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TOP STORIES
Israel and Iran moved closer to confrontation in Syria
as rising tensions erupted into the most serious standoff between the
sides since the Syrian civil war began seven years ago. The Israeli
military on Saturday said it struck 12 targets in Syria, including
four belonging to Iran, in a "large-scale attack" after an
Iranian drone penetrated its airspace. An F-16 fighter plane crashed
in northern Israel after coming under fire from Syrian anti-aircraft
missiles, and the pilots were hospitalized with moderate to severe
injuries.
Israel is counting on Russian President Vladimir Putin
to keep confrontations with Iran and Syria from spiraling into war as
the Trump administration mostly watches from the sidelines, a senior
aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. "The American
part of the equation is to back us up," but the U.S. currently
"has almost no leverage on the ground," Michael Oren,
Netanyahu's deputy minister for public diplomacy and a former
ambassador to Washington, said in a phone interview Sunday.
"America did not ante up in Syria. It's not in the game."
Oren's criticism reflects Israel's view that Washington isn't doing
enough to curb Iran's military ambitions in southern Syria, which
borders the Israeli-held Golan Heights, as seven years of fighting
wind down and actors consolidate gains.
An Iranian-Canadian university professor detained in
Tehran has died in custody, activists and a family member said
Sunday, marking the latest suspicious death of a detainee in Iran
after a crackdown on dissent following nationwide protests. They
identified the professor as Kavous Seyed-Emami, a 63-year-old
professor of sociology at Imam Sadeq University in Tehran and the
managing director of the Persian Heritage Wildlife Foundation. His
son and the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran say that
authorities told Seyed-Emami's family that he committed suicide in
custody, something they described as suspicious following other
detainee deaths.
UANI IN THE NEWS
As
part of the ongoing discussion about Iran, we often hear of the
Islamic Republic referred to as a "State Sponsor of
Terrorism". Iran has held the dubious distinction of this
designation of the U.S. State Department since 1984. What is missing
from the discussion is the human cost of what Iran does in the name
of "exporting the Islamic revolution". A more appropriate
title for Iran should be, "a State Sponsor of Human Suffering."
IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL
The chief executive of French oil company Total has
urged Donald Trump to keep faith with the Iran nuclear deal and told
the US president that oil and gas investment would help Iranian
reformers in their struggle against hardliners in Tehran.
Republicans and pro-Israel camp point finger at Obama
for being soft on Iran and Syria, while Democrats blame Trump for
decertifying Iran deal.
NUCLEAR & BALLISTIC-MISSILE PROGRAMS
Hundreds of thousands of Iranians rallied on Sunday to
mark the anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, denouncing
the United States and Israel as oppressors. President Hassan Rouhani,
addressing flag-waving crowds on central Tehran's Azadi (Freedom)
Square... told the crowd: "They (U.S. and Israel) wanted to
create tension in the region ... they wanted to divide Iraq, Syria
... They wanted to create long-term chaos in Lebanon but ... but with
our help their policies failed"... In a show of defiance of
Western pressure to curb its ballistic missile program, Iran put its
Ghadr ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 km (1,240 miles) on
display in Tehran's central Vali-ye Asr street.
ISRAEL-IRAN-SYRIA CLASH
The loss of an Israeli military jet to Syrian fire over
the weekend has raised the chances of a more forceful response from
Israel to deter Iranian military expansion across its border, which
could open up another front line in war-torn Syria.
Israel's prime minister said Sunday his country
delivered "severe blows" to Iranian and Syrian forces and
vowed to take further action against its adversaries following the
most serious Israeli engagement in Syria since the war there erupted
almost seven years ago.
Israel's security establishment believes the current
round of fighting with Iran and Syria in the north - during which
Israel stuck targets in Syria and an Israeli F-16 fighter jet was
shot down - has all but come to an end. The widely agreed upon
assessment is that the sides have achieved all they could in the
current round. However, Israel also believes that in the long run,
another clash with the Iranians in Syria is almost inevitable.
The drone that Israel said it shot down this weekend
appeared to have been developed by Iran from technology obtained when
it captured a U.S. stealth aircraft in 2011, according to aviation
experts and Israeli officials.
The White House is standing behind Israel after a Syrian
missile brought down an Israeli F-16. In a statement, the White House
called Israel a "staunch ally" while warning Iran to cease
"provocative actions" in the region.
An intense military clash between Israel and Iran over
the weekend presented Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson with an
unexpected crisis as he headed to the Middle East on a five-nation
tour that was already shaping up to be the most challenging trip of
his tenure.
Israel's cross-border clash with Iranian and Syrian
forces on Saturday was a sharp escalation of long-brewing hostilities
along its northern frontier - and a bracing alert to those who have
focused on other areas of the Syrian civil war, on other aspects of
Iran's strategic assertiveness, or who believed that Israel's air
superiority left it invincible in its own skies.
So where were Moscow and Washington on Saturday?
Apparently, neither President Vladimir Putin nor President Donald
Trump wants to get involved. Yet each has radically different
reasons. In this regard, particularly after February 10, Israel has
to be doubly worried.
Even before Saturday's dramatic events across the
Israeli-Syrian border, there were legitimate questions about the degree
of American engagement to help Israel manage the increasingly complex
challenges it faces to the north. A visit to the region by Secretary
of State Rex Tillerson, upon which he embarked this weekend, has a
chance to change that, to the benefit of both U.S. and Israeli
interests.
Two Israeli illusions burst on Saturday-a warm and
spring-like day in which droves made the trek north here to the
Galilee, a parcel of green hills and valleys currently swathed in a
Klimt-like blanket of wild flowers, with falcons and cranes gliding
by... The second shattered mirage was the hope, propagated as truth
by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that the United States
under President Donald Trump remains Israel's most reliable ally...
Twelve hours after Iran and Israel engaged in the first actual
military skirmish in their troubled history, which ended with a
downed Israeli F-16, the U.S. president remained silent.
An Israeli general said on Sunday that Iran is seeking
to establish a "forward command post in Syria," and that
Israel cannot allow it.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly conveyed to
Iran a warning via European leaders before this weekend's flare-up,
which saw Israel down an Iranian drone after it entered Israeli
airspace from Syrian territory, Israeli air strikes in Syria, and
Syrian anti-aircraft fire cause the crash of an Israeli F-16.
Tehran has threatened the US in Syria, and its drone
raid is a sign to Damascus and Russia that Iran is increasingly
running Syrian policy.
The conflict between Israel and Iran may be heating up
after a half-decade simmer.
IRAN PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Four United Nations human rights experts launched a
fresh appeal Friday for Iran to annul the death sentence given to
university professor Ahmadreza Djalali, accused of passing
information to Israel.
One of the American hostages being held by the regime in
Tehran reportedly may be suffering from cancer yet is being denied
the healthcare he needs. Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese-American and
permanent U.S. resident, is secretary-general of the Dupont
Circle-based IJMA3 group, which lobbies for the information and
communications technology industry in the Middle East.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for a "year
of unity" in the face of "Israeli plots" to create
division, as Iran celebrated 39 years since the Islamic Revolution
Sunday in the wake of protests that rocked the country last month.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Pyeongchang Olympic organizers said they had apologized
to Iran on Friday after a diplomatic furor over its athletes being
denied special Samsung phones issued for the Games.
IRAQ & IRAN
During the chaotic battle with the Islamic State,
Iran-backed militias got their hands on M1A1 Abrams tanks the United
States originally provided to the Iraqi army, a Pentagon watchdog has
found.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Hundreds of thousands of Iranians rallied on the streets
Sunday to mark the 39th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution,
just weeks after anti-government protests rocked cities across the
country.
The 39th anniversary of the revolution in Iran promises
to be a sombre occasion for the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who was
forced to acknowledge the mass discontent in the country as result of
the recent protests and received letters from two dissident insiders
accusing him of negligence and empire building.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei described corruption
in Iran as a "seven-headed dragon", calling on Iranian officials
to combat and cut off its head in the regime.
Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency is reporting
that Tehran's prosecutor has said that authorities have arrested a
number of suspects over espionage charges.
As Iran commemorates the 39th anniversary of the Islamic
revolution, president Hassan Rouhani is caling for "a year of
unity", just weeks after widespread anti-government protests
throughout the country.
A senior adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei has said that figures the Rouhani administration has
released about economic growth and employment do not reflect the
truth. According to conservative-controlled Mehr news agency, Yahya
Rahim Safavi has said on Friday February 8: "The people look at
what they have on their plate and find out that the economic growth
and job creation claimed by the administration have not taken
place."
The air in Iran's southwestern province of Khuzestan is
no longer safe to breathe.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday pledged to
bring some stability to the country's volatile currency market in the
wake of a recent rally of foreign currencies.
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