[Jpost] "I have yet to see anything concrete," Crosetto told Reuters, although he said EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas had "fully understood" the importance of Italy's request.
European nations have taken no concrete steps to strengthen shipping protection in the Red Sea, Italia's defense minister said on Tuesday, adding that governments have failed to respond to his calls to bolster the bloc's naval mission in the area.
In September, Guido Crosetto urged the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... to bolster its Aspides mission, launched in 2024 to protect commercial shipping from attacks by 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... 's Iran-aligned 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... s that have escalated as part of the Middle East conflict.
"I have yet to see anything concrete," Crosetto told Rooters, although he said EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas had "fully understood" the importance of Italia's request.
Following Crosetto's appeal, Kallas wrote to the bloc's 27 member states, urging them to increase their contributions, saying more than 10 warships would be needed for the mission to be truly effective.
Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported that talks among EU states on boosting contributions have so far been inconclusive, partly due to the reluctance of some members with limited resources to deploy assets.
THIRD OF EUROPEAN OPERATIONS DEPEND ON ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION, MINISTER SAYS
"About one third of European operations depend on Italia's contribution. Other countries, far larger than us, contribute much, much less," said Crosetto, a senior member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government.
"If it is right to invest in missions, then it is right that everyone contributes," he added, speaking after an event in Rome.
President Trump is only the most recent American president to sing this theme, not the only one.
The US-Israel war on Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... has disrupted maritime routes that are vital for global trade and energy supplies, including the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Strait of Hormuz, contributing to higher shipping costs and adding to inflationary pressures.
According to Assarmatori, one of Italia's main shipowners' associations, around 40% of the country's trade with the rest of the world passes through the Suez Canal at the northern end of the Red Sea.
The Houthis have intensified attacks on commercial shipping and strategic infrastructure, while Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... has also carried out strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
[FoxNews] Shahram Poursafi allegedly offered a US contact $300K to kill former National Security Advisor John Bolton
The FBI on Tuesday placed a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on its Most Wanted Terrorists list for allegedly soliciting the murders of two former U.S. government officials.
Shahram Poursafi is accused of hiring individuals to kill the officials between October 2021 and April 2022, according to the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Court documents detail an alleged plot targeting former National Security Advisor John Bolton.
The assassination plot was believed to have been initiated in retaliation for the January 2020 killing of IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani, who led a unit of the Qods Force, one of the IRGC's five divisions responsible for developing and carrying out lethal plotting operations.
Poursafi allegedly worked on behalf of the division and sought to pay individuals in the U.S. $300,000 to carry out the assassination.
Separately, the FBI released wanted posters seeking information on three alleged IRGC officials from the same Qods Force unit. The individuals were identified as Mohammad Reza Ansari, Abolfazl Alizadeh and Mohammad Hossein Shamoradizadeh.
Ansari is an alleged deputy who has supported IRGC operations in Syria. He also allegedly planned and attempted to assassinate two former U.S. government officials with the Poursafi’s support.
Alizadeh and Shamoradizadeh are both alleged battalion commanders who have participated in lethal plotting operations.
According to a 2022 Justice Department complaint announcing the charges against Poursafi, Poursafi initially plotted the assassination by asking a U.S. resident he had previously met online to take photographs of Bolton, claiming the images were for a book he was writing.
Poursafi later offered another U.S. contact up to $300,000 to "eliminate" the former national security advisor. Poursafi also told the contact he had an additional "job" for which he would pay $1 million.
The plot ultimately fell through as the contact was a confidential human source working with the FBI, often considered civilian informants.
Poursafi was charged with using communication or travel networks across state lines to carry out a paid assassination. He was also accused of supplying resources or assistance for an international murder plot, according to a Justice Department complaint.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump held a difficult and tense phone conversation regarding the situation surrounding Iran. This was reported on November 10 by the Ynet portal.
During the dialogue, the politicians touched on the topic of resuming strikes on Iran. As the portal's source noted, the conversation was heated and resembled a "hellish squabble."
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office denied the media reports, calling them "fake news." A senior official confirmed the phone call between Netanyahu and Trump, but clarified that the conversation was "not at all difficult."
The British newspaper Financial Times reported that Netanyahu is calling Trump almost daily and trying to persuade him to resume military action against Iran.
Trump previously stated that he considers it unlikely that the US will resume full-scale military action against Iran. He added that the final decision will depend on Iran's willingness to reach an agreement acceptable to the US.
Trump acknowledged that the Republicans' defeat in the midterm congressional elections was largely due to the war with Iran and rising fuel prices. However, he said the war was worth starting. Trump also assured that he would do the same if he had to do it again.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to persuade US President Donald Trump to resume military action against Iran. The Financial Times reported this on November 9.
FT: Netanyahu calls Trump daily, urging him to attack Iran
"Those who don't want this, both inside and outside the White House, are trying to resist it," the source told the publication.
According to the newspaper, the Israeli prime minister's persistent attempts to launch a new offensive against Iran are causing concern among Arab leaders. They fear that a resumption of hostilities will further escalate the situation in the Middle East.
Trump previously stated that he considers it unlikely that the US will resume full-scale military action against Iran. He added that the final decision will depend on Iran's willingness to reach an agreement acceptable to the US.
Following the Democrats' victory in the November 3 congressional elections, five key changes in US foreign policy could occur. According to Reuters, the Democratic Party will oppose military action in Iran, a policy Democrats have repeatedly opposed but have previously been unable to exert any real political influence on Trump's decisions. Specifically, they will demand detailed military spending reports from the presidential administration and block certain appointments. Furthermore, the Democratic majority in Congress may favor resuming military aid to Ukraine, limiting aid to Israel,
What aid? Bibi and President Trump agreed that American aid to Israel will end at the end of this year, less than eight weeks from now, almost a month before the new Democratic Congresscritters will be sworn in to office...
and strengthening oversight of US policy in Latin America.
Trump acknowledged that the Republicans' defeat in the midterm congressional elections was largely due to the war with Iran and rising fuel prices. However, he said the war was worth starting. Trump also assured that he would do the same if he had to do it again.
And that God for that, because the alternative is an Iran armed with nuclear weapons and immediate plans to use them.
[Dawn] The Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... government conditionally lifted the ban on the sale and purchase of urea fertiliser in 17 more districts on Monday evening, according to an official notification.
Imposed in August over concerns about its use by anti-state elements to make bombs, the ban caused severe difficulties for farmers and sparked protests in some areas of the province.
The notification, issued by the Agriculture Department’s director general of extension, allows conditional urea sales in Hub, Jaffarabad, Sohbatpur, Usta Muhammad, Jhal Magsi, Dera Bugti, Barkhan, Sibi, Kachhi, Khuzdar, Kharan, Loralai, Qila Saifullah, Quetta, Pishin, Kalat and Panjgur, in addition to Nasirabad and Lasbela.
Under the new directives, fertiliser dealers must strictly follow prescribed SOPs and maintain complete records of sales to farmers.
"Sale and purchase of urea fertiliser without prescribed protocols is strictly prohibited, and no parallel system contrary to the newly prescribed protocol will be acceptable; rather, it will be considered illegal," the official notification said.
Agriculture Department officers, deputy commissioners and law enforcement agencies will strictly monitor fertiliser stocks and their movement, reporting any violations immediately. Dealers found violating the prescribed procedures will face strict action and have their licences cancelled.
[Jpost] President Muizzu explained that earlier proposals sought to prohibit entry "until Israel halted the genocide that began following 7 October 2023."
The Maldives is moving to make its ban on Israeli passport holders permanent, with President Mohamed Muizzu announcing on Monday that Israelis “will not be permitted to enter the Maldives under any circumstances.”
During a press conference held at the Maldives President’s Office yesterday, Muizzu explained that earlier proposals sought to prohibit entry “until Israel halted the genocide that began following October 7, 2023.”
However, the current bill provides for an unconditional ban on entry for anyone holding an Israeli passport, irrespective of changing circumstances.
MUIZZU ACCUSES ISRAEL OF GENOCIDE
Beyond Muizzu referring to Israel’s actions against the Palestinian people as “genocide,” he said that the Maldives had consistently maintained this position on international platforms and advocated for the Palestinian cause through various legal avenues.
[IsraelTimes] The Paleostinian Authority has arrested several suspects in connection with the sale of West Bank homes on the outskirts of Jericho to Israeli settlers, in violation of PA laws.
Paleostinian Authority security forces front man Anwar Rajab told Paleostinian radio that those arrested are suspected of involvement in the "takeover of land in the Ad-Duyuk area of Jericho."
Last week, several dozen settlers associated with the Nachala settlement organization took up residence in eight buildings in the Jericho suburb, which Nachala said it had purchased in a secretive operation it announced only once the settlers had entered the homes.
The Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported that those arrested by the PA were brokers involved in transferring the homes to settlers and that they had been remanded in jug for 15 days.
Paleostinian Authority law prohibits the sale of land to an "enemy state" or its citizens, including Israeli citizens. In practice, the provision is enforced primarily against sales to Israeli Jews, rather than Arab citizens of Israel.
Ad-Duyuk al-Tahta, where the homes were purchased, is located in Area C of the West Bank, which is under full Israeli civil and security control under the Oslo Accords. It is adjacent to Jericho, a city of over 20,000 people, which is in Area A and under full PA control.
According to reports, the homes purchased by the settlers are located on Israeli state land, and the Paleostinians who built them did so illegally. The settlers claimed to have purchased the homes with the cooperation of the Binyamin Regional Council, a state-funded settlement municipal authority.
The Binyamin Regional Council also claimed the buildings are on state land. But it is unclear how the council would have been able to purchase the land if it had not been privately owned by Paleostinians.
Settler groups have been accused of pressuring Paleostinians and falsifying documents in order to carry out such takeovers of Paleostinian property, with such cases more common in the West Bank city of Hebron.
[Jpost] Israeli defense officials assess that US President Donald Trump would prefer to avoid a military confrontation and resolve tensions through diplomacy.
The IDF is preparing for two major escalation scenarios involving Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... as the United States, steered by US Vice President JD Vance, continues diplomatic efforts aimed at reaching an agreement with Tehran and preventing a broader regional conflict.
The talks are focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and restoring international nuclear inspections in exchange for partially lifting the US blockade on Iran and releasing billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets. Israeli defense officials remain on high alert as diplomatic efforts continue alongside limited US military strikes.
IDF prepares for US offensive, potential Iranian retaliation
The first scenario the IDF has prepared for involves the United States launching an extensive and particularly aggressive military offensive against Iran, targeting national infrastructure and military facilities in an effort to shorten the conflict and bring it to an end.
The second scenario involves Iran attempting a surprise attack against American interests and military bases across the Middle East, including IDF bases hosting US military personnel and aircraft.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir and senior General Staff officers have held discussions and situational assessments in recent days to review and validate operational plans.
As a result of these discussions, Israel Air Force Commander Maj.-Gen. Omer Tishler and Operations Directorate head Maj.-Gen. Itzik Cohen did not attend the IDF Commanders' Championship.
The assessments cover a wide range of scenarios and potential responses, aimed at ensuring operational readiness in the event of a surprise Iranian attack.
The military is also preparing for the possibility that Israel's adversaries in its immediate and wider regional surroundings could become involved in an escalation, whether through a coordinated operation, misunderstanding, or miscalculation.
ISRAELI OFFICIALS BELIEVE TRUMP PREFERS AGREEMENT OVER MILITARY CONFRONTATION Meanwhile,
...back at the bunker, his Excellency called a hurried meeting of his closest advisors. It was to be his last. They discussed the officers's efficiency rating system... Israeli defense officials assess that US President Donald Trump ...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried.... would prefer to avoid a military confrontation and resolve tensions through a diplomatic agreement.
However,
some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... Israeli security assessments suggest that the Iranian leadership views Washington's preference for diplomacy as a sign of weakness.
According to these assessments, Tehran views the results of the US midterm elections, held on Tuesday, November 3, as a form of political "Dire Revenge" against the White House.
Israeli officials also believe Iran is unlikely to rush into signing an agreement and will instead maintain a hard-line negotiating position while attempting to prolong the talks.
ISRAELI SECURITY OFFICIALS REJECT CLAIMS OF HEATED IRAN STRIKE DEBATE
Separately, Israeli defense officials addressed discussions held on November 1, two days before the US midterm elections, during which security bigshots reviewed potential scenarios and responses involving Iran.
Among the options raised was the possibility of a preemptive Israeli offensive against Iran, reportedly supported by the Mosssd ...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end... chief.
However,
some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... security officials said they considered the proposal and then dropped it, rejecting suggestions that the discussions involved unusually heated disagreements.
"The option was raised and then dropped just as quickly," security officials said. "The discussion was professional and respectful. There were disagreements on some issues, but no arguments that got out of proportion."
"The leaks from the discussion were politically motivated," the officials added.
[Jpost] Hamas accuses the PA of rearresting released terrorists, while Fatah accuses Hamas of preventing humanitarian operations for Gazans.
Tensions have flared in recent weeks between Fatah and Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... , less than a month after the two factions met in Cairo for Paleostinian unity talks, amid disagreements over the disruption of humanitarian efforts and the alleged detention of released prisoners, according to official statements.
On Monday, Fatah rejected Hamas’s claims that the Paleostinian Authority (PA) was failing 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 a rusty iron fist by Hamas with 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... , describing the organization’s earlier accusations that the PA was neglecting the territory’s humanitarian needs as part of a "disinformation campaign."
In response to Hamas’s accusations, Fatah said it held the terrorist group "responsible for negligence and failure to intervene to save citizens and alleviate their suffering in the Gaza Strip." It alleged that Hamas had summoned Paleostinian Labor Ministry staff and aid workers in recent weeks and pressured them to sign pledges preventing them from carrying out their duties.
The reported disruptions to humanitarian work come as the region enters winter, with temperatures expected to fall to 11°C this week and potentially reach as low as 6°C later in the season. Five Paleostinians, including children, have already died after a sand embankment collapsed onto tents in Deir al-Balah following heavy rainfall, according to the Hamas-run Paleostinian Civil Defense Agency. Jonathan Veitch, UNICEF’s representative for the Paleostinian territories, has also warned that tens of thousands of tents have been flooded by the rain.
"The movement calls for an end to the summoning and pressuring of employees, and for an end to obstructing the work of government and relief teams," Fatah stated. "It urges that they be enabled to fulfill their duties without threats or interference, to protect citizens, preserve their dignity, and alleviate their suffering."
FATAH SAYS HAMAS CONSISTENTLY SUMMONS ITS EMPLOYEES FOR QUESTIONING
Since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, Fatah has repeatedly complained that the terrorist group has summoned its employees for questioning. In February, Fatah claimed that its members Ayman Halawa and Abdelaziz al-Daour had been summoned by Hamas, condemning the move as divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... Prof. Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) and the Misgav Institute, described the friction as "troubling," explaining that Hamas isn’t allowing PA representatives to continue cooperating with international aid organizations to help the people of Gaza, to be better prepared for the winter, as an act of retaliation for the arrests of Hamas-affiliated individuals in the West Bank and out of fear that Fatah will be able to build a base for itself in the Gaza Strip.
Such a base, he said, would weaken Hamas and facilitate its "disarmament and decomposition."
"Hamas has no regret or sorrow regarding its own people, and it is willing to sacrifice its people and to make their life more difficult towards the coming winter to serve its survival and political existence as well as preparation towards another starvation and humanitarian crisis campaign that the international media and community will eat with a great appetite," Michael said. "This is another form or version of using civilians as human shields, and the world probably will continue blaming Israel."
The anger over the reported interference in aid work also comes as Hamas and its officials have made several inflammatory accusations against Fatah and the PA. Late last month, Hamas accused the PA security forces of arresting released prisoners, activists, and civilians in a campaign across the West Bank.
According to the Paleostinian Information Center, which documents the detention of bully boyz by both Israel and the PA, PA security forces arrested the released Hamas terrorist Ahmed Noah Harish, Khaled Brahmeh, Muhammad Abu Farha, Moslem Yasar Ishtayeh, Fawzi Bishkar, and Muath Ardaniya.
Describing the arrests as part of a "revolving door" policy by the PA, Hamas claimed the treatment of prisoners "compounded the suffering" of Paleostinians.
[Rudaw] As the sun set over Tehran during the 12-day war between Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... and Israel in June 2025, a spectacular luminous trail appeared across the Iranian capital’s sky that resembled an angel with outstretched wings. Photographers captured the extraordinary sight, while some Iranians dubbed the missile believed to have created it the "Angel of Death."
But behind the dramatic spectacle lay a story of technical failure, a potentially fatal gamble and the determination of an Iranian missile operator, according to a collection of testimonies from Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force personnel the Iranian newspaper Farhikhtegan published on Monday.
The newspaper identified the missile responsible for trail across the sky as the Sejjil, a two-stage, solid-fuel ballistic missile designed to strike targets up to a distance of 2,000 kilometers away.
According to the account, the crew had completed preparations and activated the firing sequence, but the missile's engine failed to ignite.
With the operators close to abandoning the launch, a crew member identified as Ruhollah repeatedly pleaded with his commander, Mohsen, to allow him to approach the launcher to attempt to fire the missile from its cabin.
Mohsen initially refused, fearing that a delayed ignition could burn Ruhollah alive before he reached safety.
Eventually, the commander relented.
Ruhollah rushed to the launcher, entered the cabin and closed the door behind him. Seconds later, the missile roared into the evening sky.
As the missile climbed towards its target, its stage separation created an extraordinary luminous pattern above Iran.
The newspaper described the successful launch as a miracle, adding that another operator, Javad, repeated a similar manoeuvre several days later.
The account was among dozens of testimonies published by Farhikhtegan, documenting the experiences of Iranian missile crews during the June 2025 war and the subsequent US-Israeli conflict with Iran in 2026.
THE MISSILE BEHIND THE SPECTACLE
The Sejjil-2 is one of Iran's most advanced, domestically developed medium-range ballistic missiles, using two stages powered by solid propellant rather than the liquid fuel employed by some of Iran's older missile systems.
According to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the missile is approximately 18 meters long, weighs around 23.6 tons at launch and has an estimated range of 2,000 kilometers.
The Sejjil-2 is designed to carry a conventional warhead weighing approximately 700 kilograms over that distance, although its maximum range depends on the weight of its payload.
Its solid-fuel design is particularly important because it eliminates the need to fuel the missile immediately before launch, reducing preparation time and the period during which its launcher is vulnerable to enemy aircraft and drones.
Iran first test fired the Sejjil family of missiles in 2008, followed by further trials of the improved Sejjil-2 in 2009.
The luminous trail observed over Tehran was attributed by Iranian media to the expansion of exhaust gases at high altitude and a phenomenon known as the twilight effect.
As a missile climbs into the thinner atmosphere, its exhaust plume expands. Around sunset, sunlight can continue illuminating the gases at high altitude even when the ground below is dark, creating spectacular glowing shapes.
Iran's Young Journalists Club described the phenomenon in a November 1 report explaining the Sejjil's distinctive appearance.
DEATH FROM ABOVE
While the Sejjil was celebrated as an "Angel of Death," the testimonies published by Farhikhtegan suggest that the real and persistent danger confronting Iranian missile crews came from Israeli and American aircraft and drones operating overhead.
In one account, a launcher commander described how an Israeli drone struck his position shortly after another launcher, approximately 200 metres away, fired its missile.
Despite damage to the launcher, the crew continued launch preparations.
A second Israeli missile then struck the position.
The commander said the missile remained intact, allowing him to complete the launch despite damage to the launch vehicle.
Another testimony described two launchers coming under repeated drone attacks, with one burning as its crew struggled to save it.
An operator identified as Mahmoud reportedly managed to separate a towing vehicle from a burning launcher. He then drove it away as an Israeli drone continued circling overhead.
In another incident, four IRGC personnel were killed in successive dronezaps as they attempted to rescue colleagues following a kaboom at a missile launching position.
The first victim, Mojtaba, a technical battalion commander, approached the scene in a firefighting vehicle and was struck while attempting to evacuate personnel.
Mohammad Amin, a security officer who arrived in an ambulance to assist him, was also hit.
Two other men, Seyyed Hossein and Mohammad, were subsequently killed as they approached their maimed colleagues.
All four died at the same location, according to the newspaper.
Other accounts described missile crews losing limbs, suffering severe burns and being killed while preparing launchers or attempting to recover bodies.
The newspaper presented these episodes as examples of exceptional sacrifice. Taken together, however, they also reveal the vulnerability of Iran's missile-launching infrastructure to sustained Israeli surveillance and precision attacks.
HUNDREDS OF MISSILE LAUNCHERS DESTROYED
Israel made the destruction of Iran's ballistic missile launchers a central objective of its June 2025 campaign.
On June 16, the Israeli military announced that it had destroyed more than 120 launchers, which it estimated represented approximately one-third of Iran's operational inventory at the outset of the war.
By the end of the 12-day conflict, Israeli assessments suggested that approximately 250 launchers had been destroyed or rendered inoperable.
These figures could not be independently verified, and Iran has not disclosed a comprehensive inventory of its launchers or missile stockpiles.
The damage did not inhibit Iran's ability to launch missiles at Israel, and Tehran subsequently embarked on efforts to rebuild its arsenal.
In January 2026, IRGC Aerospace Force commander Brigadier General Majid Mousavi claimed that Iran had repaired the damage sustained during the June war and increased its missile stockpiles beyond their pre-war levels.
When the recent war broke out on February 28, 2026, Israeli and American forces again targeted Iran's missile facilities, manufacturing infrastructure and launch systems.
During the April ceasefire, Mousavi claimed that the IRGC had accelerated work to replenish its missile and drone arsenal.
"During the ceasefire period, our speed in updating and refilling missile and drone launch platforms is even greater than before the war," Mousavi said, according to the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency.
However,
some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... neither the Iranian claims of replenishment nor Israeli estimates of destruction provide a verified picture of Iran's current missile inventory.
BULLDOZERS INSIDE MISSILE TUNNELS
The Farhikhtegan testimonies also reveal the extent to which Iranian missile units relied on underground facilities to survive repeated attacks.
One account described a retired engineering equipment operator named Masoud who remained with the IRGC during the war.
Masoud worked inside a missile tunnel complex and operated backhoe loaders whenever strikes blocked entrances.
According to the newspaper, he repeatedly cleared rubble and reopened access routes, sometimes while Israeli drones continued circling above the facilities.
The account suggests that heavy construction equipment was available within the underground missile complexes, allowing operators to clear entrances obstructed by collapsed earth and concrete.
In another incident, a team attempting to recover bodies from under the rubble used a backhoe while an Israeli drone continued monitoring the area.
The remains of two personnel were retrieved and transported away in a civilian vehicle, according to the newspaper.
THE HUMAN COST BEHIND THE LAUNCHERS
One of the most prominent survivors of the Israeli attacks is 22-year-old Hossein Mohammadi, an IRGC Aerospace Force member who lost both hands and legs in a dronezap during the 2026 war and has since gained celebrity status in Iran, where state media portray him as a symbol of sacrifice and resilience.
"There were around 13 or 14 of us in the area. After completing the mission, we boarded a truck," Mohammadi recalled in an interview with Jam-e Jam, an Iranian newspaper the state Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) publishes daily.
"We were on the road when a missile fired by a drone struck me directly, where I was sitting in the middle. After that, I lost consciousness." He said he regained consciousness and dragged himself approximately 15 metres before collapsing beneath an electricity pole.
His daughter was born the same day he was maimed. Iranian officials have since celebrated Mohammadi's survival, with Kermanshah's governor visiting him in hospital and praising his willingness to serve in the missile units despite his devastating injuries.
In one account, two missile operators from Zanjan, a city to the northwest of Tehran, were killed when an Israeli drone struck their launcher, causing the missile to explode. Their colleagues wanted to retrieve the bodies but were prevented from leaving a nearby tunnel because the drone hovered overhead.
Another account described a missile operator identified as Aref, who was killed when an Israeli drone struck a launcher as he and a colleague, Amir, prepared to fire. Amir suffered severe burns, while another operator, Hossein, remained trapped near a burning launcher cabin before being rescued.
A separate testimony recounted the death of Habib Bahvandi, identified as a pilot, who returned to a position that had been bombed before to recover surviving equipment and missile warheads for another operational unit.
The site was struck again while he was there, killing him.
The newspaper also described an operator who lost a foot during an Israeli dronezap but managed to reach a telephone and alert colleagues to the attack.
In another particularly poignant account, the wife of an IRGC member identified as Mehdi recalled that she had intended to surprise her husband with the sound of their unborn child's heartbeat.
She never got the opportunity to do so.
After an attack on his workplace, a colleague telephoned to tell her that Mehdi had been killed.
A DIFFERENT PICTURE OF THE WAR
The testimonies were published as a tribute to the courage, sacrifice and religious devotion of Iranian missile crews.
Yet beneath the accounts of heroism lies a different picture of the two wars: missiles that failed to launch, repeated dronezaps, burning launchers, personnel killed while trying to rescue colleagues and engineering teams struggling to reopen devastated underground facilities.
The newspaper does not provide a comprehensive casualty count, and the individual accounts have not been independently verified.
Nevertheless, the detailed descriptions, published by an Iranian newspaper sympathetic to the country's military establishment, offer an unusually candid account of the challenges confronting the IRGC Aerospace Force.
The spectacular Sejjil trail above Tehran became a symbol of Iranian military defiance.
For the men operating the launchers below, however, the "Angel of Death" more often arrived from the sky.
[Rudaw] Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) unveiled a new underground missile city on Tuesday, displaying missiles and launchers as US President Donald Trump pointed to progress in efforts to reach a settlement with Tehran.
Major General Ali Abdollahi, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, and Brigadier General Majid Mousavi, commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force, attended the unveiling. IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency reported that the display included ballistic and cruise missiles alongside their launchers.
Images released from the visit showed the two commanders inside one of the facility’s tunnels, according to Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency, which reported senior officers inspecting sections of the underground complex and the operational readiness of its missile units.
Abdollahi emphasized that “Advanced missiles will surprise enemies with their battlefield impact.”
The unveiling comes as the US weighs additional military action against Iran following recent US strikes on Qeshm Island as regional mediators reignite efforts to prevent renewed escalations.
In an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes recorded on Friday and aired on Sunday, Trump said he wasn't looking to escalate the war. “I don't think there's any reason to," he stated, adding that nuclear material is “buried under thousands of tons of rock.”
While Washington has voiced optimism about a possible agreement, Tehran’s military leadership has warned that another attack would draw a response extending beyond previous geographical boundaries.
“Our response will be immediate, effective and without geographical limits,” Abdollahi said in late October, according to state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). He said Iranian forces were monitoring their adversaries’ movements and updating their list of targets and that armed forces would confront American and Israeli targets without waiting for the latter to initiate.
Trump struck a more optimistic tone on Monday following talks with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, whose country has been mediating between Washington and Tehran.
“We are seeing positive momentum toward an end to this Conflict,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, describing his conversation with the Qatari premier as “excellent.”
The Qatari premier also met US Vice President JD Vance and said on X early Tuesday that he was grateful for the “positive discussions on reaching a deal and bringing peace to the region.”
Neither side announced a completed agreement.
Iraq has also joined the diplomatic push. Iranian and Iraqi media on Monday reported that Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi visited Tehran on Friday for talks with Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who heads Iran’s negotiating delegation regarding efforts to end the war.
Iraqi Ambassador to Iran Yasser Abdulzahra al-Hajjaj likewise confirmed the visit, telling the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) on Monday that al-Zaidi's trip was “a private and unannounced visit aimed at discussing ways to reduce tensions and defuse the threat of war in the region.”
Despite his optimism, Trump maintained a military warning of his own, saying on Monday that the US remained “locked and loaded” should circumstances change, while reiterated that preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon was non-negotiable.
[NY Post] US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently moved out of his home and onto a military base after Iranian threats against his life, two people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
The New York Times first reported the move.
Bessent has led the US sanctions and economic pressure campaign against Iran, dubbed Operation Economic Outcast, since August to try to push Tehran to end attacks on shipping and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The crucial waterway has been largely closed since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
The economic pressure campaign, which coincides with a US naval blockade of Iranian ports, has included sanctions on Middle Eastern bank branches and other financial services firms facilitating transactions with Iran.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/11/2026 01:49 ||
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Fascinating that the former ruling people of Syria are now appealing to Israel for aid and possibly protection. Truly we live in an age of miracles.
[Jpost] Photos of armed gangs patrolling UN aid distribution points and posts by SARC aid workers supporting the massacre of ethnic and religious minorities in Syria were shared with the Post.
UN aid sent to victims of the coastal massacre and Alawites displaced by sectarian violence in Syria is being redirected to the same Sunni militias responsible for the attacks, some of which are affiliated with the new Sharaa regime, several displaced families told The Jerusalem Post.
Sharing photos of armed gangs patrolling UN aid distribution points, as well as posts by SARC aid workers that supported the massacre of ethnic and religious minorities in Syria, a Syrian source said the situation was becoming increasingly desperate.
The Post was asked not to share images taken inside and around aid sites, as the individuals feared being identified and targeted for speaking to Israeli media.
SARC is one of several major Syrian organizations responsible for distributing UN aid in the country. The source claimed that, by relying on an organization biased against Alawites, whose aid workers had expressed support for massacres, international organizations were failing both to ensure that aid reached its intended recipients and to ensure that displaced communities could safely access the resources they needed.
R., speaking on behalf of her family and two other families she shared a two-room apartment with in rural Hama after being displaced by the attacks in Latakia.
ALAWITES ACCUSED OF ASSAD AFFILIATION
She said that her family had been told by their community leader to register at the SARC center to receive assistance with mattresses and blankets. However,
death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... when she arrived at the center, gangs and individuals wearing Amn al-Aam (Syrian General Security) uniforms accused them of being remnants of the former regime and denied them aid. R. insisted that neither she nor her family members had served in or been affiliated with the Assad regime in any way.
"We went to the center, and then when we entered the center of the SARC plant, [we] saw the army of Jolani (Sharaa)... They started to tell [us] that, ’You are Alawites, you are, you are linked to the old regime, you are criminals,’ and these kinds of things," she recounted. "So even though we registered our name and the staff told us, ’We will call you to come and take some assistance,’ after a while, the UN with the SARC, they came to the community, and they started to distribute to the Bedouins who actually looted and stole the houses, and not for the Alawites."
She said that both her family and their neighbors saw their names replaced on the list of aid recipients with those of local militias or people whose family members were affiliated with SARC, a claim the source said they had also observed.
R. said that her family had submitted multiple complaints to UNHCR, though the agency did not confirm whether it had received the complaints in its response to the Post.
A UNHCR spokesperson said that they did not have information about specific complaints but that anyone with concerns about possible misconduct by UNHCR staff or associated entities should contact the agency's Inspector General's Office.
The spokesperson added that UNHCR's non-food item assistance in Syria was distributed according to assessed humanitarian needs and established eligibility criteria, without distinction based on religious, ethnic, or other community affiliations.
"Our aid has reached diverse communities across Lattakia and Tartous, irrespective of their religious, ethnic, or any other backgrounds; these include IDPs and returnees (both refugees and IDPs), as well as Syrian households affected by emergencies," the spokesperson said, adding that aid recipients were identified through assessments, household visits, and eligibility verification, with distribution lists checked for duplication and implementation monitored through field visits and recipient feedback.
Any concerns identified through these processes were reviewed and cross-checked to ensure adherence to humanitarian principles, they continued.
ALAWITES FACED INCREASING PERSECUTION, MASSACRES FOLLOWING FALL OF ASSAD
The Assad family was ethnically Alawite, as were many of the soldiers who served in the military before Damascus fell to Ahmed al-Sharaa's Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... in December 2024. Since then, Syria's ethnic and religious minorities have faced continued persecution and large-scale massacres.
A UN investigative team confirmed last year that war crimes were likely committed by members of both the interim government's forces and other parties during the coastal massacre in March 2025, which resulted in the deaths of around 1,400 people, the majority of whom were Alawite civilians.
R. had witnessed the violence, and her cousin was killed during the attacks.
"A year ago, the entire village was looted, and some of their neighbors actually had their houses burned completely. So they were forced to leave the entire village they used to live in, and the Bedouins actually came to take it," she said, explaining that militias forced her to flee again after she arrived in Hama, where they burned and looted more homes.
UNHCR, SARC COMPLICIT IN VIOLENCE, ALAWITE SYRIAN SAYS
T. began his interview with the Post by swearing that he had never had any connection to the Assad regime. During a video call last week, he also showed the news hound the rough bandages wrapped around his foot, which had been shot while he attempted to flee the massacre in Jableh, Latakia, and reach a Russian military base for safety.
"All the old people who are disabled, they couldn't move... These people who were unable to walk... they stayed in the houses while we saw that they were killed," he said. "They actually were not able to move or to be displaced, so they were killed. And I was injured."
He said that he had personally witnessed his community hand over all its weapons, only months before militias wearing the country's official military uniforms began the attacks.
T. said he believed that UNHCR and SARC were complicit in the violence, describing how aid delivered to his neighborhood in front of cameras was allegedly stolen by the same militias that shot him just two hours after the delegations had left.
He described the aid distribution efforts as little more than a photo opportunity, saying that the lack of protection around distribution sites had cost his family dearly. T. said that his paternal uncle was killed while attempting to collect UN aid in town.
"They brought Bedouins in front of the cameras under the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... . They started to distribute some food to the Bedouins..., and later on, they gave all the assistance to those Bedouins. So, in front of the United Nations, they were giving to other people," he said. "We have not received anything from the UN or the SARC, and my family and our neighbors were attacked."
T. also said that he had registered for aid with the UN under the guidance of Latakia's Al Mukhtar (local governor), but had not received any assistance.
"The current situation is very bad. Alawites who worked in government, including doctors and other employees, were kicked out of their jobs. We are now jobless and have no money. Not only that, but they looted our houses, burned our land, and cut down our olive trees," he said.
"They destroyed everything we had to eat or earn a living from. All of this happened in front of the entire world. International news hounds and television networks documented everything, but they did nothing."
[Reuters] Iran's military opened a training centre for women to learn self-defence at Tehran's Azadi Square as the conflict with the United States continues.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
