Israel Attacks Suspected Iranian Targets Near Damascus

Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi were arrested six months ago for coverage relating to the controversial death of the young Iranian-Kurd, who died in morality police custody, sparking months of nationwide protests.

The Nieman Fellows Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University honored the journalists, who worked for Shargh and Hammihan respectively, for their “steadfast commitment to producing courageous journalism”.

“Hamedi and Mohammadi put their livelihoods and lives on the line, and lost their freedom in the process,” said the statement. “They knew the grave risks they might face but remained committed to telling Amini’s story. Journalists in Iran are risking their lives on a daily basis to report on the conditions and oppression there.”

Since the protests began around 70 journalists have been arrested and many others warned about their coverage of dissent and their public comments.

The Nieman Fellows will honor Hamedi and Mohammadi in absentia during a ceremony this spring.

The Nieman class of 1964 established the Louis M. Lyons Award in honor of the Nieman Foundation curator who retired that year after leading the institution for a quarter of a century. Lyons was a forceful advocate for freedom of the press.

The two Iranians join a long list of over 1,700 journalists from 100 countries to have been awarded Nieman Fellowships since 1938.

National security council secretary Ali Shamkhani was the first official tasked by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to travel to China in early March and sign an agreement with Saudi Arabia to restore diplomatic relations. This was followed by Khamenei’s foreign policy advisor Kamal Kharrazi and former nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi traveling to Syria and Lebanon last week.

These missions did not escape the attention of local commentators who noted the absence of the foreign ministry in these high-level diplomatic initiatives.

However, Kharrazi tried to dispel criticisms on Tuesday saying there was full coordination among the regime’s institutions.

Shamkhani also visited the United Arab Emirates and Iraq this month to sort out some other issues with those countries. Kharrazi, the Chairman of the Strategic Council of Foreign Relations, a council of former diplomats that reports directly to Khamenei, said at the end of his missions to Damascus and Beirut that those who see the involvement of Khamenei's aides in foreign policy as lack of coordination did not know anything about how Iran's foreign policy works.

He called his missions to Syria and Lebanon "successful," without providing any information about the purpose of the visits. He added that doubting the foreign ministry's efficiency is not in the interest of Iran's foreign relations. Kharrazi reassurance about "coordination" contradicted the latest news about the appointment of former deputy commander of the IRGC's Qods Force Hossein Akbari as Iran's ambassador To Syria.

Former diplomat Ghasem Mohebali told Entekhab news website in Tehran Tuesday that the current situation has occurred because Amir-Abdollahian is not a political figure at national level.

Despite explanations by Kharrazi, many Iranian politicians believe that the foreign ministry has been side-lined during the past weeks. According to Mohebali, former Foreign Minister Javad Zarif had warned against the intervention of economic and security officials in foreign policy.

Mohebali said that "decisions about foreign relations and security in Iran are usually made at a place other than the cabinet,” implicitly referring to Khamenei.

He said it is a known fact that whenever foreign ministry experts are undermined or undercut, parallel organizations begin to make decisions and that is what is happening now. "First they took the nuclear issue off the foreign ministry's hands, and gradually they are taking over the ministry's other responsibilities."

Meanwhile, another former diplomat, Fereydoun Majlesi, told Rouydad24 news website that "currently, Iran's foreign policy is being determined by fundamentalist hardliners, but ideology always makes diplomacy difficult."

He charged that Iran’s foreign relations problems have been created by strongly biased individuals who act beyond every previously declared ideal. He further added that this has also affected Iran's relations with Saudi Arabia.

"It was not Iran that made the agreement with Saudi Arabia. In fact, China and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as countries such as Iraq, Qatar, the UAE, Oman…were also involved in the political dynamic that led to the agreement," Majlesi said.

He added that perhaps some countries outside the region such as Japan, South Korea and even the United States were also involved. However, the deal was more important for Tehran than the others as it is under the pressure of sanctions and is struggling to come out of the deadlock where it is entangled. China wants safe routes for its energy and trade and likewise, the United States also wants the area to be calm and regional states also benefit from this détente.

"Iran has realized that the ideals of the Islamic revolution are not in conflict with economic necessities. It was hostage taking and war and the ensuing tensions that caused trouble for Iran." Majlesi concluded: "The economic difficulties including rising inflation cannot be solved without a revision of the statesmen's political views. They will inevitably force the officials to make compromises and come to terms with others. This was the same solution that ended the cold war."

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on an official visit to Moscow amid expanding military cooperation and supplies of Iranian weapons for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The chief Iranian diplomat said that talks mainly focused on economic and security ties.

At a joint press conference on Wednesday, the Iranian top diplomat stated that various avenues of relations between the two countries including economic, commercial, political, cultural, security and defense have been fully discussed.

Amir-Abdollahian further expressed readiness to sign a long-term agreement between Moscow and Tehran.

Iran and Russia had a long-term cooperation agreement signed in 2001 and renewed once for a ten-year period that lapsed in 2021. Iran has been frequently declaring that a new and more comprehensive deal will be signed, but so far Moscow has not taken action to kick off the process of talks leading to a final treaty.

The Iranian foreign minister also added that the deputy foreign ministers of the Islamic Republic, Russia, Syria and Turkey will hold a meeting in Moscow next week.

“Its main goal is to bring the views of Turkey and Syria closer. Tehran and Moscow will do their best to see this happen. If a framework is determined in the talks, the next round of the meeting can be held at the level of foreign ministers,” noted Amir-Abdollahian.

Regarding attacks on American bases in Syria last week and US retaliation, he noted that “there have been incidents in the region and unfortunately, the Americans made baseless accusations saying the attacks were launched by Iran-affiliated groups. Americans made hasty judgments before providing no documents to prove their claim. We are not looking for conflict and tension. Iran has always played a constructive role and our response to the American side was clear and decisive in the events east of the Euphrates.”

US warplanes launched retaliatory air strikes against drone and rocket attacks targeting US bases in northeastern Syria launched by proxy forces controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, the IRGC, last Thursday and Friday.

The Pentagon and the Biden administration, while reiterating their determination to defend US personnel, emphasized that they were careful in their military strikes to minimize loss of any Iranian lives and collateral damage.

Iran’s foreign minister, referring to tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan, emphasized that Tehran rejects any geopolitical change in the region and believes that different parties should be involved to resolve issues through dialogue and political solution.

Elsewhere in his statements, Amir-Abdollahian stressed that he will meet with the Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud soon reminding that some differences in views are normal, but it does not prevent the reopening of embassies and consulates.

After seven years of soured political relations, Iran and Sadi Arabia signed a deal earlier this month brokered by China to resume times and open embassies in the respective capitals.

Regarding the war in Ukraine, the Iranian foreign minister said Iran welcomes the idea of the Chinese President XI Jinping regarding world peace and security.

“We welcome any initiative that leads to sustainable peace and security in the region and the world. It is important to take action in this framework,” he noted.

XI has offered to mediate between Russia and Ukraine to end the war, but Western powers have dismissed the offer, which could prolong Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian territory.

Gen. Mohammad-Reza Naghdi, the coordinating deputy to IRGC commander Hossein Salami, in a speech on Wednesday stressed that Iran needs to rely on its internal capabilities instead of counting on economic improvement through negotiations. He was referring to nuclear talks with the United States and its allies that could lift sanctions and offer the battered economy a lifeline.

Naghdi also repeated criticism by other hardliners that former President Hassan Rouhani linked the fate of the country to negotiations with the West.

Iran’s economy entered a long-lasting crisis after 2018 when former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal known as the JCPOA and imposed sanctions.

Naghdi also urged Iranians to obey Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to achieve a better future. Last week, clerics loyal to Iran’s 83-year-old ruler also praised him as God’s representative and urged obedience.

Anti-regime protests that began last September in Iran were largely directed against Khamenei, who is seen by many as dictating policy at every level and responsible for increasing poverty in the country. Most Iranians are in favor of talks with the West and yearn for the lifting of sanctions to improve their lives.

Protesters also want social and political freedoms and see Khamenei as the leader of hardliners who control the authoritarian government.

Developments during the past few days show that the Iranian regime is infuriated by the growing ties between Israel and regional countries and is trying to take advantage of the protests in Israel to strike blows. 

As Israel opened its embassy in Azerbaijan on Wednesday, Baku’s State Security Service announced that it was investigating "a terror attack" that injured lawmaker Fazil Mustafa, known for his strong anti-Iranian views. He has been hospitalized after receiving wounds to his shoulder and thigh after being shot with a Kalashnikov assault rifle Tuesday night. 

Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran, which has a large population of ethnic Azeris in its northwest, have been strained in recent months after Baku announced plans to open formal diplomatic ties with Israel. In January, Azerbaijan closed its embassy in Tehran after what it called a "terrorist attack" that killed the embassy's head of security.

Moreover, Greek police said Tuesday they had arrested two men from a group that was planning to attack an Israeli restaurant in Athens, a case which Israel said was orchestrated from Iran. The two men, 27 and 29 years old, are Iranian born with Pakistani background. Israel's intelligence service Mossad, which aided Greek authorities with intelligence on the terrorist operation, said, "The investigation exposed that the operation in Greece was part of a vast Iranian network, operated from Iran across many countries."

During the joint press conference after the meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov on Wednesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said, “Iran is a regional threat... Israel and Azerbaijan must share the same understanding regarding the Iranian threat. Iran threats our region, and creates non-stability in the Middle East by supporting and financing terrorism. We should jointly act against Iran. We should not allow Iran to expand its nuclear opportunities.”

In an online conference with other foreign ministers on Tuesday Cohen said, "Iran's involvement in the war in Ukraine is a wake-up call for democracies across the globe." Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the foreign ministers of France, the Czech Republic, Argentina, Zambia, Liberia, Malawi, Japan and Italy were also attending the meeting.

Also on Tuesday, the spokesman of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) called on Palestinians to take advantage of ongoing protests in Israel to destabilize the country. Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif said that “the occupied territories are the scene of confrontation of a movement within the Zionist regime that wants to stand against the totalitarianism of another wing. This is a golden opportunity for the Palestinian fighters to take advantage of the situation.”

Iranian officials have rejoiced at the political dispute over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's effort to overhaul the country's judicial system, with hardliner media, mostly controlled by the IRGC, publishing daily articles about a "looming civil war" in Israel and predicting its demise in the near future.

Earlier in the month, Israel’s National Security Council released a statement, cautioning Passover travelers over the possibility of being incidentally harmed in Iranian plots abroad. This year, the holidays – starting on April 5 – coincides with the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which usually sees a surge in terrorist attacks by extremist Islamists. 

Israel’s National Security Council claims the Tehran will continue its attempts to harm Israelis around the world, especially in the countries near Iran in broader West Asia. It emphasized that Iran and its proxies present a particular threat in the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Bahrain, as well as Iraq’s Kurdistan region, where Israelis are prohibited to enter according to Israel’s own laws. 

During the past two years, Israel foiled attacks organized by the IRGC-affiliated agents in Georgia, Turkey, Cyprus and more, the statement read. 

In June 2022, Turkish forces foiled an attempt by Iran's intelligence agents to kill Israelis in Istanbul, arresting eight men. Also in June, security forces in Thailand reportedly thwarted a plot by an Iranian agent to establish a terror cell in the country and carry out attacks against Israelis. In October 2021, Israel said that an Iranian plot against an Israeli businessmen in Cyprus was foiled.

The decades-long shadow war between Iran and Israel across the Middle East and beyond is not so covert anymore, with both countries becoming more vocal – yet tactical -- about their activities against each other.

Since July 2020, a series of spectacular attacks began against Iran’s well-defended nuclear and weapons development sites, as well as key individuals, such as top nuclear official Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in November 2020. Hackings, mysterious fires, sinking of ships and disruption of infrastructure continued until the daylight assassination of a key official, Colonel Hassan Sayyad-Khodaei on May 22, 2022, in Tehran. The man was reportedly the commander of a secretive unit tasked with terror operations abroad.