Important Takeaways:
- GOP hawks press Biden to target Iran directly over soldiers’ deaths
- “Last night, three U.S. service members were killed —and many wounded — during an unmanned aerial drone attack on our forces stationed in northeast Jordan near the Syria border,” Biden said in a statement on Sunday morning.
- Biden said the U.S. is “still gathering the facts of this attack,” but “we know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq.”
- According to U.S. central command, 25 service members were wounded in the attack.
- What they’re saying: Senate Minority Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called for “serious, crippling costs” to Iran, “not only on front-line terrorist proxies, but on their Iranian sponsors who wear American blood as a badge of honor.”
- Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), said in a statement the attacks the U.S. has carried out on Iranian proxies outside Iran “will not deter Iranian aggression,” calling to “strike targets of significance inside Iran.”
- “The only answer to these attacks must be devastating military retaliation against Iran’s terrorist forces, both in Iran and across the Middle East,” said Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). “Anything less will confirm Joe Biden as a coward unworthy of being commander-in-chief.”
- John Cornyn, in a post on the social media site X, said: “Target Tehran,” later specifying that he wants the U.S. to strike Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. and its Quds Force branch.
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Important Takeaways:
- Top Israeli minister says Iran is a ‘legitimate target’ for missile strikes as fears grow of an all-out war between the countries
- Iran is now a ‘legitimate target’ for missile strikes, a top Israeli minister has said, as fears grow of an all-out war between the countries.
- Israel’s economy minister, Nir Barkat, told The Telegraph that Palestinians from the West Bank would never be permitted to work in the country again and imported foreign workers would take their place.
- He also argued that the war against Hamas has not been aggressive enough
- Barkat, who is the favorite to take over from Benjamin Netanyahu as head of the ruling Likud party, said Israel has the means to pursue the conflict and open up a new front with Lebanon.
- Barkat told the newspaper: ‘Iran is a legitimate target for Israel. They will not get away with it. The head of the snake is Tehran.
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Important Takeaways:
- U.K. Govt Warns: Be Ready for War with China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea in Five Years
- Speaking at Lancaster House on Monday, British Minister of Defense Grant Shapps said the West is facing a “much more troubled world” and could no longer consider itself post-war, with considerable new investment in military spending needed. He said:
- …now is the time for all allies and democratic nations across the world to… make sure their defense spending is growing too. Because as discussed, the era of the peace dividend is over. In five years time we could be looking at multiple theatres including Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.
- …we find ourselves at the dawn of this new era. [The] Berlin Wall a distant memory but we have come full circle, moving from a post-war to a pre-war world. An age of idealism has been replaced by a period of hard-headed realism.
- Illustrating actions taken by Britain to prepare itself for this multifaceted conflict the British government apparently believes is coming, Shapps cited the UK’s support to Ukraine, the country leading the largest NATO deployment since the end of the Cold War this year, the signing of a new UK-Japan-Italy fighter coalition, and the creation of the Australia-UK-U.S. submarine coalition. He said the government was moving to putting 2.5 per cent of GDP into defense spending as soon as it could afford to.
- Estonia, one of Ukraine’s most enthusiastic allies and a state which has a land border with Russia said through their Prime Minister on Monday that their intelligence states NATO has “three to five years” to prepare for a Russian attack on NATO itself.
- Sweden warned its citizens last week to be prepared for war.
- Germany is reportedly of the same mind, with the best-selling newspaper in Europe Bild splashing this week on leaked war plans anticipating Russian invasions of European states by the summer of 2025.
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Important Takeaways:
- Pakistan carries out military strikes on separatist targets in Iran following deadly attack on its own soil by Tehran
- Pakistan carried out a series of deadly military strikes on what it said were separatist militant hideouts inside Iran, in the latest incident across their shared border that has sent tensions between the two neighbors soaring.
- The new strikes mean both Pakistan and Iran have now taken the extraordinary step of attacking militants on each other’s soil this week at a time of expanding conflict in the Middle East and wider region.
- Islamabad said Thursday its forces launched a “series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes” in Iran’s southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province as part of an operation called “Marg Bar Sarmachar” — a phrase which loosely translates to “death to the guerrilla fighters.”
- It said the hideouts targeted in the operation were used by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Baloch
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Important Takeaways:
- Pentagon insider warns ‘we are on the brink’ of World War 3 after latest Iran attack
- A source inside the US Pentagon has warned the world is on the brink of a major conflict as Iran and its allies continue to launch attacks across the Middle East.
- The warning comes as Iranian-backed proxies destabilize the Middle East by attacking Israel and US targets, as well as international shipping in the region.
- Iran itself has also carried out strikes in neighboring Iraq and Pakistan as well as Syria sending tensions soaring.
- Defense expert Nicholas Drummond echoed concerns that the conflict in the Middle East could potentially escalate but warned that if Tehran directly attacked Israel, the ensuing war would be “the end of Iran”.
- Speaking to Daily Express US, he said: “Iran’s agenda in the region, and globally, has been exposed. And Iran is on the back foot.
- “The West is saying to Iran ‘behave yourself, or we will attack you directly’.
- He added: “I think Iran has to be very, very careful. It has been playing a dangerous game. And it’s about to get punished if it doesn’t step back.
- “You saw that [Iran] fired a missile into Syria and… it was ostensibly taking out rebel targets but it was [also] demonstrating, it has a missile capable of reaching Israel from Iran that could have with a nuclear warhead – it could target Tel Aviv.
- That’s the message it’s sending. And, of course, if Iran did that, it would be the end of Iran, frankly.”
- Drummond branded Iran as “the biggest threat to world peace” at the moment.
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Important Takeaways:
- Joe Biden ‘is struggling to keep his head above water’ as US is challenged by Iran and Russia – ‘and China and North Korea are taking notes’, experts say as they warn inaction now ‘will cost American lives later’
- Joe Biden ‘is struggling to keep his head above water’ as the US ‘ignores’ threats from Iran and continues to be challenged by Russia – while North Korea and China are ‘taking notes’, experts have warned.
- Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirmed yesterday that their forces launched ballistic missiles close to the US consulate in Erbil, northern Iraq – a move condemned as ‘reckless’ by the US State Department.
- Former military intelligence officer Colonel (Ret) Jonathan Sweet and foreign policy expert Mark Toth labelled the US response ‘as perfunctory as it was lacking’, saying it is just the latest example of the Biden administration’s inaction in the region.
- Iran’s so-called ‘Axis of Resistance’ – including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels – has been increasing its attacks on Israel and commercial shipping routes, prompting the US and UK to launch devastating strikes by air and sea.
- But the experts told MailOnline: ‘For all the US military might put on display throughout the Middle East, Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden right now, Iran and their proxies have not been deterred.’
- Meanwhile, as the war in Ukraine approaches its third year, Vladimir Putin’s rhetoric has become more aggressive, threatening Ukraine’s statehood and warning that Russia would ‘never’ abandon the gains it has made.
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Important Takeaways:
- Russia Has Used North Korean Ballistic Missiles in Ukraine and Is Seeking Iranian Missiles, US Says
- U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russia has acquired ballistic missiles from North Korea and is seeking close-range ballistic missiles from Iran as Moscow struggles to replenish supplies for its war with Ukraine, the White House said Thursday.
- Recently declassified intelligence found that North Korea has provided Russia with ballistic missile launchers and several ballistic missiles, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. Russian forces fired at least one of those ballistic missiles into Ukraine on Dec. 30 and it landed in an open field in the Zaporizhzhia region, he said.
- Russia launched multiple North Korean ballistic missiles on Tuesday as part of an overnight attack, and the U.S. was assessing the impact, he said. The missiles have a range of about 550 miles (885 kilometers).
- S. intelligence officials believe that North Korea, in return for its arms support, wants Russia to provide it with aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment and other advanced technologies.
- The White House in October said that North Korea delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia.
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Important Takeaways:
- How Israel’s war with Hamas is spiraling across the Middle East: As terror group’s deputy leader is killed in Beirut drone strike and targets are hit in Syria, fears grow of much wider regional conflict
- Israel’s assassination of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri in a drone strike in Lebanon’s capital Beirut on Tuesday has raised fears that the war in Gaza could spread beyond the Palestinian enclave and engulf the Middle East.
- Arouri, 57, was the first senior Hamas political leader to be assassinated since Israel launched a brutal air and ground offensive against the group almost three months ago on the heels of the ruthless October 7 attacks on Israeli towns.
- Lebanon’s heavily armed Hezbollah group, a powerful Hamas ally, previously vowed to strike back against any Israeli targeting of Palestinian officials in Lebanon, and said of the attack: ‘This crime will never pass without response and punishment.’
- Hezbollah and the Israeli military have been exchanging fire almost daily over the Israeli-Lebanese border since Israel’s military campaign in Gaza began, but so far the Lebanese group has appeared reluctant to dramatically escalate the fighting.
- A significant response now could send the conflict spiraling into all-out war on Israel’s northern border.
- Meanwhile, Nasser Kanaani, spokesperson for the foreign ministry of Iran – the chief backer of Hamas and Hezbollah – said Arouri’s killing would ‘undoubtedly ignite another surge in the veins of resistance and the motivation to fight against the Zionist occupiers.
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Important Takeaways:
- Iranian warship enters Red Sea amid Houthis’ ongoing attacks on commercial vessels
- Iran’s Alborz warship has reportedly entered the Red Sea, emerging at a time of heightened tensions in the key shipping route amid ongoing attacks on vessels in response to the Israel-Hamas war.
- Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Monday that the vessel had entered the Red Sea through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, though it was unclear precisely when
- Tasnim did not give details of the Alborz’s mission but said Iranian warships had been operating in open waters to secure shipping routes, combat piracy, and carry out other tasks since 2009.
- The Alvand class destroyer had been a part of the Iranian navy’s 34th fleet, and patrolled the Gulf of Aden, the north of the Indian Ocean and the Bab Al-Mandab Strait as far back as 2015, according to Iran’s Press TV.
- The news comes as the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group – which was moved to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea following Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 invasion of Israel – is heading back to its home in Norfolk, Va.
- In response, many major shipping companies have rerouted their vessels around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, adding exorbitant costs and delays.
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Important Takeaways:
- Chemical tanker ‘is hit by drone from Iran off the coast of India – as Tehran threatens to close Strait of Gibraltar and Mediterranean Sea unless Israel stops bombing Gaza
- The US has accused Iran of being behind a drone attack on a chemical tanker in the Indian Ocean.
- The attack on the Chem Pluto on Saturday resulted in a fire, though no casualties were reported.
- Though Iran has not commented on the attack, the US military said the ‘one-way attack’ was delivered by a ‘drone fired from Iran.’
- It is understood to be the first time the US has accused Iran of targeting a ship directly. It is also believed to be the furthest attack undertaken by Iran from its own soil.
- The accusations come as Iran has threatened to close off the Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea if Israel and its allies continue to commit ‘crimes’ in Gaza.
- Iran, which has backed Hamas, accused the US and other western states of propping up Israel’s alleged war crimes committed during its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, where more than 20,000 people have died since October 7.
- ‘They shall soon await the closure of the Mediterranean Sea, (the Strait of) Gibraltar and other waterways,’ Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a senior member of the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Corps, said on Saturday.
- While Iran has no direct access to the Mediterranean itself and it was not clear how the Guards could attempt to close it off, Iran-backed proxies in Lebanon and Syria have access to these waterways, which carry around a fifth of the world’s maritime trade.
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