Israel has killed an Iranian Revolutionary Guards military official in a missile strike on Damascus early on January 20, according to Iranian and Syrian media. | The Israeli strike happened in the Mezzeh neighbourhood of western Damascus, an area known for housing several embassies, including those of Lebanon and Iran, video released on the Aparat page shows. Iran’s hardline Keyhan newspaper Telegram channel reported a “number of Iranian [military advisors] were martyred in the Israeli attack.” Official sources have not yet confirmed the statement. ●&nbspThe strike on the pro-Iranian Syrian capital is part of a broader escalation in the region between Iran and Israeli aggression targets residential building in DamascusIsrael that has rapidly escalated in just the last week, including a large-scale Israeli offensive in Gaza that has resulted in more than 21,000 deaths in three months in Gaza alone.

■ Israeli aggression targets residential building in Damascus (Al Mayadeen)

Islamabad has accused Tehran of ignoring “serious concerns” over militants operating from its territory | Pakistan has said it launched a series of airstrikes on “terrorist hideouts” in southern Iran, claiming the “precision” operation neutralized several militants. The attack comes after Tehran acknowledged its own raids on another terrorist group based in Pakistan. ● Meanwhile, Iranian officials, cited by local media, said that explosions in the Sistan-o-Balochistan province had killed seven non-Iranian nationals, including three women and four children. Tehran has also demanded an “immediate explanation” from Pakistan about the strikes, Iranian broadcaster Press TV reported, citing an unnamed informed source.

■ Iran condemns Pakistan’s border attack, summons Pakistani chargé d'affaires (PressTV)
■ Pakistan Launches Strikes on Iran's Saravan Region, Sistan, Balochistan Provinces - Reports (Sputnik News)
■ Pakistan attacks ‘terrorist hideouts’ in Iran (Al Jazeera)(Video)
■ India reacts to escalation between Iran and Pakistan (RT.com)

In a response to the Zionist aggression on Iranian figures and interests, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards [IRG] announced that first missile strikes targeted gathering places of commanders and main elements of recent terrorist attacks in the Iranian cities of Kerman and Rask. | It added that the strike came after gathering points of the Daesh [Arabic Acronym for the terrorist ISIS/ISIS] terrorist group were identified in the occupied territories of Syria and destroyed with a number of ballistic missiles. ● The Takfiri group claimed responsibility for two explosions that killed nearly 100 people and wounded scores of others at a memorial for Iran's top anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman on January 3. ● Later the same month, another terrorist attack hit a police station in the southeastern Iranian city of Rask, killing 11 police officers and injuring at least six others. ● The IRG said in a later statement that another missile strike had been launched at a main espionage center of the “Israeli” entity’s Mossad spy agency in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

■ Iraq Recalls Ambassador to Tehran After Strikes on Kurdistan Region (Sputnik News)
■ Israeli media: Iranian ballistic missile crosses 1,200 km in first (Al Mayadeen)
■ IRGC Strikes at Militants in Syria in Response to Recent Terrorist Attacks (Sputnik News)
■ Overnight blasts in Erbil, businessman’s death: What we know about Iranian missile strikes (TASS)

The commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Major General Gholam-Ali Rashid, stressed that Tehran will not hesitate to give a “crushing and decisive response to ‘Israel’ if it attacks the country.” | “Iranian commanders will have a free hand to respond to any possible ‘Israeli’ attack,” he said in an interview with khamenei.ir published on Sunday. ● Elsewhere in the interview, Rashid said former top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani succeeded in making an important achievement in support for the resistance forces in Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine, Yemen and Syria. 💬 “General Soleimani raised hope among the Iraqi and Syrian governments that they were capable of defeating the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group which was a very important step in the fight against terrorism.” General Rashid said former US President Donald Trump accepted responsibility for General Soleimani's assassination to make himself a “national hero”. [...] The top Iranian commander said the CIA, Mossad and the British and Saudi spy agencies created Daesh which occupied parts of the Syrian and Iraqi territories by abusing internal chaos and lack of security in the two countries.

■ 103 Israeli soldiers injured in one day, including 19 in Gaza (SABA)
■ Al-Qassam Brigades bombard Tel Aviv with intense missile barrage (SABA)
■ Israel says Hezbollah struck sensitive air traffic base in the north and warns of 'another war' (9News)
■ Israel admits huge damage to airbase in Hezbollah attack (Mehr News Agency)
■ Hezbollah Meron Operation Commands Israeli Attention: Assessing Impact and Implications (Al Manar TV)
■ Israel would not win war with Hezbollah – US officials (RT.com)
■ US al-Omar Oilfield Base targeted from Syrian territories (Al Mayadeen)

Tehran has not officially attributed blame for the attack, which targeted a commemoration for Gen. Soleimani in the city of Kerman | Iran has vowed a “harsh response” to the bombing in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman that killed at least 103 people, including women and children, but has not formally attributed blame for the attack. ●&nbspThe bombing targeted a memorial commemorating the fourth anniversary of the US killing of Iranian Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani, who was targeted by a US drone strike in Baghdad on January 3, 2020. Iranian officials have said two separate bombs were placed in bags on the side of a road leading to a cemetery where a large crowd of people was heading. [...] Israel is a suspect in the bombing since it has a history of conducting sabotage attacks, assassinations, and drone attacks inside Iran and recently killed a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander in Syria, as well as a senior Hamas official in Beirut. Israel also appears to be attempting to provoke a regional war that would draw in the US.

Explosions have been reported at an event near the tomb of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps General Qassem Soleimani. At least 103 people have been reported killed at the event marking the fourth anniversary of Soleimani’s death. | Quds Force leader says Iran attacked by ‘bloodthirsty people’. In remarks on Wednesday, Esmail Qaani, the leader of Iran’s Quds Force, offered condolences and said Iran had been attacked with the support of Israel and the US. “Today, we offer our condolences to the people of Kerman, who were attacked by bloodthirsty people who were sponsored by America and the Zionist regime,” he said. “The one who leaves the Gaza battlefield more humiliatingly is the Zionist regime and the winner of this Palestinian resistance field.”

■ Over 100 Killed in Blasts at Commemorative Parade in Southern Iran (+Photos) (Tasnim News Agency)
■ Two terrorist blasts in Iran’s Kerman leave at least 103 dead, 188 injured (PressTV)

The veteran member of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards [IRG], Sayyed Reza Mousavi, who was serving as a military advisor in Syria, has been martyred in an “Israeli” airstrike in the Sayyeda Zeinab neighborhood of Damascus. | Mousavi was one of the companions of Iran's top anti-terror commander, Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated by the US in Iraq four years ago. The “Israeli” entity has been for years targeting what it calls Iran-linked positions in Syria. In a statement, the IRG said Mousavi was martyred in a criminal missile attack by the “fake and child-killing Zionist regime” adding that the usurping and savage “Israeli” entity would undoubtedly pay the price for this crime. The IRG statement emphasized that more details would be provided to the Iranian nation soon.

■ Harsh Countdown Awaits, Iran Warns Israel (Tasnim)
■ Raeisi: Israel will definitely pay price for assassinating senior IRGC advisor (PressTV)
■ Israel to Get Comeuppance, President Warns after IRGC Adviser’s Martyrdom (Tasnim)
■ Iran’s Army Chief: IRG Advisor’s Assassination Exposes ‘Israel’s’ Frustration against Resistance (Alahed News)

During her speech at the session for the Rome Statue, the very treaty that established the ICC, Iran's envoy listed the atrocities committed by "Israel" since October 7 which entail constituting elements of the most serious crimes, namely genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. | Iran's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Zahra Ershadi, spoke at the 22nd Session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute to call on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hold "Israel" accountable for its atrocities and genocide in Gaza. 💬 "A whole nation that has been subject to oppressive occupation for more than 75 years is on the verge of genocide and extermination," she said, adding, "Every day that passes without accountability, innocent civilians, including children and women, are being killed and slaughtered, with their lands being confiscated and their homes getting destroyed". "Half of the enclave is leveled, with no place being spared. Hospitals, mosques, churches, schools, and other purely civilian infrastructures have not been immune, with many hundreds of people being brutally slaughtered inside these places. In fact, no quarter is given." Ershadi continued to present the inexplicable data showing the number of martyrs in Gaza that is now over 17,000.

■ Raisi Calls For ‘Immediate’ Stop To ‘Israeli’ Genocide in Gaza (Alahed News)
■ Putin and Iran’s Raisi talk for five hours – Kremlin (RT.com)

Iran has warned that the threat posed by Israel to global peace and security is now “greater than ever” amid the regime’s bloody aggression against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. | Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani made the remarks in an X post on Thursday after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter, urging the Security Council to act on the Gaza war. Infuriated by Guterres’ move, Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen claimed that the UN chief was supporting the Palestinian Hamas resistance group and called for his resignation, charging that his tenure was “a danger to world peace.” [sic!!!] Kan’ani said the fact is that 💬 “the Zionist regime has been a real threat to global peace and security since its illegal establishment and that its true nature has become more obvious to the world after Operation Al-Aqsa Storm.” “Now more than ever, it (Israel) is a threat to global peace and security as well as the entire humanity. The world has a responsibility to deal with this global threat.”

■ Borrell urges EU support for UN chief's Article 99 invocation (Al Mayadeen)
■ What is UN Article 99 and why has Guterres called for it to be used? (msn.com)
■ ARTICLE 99 (legal.un.org)(.pdf text)
■ Raisi: Palestine, Swift End To ‘Israel’s’ Gaza War Top of Agenda of Russia Visit (Alahed News)

After brief visits to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia on December 6, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin's agenda for Thursday was set aside time for extensive talks with visiting Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. [...] Earlier, the Kremlin announced that after visiting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, Vladimir Putin would receive the Iranian president in Moscow on Thursday. The president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, will arrive in Russia on a working visit accompanied by a high-ranking delegation. The sides plan to consider the current agenda of bilateral cooperation "with an emphasis on the implementation of promising joint projects in the trade and economic sphere, including transport and energy," it was stated. The two leaders will also exchange views on major international and regional topics.

The Israeli regime’s war on the Gaza Strip has spilled over into neighboring Lebanon and may even widen in scope, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force said. | Addressing a commemorative ceremony on Monday morning, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said the Zionist regime’s brutal onslaught against Gaza proved the rightful stances of Iran and made the world realize that Israel is a child-killing criminal regime. The Israeli regime is not going to last so long, he added. Asked about Iran’s reaction to the possibility of spread of the Gaza war and the Lebanese Hezbollah’s involvement in the conflict, the general said the war has already extended and Lebanon has become entangled. “It is probable that the extent of clashes will grow even bigger. The future is vague, though Iran is prepared for all conditions,” General Hajizadeh noted.

■ Israeli jets strike south Lebanon after Hezbollah attack wounds 10 'civilians' (Naharnet/AFP)
■ Israeli drone bombs vehicle 45 kms deep inside Lebanon (11/12/23)

Iran WARNS ISRAEL | Iran WARNS ISRAEL: "If the war expands any further, we cannot say that Israel would lose, because nothing will remain of Israel to be described as loser or winner” IRAN - “IF AN IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE DOESN'T TAKE PLACE BY U.S. AND ZIONIST REGIME THEN CONSEQUENCES WOULD BE HARSH." Jordan: Ejects Israeli Ambassador, RECALLS Jordanian Ambassador from Israel; Neither to return until War on Gaza stops.

"Israel's" hypocrisy at the #UN halls is always loud and clear.

Israeli occupation Ambassador to the #UnitedNations, Gilad Erdan, raised a protest photo during the speech of #Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) with the image of… pic.twitter.com/kbB9gxboAU

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) September 20, 2023

■ Israel detains 20 Palestinian women in West Bank escalation (MEE)

Since the beginning of the armed conflict between Israeli troops and Palestinian radical groups in Gaza on October 7, the number of wounded people has reached 19,000 | The death toll in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israeli shelling and bombing has exceeded 8,000, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported. "Over the past 24 hours, the number of victims has increased by more than 300," the ministry said in a statement quoted by Al Hadath TV channel. Previously, there were reports about 7,700 dead. Since the beginning of the armed conflict between Israeli troops and Palestinian radical groups in Gaza on October 7, the number of wounded people has reached 19,000.

■ Cowardly Israel too weak to win Gaza ground offensive: Top Hezbollah official (PressTV)
■ Deadly Israeli Raids Continue in Occupied West Bank (Tasnim News Agency)
■ Iran’s Raisi says Israel crossed ‘red lines’ (TASS)

A massive wave of airstrikes was carried out ahead of a ground incursion | Israeli ground forces will “expand” their activity in Gaza on Friday night, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari has told reporters. Warplanes are currently subjecting the enclave to some of the heaviest bombardment to date ahead of the ground operation. [...] Israeli soldiers have conducted several limited raids into the strip over the last two days but no major offensive has been announced. Hagari’s statement is the clearest sign since the beginning of the conflict on October 7 that an invasion – which the IDF has been preparing to launch for almost three weeks – is imminent. ● In a statement on Friday morning, the IDF said that its tanks and infantry had moved into central Gaza the previous day and destroyed “dozens of terrorist targets, including positions for launching anti-tank missiles and operational headquarters,” as well as Hamas fighters. Israeli forces withdrew after the raid with no casualties, the IDF added.

■ ISRAELI TANKS NOW STORMING INTO GAZA. IRAN FOREIGN MINISTER: "THEY PRESSED THE BUTTON" (Hal Turner)
■ Gaza communications blackout as Israel intensifies attack (The Eletronic Intifada)
■ Gaza in complete blackout as IOF launch most brutal attack so far (Al Mayadeen)
■ Unprecedented Israeli strikes on Gaza amid internet blackout (Palestine Info)
■ Israel-Palestine live: Communications blackout as heaviest strikes hit Gaza (MEE)
■ “Please, if you can hear us, tell the world that we are isolated now in Gaza” (If Americans Knew)
■ Israel’s Onslaught On Gaza Escalates, Dozens Of Civilians Killed (IMEMC News)

Nir Barkat has said drastic action will be taken against Tehran if its ally Hezbollah joins the war | Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat warned on Sunday that the military is ready to “eliminate” the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah and strike Iran if they open up a “northern front” in the current conflict. 💬 “The plan of Iran is to attack Israel on all fronts. If we find they intend to target Israel, we will not just retaliate to those fronts, but we will go to the head of the snake, which is Iran,” Barkat told The Mail on Sunday. He added “the ayatollahs in Iran are not going to sleep good at night” if they move against Israel. Barkat warned that Lebanon and Hezbollah, which is backed by Tehran, “are going to pay a heavy price, similar to what Hamas is going to pay.” Israel would go “after the heads of Iran” if necessary, the minister said. “Israel has a very clear message to our enemies. We are saying to them, look what's happening in Gaza – you are going to get the same treatment if you attack us. We are going to wipe you off the face of the Earth.” The statement came after Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Monday that the security situation for Israel may worsen very quickly. “If the war crimes against the Palestinians are not immediately stopped, other multiple fronts will open and this is inevitable,” he said. The Iranian diplomat later doubled down, warning the US and Israel that, if they do not stop mistreating the Palestinians, “anything is possible at any moment and the region will go out of control.” Amir-Abdollahian added that further escalation would have “far-reaching repercussions.”

■ Russia Smacks Israel: Gives Iran Access to Landing at Khmeimim Air Base, Latakia, Syria (Hal Turner)
■ Gaza conflict may spin out of control – Tehran (RT.com)

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has deployed its submarine fleet across the Middle East, Doron Kadosh, a military correspondent for the IDF’s Radio Galatas, revealed on October 19. | Kadosh said on the X online social network, previously known as Twitter, that the deployment of the submarines was ordered to prepare for a possible confrontation with Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah, both of which are key allies of the Hamas Movement who led the October 7 surprise attack from the Gaza Strip against Israel. ● The Israeli military correspondent also said that the IDF also destroyed mini unmanned submarines of Hamas and intercepted several rockets which were fired from Gaza at Israeli gas and oil rigs using the Iron Dome air defense system. The IDF is yet to confirm or deny these claims. ● The Israeli Navy currently operates five Dolphin-class submarines, which were specially built in Germany. The newest two of the submarines are equipped with air-independent propulsion systems, which allow them to operate without access to atmospheric oxygen.

Iran’s authorities have detained the activist 13 times, convicted her five times, and sentenced her to a total of 31 years in prison where she remains to this day | The Nobel Peace Prize 2023 has been awarded to Iranian women’s rights advocate Narges Mohammadi, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced. ● According to the committee, Mohammadi receives the award "for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all." ● Berit Reiss-Andersen, head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said that the award also recognized the hundreds of thousands of people who have demonstrated against Iranian discrimination and oppression of women. According to her, the "Woman-Life-Freedom" slogan adopted by the protesters, reflects Mohammadi’s defiance and work.

Kit Klarenberg | This week marks the 60th anniversary of the military coup orchestrated by the CIA and MI6 that overthrew Iran’s then-Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq and his cabinet. | Working in tandem, British and American spies waged a devastatingly effective covert campaign using saboteurs, staged protests, false flag bombings, and assassinations, which ultimately put the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi on a more brutal and dictatorial footing for the ensuing two and a half decades. ● The coup’s history is fairly well-known - not least because the CIA has openly admitted responsibility for the mass violence and upheaval that unseated Mosaddeq on that fateful day, and many documents outlining its cloak-and-dagger activities during this period are in the public domain. ● Yet, MI6’s central role remains largely unknown. Now, the sordid tale - or, what can be pieced together from an incomplete, thoroughly weeded archival record - must be told.

Iran is to receive top-of-the-range fighter jets from Russia “within the next year” in exchange for the kamikaze drones sent to the battlefield in Ukraine, US sources said on Friday night. | Downing Street and the White House warned that the new "sordid deals" amount to a "large scale military partnership" between Tehran and Moscow. The US later warned that Russia was expanding and modernizing its nuclear arsenal, already the largest in the world. Russia is planning to send Tehran advanced military equipment and components, including helicopters and air defence systems, US intelligence sources said. Biden administration officials said Iranian pilots were already being trained in Russia on how to fly the Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet, indicating Iran 💬 “may begin receiving the aircraft within the next year.”

A Russian military aircraft secretly transported the cash and three models of munition - a British NLAW anti-tank missile, a US Javelin anti-tank missile and a Stinger anti-aircraft missile - to an airport in Tehran in August, the source told Sky News. | A Russian military aircraft secretly transported the cash and three models of munition - a British NLAW anti-tank missile, a US Javelin anti-tank missile and a Stinger anti-aircraft missile - to an airport in Tehran in the early hours of 20 August, the source told Sky News, speaking on condition of anonymity to share sensitive information. The weapons had been part of a shipment of UK and US military equipment intended for the Ukrainian military that "fell into Russian hands", according to the source. ● The source said they could give Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) the ability to study Western technology and potentially copy it. 💬 "They will probably be reverse-engineered and used in future wars," the source said. ● For its part, Iran supplied Russia with more than 160 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including 100 Shahed-136 drones, the source claimed. These have been nicknamed "suicide drones" because they explode on impact.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raeisi has called for prosecution of former US president Donald Trump, stressing that Iran will pursue the assassination of the country's top anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani. | Raeisi made the remarks as he was addressing the 77th annual session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. ● The president hailed Iran's "prominent and progressive" role in confronting high-handed and interventionist policies, including the "United States-crafted terrorism." ● He noted how, thanks to General Soleimani's commandership, Iran managed to frustrate the plots that were aimed at manipulating the contours of the regional countries.

Iranian victims of MKO [CIA] terror urge President Raeisi to 'be our voice' (PressTV): The survivors of thousands of Iranian victims of terrorism, especially the acts of terror waged by the anti-Iran terrorist cult of Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO), urge the Islamic Republic's president to relay their message to the world.

MKO Terrorists Working in Collusion with CIA: US Commentator (Tasnim News Agency): The MEK has been an agent of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and represents the single most expensive US covert foreign operation since the inception of the CIA at the close of World War II. From 1979 to 1989, the US, UK, and Saudi Arabia provided at least $3 billion dollars in funding to the MEK for the purpose of destabilizing Afghanistan subsequent to the Russian invasion. It is from this history that observers today should consider claims made by the MEK as lacking in credibility.

An initial Russian freight train has arrived at Iran’s Sarakhs railway station in Khorasan-Razavi province on the border with Turkmenistan, IRNA reported on July 12.

The rail haulage development is important in the context of the accelerated development of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). A big aim of the corridor is to provide Russia with substantial import-export trade access to the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman (Indian Ocean) via Iran, while also allowing it to develop trade links with Iran’s Arab neighbours to the west. INSTC has been under discussion for years, with little tangible progress in realising the project, but it has taken on a new lease of life given how Western countries have cut off access to Russian hauliers following the invasion of Ukraine. The Iran route now provides Moscow with increasingly vital options when it comes to trade with India and other points east. The Russian freight train is reportedly pulling 39 containers with building materials for India. It departed from Chekhov station in the Moscow region before covering 3,800 kilometres to reach Sarakhs.

International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) (ClearIAS)
Iran Proudly Embraces Its Geo-Economic Role In Integrating Eurasia (Andrew Korybko)

Israel is training members of the anti-Iran terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) in Jordan along the border with Saudi Arabia in order to carry out acts of terror inside Iran and neighboring Iraq, Press TV has learnt. ● According to sources, who declined to be named, the MKO terrorists are undergoing training on how to conduct terrorist operations in Iran and Iraq and receiving technical as well as information technology (IT) training from Israeli agents. This is the first time it is revealed that anti-Iran MKO terrorists are being trained in Jordan along the border with Saudi Arabia. [...] Out of the nearly 17,000 Iranians killed in terrorist attacks since the victory of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, 12,000 have fallen victim to the acts of terror carried out by the MKO.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has stressed that the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 should lead to the recognition of the Islamic Republic’s right to the enrichment of uranium for peaceful purposes on Iranian soil. ● President Putin made the remark in a telephone conversation with Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on Monday. During the conversation, both leaders discussed the developments regarding the recent nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 states – Russia, China, Britain, France, the US and Germany. In their last round of talks before a November 24 deadline, Iran and the six countries wrapped up a week of closed-door nuclear negotiations in Vienna, Austria, on Monday.