A very different type of story, but indicative of the Regime’s messaging and cover-ups. “Mahallati’s aim at the UN was to “obfuscate and lie to the international community about mass crimes perpetrated by the Iranian regime.” “Iranian diplomat turned US professor accused of crimes against humanity,” Benjamin Weinthal, Jerusalem Post, October 9, 2020.
“[T]he US Government announced that it had seized 92 domain names utilized by Iran-backed threat actors to spread disinformation. The domains pretended to be genuine news outlets, however, they were controlled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Gaurd Corps (IRGC) to launch a global disinformation campaign spreading Iranian propaganda to the US and other countries. Four of the domains directly targeted the US, in violations of sanctions imposed both on the Iranian government and the IRGC.” See “U.S. Seizes Domain Names Used by Iran for Disinformation,” DA Loop, October 9, 2020.
Can’t make this up. Assadi is most likely part of Quds Force, assigned to an embassy for cover. They are trained to kill and promote the Revolution. “An Iranian diplomat charged in Belgium with planning to bomb a meeting of an exiled Iranian opposition group in France warned authorities of possible retaliation by unidentified groups if he is found guilty, according to a police document. Belgian prosecutors charged Vienna-based Assadolah Assadi in Oct. 2018 and three others with planning an attack that year on a rally of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) attended by high profile former U.S., European and Arab officials. Assadi, who goes on trial on Nov. 27, was the third counsellor at Iran’s embassy in Vienna. French officials have said he was in charge of intelligence in southern Europe and was acting on orders from Tehran. He is one of the first Iranian diplomats to face trial on terrorism charges in the European Union. Tehran has repeatedly dismissed the charges against Assadi, calling them a “false flag” operation by the NCRI’s political arm, the MEK, (Mujaheedin-e Khalq), which presents itself as an alternative to Iran’s theocracy. Assadi has not commented on the charges and his lawyer has declined to comment on them. Minutes of a March 12 meeting between Assadi and Belgian police, seen by Reuters and confirmed as authentic by his lawyer, show the diplomat initially set out Tehran’s long-standing grievances with the MEK’s activities in the past. He then warned Belgian authorities that his case was being closely watched by undisclosed groups in Iran and neighbouring countries. “According to ASSADI Assadolah we (Belgium) do not realize what is going to happen, in the event of an unfavourable verdict,” the minutes, taken by the Belgian police, say. Assadi told police that armed groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria, as well as in Iran, were interested in the outcome of his case and would be “watching from the sidelines to see if Belgium would support them or not”, according to the minutes.” See “Iranian diplomat warned of retaliation over Belgian bomb plot trial, document shows,” John Irish, Reuters, October 9, 2020.
“How State-owned Companies Are Devouring Iranian Economy,” Pooya Stone, Iran Focus, October 9, 2020.
“Iranian hospitals battling coronavirus to stop non-emergency treatment,” Reuters, October 9, 2020.
“Iran executed at least 251 people last year and 190 more in the first nine months of 2020.” See “Iran Urged To Halt Executions Ahead Of World Day Against The Death Penalty,” RFE/RL, Radio Farda, October 9, 2020.
“America needs to stop Iranian-controlled militias in our hemisphere,” Eric Mandel, op-ed, The Hill, October 9, 2020. “Iranian-controlled Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs) are coming to the Western Hemisphere. According to Radio Farda, Iranian military commander Yahya Rahim Safavi, the former head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is helping Venezuela to form PMUs and transferring Iran’s experience to Venezuela to stand “against America.” In 2014, the Wall Street Journal’s Mary Anastasia O’Grady reported that the “West underestimates the growing threat from radical Islam (Iran) in the Americas,” through an Iran-Cuba-Venezuela nexus, with the help of regional allies Nicaragua, Bolivia and Ecuador. PMUs are multinational Islamist militias under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which have helped Iran project its power and influence beyond its borders and to dominate Iraq. They have helped Syria’s Bashar al-Assad to remain in power. Iran and its terrorist proxy Hezbollah, the model Iranian militia, have had decades-long involvement in finding the soft underbelly of the United States’s South American neighbors through narco-terrorism and support of anti-U.S. regimes. According to Ambassador Nathan Sales, the State Department’s coordinator for counterterrorism, “Hezbollah continues to have our hemisphere squarely in its sights today.” For decades, Iran and Hezbollah have used Latin America to transit drugs and support their terrorist activities. These activities have contributed to the U.S. opioid epidemic but have been off the radar of most Americans, who think Iran and its proxies’ nefarious activities are confined to the Middle East. Iran has nurtured and supported like-minded revolutionary regimes, including Venezuela, and has a long history of terrorist activity in South America going back to its bombing of the Israeli embassy and Jewish center in Argentina in the early 1990s. A nuclear Iran will feel even more emboldened to act in Central and South America, which is another reason for the United States not to allow Iran to develop an industrial-size nuclear weapons program.
The question is whether the two Qadir long-range radar systems are as effective as S-400s. “Expert Reviews: Why Iran Could Already Have Acquired The Deadly Russian S-400 Systems Without Officially Acquiring Them,” Eurasian Times, October 9, 2020.
“A previously unknown organization, Usbat al-Thaireen, has taken responsibility for a large proportion of the attacks. The organization was formally launched on March 14, 2020, on the same day as an attack on the Taji military base, where US forces were present. “Usbat al-Thaireen” is almost certainly a convenient label for the insurgent activities of established Shia militias. Specifically the 10,000-strong Kataib Hezbollah movement, with its extensive networks across the country, appears to be the central player in this emergent insurgency.” See “A dangerous escalation in Iraq, a direct Israeli concern,” Jonathan Spyer, Jerusalem Post, October 9, 2020.
What other country (and regularly) holds military exercises in an international strait? “Report: Iran to hold military exercise in Strait of Hormuz,” I24 News, October 9, 2020.
“Shockwaves In Israel, Caution In India, As China Pushes Russia To Sell Its S-400s,” Eurasian Times, October 9, 2020.
We will see if Oberlin investigates this “professor of peace” and what the results are. Oberlin does not want to be an enabler of terror or mass crimes against humanity. “Iranian diplomat turned US professor accused of crimes against humanity,” Benjamin Weinthal, Jerusalem Post, October 9, 2020.
