Half a billion dollars.  For Armenia.  This was cleared by Moscow.  And is a shot against Azeris.  “Iran and Armenia  sign secret $500 million arms deal,” Iran International, 7-24-24.

“The Uncomfortable Reality of Russia and Iran’s New Defense Relationship,” War on the Rocks, 7-24-24.

A really unusual story, trying to get the former and controversial president out of the way.  “Iranian Ex-President Ahmadinejad Nearly Killed in Assassination Attempt: Report,” Newsweek, 7-24-24.  And see “Iran’s Ahmadinejad escaped assassination attempt,” Iran International, 7-24-24.  The steering and brakes failed at the same time—that doesn’t happen in cars.

“Germany carries out raids and bans a group accused of links to Iran and support for Hezbollah,” AP, 7-24-24.  Read this, then read it again.  “The German government on Wednesday banned an organization accused of being an “outpost” of Iran’s theocracy, promoting the ideology of its leadership and supporting Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group. Police raided 53 properties around the country, including a prominent mosque in Hamburg. The ban on the Islamic Center Hamburg, or IZH, and five suborganizations around Germany followed searches in November. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said evidence gathered in the investigation “confirmed the serious suspicions to such a degree that we ordered the ban today.” The IZH “promotes an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany,” while it and its suborganizations “also support the terrorists of Hezbollah and spread aggressive antisemitism,” Faeser said in a statement. Her ministry said that “as the direct representative of Iran’s ‘Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution,’ the IZH disseminates the ideology of the Islamic Revolution in an aggressive and militant way and seeks to bring about such a revolution in the Federal Republic of Germany.” This is a mission existing in multiple countries.