Not Supporting Gaza May Lead To Conflict With Israel In Iran - Official
A senior Iranian official has said it is a “duty” to help the people of Gaza, and warned otherwise Iran may face a threat within its borders from Israel.
A senior Iranian official has said it is a “duty” to help the people of Gaza, and warned otherwise Iran may face a threat within its borders from Israel.
The remarks by Hassan Moslemi Nayini, the اead of the Academic Center for Education, Culture, and Research, echo the rhetoric around Iran’s intervention in the Syrian civil war.
Back then Iranian officials justified their actions in the Syrian civil war by stating that failure to act there would result in a conflict within Iran.
In 2011, Iran intervened in Syria, sending thousands of fighters and weapons to support the government of Bashar al-Assad. The move was framed as a preventive measure against the rise of ISIS, which had gained ground in Syria and Iraq.
Qasem Soleimani, the former IRGC Quds Force Commander, played a significant role in Iran's intervention in Syria. Initially acting as an advisor, Soleimani later spearheaded a large-scale military involvement in the Syrian civil war, drawing criticism for involvement in civilian casualties.
Soleimani's death in a 2020 drone strike ordered by then-President Donald Trump heightened tensions between the United States and Iran. Since then, militant groups backed by Iran have attacked US bases in the region many times.
Iran supports groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, both with ties to Palestinian factions in Gaza. While Iran backs such groups, it denies direct involvement in recent events, including the October 7 terror attack that escalated the current crisis in the region.
A US Navy warship also shot down a suspected Houthi drone flying in its direction during the same incident, the official said. These incidents came after repeated threats issued by Houthi officials in the past two days.
Earlier on Wednesday, a Houthi official said his group possesses “formidable leverage” against countries that participate in a naval coalition in the Red Sea.
Mohammed Al Bukhaiti issued the threat after news emerged that the United States was discussing a naval coalition with 12 countries to protect shipping in the Red Sea. The Houthi official was speaking to Sama News, a Palestinian outlet.
Iran-backed Houthis have launched numerous attacks against commercial vessels in the strategically vital shipping lanes in retaliation for Israel’s military operation in Gaza.
On Tuesday, a senior official from Yemen's Houthis warned cargo ships in the Red Sea to avoid traveling toward Israel, after the group claimed an attack on a commercial tanker earlier in the day.
The Houthis earlier said they hit a Norwegian commercial tanker with a missile in their latest protest to Israel's bombardment of Gaza, underlining the risks of a conflict that has shaken the Middle East.
Al Arabiya has reported that according to a Pentagon official, the Biden administration is in talks with 12 allied countries to form a task force to secure the passage of commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
However, the Houthis mostly attack the vessels with missiles and drones and navies trying to protect the shipping lanes need to be able to shoot down every incoming projectile. This would not fully secure the right of safe passage, as long as Houthis are not deterred to seize their attacks.
Biden administration critics have argued for retaliation against Houthis and other Iranian backed militia forces in the region. Militant groups in Syria and Iraq have launched around 90 attacks so far against US bases, with a few US retaliatory strikes.
The US administration, however, seems to be relying more on diplomatic contacts to prevent the attacks. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani, condemning a recent attack on the US embassy in Baghdad, as well as the series of attacks on American personnel in Iraq and Syria.
An announcement by the State Department said, “The Secretary noted that the attacks are being carried out by militias who are acting with the support of Iran and undermining Iraq’s sovereignty and independence. They committed to remain in close contact over the coming days and weeks.”
The attacks in the Red Sea have overshadowed rocket and drone attacks against US forces. In addition to avoid heading toward Israel, which the Houthis referred to as "occupied Palestine", ships that pass Yemen should keep radios turned on, and quickly respond to Houthi attempts at communication, Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, head of Yemen's Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, said in a message on the X social media platform.
Al-Houthi also warned cargo ships against "falsifying their identity" or raising flags different from the country belonging to cargo ship owner.
The Iran-backed group attacked the tanker, the STRINDA, because it was delivering crude oil to an Israeli terminal and after its crew ignored all warnings, Houthi military spokesperson Yehia Sarea had previously said in a statement.
The Houthis have waded into the Israel-Hamas conflict - which has spread around the region - attacking vessels in vital shipping lanes and firing drones and missiles at Israel more than 1,000 miles from their seat of power in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.
Mostafa Niazazari, recently back in Iran, was a key figure in the Tabari network, named after Akbar Tabari, the Judiciary’s former Executive Vice President and Finance Director for over two decades. His network orchestrated a massive corruption and bribery scheme involving numerous officials, most of whom evaded accountability, as is often the case with individuals tied to the Islamic Republic. Transparency International ranked Iran 150th out of 180 countries in its 2021 Corruption Perception Index as one of the world's most corrupt countries.
Niazazari's return garnered significant coverage in Iran's state media, with one newspaper labeling him an "asset" of the Islamic Republic. The reformist daily Shargh quoted him as saying, "Ambiguities related to Mr. Tabari's case have been resolved, and obstacles to return have been eliminated."
Living in a $7-million mansion in Canada's West Vancouver since fleeing Iran during Tabari's investigation, Niazazari represents a pattern of Iranian officials seeking refuge in Canada for good or until they can safely return. His office in the same city is valued at $5 million.
Despite Canada’s measures to deny entry to officials of the Islamic Republic, the country remains one of the safe havens of regime officials who are at their low in their relations with the government in Trehan. Most of Ottawa’s restrictions do not lead to tangible results because the ban on regime officials “applies to those who were senior officials at any time from November 15, 2019, onwards,” limiting the punitive impact of the measure.
In 2019 and 2020, a wide-ranging investigation and trial implicated dozens of individuals in corruption schemes that took place during the tenure of former Judiciary chief, Sadegh Amoli Larijani, who was removed from his post in early 2019. The Larijani family enjoyed unparalleled power and influence for more than a decade. Another brother, Ali Larijani was Speaker of Iran’s parliament until May 2020. The case was perceived as a deliberate effort to undermine the Larijani family.
Ebrahim Raisi, then the new chief justice, ordered the arrest of Tabari in July 2019. In addition to his 31-year sentence for corruption and bribery, Tabari received 12 years of prison time for money laundering and 15 years for other crimes, giving a total of 58 years -- although according to law he will serve only 31 years. In June 2023, the judiciary announced that Tabari was released from prison after serving just 45 months after posting a bail equivalent to $6 million. In August, his sentence was revised to 12.5 years, and he returned to prison.
During the course of the case, Niazazari was convicted for smuggling two metric tons of gold into Iran as well as bribery. According to the prosecutor's office, Niazazari had reportedly given five lots of land totaling 15,000 square meters as well as three villas in the northern city of Babolsar to Tabari as a bribe. His father, Kiumars Niazazari, who was the head of the intelligence department in Mazandaran province from 2006 to 2016, was also arrested at the time.
Niazazari was first arrested in December 2011 at the age of 32 on charges of smuggling, money laundering, obtaining credit with fake documents, and bribery. He had established a cover company named Vizor, managed by his wife, in Dubai and had secured discounted foreign currency from the Central Bank of Iran on 31 occasions and transferred the funds to the company's account in the UAE, instead of spending the money on imports as he was supposed to.
When Tabari, using his money and connections, pulled some strings to sweep his case under the rug, Niazazari was acquitted of all charges and released.
The reduction of Tabari’s sentence to a fraction of his original prison term and a hero’s welcome for Niazazari suggest a recurring pattern of recycling financial corruption ringleaders by the Islamic Republic. Large-scale corruption cases in Iran tend to surface around election time, raising suspicions that authorities play these cases like chess moves to remove or empower certain candidates. Analyst Amirhadi Anvari referred to the recently revealed $3.5 billion embezzlement case of Debsh Tea Company as a means to purge political rivals through exposing their wrongdoing.
