“Normalization with Israel ‘still on the table’: Saudi minister,” Cradle, 11-8-23. Saudi Arabia still, ultimately, wants relations with Israel. This is on the Ayatollah and the IRGC’s mind.
Remember, Iran is allied with Russia. “Moscow’s Support For Iran Worries Israel As Regional Tensions Escalate,” OilPrice.com, 11-8-23.
“U.S. Strikes Iran-Linked Facility in Syria in Round of Retaliation,” NYT, 11-8-23.
“US Reaper drone shot down near Yemen by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, official says,” CNN, 11-8-23. The MQ-9 Reaper drone was operating in international airspace and over international waters when it was shot down. … The Iran-backed Houthi militants took responsibility.”
“Iran is boosting its terror forces in Syria, Lebanon,” JNS, 11-8-23. Iran is reinforcing its forces in Quneitra and Daraa, Syria, to open a Golan front. “Quds Force head Esmail Ghanni is visiting and has set up a joint operations room of Iran, Hezbollah, Iran-backed militias, and Palestinian factions. Of note, in Gaza, the second largest terror faction after Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, has been creating difficulties for Hamas due to failed rocket launches. Of the approx. 10,000 rockets fired at Israel, about 800 have been failed launches, and many of those were PIJ’s. That is approaching 10%, which fall on Palestinians in Gaza. “One notorious example is the explosion in Gaza’s Al-Ahli hospital parking lot on Oct. 17. Predictably, there was no shortage of outlets and commentators who rushed to blame Israel without any evidence, before it emerged that PIJ fired the rocket.” How many of those media outlets like BBC and NYT and Al Jazerra apologized for their mishandling of that story? Also of note, “PIJ Secretary General Ziyad Nakhleh, who took over in 2018, remotely commanding the organization from Beirut and Damascus, met on Oct. 22 with Hamas’s Salah al-Arouri, who is in charge of terrorism in Judea and Samaria and is deputy head of Hamas’s political bureau, and with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.” All part of the Iranian axis.
Other commentators have explained the negative effects of the belt and road project. Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reports that “Iran Says ‘One Belt-One Road’ Initiative To Spur Economic Ties With China,” Tasnim, 11-8-23.
“Afghan Refugees In Iran Complain Of Intensified Deportations, Harassment,” NDTV, 11-8-23.
“Iran jails French national for 5 years, family says: ‘Was just travelling…’,” AFP, 11-8-23. “Arnaud is one of at least a dozen foreign nationals held by Tehran in what activists and Western governments have described as a deliberate hostage-taking strategy aimed at extracting concessions from the West.”
It takes a lot of chutzpah to claim something that no one else in the world believes. It started openly in 2011 when Syria needed help as its civil war began. The IRI has given Syria billions of cash, weapons, training, you name it. Attacks against U.S. soldiers in Iraq began in 2003. “Iran says ‘never been involved’ in attacks on US forces in Iraq, Syria,” Rudaw, 11-8-23.
“Tehran predicts Russia-China-Iran triangle of power – analysis,” Jerusalem Post, 11-8-23.
I want to use the occasion of this article to state (has anyone else said this?) that it is not the Israel-Hamas War. It is instead the Hamas-Israel War. Hamas started the war, Israel is acting in self-defense, retaliation, and to defeat Hamas as a terror organization. “Iran’s Raisi to Attend Summit in Saudi Arabia on Sunday,” WSJ, 11-8-23.