Houthi Official Vows Solidarity With Militant Groups in Iraq, Syria

Minutes into Saturday (3 February) local time, US military hit more than 85 sites belonging to IRGC Quds Force and its allied armed groups, in retaliation for last weekend’s drone attack on a US base in Jordan which killed 3 American soldiers and wounded more than 30.

“‘This is the start of our response,” US secretary of defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement shortly after the attack.. “The President has directed additional actions to hold the IRGC and affiliated militias accountable for their attacks on U.S. and Coalition Forces. These will unfold at times and places of our choosing.”

More than 125 precision munitions were employed in the 30-minute attack, according to US Central Command. The targets included “command and control operations centers, intelligence centers,” and drone and missile storages belonging to “militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces.”

The operation was by far the biggest and most extensive attack against Iran and its proxies since last October. Its impact, however, is harder to gauge in the absence of reliable information. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor has claimed that at least 18 Iran-backed fighters have been killed in the strikes –their nationalities still unknown.

However, early Saturday, AlJazeera reported that IRGC Quds force had no base in the targeted areas, raising more questions about the merits of the operation after nearly a week of public chatter that can give potential targets enough notice to relocate or shelter.

“Unfortunately, the administration waited for a week and telegraphed to the world, including to Iran, the nature of our response,” US House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X. “Now is the time for President Biden to wake up to the reality that his policy of placating Iran has failed.”

Shortly after the airstrikes, President Biden reiterated that he doesn’t want a war with Iran. “But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this,” he added, if you harm an American, we will respond.”

Armed groups in Syria and Iraq, funded and trained by Iran, have launched more than 150 attacks against American soldiers since Israel began its onslaught against Gaza.

“Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups continue to represent a direct threat to the stability of Iraq, the region, and the safety of Americans,” CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla said Friday night. .” We will continue to take action, do whatever is necessary to protect our people, and hold those responsible who threaten their safety."

US officials told reporters that the Biden administration has no plans to bomb Iran, even though they believe that it had armed the groups behind the Tower 22 attack.

“The goal here is to get these attacks to stop,” US national security spokesperson John Kirby said. “We’re not looking for a war with Iran.”

Experts say the retaliatory strikes Friday night were clearly designed to minimize the risk of a direct confrontation between the US and Iran, while destroying the latter’s arsenal in Syria and Iraq. In the Congress, many are opposed –and have been opposed– to the idea of a cautious and limited response.

“Iran and its proxies have tried to kill American soldiers and sink our warships 165 times while the Biden administration congratulates itself for doing the bare minimum,” Senator Roger Wicker of the Armed Services Committee posted on X. “Instead of giving the Ayatollah the bloody nose it deserves, we continue to give him a slap on the wrist.”

But the director of operations of the Joint Staff Gen Sims, rejected the notion that the delay in response to the killing of American soldiers was to give Iran time to pull its forces out of danger. The targets of the retaliation, he pointed out, would have scattered as soon as their weapons had been fired, so the 5-day delay did not make much difference. But there were many reports by news agencies and local observers who noted Iran was pulling out top commanders and assets from potential target areas.

The 54-year-old was director general of Iran’s Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology. He entered Canada using a visa issued in Turkey.

Iranmanesh is one of nine alleged senior members of the Iranian regime who face possible deportation. He said in the hearing that he arrived in Canada on May 29, 2023, with the intention of conducting research at the University of Victoria for one year. The Canada Border Services Agency has said it was investigating 141 such cases. Thirty-eight have been closed without action.

At a hearing on January 11, Iranmanesh denied holding a senior position in the government, and said he wanted to return to Iran as soon as possible. In his testimony, he acknowledged working for the Iranian government since 2017. He admitted that he was the director general of administration of information technology at the Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology until 2020, and since then he has been a consultant working on contract.

The Canada Border Services Agency argued he “continues to be a high valued senior official” in the Iranian government and should be deported. Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada member Mary Heyes agreed, ruling that Iranmanaesh served in the top half of the hierarchy of the regime, and was therefore a senior official.

The Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology oversees operations of the Centre for Innovation and Technology Cooperation (CITC), which has been sanctioned by the United States and United Kingdom for supporting Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. “The Center for Innovation and Technology Cooperation is in a position to support a range of Iran’s weapons of mass destruction and military procurement objectives,” according to the US Treasury.

The strikes are believed to be just the first in a multi-tiered response by President Joe Biden's administration in response to the weekend attacks that were carried out by Iran-backed militants against a US base in Jordan.The attack over the weekend resulted in the death of three American service members and left more than 40 injured. Jordanian aircraft also joined the operation and were assigned targets.

Tasnim news agency, affiliated with Iran's IRGC, reported that the several people have been killed in the attacks. Al-Jazeera said that 10 people have been killed and at least 18 people are injured in the attacks. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 18 members of Iran-backed groups were killed and that the airstrikes destroyed 26 positions sheltering Iranian militias in Al-Mayadeen and Al-Bokamal near borders between Syria and Iraq, in addition to airstrikes targeting positions near Deir Ezzor City.

A senior administration official told CNN the United States will not strike inside Iran – only focusing on targets outside of the country.

US CENTCOM has confirmed the attacks have begun, saying the airstrikes have targeted Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups.

"The airstrikes employed more than 125 precision munitions. The facilities that were struck included command and control operations, centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aired vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against US and Coalition forces," CENTCOM said.

The White House said in a statement that US military forces struck targets at facilities in Iraq and Syria that the IRGC and affiliated militia use to attack US forces. "Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing," read the statement.

"The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: If you harm an American, we will respond."

Syrian state media also said that an 'American aggression' on a number of sites on Syria's desert areas and the Syrian and Iraqi border resulted in a number of casualties and injuries. There are also reports that the attacks are not limited to Syria.

The report came as B-1 bombers have left Lakenheath Air Base in Britain for a mission in the Middle East, a Pentagon official told Sky News Arabia, amid reports on an imminent US airstrike against the positions of Iran-backed militants in Iraq and Syria.

US defense officials said a combat strike mission involving several B-1B "Lancer" heavy bombers is currently enroute toward the Middle East alongside KC-135 Aerial-Refueling Tankers from RAF Lakenheath in the UK, which will accompany the bombers for their transit towards US Central Command’s Area-of-Responsibility.

The Pentagon had said it did not want war with Iran and did not believe Tehran wanted war either, even as Republican pressure increased on Biden to deal a blow directly against Iran.

The Revolutionary Guards have scaled back deployment of their senior officers in Syria due to a spate of deadly Israeli strikes and will rely more on allied Shiite militia to preserve their sway there.

According to Iran's Customs statistics, the country's non-oil exports have declined by 10.7 percent year-on-year, reaching $40.47 billion during the first ten months of the current fiscal year, which began on March 21, 2023. In contrast, imports have increased by 12 percent to $54.4 billion, resulting in a non-oil trade imbalance of about $14 billion.

With Iranian oil exports sanctioned by the United States since 2018, and far less than their 2017 level, non-oil products play a larger role in securing much-needed foreign currency revenues for the country.

China, the UAE, Iraq, Turkey, and India are Iran's primary trade partners. Except for the UAE, which primarily re-exports Iranian goods, the remaining four partners have significantly reduced their imports of Iranian goods in 2023. China, for example, decreased its imports of Iranian non-oil products by 28 percent to $4.58 billion, while its exports to Iran increased by 8.6 percent to over $10 billion, according to China's Customs statistics.

China hasn’t taken any direct Iranian oil since 2020 and doesn’t acknowledge any Iranian oil imports in its Customs’ statistics. But according to Kpler’s data, seen by Iran International, Chinese independent small refineries, called teapots, imported about 1.2 million barrels per day of Iran’s crude oil and gas condensate, re-branded mostly as Malaysian oil.

Turkey's Statistics Center also reported a 33 percent decline in imports from Iran, largely due to a reduction in natural gas imports. Turkey has drastically reduced its Iranian gas imports since July 2023, with average daily imports declining by 67 percent year-on-year to 10 million cubic meters.

India's official statistics also show a 7 percent decline in imports from Iran, while Iraq and the UAE have not published any statistics. However, according to Iran's Customs data, exports to Iraq decreased by 14 percent to $7.7 billion, while exports to the UAE increased by 8 percent to $5.2 billion.

Iran's Custom statistics reveal that the country exported $29.9 billion worth of crude oil, gas condensate, and mazut during the first ten months of the current Iranian fiscal year. Despite efforts to bypass US sanctions, including offering heavy discounts to Chinese refineries, Iran's oil revenues fell short, with an estimated $6 billion wasted.

Additionally, Iran's service exports amounted to $780 million during this period, significantly lower than previous years, where it reached around $4 billion annually. Iran typically experiences a negative balance in its trade services, amounting to approximately $7 billion.

In total, Iran's non-oil, and service trade balance appeared to be positive at $10 billion during the mentioned period. However, the country also faces significant capital flight, with the Central Bank reporting a negative net capital account of $15 billion for the previous Iranian year, indicating a substantial outflow of foreign currencies from the country.

The Treasury also said on Friday that it had imposed sanctions on six officials of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp's Cyber Electronic Command for malicious cyber activities against critical infrastructure in the United States and elsewhere.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the key procurement network of suppliers of materials and sensitive technology for Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programs, including the Shahed-series UAV produced by Iran’s Shahed Aviation Industries Research Center (SAIRC).

On Friday, OFAC designated four entities that have functioned as covert procurement intermediaries for Hamed Dehghan and Pishtazan Kavosh Gostar Boshra (PKGB), both OFAC-designated individuals actively supporting various Iranian military organizations, including the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).

In addition, OFAC also designated another Hong Kong-based front company involved in selling hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of Iranian commodities for the benefit of the IRGC's extraterritorial Qods Force (IRGC-QF).

“Iran’s continued proliferation of its advanced conventional weapons, including the UAVs and missiles that target US soldiers, remains a critical threat to the stability of the region,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.

“The deliberate targeting of critical infrastructure by Iranian cyber actors is an unconscionable and dangerous act,” Nelson added.