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US says “anti-terror operation” in Iraq left coalition member dead

By
IFP Media Wire
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US Forces in Syria

“One Coalition member was killed and two were wounded from two different nations. There were no injuries to US personnel or damage to U.S. equipment,” CENTCOM said in a statement.

CENTCOM said it conducted operations in Iraq and Syria, from Dec. 30 to Jan. 6, along with its partner forces.

Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, CENTCOM commander, stated partnered operations are “critical” to preventing the terrorist group from taking advantage of the changing security environment in the region.

“The enduring defeat of Daesh is a global effort that relies on our Coalition, allies, and partners. US Central Command remains committed to aggressively pursuing these terrorists that threaten the region, our allies, and our citizens,” he added.

Turkey says Kurdish militias in Syria will be ‘eliminated’

By
IFP Media Wire
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Kurdish Forces

Turkiye sees the People’s Protection Units (YPG) – the main component of the United States-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – as a “terrorist” group linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

“Conditions in Syria have changed. We believe it’s only a matter of time before PKK/YPG is eliminated,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a news conference in the capital Ankara on Monday.

Fidan warned against any Western support for Kurdish-led groups in Syria.

“If you [the West] have different aims in the region, if you want to serve another policy by using Daesh as an excuse to embolden the PKK, then there is no way for that, either,” he added, using an Arabic name for the ISIL (also known as ISIS) group.

Turkiye has long been rankled by US support for the Kurdish-led SDF in northern Syria.

But Washington has long seen the SDF, which spearheaded the fight against ISIL in 2019 and controls jails and camps in which the group’s fighters are held, as crucial to preventing a resurgence of the group.

New Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group has long had ties with Turkiye, told Al Arabiya TV on Sunday that the Kurdish-led forces should be integrated into the national army.

Observers fear space could be left for ISIL fighters to regather strength after the overthrow of al-Assad.

The group has managed to survive in both Iraq and Syria despite the destruction of its so-called caliphate that lasted from 2014 to 2019.

“We discussed what we can do together against the threat of Daesh in Syria and the region,” Fidan said.

“[ISIL] is a poison for Muslim societies. Of course, using our religion to brutally kill people … [and] create chaos is not something we will remain silent about,” he added.

“It is very important that [ISIL] does not rise again.”

Iran embassy censures British MP’s support for assassination of anti-terror commander, Soleimani

By
IFP Media Wire
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Qassem Soleimani

In a post on its X account on Monday, the embassy rejected Tugendhat’s claim that Trump’s decision to authorize the assassination of Soleimani triggered a chain of events that finally led to the overthrow of former Syrian president Basher al-Assad.

Tugendhat, a former UK security minister, also predicted that Iran would collapse in a few years.

“It’s absolutely unlawful and immoral to endorse arbitrary killing and assassination,” the embassy wrote.

It added that calling for war and aggression against a member state of the United Nations is “extremely reckless”.

“Only an ignorant and irresponsible person with a troubled background can be so low as to approve lawlessness, incite violence and suggest attacking another nation,” the Iranian embassy emphasized.

The United States assassinated General Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units, in a drone strike near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.

Both commanders were admired by Muslim nations for eliminating the US-sponsored Daesh terrorist group in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria.

Severe air pollution shuts Tehran primary schools

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran Air Pollution

The Tehran Provincial Governorate announced on Monday night that primary schools will continue remote learning sessions and kindergartens, preschools, and special education schools will be closed for the day.

Furthermore, the odd-even traffic scheme has been enforced from residents’ homes in Tehran.

Weather forecasts predict that the pollution will continue for a day.

Given the severe air pollution and the air quality index falling into the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” category, there is a high likelihood of school closures across the province on Wednesday.

The situation is particularly concerning in central areas of Tehran, which are most affected by pollutants.

The main reason for air pollution in Tehran is attributed to the high number of vehicles on the roads. In winter, temperature inversions are another cause of pollution.

Iran begins military exercise at Natanz nuclear facility

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
Iran Natanz

The operation, launched by the commander of the Air Defense Command Headquarters, aims to enhance the strategic readiness of Iran’s air defense units.

In the initial phase, the Air Defense Units of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace have been tasked with a critical mission to defend the Natanz nuclear site, known as the Martyr Ahmadi Roshan site.

The units are currently engaged in comprehensive defense operations against a variety of aerial threats, despite challenging electronic warfare conditions.

Palestinian Authority orders closure of several Al Jazeera digital platforms

By
IFP Media Wire
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Al Jazeera

The Attorney General’s Office demanded the Palestinian Ministry of Communication implement the court’s decision by shutting down aljazeera.net, aljazeera.net/live, aljazeera360.com and global.ajplus.net

The order asked all companies licensed for radio and satellite broadcasting to abide by the decision “under penalty of legal accountability”.

According to the document, the websites published material that “threaten national security and incite the commission of crimes”.

The latest move came after the PA closed Al Jazeera’s office in the occupied West Bank last week, temporarily suspending its work – a decision the network has denounced.

A PA ministerial committee, including the culture, interior and communications ministries justified that decision, saying the network was broadcasting “inciting material and reports that were deceiving and stirring strife” in the country.

The network criticised the decision, calling it “an attempt to dissuade the channel from covering the rapidly escalating events taking place in the occupied territory” adding that it was “in line with the [Israeli] occupation’s actions against its staff”.

The closure was also slammed by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) which called for its immediate reversal, warning that Al Jazeera’s reporting inside Gaza and the West Bank was “vital”.

According to analysts and human rights activists, such decisions by the PA are part of a broader attempt to silence criticism of its security operations in the Jenin refugee camp.

The closure of Al Jazeera’s websites and broadcast took place almost a month after the PA launched a crackdown on the Jenin Brigades – a coalition of armed groups which are affiliated with Palestinian factions such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and even Fatah, the party that controls the PA.

Since early December, the PA has besieged the Jenin camp and cut off water and electricity to most of the inhabitants in an ostensible attempt to restore “law and order” across the West Bank.

However, its indiscriminate tactics in Jenin coincide with a wider attack on free speech, activists and human rights groups told Al Jazeera.

Israel has also targeted Al Jazeera’s work in the West Bank. Last September, authorities stormed Al Jazeera’s office in Ramallah and shut it down.

France claims Iran nuclear programme nearing ‘point of no return’

By
IFP Media Wire
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French President Emmanuel Macron

Speaking to French ambassadors posted around the world on Monday, the French president also criticised Iran over backing for what he called “dangerous groups” across the Middle East and supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“The acceleration of the nuclear programme brings us close to the point of no return,” Macron said.

He added France would engage with the new US administration on the “Iranian question”.

Tehran has repeatedly declared that its nuclear program remains purely peaceful as always and that the Islamic Republic had no intention of developing nuclear weapons as a matter of an Islamic and state principal.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei issued an official fatwa (religious decree) clearly establishing that any form of acquisition, development, and use of nuclear weapons violate Islamic principles and are therefore forbidden.

In 2015, Iran proved the peaceful nature of its nuclear program to the world by signing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with six world powers.

However, Washington’s unilateral withdrawal in 2018 and its subsequent re-imposition of sanctions against Tehran left the future of the deal in limbo.

In 2019, Iran started to roll back the limits it had accepted under the agreement after the other parties failed to live up to their commitments.

UN ‘deeply concerned’ over babies freezing to death in Gaza

By
IFP Media Wire
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“Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is deeply concerned by reports that a one-month-old baby has died in the Gaza Strip due to hypothermia, according to the Ministry of Health. This is the eighth such child death due to the cold in less than three weeks,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference.

Stating that such deaths are “preventable” if aid reached to families in Gaza, Dujarric added Israel’s ongoing hostilities in Gaza have exacerbated the humanitarian crisis, with daily reports of civilian casualties and massive displacement.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, also said on X that “more children are in danger” than those infants who have already frozen to death in the Gaza Strip.

Per our reporting, eight babies have died this winter season of hypothermia, amid a severe shortage of housing and supplies like winter clothing and blankets, in scarce supply in the Gaza Strip because of Israel’s restrictions on letting aid in.

“Every child deserves a healthy and safe start in life, but the children of Gaza are paying the price of war with their own lives”, Tedros wrote.

Cold weather, rainfall and storms are worsening the already tragic living conditions for Palestinian civilians in Gaza City, municipal authorities warned.

“Displaced civilians are suffering very tragic conditions due to rains and storms and there are no enough capabilities to help them,” Gaza Municipality said in a statement.

(The current cold wave) poses a danger to the worn-out tents of the displaced,” it warned.

The authorities added municipal teams are facing major difficulties discharging the rainwater and sewage due to the massive damage caused by Israeli attacks on the sewage discharge network.

The Gaza Municipality appealed to international aid groups to intervene to provide Gaza’s civilians with shelter amid the cold weather.

The Palestinian enclave has been hit by a cold wave and torrential rains, bringing more misery to the territory’s 2.3 million population.

The Israeli army has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed over 45,500 people, mostly women and children, since a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

Advisor to top Iranian diplomat rejects rumors about FM’s family matters

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
Abbas Araghchi

During this visit, which lasted over two and a half hours, Araghchi expressed his appreciation for the efforts and dedication of the Diplomatic Women’s Association and its president, Ms. Lavasani, as well as all those involved in organizing the event.

Following this visit, rumors ricocheted around social media that Ms. Ahmadvand is Araghchi’s second wife and that she does not observe the hijab rule on social media.

While strongly rejecting the rumors as “baseless”, Mohammad Hossein Ranjbaran, an advisor to the foreign minister, addressed the claims he said have been made by “radical” people regarding the new wife of Araghchi.

Ranjbaran clarified that Ms. Ahmadvand married the foreign minister over six years ago after his previous marriage ended.

He added that Araghchi and his wife have a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter and that none of the foreign minister’s family members maintain a social media presence.

He described Ms. Ahmadvand as a housewife with no employment outside the home.

Ranjbaran also condemned the circulation of fake images and profiles purporting to be associated with Araghchi’s family, deeming such actions unethical and unlawful.

Iran urges all regional countries to respect Syrian people’s decision

By
IFP Media Wire
-

Speaking to reporters at his weekly press conference in Tehran on Monday, Baqaei affirmed Iran’s “clear” stance on the latest developments in Syria after the fall of al-Assad and said Tehran has always emphasized that it respects the Syrian people’s decisions.

He stressed that all regional countries should also respect the decisions being made by the Syrian people.

The spokesman said maintenance of Syria’s integrity and territorial integrity is important for Iran and the whole region “while we have expressed common concerns.”

“Syria must be able to make decisions about its own destiny and future without destructive interference of regional or international parties. It must not become a place for the growth of terrorism and violent extremism at all,” Baqaei noted.

As Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi announced, stability, peace and prevention of any chaos in Syria will be beneficial for Iran and the entire region, he continued.

The spokesperson said Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani is scheduled to visit Tehran at the invitation of President Masoud Pezeshkian in line with diplomatic interactions between the two countries.

The Iraqi premier and Iranian president will discuss ways to promote mutual relations in various fields and the implementation of the agreements previously signed by the two countries, he added.

“The developments in the region, especially in Syria, will definitely be among the topics on the agenda of this trip given their importance and sensitivity,” Baqaei explained.

In response to a question about possible negotiations between Iran and the United States, Baqaei said Tehran has never left the negotiating table and always believes in dialogue.

He added that Iran is ready for “dignified” negotiations to remove sanctions and allay concerns of the sides about the country’s nuclear program and emphasized, “This is Iran’s fixed stance.”

Baqaei, however, noted that more decisions should be made in this regard based on the opposite side’s approach and performance.

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