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islamic revolutionary guard corps
As DOJ Unseals Murder Plot Charges, Fears of Trump Iran Policy Mount
"Trump is inheriting a mess that he helped create," said the National Iranian American Council. "All parties need to focus not on threats but on dialogue to end these crises."
Nov 08, 2024
Amid growing concerns about what U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House will mean for Washington's rocky relationship with Tehran, the Department of Justice on Friday announced charges against an Afghan national accused of plotting to assassinate the Republican at the direction of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Though Trump survived two shooting attempts during the campaign, neither appears to be tied to Iran's alleged plot to kill him.
"There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a Friday statement announcing the charges against Farhad Shakeri, "an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran's assassination plots against its targets," including Trump.
"We have also charged and arrested two individuals who we allege were recruited as part of that network to silence and kill, on U.S. soil, an American journalist who has been a prominent critic of the regime," Garland added, referring to New Yorkers Jonathon Loadholt and Carlisle Rivera, who are both in custody—unlike Shakeri, who is believed to be in Iran. "We will not stand for the Iranian regime's attempts to endanger the American people and America's national security."
The department did not publicly identify the reporter but its statement "matched the description of Masih Alinejad, a journalist and activist who has criticized Iran's head-covering laws for women," Reutersnoted Friday. "Four Iranians were charged in 2021 in connection with a plot to kidnap her, and in 2022 a man was arrested with a rifle outside her home."
The Friday announcement about these three men follows another case related to Trump and Iran. As Politicodetailed: "In August, Brooklyn federal prosecutors charged a Pakistani man suspected of plotting on behalf of Iran to kill high-ranking U.S. politicians or officials—including perhaps Trump. The man is accused of trying to hire hitmen to carry out the plot."
The next month, after Trump was reportedly briefed about alleged Iranian assassination threats against him, he declared during a campaign rally that "if I were the president, I would inform the threatening country—in this case, Iran—that if you do anything to harm this person, we are going to blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens."
"We're gonna blow it to smithereens, you can't do that. And there would be no more threats," added Trump, whose comments were swiftly decried by the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) as "an outrageous threat" and "genocidal."
Responding to Reuters coverage of the Justice Department's Friday statement on social media, NIAC said that "threats of violence against political officials are unacceptable and only risk further opening Pandora's box of war and destruction. Trump is inheriting a mess that he helped create and reports like this demonstrate just how grave the stakes are. All parties need to focus not on threats but on dialogue to end these crises."
During Trump's first presidential term, he ditched the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, often called the Iran nuclear deal; ramped up deadly sanctions against the Middle East country; and ordered the assassination of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Iraq—actions that heightened fears of a U.S. war with Iran.
Such fears have surged since Trump's Tuesday win. He is set to return as commander-in-chief after more than a year of the Biden-Harris administration backing Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip and strikes on other countries including Lebanon and Iran.
NIAC Action executive director Jamal Abdi said in a statement after the U.S. election that "many in our community feared this day—worried about the return of the travel ban, attacks on our civil liberties, demonization of immigrant communities, and deepening militarism in the Middle East. But we have been here before and our resilience is unwavering in standing up for our community and our rights."
"In the coming weeks, Trump, along with his new vice president, JD Vance will select the advisers who will shape his policies," Abdi noted. "We will not stand down, disengage, or give up but will redouble our efforts for peace and justice by any means necessary. The resilience and unity of our community are more vital now than ever."
CNN and Politico have reported that Brian Hook is expected to lead Trump's transition team at the U.S. Department of State. As Drop Site News' Murtaza Hussain wrote, Hook is "known as a major Iran hawk who helped lead the 'maximum pressure' campaign of sanctions, sabotage, and assassinations that characterized Trump's approach to Tehran."
Speaking with Hussain, Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, pointed out that Trump's previous Iran policy was largely guided by John Bolton, who spent over a year as his national security adviser, and Mike Pompeo, who served as secretary of state and director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
"The Trump administration's approach towards Iran depends very much on who he chooses to staff his administration. In his first term, he was sold on an idea by people like Pompeo and John Bolton that Iran could be sanctioned and pressured into oblivion, but that was an approach more likely to deliver war than an agreement," Parsi said. "The Iranian view is that Trump himself wants to make a deal, but it depends on whether he appoints the same neoconservatives as last time to his administration."
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Israel Attacks Iran; Explosions Also Reported in Syria and Iraq
"The targets there are likely both Iranian assets as well as militias supported by Tehran," said one Middle East expert.
Oct 25, 2024
Israel—which is already waging war on Gaza and Lebanon—said its military struck targets in and near Iran's capital Tehran early Saturday, while explosions believed to be Israeli attacks were also reported in Syria and Iraq.
Numerous explosions were reported in and near the Iranian capital, including at the Imam Khomeini International Airport, as well as in eastern parts of the city and the Sadeghiyeh neighborhood of western Tehran. Israeli targets reportedly included the headquarters of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
"In response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the state of Israel—right now the Israel Defense Forces is conducting precise strikes on military targets in Iran," IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a video posted on social media.
"The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7th—on seven fronts—including direct attacks from Iranian soil," Hagari added. "Like every other sovereign country in the world, the state of Israel has the right and the duty to respond. Our defensive and offensive capabilities are fully mobilized. We will do whatever [is] necessary to defend the state of Israel and the people of Israel."
Iran said it launched the October 1 missile attack in retaliation for Israel's targeted killing of longtime Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime leader of Hezbollah and an IRGC commander who was with him; as well as for the July assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
If the Syrian and Iraqi explosions are confirmed as Israeli strikes, it would mean that Israel is simultaneously attacking at least five nations—Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, and Iraq. In Palestine, the IDF is waging a yearlong war which has killed or wounded more than 153,000 people. Israel's bombardment and ground invasion of Lebanon have killed or wounded thousands of people and displaced more than 1.2 million others.
U.S. officials told media outlets that the Biden administration was informed of Saturday's attacks.
Meanwhile, peace groups in the U.S. warned of the risk of escalation.
"The U.S. should stay out of the conflict between Israel and Iran," Massachusetts Peace Action executive director Brian Garvey said in a statement. "Israel is bombing Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen—picking a fight with almost every one of its neighbors—while escalating its genocide in Gaza."
"The U.S. should not provide assistance for Israel's escalations, which would contravene President [Joe] Biden's stated goal of preventing a wider regional conflict," he continued. "Israeli Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu has long sought to embroil the U.S. in war with Iran, and his efforts to do so now are likely timed to influence the U.S. election."
"The United States should avoid that trap, stop sending weapons into the region, and support urgent talks for ceasefires in Gaza, Lebanon, and between Israel and Iran," Garvey added.
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Iran Launches Drone Attack Against Israel Over Consulate Bombing
"Netanyahu will use it as the pretext for another provocation, because he's bent on starting this war," one writer predicted.
Apr 13, 2024
Iran on Saturday launched several drones and missiles toward Israel in
retaliation for the nation's deadly bombing of the Iranian consulate in Syria earlier this month.
According toCNN, this statement from Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps was read on Iranian state-owned Press TV: "In response to the Zionist regime's crime in attacking the consular section of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, the IRGC's air force hit certain targets in the territories of the Zionist regime with dozens of drones and missiles."
"The United States should avoid taking any military action in connection with the Israel/Iran conflict."
Israeli and U.S. officials also
confirmed the IRGC launch, estimated by Israel to involve over 100 drones.
"A short while ago, Iran launched unmanned aerial vehicles from its territory towards the territory of the state of Israel," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement. "The air defense array is on high alert at the same time as the air force planes and navy ships that are on a mission to protect the country's skies."
"The IDF is monitoring all targets," added the IDF, which has been waging war on the Gaza Strip since a Hamas-led attack on Israel October 7. "We ask the public to adhere to and follow the instructions of the Home Front Command and the official IDF announcements regarding the matter."
Iran's drone launch by comes after Iranian officials have reportedly been sending a message to the Biden administration through back channels: "We will attack the forces that attack us, so don't fuck with us and we won't fuck with you."
Further fueling fears of a new regional war, U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday: "We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel."
An American defense official said Saturday that "U.S. forces in the region continue to shoot down Iranian-launched drones targeting Israel... Our forces remain postured to provide additional defensive support and to protect U.S. forces operating in the region."
As the death toll in Gaza has mounted—the Israeli assault, which the International Court of Justice has determined is plausibly genocidal, has killed at least 33,686 people—Biden has faced intense pressure to condition or even cut off military aid to Israel.
In response to Iran's attack on Israel, Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director at Democracy for the Arab World Now, said in a statement that "the United States should avoid taking any military action in connection with the Israel/Iran conflict or further entangle U.S. armed forces in unauthorized and dangerous fighting in the Middle East."
"The Biden administration should call on Israel to immediately announce a cease-fire in Gaza and to refrain from using U.S. weapons in any further unlawful attacks against other countries' embassies and diplomatic facilities," she added.
On top of the nearly $4 billion in military aid that the U.S. gives Israel annually, the Biden administration has been shipping arms to the IDF since October and pushing for a new package worth over $14 billion that requires congressional approval.
U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said Saturday that "in light of Iran's unjustified attack on Israel, the House will move from its previously announced legislative schedule next week to instead consider legislation that supports our ally Israel and holds Iran and its terrorist proxies accountable."
Late Saturday, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Shucker (D-N.Y.) released a statement commending the Israeli and American troops who stopped most of the missiles and drones, condemning Iran's attack, and saying that "it is even clearer that the best way to help Israel is for the House to quickly pass the Senate's bipartisan national security supplemental next week."
Appearing on Al Jazeera Saturday, Sultan Barakat, a professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked the Iranian consulate to secure more U.S. weapons and try to silence anti-war critics.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights group, argued that "the Biden administration emboldened the far-right Israeli government to manufacture this crisis by repeatedly giving it carte blanche to violate international law without any accountability—from murdering journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, to expanding illegal settlements, to committing a genocide in Gaza, to bombing an Iranian Embassy complex in Syria."
Sana Saeed, a media critic with
AJ+, said on social media Saturday that there will be "lots of incoming analysis for the next several hours, but there's really just one thing to know: None of this was inevitable nor did it start with Iran. This is U.S.-Israeli belligerence; this is Joe Biden's foreign policy and Israel's war expansionism as it conducts a genocide."
Trita Parsi, an expert on Iran and the Middle East and EVP at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, also weighed in on social media, pointing to a specific example from over 25 years ago "that shows that the Iranian retaliation against Israel could perhaps have been evaded."
"The U.S., U.K., and France prevented the U.N. Security Council from condemning the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus despite it being a flagrant violation of international law," Parsi highlighted. "The Iranians have hinted that had the UNSC strongly condemned Israel, Iran might have refrained from retaliating against it."
"Certainly, the 1998 episode does not prove that Iran's retaliation against Israel today could have been prevented. But it does suggest that there was an opportunity to de-escalate that the U.S./U.K./FR ignored or dismissed," he added. "Then again, that fits perfectly with Biden's record of the past seven months as opportunity after opportunity to de-escalate and end the war in Gaza has been actively dismissed by him."
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