Drones and rockets targeted two military bases housing US forces in Iraq on Thursday, the latest in a series of attacks after Iraqi militants warned Washington against supporting Israel against Hamas in Gaza.
Rockets and drones were fired at Ain al-Asad air base, which hosts US and other international forces in western Iraq, and multiple blasts were heard inside the base, two security sources said.
The Iraqi military said it closed the area around the base and started a search operation. It was not clear yet whether the attacks caused casualties or damage, said the sources.
Rockets hit another military base hosting US forces near Baghdad's international airport, Iraqi police said on Thursday, without providing further details.
A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said two rockets had been fired at US forces at the airport. One was intercepted and the other hit an empty storage facility and there were no casualties, the official added.
The latest attacks take to four in the past 24 hours targeting Iraqi military bases that hosts US forces in Iraq.
Last week, Iraqi armed groups aligned with Iran threatened to target US interests with missiles and drones if Washington intervened to support Israel against Hamas in Gaza following the deadly incursions by Hamas militants that killed 1,400 people.
US military forces in Iraq were targeted on Wednesday in two separate drone attacks, with one causing minor injuries to a small number of troops even though the US military managed to intercept the armed drone.
The United States has 2,500 troops in Iraq, and 900 more in neighboring Syria, on a mission to advise and assist local forces in combating Islamic State, which in 2014 seized swathes of territory in both countries.
Ain al-Asad air base is located in the western Anbar province.
Report by Reuters
Following the Peace Nobel awarded to imprisoned human rights defender Narges Mohammadi last week, this marks the second international prize recognizing the efforts of Iranian women and their movement against the clerical regime in Iran.
Last week, government officials condemned Mohammadi's Nobel Peace Prize as a "politically motivated move" and accused Western governments, including Norway, of pursuing "anti-Iranian and interventionist policies."
Just like with Mohammadi’s Nobel prize, none of the major news websites within Iran, including the relatively more independent websites, have reported on the Sakharov Prize being awarded to Amini and the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. The silence is presumably due to an unofficial ban imposed by the authorities.
The laureates for this year were announced by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola in the Strasbourg plenary chamber on Thursday. The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after Russian scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, is presented to individuals or groups who have dedicated their lives to defending human rights and freedom of thought.
“The European Parliament proudly stands with the brave and defiant who continue to fight for equality, dignity and freedom in Iran. We stand with those who, even from prison, continue to keep Women, Life and Freedom alive,” Metsola said.
She also emphasized that by selecting Amini and the Woman, Life, Freedom movement as laureates, the European Parliament is "honoring their struggle and continuing to pay tribute to all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for liberty."
The award ceremony will take place during the plenary sitting in Strasbourg on December 13.
Amini and the movement were nominated by the European People’s Party, Socialists & Democrats, and Renew Europe. Nominated by Identity and Democracy, business magnate Elon Musk was also among the eight other nominees for the prize.
The prize was also awarded jointly to prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and award winning dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi in 2012.
The prize was first awarded by the European Parliament in 1988 to anti-apartheid activist and later President of South Africa Nelson Mandela. Nobel Peace Prize recipient and seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan (2003), Cuba’s opposition movement and relatives of jailed dissidents known as Ladies in White and Reporters Without Borders (2005), and the winner of 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Malala Yousafzai (2013) are among other Sakharov laureates.
“Jina my darling, wake up my sweet daughter and behold that your name is being echoed in the entire world now … You have a family as big as the entire people of the world today,” Jina’s mother Mozhgan Eftekhari said in an Instagram story Thursday after the announcement of the award.
Mahsa (Jina) Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish girl from the city of Saqqez in western Iran, was arrested by police in Tehran on September 13, 2022, for allegedly ignoring Iran’s strict veiling laws, and died in a Tehran hospital three days later as a result of a head injury sustained while in custody.
Another young girl, Armita Geravand (16), who similarly fell into a coma after being assaulted by hijab enforcers at Tehran subway on October 1, is still fighting for her life at a military hospital in Tehran.
In both cases, authorities have exerted significant pressure on the victims' families to align with the regime's narrative. They have consistently avoided taking responsibility, instead attributing these incidents to the victims' purported health conditions.
Reformist daily Shargh mentioned US President Joe Biden's visit to Israel and suggested that "The United States is making considerable efforts to prevent Israel from falling in the trap of an endless war." However, the newspaper speculated that "Israeli Prime Minister has probably invited Biden to Israel in a move to avoid a defeat after the October 7 attack by Hamas.”
Meanwhile, Shargh quoted an Israel expert, Amir Ali Bojnourdi, as saying that "The main issue that has so far delayed Israel's ground offensive is a difference of opinion between Netanyahu and the US government, not the possibility of a reaction by Iran or Hezbollah." However, the daily did not elaborate on the nature of the alleged differences between Israel and America.
Etemad, another leading reformist daily in Tehran, interviewed former diplomat Qasem Mohebali about the impact of the Gaza war on Iran. Mohebali suggested that the war in the region poses both a threat and an opportunity for Iran. He argued that if the developments in the region are appropriately managed, it could even help to mend the ties between Iran and the West. However, he emphasized that the outcome would depend on Iran’s diplomatic actions.
On the other hand, Mohebali expressed concerns about the war spilling over into the region, posing significant threats to Iran. He warned that a larger regional war would not just involve Iran and Israel but could also draw in other players. He noted the dangerous divide among people in European cities and in the region, with one group supporting Israel and the other Palestinians. However, he argued that the majority of the world's population supports the Palestinians, as opposed to a smaller group defending Israel.
The hardline Daily Farhikhtegan claimed that the attack on the Al-Ahli Hospital was part of "a US plot to garner support for Israel within the community supporting Israel." The hardline paper also contradicted itself, suggesting that the attack aimed to delay Israel's ground offensive against Gaza. Farhikhtegan then tried to support its controversial views by citing IRGC-linked Tasnim news agency, which is often criticized for spreading disinformation and fake news and cannot be independently verified.
Elsewhere, Farhikhtegan quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin, who characterized the attack as a catastrophe, in a common practice by hardline media in Iran, who often cite Russian officials to support their anti-Israel or anti-West claims.
Aftab Yazd, a daily affiliated with the left-wing Militant Clerics Association, presented a wild speculation that Biden's visit to Israel indicates that the United States no longer supports Netanyahu, the Likud Party, and Israeli hardliners. Commentator Ali Bigdeli stated that the arrival of US and German officials and the CENTCOM commander in Israel suggests that growing dissatisfaction with Netanyahu's policies has shifted military command operations to other powers.
Bigdeli said, "Although the United States is known as Israel's biggest supporter, but the arrival of all these political and military figures in Israel shows that the White House no longer trusts Netanyahu."
He also added that "The United States will never allow Netanyahu to endanger long-term US interests in the region with his crazy adventurism which is aimed at taking revenge on Hamas."
One of the strangest opinions in the Iranian newspaper commentaries appeared in an article by Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of the Khamenei-controlled Kayhan. He argued, "Opening a new front against Israel by the region's resistance is inevitable," a stark contrast to Khamenei's claims about trying to contain conflicts.
