionally with various methods and tactics to remove threats directed at the citizens of Israel.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement: “I salute our heroic fighters for the daring and successful operation deep in Syria. This was one of the most important preventive operations that we have taken against the efforts of the Iranian axis to arm itself in order to attack us; it attests to our boldness and determination to take action everywhere to defend ourselves.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Almost half of executions took place in last quarter, with 12 prisoners hanged on New Year’s Day
- The Islamic Republic of Iran executed over 1,000 prisoners in 86 prisons across the country in 2024, according to a report by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). The report says the death toll is “an unprecedented figure in the past three decades,” and represents an increase of 16% from the 864 executions conducted in 2023.
- Most of the regime’s executions took place in the latter half of the year. Almost 70% occurred after the July election of President Masoud Pezeshkian. About 47% took place in the fourth quarter of 2024, when the regime “faced severe defeats in the region and mounting economic and social crises,” the NCRI said.
- Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the NCRI, said that the series of executions represent a “desperate attempt to prevent the uprising of an angry populace who will settle for nothing less than the regime’s complete overthrow. These medieval crimes, however, double the resolve of Iran’s youth to topple the religious dictatorship.”
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Important Takeaways:
- After days of Houthi missile launchings against Israel, the leader of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea, has advocated a strike on Iran. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to prefer a more cautious approach in consultation with the U.S. and other allies.
- An Iranian-made hypersonic missile hit the town of Jaffa south of Tel Aviv on Saturday, injuring at least 16 people.
- According to Israeli officials quoted in Ynet News, Barnea addressed a weekend security meeting suggesting that Israel should “Go for the head, Iran.”
- Netanyahu pledged that his government will deal strongly with the Houthi threat from Yemen, noting, “Just as we have acted forcefully against the terror arms of Iran’s axis of evil, so too will we act against the Houthis.”
- The prime minister added that it has allies in the fight. “In this case, we are not acting alone,” he said. “The U.S. and other nations see the Houthis as a threat not only to international shipping but to the global order.”
- U.S. forces in the Red Sea struck Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday, shortly after the attack on Israel. Early Sunday, two U.S. pilots were shot down in what officials called “an apparent case of friendly fire,” when gunners on the USS Gettysburg fired at the pilots. Both were rescued.
- Netanyahu urged war-weary Israelis to continue to abide by the government’s instructions from the Home Front.
- “What I ask of you, citizens of Israel, is to be patient, to continue showing the same resilience that you have shown up until now, and to strictly follow the [IDF] Home Front Command directives,” he stated.
- Using increasingly sophisticated missiles and other weapons provided by Iran, the Houthi rebels have succeeded in disrupting life for hundreds of thousands of Israelis living in and around Tel Aviv, in the nation’s major population cluster.
- Netanyahu prefers to follow the advice of the Israel Defense Forces Military Intelligence officials to attack Houthi positions in Yemen now, rather than take Barnea’s advice of a direct hit on Iran in the near future, according to a report in The Jerusalem Post. The thinking behind that is that an attack on the Iranian regime would be more advisable after President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20, 2025.
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Important Takeaways:
- President-elect Donald Trump is weighing his options to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon, including preemptive airstrikes that would end years of containing Tehran with sanctions, according to a new report.
- Members of Trump’s transition team are reviewing the military strike option more closely now following the recent upheavals in the Middle East, including the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and Israel’s decimation of Tehran terror proxies Hezbollah and Hamas, the Wall Street Journal reported.
- Uzi Rabi, director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Tel Aviv University, said Trump has a “great opportunity” to end the Middle East conflict and halt Iran’s nuclear weapon ambitions.
- Trump recently said in his interview with Time magazine that America could go to war with Iran after investigators found that Tehran had once plotted to assassinate him.
- The US could also sell additional advanced weapons to Israel, including bunker-busting bombs, to pressure Tehran with a foe that has hit its nuclear facilities in the past.
- “Anything can happen,” he told the magazine that named him 2024 Person of the Year. “It’s a very volatile situation.”
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Important Takeaways:
- U.S. says prepared to use all power to prevent nuclear Iran
- European diplomats consider ‘snap back’ sanctions to prevent nuclear weapon
- Iran accelerates uranium enrichment, denies pursuing nuclear weapons
- Iran’s deal with Britain, Germany, France, the United States, Russia and China is known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
- “Time is of the essence,” U.N. political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the Security Council, which enshrined the deal in a 2015 resolution.
- “We will take every diplomatic step to prevent Iran from requiring a nuclear weapon, including the triggering of snap back if necessary,” Britain’s deputy U.N. Ambassador James Kariuki told the council on Tuesday.
- They will lose the ability to take such action on Oct. 18 next year when the 2015 U.N. resolution on the deal expires.
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