The hostage-taker gets taken hostage, and it cost $3 million. “Iran pays millions in ransom to end massive cyberattack on banks, officials say,” Politico, 9-4-24.
I need someone to tell me what posting a “period” means. See “An Iranian writer is sentenced to 12 years after tweeting a dot at the supreme leader,” NPR, 9-2-24.
“Ukraine Allies Expect Iran to Ship Missiles to Russia Imminently,” Bloomberg, 9-2-24.
Iran continues to give the Houthis lots of leash. “US military says Yemen’s Houthis attacked two crude oil tankers in Red Sea,” Reuters, 9-2-24.
Force against Iran works. It has now been some weeks, well over a month, and they still haven’t carried through with their threats against Israel. “How US Surged Forces to Middle East To Keep Iran at Bay,” Newsweek, 8-28-24. See also “Mapped: U.S. rushes warships to Middle East in show of force to Iran,” Axios, 8-28-24. “The U.S. has positioned about 18 warships including two aircraft carriers in and around the Middle East as it seeks to deter Iran and its proxies from conducting attacks that could evolve into all-out war with Israel.”
How nice of the Houthis and Iran. “Yemen’s Houthis will let salvage crews access oil tanker they set ablaze in Red Sea,” Reuters, 8-28-24.
The Supreme Leader himself has always veered between two sides of any topic, and of course this important topic—survival of himself and the purpose of the Regime. “Iran’s supreme leader open to new negotiations with U.S. on Tehran’s nuclear weapons program,” PBS, 8-27-24.
“Greek-flagged oil tanker appears to be leaking oil, Pentagon says,” Reuters, 8-27-24.
“The battle over Iran’s terror financing,” Politico, 8-26-24. “While the war in Gaza makes the headlines, Europe and the U.S. are worried about Hezbollah’s illicit financing.”
“IRGC-backed Iraqi militia plotted attacks against central Asian Jewish centers – report,” I24, 8-26-24.
Quote of the Day—H.R. “McMaster noted that every presidential administration has people who try to manipulate the president and said that if Trump were given smart advice, the president often made good decisions. One of those, in McMaster’s view, was withdrawing the United States from the nuclear treaty with Iran in the spring of 2018. … Iran, McMaster said, is now a real threat. particularly given that Biden has backed away from some of Trump’s policies. Saying Iran “is willing to expend every Arab life, every Palestinian life, every Lebanese life, in pursuit of its objective of destroying Israel,” McMaster said that the Iranian threat needs to be taken seriously. “I think,” McMaster said, “that the narrative that you constantly hear about turning down the temperature, escalation management, the reluctance, really, to confront Iran directly and impose costs on Iran, that actually gives Iran license to escalate on their own terms, with impunity.” See “Former national security adviser says Trump can be manipulated with flattery,” Politico, 8-25-24.
Yes, Iran-backed. “Iran-Backed Hezbollah Says It Launched Over 320 Katyusha Rockets At Israel,” NDTV, 8-25-24.
“Iran’s Guard leader reiterated pledge of ‘revenge’ against Israel shortly before planned Hezbollah attack,” Times of Israel, 8-25-24.
Another Quote of the Day, from Pres. Pezeshkian’s new FM Abbas Araqhchi. Iran “will maintain the Islamic Republic’s strategic approach toward Latin American countries, particularly Venezuela,” an IRNA report noted. See “Iran’s diplomatic efforts can achieve its goals without having to attack Israel – analysis,” JPost, 8-24-24.
Abbas Araghchi, the new FM, said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran welcomes the development of relations with the European Union in an environment based on mutual respect.” Just remember, “mutual respect” doesn’t mean mutual respect like an English speaking person knows the phrase. Iranian official have used this phrase for years, and it means “We can throw our weight around and be the regional power, just like the U.S. is a regional power.” Of course, how Iran has become a regional power is not through mutual respect to its neighbors but through intimidation, military threats, proxies, terrorism, expansion of the Shia Crescent, proliferation, etc. See “Iran’s new FM urges dialogue with EU, claims ‘right’ to retaliate for Haniyeh killing,” Times of Israel, 8-23-24.
“Iranian hackers targeted WhatsApp accounts of staff in Biden, Trump administrations, Meta says,” Politico, 8-23-24.
“Iran’s parliament approves Pezeshkian’s unity cabinet,” Reuters, 8-21-24.
“Women in Iran keep protesting strict Islamic dress code despite police crackdown,” NPR, 8-21-24.
She’s actually not that good of a mouthpiece. But Iran will use anyone, domestic or international, to put lipstick on a pig. “Jesse Kline: The Canadian terrorist supporter who Iran loves,” National Post, 8-21-24.
“Iran warns wait for retaliation against Israel ‘could be long’,” NBC, 8-21-24.
“Khamenei’s calculus: Iran supreme leader faces a bitter choice on Israel,” Al Jazeera, 8-21-24.