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New drones handed over to Iranian Army

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran Drone

The strategic, long-range drones were handed over during ceremonies in several locations in Iran on Thursday.

Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army Seyyed Abdolrahim Mousavi and Defense Minister Mohammadreza Qarayi were among the high-ranking officials who were present at the ceremonies.

The drones were designed by the Defense Ministry in collaboration with the Army and cover a range of missions including surveillance, anti-radar, combat, aerial tracking, and operations against mobile and fixed targets.

The drones are mounted with air-to-air, air-to-surface, and smart missiles, and electronic warfare equipment and have stealth capabilities.

The collaboration between the Army and the Defense Ministry to develop the drones was meant to meet Army demands for drones that can operate in missions involving more distant targets.

Turkish FM says opposition may draw country into Russia-Ukraine war if wins elections

By
IFP Media Wire
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Russia Ukraine War

“We are currently pursuing a well-balanced policy (in relation to the situation in Ukraine) … What’s in it for us to support a certain side and become a party to the conflict? And those who say ‘we should pick a certain side and tip the balance,’ will draw our country into the war, if they come to power,” Cavusoglu stated during his visit to the Turkish city of Manavgat on Wednesday.

The top diplomat added that Turkey is not “a pawn” in the games of other countries, but a sovereign state that “makes its own rules.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said in late March that Ankara would not allow the West to drag it into hostilities against Russia.

Meanwhile, the Turkish opposition itself is confident that it will be able to maintain good and balanced relations with Russia if its presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu comes to power, although it will not forget that Turkey is a NATO member, Unal Cevikoz, foreign policy adviser to Kilicdaroglu, told Sputnik in March.

Turkey’s Supreme Election Commission has unanimously approved May 14 as the date for the 2023 presidential election. A second round of voting, if necessary, is scheduled for May 28. Erdogan has been nominated as a presidential candidate by the ruling Justice and Development Party supported by the allied Nationalist Movement Party, while Kilicdaroglu has been declared the single candidate of the opposition People’s Alliance.

Results of pre-election polls are constantly changing and have not yet revealed an unquestionable favorite in the upcoming election. However, experts note that the current electoral process will be the most difficult for the ruling party, due to the devastating earthquakes that claimed the lives of over 50,000 people, as well as the difficult economic situation.

Watchdog warns US money could be diverting to Taliban

By
IFP Media Wire
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Taliban

“Unfortunately, as I sit here today I cannot assure this committee or the American taxpayer, we are not currently funding the Taliban,” John Sopko, the Special Inspector for Afghanistan Reconstruction, testified to the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.

“Nor can I assure you that the Taliban are not diverting the money we are sending for the intended recipients, which are the poor Afghan people,” he added.

The stunning disclosure by Sopko comes as House Republicans are using the power of their new majority to hold the Biden administration accountable over its handling of the chaotic US withdrawal in August 2021.

It also comes a week after the White House publicly released a 12-page summary of the results of the so-called “hotwash” of US policies around the ending of the nation’s longest war, taking little responsibility for its own actions and asserting that President Joe Biden was “severely constrained” by former President Donald Trump’s decisions.

Republicans, who have called Biden’s handling of Afghanistan a “catastrophe,” and a “stunning failure of leadership,” criticized the review and after-action reports conducted by the State Department and the Pentagon as partisan. The White House privately transmitted the reports to Congress last week but they remain highly classified and will not be released publicly.

Sopko initially started the job in 2012 to oversee US spending in Afghanistan when there was a large American presence in the country. But since the withdrawal, the work of the IG has shifted to monitoring the more than $8 billion dedicated to Afghanistan. The lack of US military presence in the country has made keeping track of the large sums of money flowing into the country nearly impossible, Sopko continued.

He testified Wednesday to Congress that work is more complicated by the fact that the State Department and US Agency for International Development have not been cooperating with his probe since withdrawal and asked for lawmakers’ help in getting access to the necessary documents and testimony.

“We cannot abide a situation in which agencies are allowed to pick and choose what information an IG gets, or who an IG can interview, or what an IG may report on,” Sopko said in his opening testimony, adding, “If permitted to continue, it will end SIGAR’s work in Afghanistan but also Congress’s access to independent and credible oversight of any administration.”

Sopko, who previously served in oversight roles in the House and Senate, testified that he had never seen this level of “obfuscation and delay” from any of the other previous administrations.

Republicans were quick to join in Sopko’s criticism of the administration. Even one Democrat on the committee, Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., said that he regretted the agencies’ refusal to cooperate.

“I’m going to go on the record and urge all three of those agencies today to cooperate more so that we might not be in a position of hearing what we’ve heard today or in a position of frustration like I am right now,” Mfume told Sopko during the hearing.

The White House on Wednesday called the hearing, led by Oversight Chairman James Comer, another example of House Republicans’ “political stunts.”

“You can expect they will continue to falsely claim that the Biden Administration has ‘obstructed’ oversight — despite the fact that we have provided thousands of pages of documents, analyses, spreadsheets, and written responses to questions, as well as hundreds of briefings to bipartisan Members and staff and public congressional testimony by senior officials, all while consistently providing updates and information to numerous inspectors general,” Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the White House counsel’s office, stated in a statement.

A spokesperson for USAID noted Wednesday that the agency “has consistently provided SIGAR responses to hundreds of questions, as well as thousands of pages of responsive documents, analyses, and spreadsheets describing dozens of programs that were part of the US government’s reconstruction effort in Afghanistan.”

Since the withdrawal, SIGAR has released several reports, nearly all of them critical of both Biden and Trump’s handling of how to remove US troops from Afghanistan in its final months.

Over the past two years, Sopko stated his staff has requested numerous documents and interviews with officials who were involved in the withdrawal but had been stonewalled. He added those requests involved information about the evacuation and resettlement of Afghan nationals as well as ongoing humanitarian aid and questions about whether that assistance might be transferred to the Taliban.

“It sounds like you’re a Republican member of Congress because Republican members of Congress send letters over to the administration and we don’t get answers either,” Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., told Sopko during his testimony.

Despite the so-called stonewalling, Sopko said that he and his agents have been able to compile interviews with around 800 current and former US employees who were involved both in the war in Afghanistan and the withdrawal.

“I think we had more sources in Afghanistan than all the other IGs combined and the GAO. So we’re still trying to get that information, but the best information, like actual contract data, and actually the names of people is best and it should by law come from State and AID,” Sopko continued.

Iran’s Raisi says mere condemnations of Israel not enough

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi

Speaking at an iftar event with ambassadors and charge d’affaires from Islamic countries in Tehran on Wednesday night, President Raisi said “mere condemnations and expressions of resentment” were not enough and added, “Today, Muslim nations expect action against the criminalities of the Zionist regime and in support of the oppressed nation of Palestine.”

He repeated the Islamic Republic’s proposal of staging a referendum in which all Palestinian people would decide about their own fate.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Raisi said the main reason behind insecurity in Syria was the presence of the US and its allies in the Middle Eastern country.

Turning to Afghanistan, he said two decades of US war and occupation had resulted in deaths and destruction but now was the time for the Afghan people to see their own wills realized.

President Raisi also said that the current level of trade between Islamic countries was not adequate and said ambassadors were expected to work with their capitals to increase trade ties.

Before Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said in brief remarks that the foreign policy of the current administration was to prioritize relations with neighbors and fellow-Islamic countries and that Iran welcomed further initiatives toward that purpose.

Israeli general says Tel Aviv wary as Tehran’s military might has grown ‘hundred-fold’

By
IFP Media Wire
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Iran National Army Day

Brick was cited by the Arabic-language Rai al-Youm newspaper as saying on Wednesday that the Israeli military had decided in 2009 to launch a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities after the regime allocated a four-billion-dollar budget for the aggression.

He stated that the attack did not materialize because Israeli military leaders had reached an inevitable conclusion that the strike, if successful, would disrupt the Iranian nuclear program for a period of several months at most, and on the other hand, Iran’s counterstrike would cause great losses and many victims for Israel, so they decided not to go ahead with the attack.

“The operation itself, even if the United States of America participates in it, will result in the disruption of the Iranian nuclear program for several months, no more, but what is more dangerous than that is that we will be attacked by thousands of missiles daily, which will cause absolute destruction, which we did not expect, nor our ancestors expected it,” the former Israeli military commander continued.

Their ability to strike “has increased by hundreds of times from their ability in 2009, and especially, the ability they now enjoy to bomb Israel with long-range missiles,” he added.

Brick said the Iranian missiles are capable of carrying out a strategic attack against Israel and that these missiles have the capability to launch a “fatal military strike against Israel and cause massive damage to the Israeli infrastructure and vital installations, and heavy losses, which will take us many years back.”

Stressing that the successive Israeli cabinets have become addicted to issuing “absurd threats,” the former military commander added, “If you make empty threats and do not implement what is stated in them, then in the eyes of others you will turn into a barking dog that doesn’t bite.”

Addressing a parade to mark National Army Day in Tehran on Tuesday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi strongly warned the apartheid Israeli regime against taking even the slightest action against the Islamic Republic, saying Iran would react to such a move with “destruction of Haifa and Tel Aviv.”

“The enemies, especially the Zionist regime (Israel), have received this message that the slightest move against the country will evoke a severe response from the armed forces and will be accompanied by the destruction of Haifa and Tel Aviv,” Raeisi said.

He also added that the message of Iran’s Army and Armed Forces to the US troops is that they must leave the region as soon as possible.

Iranian officials have previously condemned Israel’s threat to use military force against the country’s military, non-military and vital infrastructure, stressing that Tehran will not hesitate to respond decisively to any threat or wrongful action by the Tel Aviv regime.

Dozens killed, hundreds injured in Yemen stampede

By
IFP Media Wire
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Yemen stampede

The stampede happened late on Wednesday as hundreds of people crowded into a school in Sanaa in the hope of getting a charitable donation of about $10 that was being handed out by merchants to mark the final days of Ramadan.

Footage broadcast by the Houthis’ Al Masirah TV channel showed bodies packed together, with people climbing on top of each other to try and make their way through.

Many had their mouths covered by other people’s hands, the rest of their bodies engulfed by the dense crowd, the footage showed.

Separate photos released by the Houthis, who control the capital, showed bloodstains, shoes and victims’ clothing scattered on the ground with investigators were seen examining the area.

At least 78 people have been killed in the stampede in Sanaa, according to Houthi officials.

More than 300 people were hurt, the AFP news agency reported, citing a Houthi security official. At least 73 of the injured were taken to the al-Thowra Hospital in Sanaa, according to hospital deputy director Hamdan Bagheri, with families rushing to hospitals to try and find their loved ones.

The Ministry of Interior’s spokesperson Brig Abdel-Khaleq al-Aghri has described the incident as “tragic” blaming the “random distribution” of funds without coordination with local authorities.

A new UN report says millions of Yemenis are now facing hunger. The UN has described the situation in Yemen as the world’s “worst humanitarian crisis,” caused by seven years of war and a tight siege launched by Riyadh and its regional allies against the poor Middle Eastern country.

More than 21 million people in Yemen, or two-thirds of the country’s population, need assistance and protection, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the US and other Western states, launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015.

The war has stopped well short of all of its goals, despite killing hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and turning the entire country into the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has warned that over 25.5 million Yemenis are living beneath the poverty line due to the repercussions of the Saudi-led war in the impoverished country.

The UN migration agency announced that seven years of war in Yemen also caused the displacement of more than 4 million people in the country.

US imposes more Iran sanctions over military programs

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Iran Drone

The US Treasury Department in a statement on Wednesday said the sanctions targeted Mehdi Khoshghadam, who heads Pardazan System Namad Arman (PASNA), an Iranian company already under US sanctions, in addition to six entities in Iran and elsewhere.

The Treasury accused Khoshghadam of leading a “sanctions evasion network” by using PASNA’s front companies to procure electronic components from foreign suppliers, mostly based in China.

The statement claimed that the network had facilitated Iran’s procurement of electronic components for its military programs, including those used in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Three China-based suppliers of PASNA were targeted in Wednesday’s action alongside a Hong Kong-based company, a Malaysia-based front company and one based in Iran.

“The network sanctioned today has procured goods and technology for the Iranian government and its defense industry and UAV program,” Brian Nelson, the Treasury’s undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, claimed in the statement.

The sanctions freeze any US assets of those targeted and generally bar Americans from dealing with them.

Last month, the Treasury Department sanctioned four entities and three individuals over their alleged involvement in a procurement network that purportedly supported Iran’s drone program.

Iran’s drone industry has made tremendous headway over the past couple of years, with its latest achievements put on display during Tuesday’s parade marking National Army Day.

The new wave of sanctions comes amid US accusations that the Islamic Republic provided Russia with drones to be used against Ukraine.

The Islamic Republic has, however, emphatically rejected Washington’s allegations, saying it has not sold any weapons and drones to be used in the war against Ukraine.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in November last year said Iran provided Russia with a limited number of drones, but the delivery happened months before the war broke out in Ukraine.

Experts believe the growing military prowess of Iran, especially in the drone industry, has rattled the US and its Western allies.

In February, Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Gharaei Ashtiani stated a significant surge has been recorded in the production and export of defense equipment this year, compared to the previous year.

Today, as US officials also acknowledge, Iran is a global leader not only in manufacturing drones but other military equipment as well, which was on display during Tuesday’s parade in Tehran.

Spring migration of Fars Province nomadic clans

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Photo of the Day
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Iranian dark comedy ‘World War III’ wins top prize at Turkish film festival

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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World War III

During the closing ceremony of the event, director of the movie, Houman Seyyedi, received the award granted to his work of art in the international completion sector of the festival.

Starring Mohsen Tanabandeh, Mahsa Hejazi, Neda Jebraeili and Navid Nosrati, the film was also selected as the Iran entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards.

World War III features the story of a day laborer who, after being cast in a movie, has to secretly shelter his lover on the set or else risk losing her and all that movie stardom could bring him.

Russia’s “Special Operation” in Ukraine; Day 421: NATO’s chief makes surprise visit to Kyiv

By
IFP Media Wire
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NATO Chief

Now is the time for Ukraine to join NATO: Zelensky

President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was time for NATO to take the political decision to invite Ukraine to join the military alliance.

“I am grateful for the invitation to visit the summit, but it is also important for Ukraine to receive the corresponding invitation,” he told reporters.

“There is not a single objective barrier to the political decision to invite Ukraine into the alliance and now, when most people in NATO countries and the majority of Ukrainians support NATO accession, is the time for the corresponding decisions,” the president added.

Ukraine’s future lies in NATO: Alliance chief

Ukraine’s future lies in NATO, the alliance’s chief Jens Stoltenberg, said during his first visit to wartime Ukraine.

“Let me be clear: Ukraine’s rightful place is in the euro-Atlantic family. Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO. And over time, our support will help you to make this possible,” Stoltenberg told reporters during a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.

Stoltenberg pledged continued military support for Ukraine, saying NATO allies had trained tens of thousands of troops and provided 65 billion euros ($71.31bn) of military aid alone.

“NATO stands with you today, tomorrow and for as long as it takes,” Stoltenberg stated before inviting Zelensky to the NATO summit in Vilnius in July.

Switzerland expands Russia sanctions list, adding Wagner group and Russian news agency RIA

Switzerland is extending its list of sanctions relating to Russia to include the Wagner private military group and state news agency, RIA, as Western allies hit the country with bans designed to isolate it from the global economy.

In a statement on Thursday, the Swiss Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) justified that it is sanctioning the Wagner group for “their active involvement in Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine” and RIA for its “dissemination of pro-government propaganda and disinformation.”

“Switzerland is adopting the sanctioning of these two organizations and thus strengthens the effect of the EU (European Union) measures,” the EAER statement outlined.

Switzerland broke its neutrality status quo shortly after Russia’s war on Ukraine began by adopting the EU’s sanction package against Russia. On Wednesday, Swiss President Alain Berset said the country is taking the implementation of sanctions “seriously” and is “doing everything that can be done in order to enforce them.”

Switzerland also updated its stance on broadcasters RT Arabic and Sputnik Arabic, which the EU placed under a broadcasting and advertising ban on April 10. The EAER announced that the broadcasting of the two channels would not be banned in Switzerland; however, advertising on the two channels is now forbidden.

Russia showed surprising resilience to unprecedented Western sanctions in the first year of the war. However, cracks started to appear after President Vladimir Putin last month conceded that the restrictions could deal a blow to the country’s economy.

The sanctions have also contributed to Russia’s military decline, cutting off access to certain military systems needed to operate weapons.

NATO chief makes unannounced visit to Ukraine’s Kyiv

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Thursday, Ukrainian media reported.

Several Ukrainian media published images of the NATO chief in central Kyiv at a memorial for fallen soldiers.

Any weapons supplies to Ukraine to be considered as anti-Russian move: Moscow

Moscow considers any supplies of weapons to Ukraine as an openly hostile anti-Russian move, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday, commenting on South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol‘s statements on possible deliveries of South Korean weapons to Ukraine.

“Russia is conducting defensive military operations against the collective West, which has chosen the puppet regime in Kiev as an instrument of its hybrid proxy war against us. In this situation, we will consider any supplies of weapons to Ukraine, wherever they might come from, as an openly hostile anti-Russian move,” she stressed.

“Such steps will negatively impact bilateral relations with those states that take them and will be taken into account when elaborating Russia’s positions on issues concerning core security interests of the relevant countries. As for South Korea, it might be about the approaches to the settlement of the situation on the Korean Peninsula,” she said.

She recalled that Russian forces deliver high-precision strikes solely at military targets, not at civil infrastructure facilities.

“As for concerns about victims among civilians, regrettably, this is a reality Donbass residents were faced with back in 2014 as a result of the aggression by the junta which seized power in Kiev. It was one of the key causes of the current crisis. We have seen no compassion for these numerous victims from the collective West, including Seoul,” Zakharova stressed.

Denmark and Netherlands to donate 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine

Denmark and the Netherlands have jointly agreed to “acquire, refurbish and donate” 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks for Ukraine, as Western allies increase efforts to bolster Kyiv’s military ammunition amid dwindling supplies.

“The Leopard 2 tanks will be supplied to Ukraine from early 2024, as part of our long-term commitment to Ukraine. The estimated cost of 165 million euros will be equally divided between our nations. In this way, we will jointly take part in the ‘Leopard 2 coalition’, supported by many partners and allies,” the countries defense ministries said in a joint statement on Thursday.

Denmark and the Netherlands previously agreed along with Germany to supply more than 100 Leopard 1 battle tanks to Ukraine by spring 2024.

“Our two nations will continue to explore other possible areas for joint procurement of additional capabilities with the aim of supporting Ukraine. We are determined to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. Ukraine must be able to defend itself against Russia’s invasion,” the joint statement continued.

Leopard 2 tanks are seen as a vital, modern military vehicle that would strengthen Kyiv’s forces because they are fuel efficient, and have relatively low-maintenance demands compared to other models, leading experts to believe the tanks could help Ukraine quickly.

Air raid alerts reported across Ukraine

Air raid alerts went into force Wednesday night across several parts of Ukraine, according to the Kyiv Regional Military Administration.

The administration announced that an “air target was detected in the sky” and that “air defense forces are ready.”

A series of flashes and an apparent explosion in the air some distance from the capital can be seen in social media video.

Air raid alerts were triggered for Kyiv city and the region, Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions.

US State Department announces $325 million in new assistance for Ukraine

The United States is pledging an additional $325 million security assistance package to Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Wednesday.

The package “includes more ammunition for U.S.-provided HIMARS and artillery rounds, as well as anti-armor systems, small arms, logistics support vehicles, and maintenance support essential to strengthening Ukraine’s defenders on the battlefield,” Blinken said in a statement.

The aid will help Ukraine defend itself against Russia, he stated.

“Russia could end its war today. Until Russia does, the United States and our allies and partners will stand united with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” the statement added.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general says his office has registered about 80,000 incidents of potential war crimes

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin told US lawmakers Wednesday that his office has registered around 80,000 incidents of potential war crimes, and to date has convicted 31 Russians for war crimes in Ukrainian courts.

Kostin told lawmakers in the House Foreign Affairs Committee that his office has also identified 310 potential perpetrators of the crimes, and has “finished cases against 152 potential war criminals.”

He said some of the cases “are held in absentia because we have identified the perpetrators, we have full set of evidences, but we can’t wait if we someday will capture them, but the procedure of cases in absentia is a little bit longer because of procedural limitations.”

Kostin urged the international community to share intelligence information to help aid his office’s work in convicting alleged war criminals, noting that they have identified thousands more but they do not have complete evidence to convict those alleged criminals.

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