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Brig.Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi Brig.Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Middle East 20030422  
Yahya Rahim Safavi Yahya Rahim Safavi Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Syria-Lebanon-Iran 20051206 Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Arab, Muslim nations react to Hamas attack on Israel
2023-10-09
[GEO.TV] Leaders of Arab and Moslem nations reacted to the deadly Hamas, one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede, attack on Israel on Saturday, advising caution, criticising Israel, and asking for a ceasefire.

The early morning Hamas offensive by air, land, and sea was met by Israeli air strikes on the blockaded coastal enclave, in the bloodiest escalation since May 2021.

Here is a roundup of reactions from the region:

EGYPT
The foreign ministry appealed to "both the Paleostinian and Israeli sides to exercise the utmost restraint", warning of the "dire danger of ongoing escalation".

Cairo has historically been a key mediator in conflicts between the two sides.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry made a series of calls to regional and international leaders, including his Jordanian, UAE, Ottoman Turkish, German, and French counterparts, and to European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell.

A foreign ministry statement said Shoukry sought to rally "international actors" to "intervene immediately".

SODDY ARABIA
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...

"The Kingdom calls for an immediate halt to the escalation between the two sides, protection of civilians, and self-control," a foreign ministry statement said.

Riyadh echoed statements by other regional states — including Kuwait, Iraq, QATAR
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
, and Oman — that Saturday's attack was "a result of the continued occupation and deprivation of the Paleostinian people of their legitimate rights".

The violence comes amid growing speculation about the impending normalisation of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, after Riyadh and Washington held talks on certain Saudi conditions, according to people briefed on the meetings.

SYRIA
The foreign ministry called the Hamas operation an "honourable achievement that proves the only way for Paleostinians to obtain their legitimate rights is resistance in all its forms".

Syria also expressed its "support" for the Paleostinian people and the forces "fighting against Zionist terrorism".

IRAN
A senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...
expressed support for the attack, calling it a "proud operation".

"We support this operation," Yahya Rahim Safavi said, quoted by ISNA news agency.

Safavi backed the Paleostinian murderous Moslems "until the liberation of Paleostine and Jerusalem".

At a parliament session, politicians chanted "Down with Israel", "Down with America" and "Welcome Paleostine", according to a video published by the Tasnim news agency.

UAE
The United Arab Emirates called for "an immediate ceasefire" and "exercising the utmost restraint," state news agency WAM reported.

"The UAE has expressed its sincere condolences to all the victims of the recent crisis," a foreign ministry statement said, stressing the importance of protecting civilians.

Abu Dhabi normalised relations with Israel in 2020 under the US-backed Abraham Accords, along with Bahrain and Morocco.

MOROCCO
"The Kingdom of Morocco expresses its deep concern at the deterioration of the situation and the outbreak of military action in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
Strip, and condemns attacks against civilians wherever they may be," a foreign ministry statement said.

ARAB LEAGUE
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...

Arab League Chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit called for "an immediate halt to military operations in Gaza" and "the cycle of armed confrontation between the two sides".

He said, "Israel's continued implementation of violent mostly peaceful and Death Eater policies is a time bomb depriving the region of any serious opportunity for stability in the foreseeable future."

YEMEN
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...

Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
rebels who control the capital Sanaa said they supported "the heroic jihadist operation".

In a statement published on the website of the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency, the Iran-aligned group said the attack "revealed the weakness, fragility and impotence" of Israel.

It called the operation "a battle of dignity, pride, and defence".
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Kurdish govt denies claims it helps arm anti-Iran group
2016-11-09
[AA.TR] Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) on Tuesday denied remarks by a high-ranking Iranian official in which he said that KRG President Masoud Barzani had allowed the Saudi consulate in Erbil (the KRG’s administrative capital) to supply weapons to a group hostile to Iran.

The KRG described the assertion -- made earlier the same day by Major-General Yahya Rahim Safavi, a special advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei-- as "baseless" and "lacking in evidence".

Such assertions, the KRG said in a statement, "serve to destabilize the long and friendly relations between the KRG and Iran".

"We challenge Safavi to produce a single document proving that the [Kurdish] regional government poses a threat to Iran," the KRG said, going on to voice hope that Safavi’s remarks did not represent official Iranian policy.

At a news conference held in Tehran earlier Monday, Safavi noted that the KRG and Barzani enjoyed "good relations" with Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
, Israel and the U.S.

He went on to accuse the KRG and its president of allowing the recently-opened Saudi consulate in Erbil to supply arms to a group -- he did not say what group -- that was "hostile to Iran".

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran warns Israel of Hezbollah rockets
2015-05-23
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] A senior Iranian military official Thursday warned that any Israeli attack would unleash a firestorm of missiles on its cities fired by the Islamic Theocratic Republic's Hezbollah allies in Leb.

The Shiite militia has more than 80,000 rockets ready to fire at Tel Aviv and Haifa, said Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, military adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"Iran, with the help of Hezbollah and its friends, is capable of destroying Tel Aviv and Haifa in case of military aggression on the part of the Zionists," he said, quoted on state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
"I don't think the Zionists would be so unintelligent as to create a military problem with Iran," the general said. "They know the strength of Iran and Hezbollah."

Last week, a senior Israeli military intelligence official warned of a heightened threat of conflict over the next two years as a result of "escalation" in the region.

In a briefing to foreign journalists at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, the official referred specifically to Hezbollah, with whom Israel fought a monthlong war in 2006, and to Iran's arming of the group.

"The Iranian threat is a tangible threat to Israel," said the official, whose country has not ruled out the use of military force to block any attempt by Tehran to produce a nuclear bomb.

Israel has opposed the efforts of world powers to strike a deal with Iran curbing its nuclear program in return for an easing of economic sanctions, saying that Tehran cannot be trusted.

Iran has long asserted that its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes, and that international concern about it seeking a nuclear bomb is misplaced.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iranian troops pose for pics along Israel-Lebanon border
2014-12-29
[IsraelTimes] An elite wing of the Iranian military claimed that its troops have been along Leb?s border with Israel.

A Twitter account associated with Iran?s Revolutionary Guard Corps tweeted the statement on Thursday along with several pictures of Iranian soldiers posing with uniformed Lebanese counterparts.

A report by MEMRI, a US-based Middle Eastern media watchdog, tracked the photos to a December 17 blog post affiliated with the Iranian Army, and noted that the pictures were taken in the Beqaa and Baalbek regions of southern Leb.

The soldiers in the pictures could be seem wearing military fatigues that included patches of the flags of Iran and Hezbollah, a terrorist group that has been a bitter rival of Israel, most notably in the Second Leb War of 2006.

The pictures from the blog post ? which was titled ?We are arriving? near the Mother of Corruption, the accursed Israel; soon we will pass over their bodies, Allah willing? ? were stamped with the date October 24, 2014.

Iran is a staunch ally of embattled Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
and has deployed personnel to Syrian throughout the three-year civil war there to assist him. Tehran is also a rival of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
and other Sunni groups that have been operating in Syria and Iraq.

Yahya Rahim Safavi, a top adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and a former IRGC commander, claimed in May that Iran had succeeded in thwarting the ?Western? overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria and that the Islamic Theocratic Republic had established a military presence in Leb.

?Our frontmost line of defense is no more [in southern Iran], rather this line is now in southern Leb [on the border] with Israel, as our strategic depth has now stretched to the Mediterranean coasts and just to the north of Israel,? Safavi declared.

IRGC commander Ali Jafari added to Safavi?s claims in September when he was quoted divulging information about the group?s purpose: ?The missions of the Qods Force [an IRGC elite unit] are [carried out] outside Iran?s borders.?

?Assistance to revolutionary and resistance movements, and to the oppressed, takes place worldwide. If there will be need for assistance in Syria, Iraq or Leb, we will assist,? he said.

On October 19, Tehran announced plans to send a massive weapons shipment to the Lebanese Army and Hezbollah ?in order to improve security in Leb and the region, and to combat terrorists.?

Leb has been dealing with spillover from the Syrian civil war, with Hezbollah?s ground forces embroiled in a bloody conflict against opponents of the Assad regime. The rise of Sunni Lion of Islam groups has troubled Beirut, as the Islamic State and other groups have captured and executed several members of its armed forces.

Iran has considered Israel an arch-rival ever since the overthrow of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi?s in 1979. A proxy war between the two states has heated up in recent years over allegations that Tehran?s nuclear program is being used to develop nuclear weapons, a claim that Iran denies.

Tehran is currently conducting a large-scale military drill in the Persian Gulf, including tests of its missile capabilities.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iranian Commander: Front Line Now In Southern Lebanon
2014-05-04
[IsraelTimes] A top adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei boasted of Iran's robust influence in the Middle East Saturday, claiming victory in Syria, and said that his country's first line of defense is now the Lebanese border with Israel.

"Our frontmost line of defense is no more [in southern Iran], rather this line is now in southern Leb [on the border] with Israel, as our strategic depth has now stretched to the Mediterranean coasts and just to the north of Israel," Yahya Rahim Safavi said in a speech to a group of Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) veterans, the semi-official Fars news outlet reported Saturday.

Iran has long maintained hegemony in southern Leb via its support of the Hezbollah terror group, which is seen as Tehran's regional proxy.

Safavi said Iran's strategy of supporting Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Terror of Aleppo ...
against an insurgency had succeeded in thwarting Western powers.

"Certainly, the US, Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
, Turkey, Qatar and the European countries' strategy to overthrow [Syrian President] Bashir al-Assad has failed and this failure is a strategic failure for the western, Arab and Zionist front and a great victory for the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran," he said.

Iran is the Assad regime's staunchest ally and has exhibited the extent of its regional influence in helping to turn the tide of the Syrian civil war in Assad's favor.

For much of the war Hezbollah declined to get involved, but sent troops last year after reportedly receiving pressure to do so from Iran.

Since Hezbollah became involved, forces loyal to the regime have made major gains in the war, pushing rebels out of key areas along the Lebanese border.

While Iran was shut out of an international peace conference on Syria in January, many analysts have questioned whether a peaceful solution can be attained without the Islamic Theocratic Republic's involvement, and numerous countries, including Russia, as well as the UN, have lobbied for its inclusion.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran: Hizbullah Will Defend us Easily against Any Israeli Attack
2012-09-15
How will Israel rubble thee? Let us dust the ways.
[An Nahar] An assistant to Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced on Friday that the Israeli military threats have placed "Israeli citizens one step away from the grave," adding that Hizbullah would be prepared to defense the Islamic republic against any assault.

Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi declared: "If the Zionist enemy one day considered taking any step against us, then the resistance groups, especially Hizbullah in Leb, will easily retaliate against the entity."

"These groups represent the core of our defense strategy," he stated.

The former head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said: "Our enemies must realize that any response to a threat against Iran will be destructive."

"Iran is completely prepared for the confrontation," Safavi said.

Hizbullah chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...
had recently declared that any response to an Israeli war on Iran will reach American military bases in the region.

An assistant to Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced on Friday that the Israeli military threats have placed "Israeli citizens one step away from the grave," adding that Hizbullah would be prepared to defense the Islamic republic against any assault.

Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi declared: "If the Zionist enemy one day considered taking any step against us, then the resistance groups, especially Hizbullah in Leb, will easily retaliate against the entity."

"These groups represent the core of our defense strategy," he stated.

The former head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said: "Our enemies must realize that any response to a threat against Iran will be destructive."

"Iran is completely prepared for the confrontation," Safavi said.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had recently declared that any response to an Israeli war on Iran will reach American military bases in the region.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran threatens to target US bases if attacked
2012-06-02
Iran has warned the United States not to resort to military action against it, saying US bases in the region were vulnerable to the Islamic Republic's missiles, state media reported on Saturday.
Their missile bases likewise are vulnerable to us. If you can hit us, we can hit you...
The comments by a senior Iranian military commander were an apparent response to US officials who have said Washington was ready to use military force to stop what it suspects is Iran's goal to develop a nuclear weapons capability.

"The politicians and the military men of the United States are well aware of the fact that all of their bases (in the region) are within the range of Iran's missiles and in any case ... are highly vulnerable," Press TV reported Brigadier-General Yahya Rahim Safavi as saying.

Safavi is a military adviser to Iran's clerical Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and was until 2007 the commander in chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the force that protects Iran's Islamic system of governance.

He also warned that Iranian missiles could reach all parts of Israel but played down any possibility of military action against his country as "faint" because of the current economic condition of the United States.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Safavi: US, Israel lack proper situation to initiate war with Iran
2010-08-25
[IRNA] Advisor to Commander-in-Chief of Iranian Armed Forces Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi said on Tuesday that the US and Israel are not in satisfactory situation to commit aggression on Iran but the enemies should not be regarded as entirely weak.

Speaking to a group of university students, he elaborated the current global developments in the face of US and Israeli military threat to Iran.

Safavi said that in 1980, the US was angry with triumph of the Islamic Revolution and encouraged Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to invade Iran. The United States has a record of Iranian bravery and the wise leadership of late Imam Khomeini who mobilized the people to stand up to the US-backed Iraqi-imposed war (1980-1988).

Safavi said that Iranian armed forces are in full combat preparedness to strongly respond to any probable threat or military assault even beyond their geographic borders.

He said that the government plays a vital role in bolstering the combat capabilities of Iranian armed forces at this sensitive juncture.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Advanced technology can fight soft war
2010-03-09
[Iran Press TV Latest] Former commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has highlighted the importance of advanced technology for confronting "soft war."

Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, the Leader's senior military advisor, said that in his opinion the western culture has waged a new war against Iran.

His comments come as Tehran plans to hold a national conference on "soft warfare" later this year.

"We can block the enemy's cultural onslaught by using our own culture. Our enemies have realized that our culture and the Islamic Revolution is ever-expanding, therefore, they have launched an all out cultural war against us" Rahim Safavi said.

He pointed out that the number of Iran's 24-hour satellite television networks should increase to counter the enemy's "soft warfare."

"IRGC can expand the Islamic revolution's culture both inside and outside the country. We can export the Islamic Revolution's culture," Rahim Safavi concluded.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
'Iran has full intelligence about enemies'
2009-12-17
A senior Iranian military official says the country has a total understanding of its enemies from an intelligence point of view.

"The commanders of Iran's armed forces have the political insight into local issues, and they are fully aware of intelligence about enemies," Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, the senior military advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, said on Tuesday.

He stated that the local issues should not prevent the Iranian armed forces from monitoring enemies like the Zionists and the United States, the Fars news agency reported.

"The commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and the military have devised plans to deal with any scenario created by the enemies," Safavi stated.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran issues Postage stamp Honoring Mugniyah
2008-03-11
Tehran has issued a postage stamp honoring terrorist Imad Mugniyah.

The stamp, which features a smiling picture of Imad Mughniyeh wearing a military uniform, was unveiled at a ceremony attended by the Iranian minister of post and communication, Mohammad Soleimani, and Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, former chief of the country's elite Revolutionary Guards, according to the report.

The image used for the stamp appeared frequently at many ceremonies the Iranian government held for Mughniyeh after his death.

Iranian media called the senior Lebanese terrorist the Che Guevara of the Middle East.

Look for Muggsey T-Shirts to be all the rage by the end of the month in Berkley.
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Iraq
Mughniyeh was co-founder of Iraqi Mehdi army
2008-02-24
A ranking Iraqi military intelligence official said Saturday Hezbollah's slain Imad Mughniyeh was a co-founder of the Mehdi Army militia of Muqtada al-Sadr and had recruited followers in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The Iraqi daily al-Zaman quoted the unnamed official as saying Mughniyeh supervised travel of the Mehdi Army Militia's primary cells to Lebanon for training at Hezbollah bases in the Bekaa valley, a few weeks after collapse of the Saddam regime in 2003.

The 300 fighters were trained on the use of assault rifles, booby-trapping and kidnapping operations, the report added.

Mughniyeh also recruited fighters for the Mehdi Army militia in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait that were directed to Lebanon for training at Hezbollah bases under the supervision of an Iranian Intelligence official identified as Qassem Suleimani, the report said. Mughniyeh, the Iraqi official said, had also sponsored the so-called Tha’arullah (God's Revenge) underground group operating in the southern Iraqi province of Basra.

The group, according to reliable sources, is in charge of supervising activities of the so-called Kuwaiti Hezbollah that surfaced after the Mughniyeh assassination.

The United States has accused Hezbollah on several occasions of involvement with the Iraq Mehdi army , but Hezbollah has maintained that it is strictly a Lebanese resistance movement . This new revelation in Iraq could raise many questions about Hezbollah’s involvement outside the Lebanese borders . Yesterday the Iraq Mehdi army extended its truce for another six months.

Mughniyeh was assassinated in Damascus, Syria last week and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah accused Israel of being behind his murder, but Israel denied any involvement . Yesterday General Yahya Rahim Safavi, a former leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards accused an Arab country of being involved in the murder of Mughniyeh , but did not name the country.
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