[IsraelTimes] Abu Dhabi accuses terror network of trying to carry out schemes to undermine country’s economy; Hezbollah denies accusations of having personnel in UAE
United Arab Emirates authorities said on Friday they have dismantled what they call a terrorist network funded and operated by Leb ...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade.... ’s Hezbollah terror group and by Iran, and arrested its members.
According to the WAM state news agency, the network was involved in "money laundering, financing terrorism and threatening national security."
"The network had been operating within the country under a fictitious commercial cover and sought to infiltrate the national economy and carry out external schemes threatening the country’s financial stability," the agency said, citing the UAE State Security Apparatus.
Hezbollah issued a statement on Friday denying that it has a presence inside the United Arab Emirates
Earlier this week, Hezbollah issued similar denials that it maintained a presence in Kuwait, after Kuwaiti authorities announced the discovery of two alleged cells linked to the group, arresting a combined 26 people.
In a statement, the Lebanese terror group said it "denies the fabricated accusations made against it by the security authorities in the United Arab Emirates."
"Hezbollah has no presence inside the UAE or in any other country under any cover or commercial designation or otherwise."
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 been targeting the Gulf countries, including the UAE, in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes since the war began on February 28.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun spoke on Friday to his Emirati counterpart Mohammed bin Zayed in a phone call and condemned "the attacks targeting the UAE," according to a Lebanese presidency statement.
He also condemned "the involvement of Hezbollah elements in sabotage plots that the UAE said were thwarted today."
In recent years, the Lebanese government has had tensions with Gulf states, which have expressed concern about Hezbollah projecting influence outside of Lebanon.
[IsraelTimes] Arrests at base housing Britain’s nuclear-armed submarine fleet come amid rising Iran-linked threats in Britain, three weeks into the US-Israel war against the Islamic Republic
Scottish police on Friday said they arrested two people attempting to enter a Royal Navy base in the northwest where Britannia’s nuclear submarines are based, including a man identified by UK media as Iranian.
"Around 5 p.m. on Thursday, 19 March, 2026, we were made aware of two people attempting to enter HM Naval Base Clyde," Police Scotland said in a statement sent to AFP.
"A 34-year-old man and 31-year-old woman have been arrested in connection and inquiries are ongoing," the police added, without providing additional details.
The Royal Navy confirmed the arrests but said that "as the matter is subject to an ongoing investigation, we will not comment further."
The Clyde base, known as Faslane, is located on the west coast of Scotland and is key to Britannia’s security, hosting the country’s nuclear-armed submarine fleet, as well as its attack submarines.
The arrests come three weeks into the US-Israel war on Iran. While Britannia has not taken part in the attacks on Iran, the country’s forces have downed Iranian missiles and drones in the Gulf region.
The UK has allowed the United States to use two of its military bases — in Fairford in southwest England and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean — for operations in Washington’s war against Iran, which the British government insists are purely "defensive."
The threat posed to Britannia from Iran has been the subject of repeated warnings from the UK’s domestic spy agency MI5, with accusations that Tehran was behind more than 20 suspected kidnap and liquidation plots in the country.
There have been several cases of suspected Iranian spies being arrested in the UK over the last year. Iran has repeatedly denied allegations of spying, saying it is part of a campaign against it by hostile Western powers.
Two men appeared in a London court on Thursday, accused of being tasked by Iran to carry out hostile surveillance on Jewish people and sites in London.
Britannia has been a nuclear power since the 1950s. Since the 1990s, its nuclear deterrent has consisted of four Royal Navy submarines armed with Trident ballistic missiles.
Earlier in March, the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament organized a demonstration outside the Clyde base, which regularly attracts protests.
#Iraq / #USA / #Israel / #Iran 🇮🇶🇺🇸🇮🇱🇮🇷: “Jaysh al-Ghadab” (Army of Wrath) carried out a drone attack against the US Victoria Base in #Baghdad.
Group seemingly used a couple of common X-Tail Iranian “Shahed-101” (Murad-5) Kamikaze Drones (OWA-UAVs) to target the base. pic.twitter.com/TEh2LckVbV
[IsraelTimes] Three missiles fired Friday had cluster warheads, causing mostly light injuries; IRGC spokesman denies PM’s claim on destroyed missile production capacity, is killed by the time he gets quoted
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... fired nine salvos of ballistic missiles at Israel from early Friday morning into the night, at least three of which appeared to carry cluster bomb warheads, damaging houses and lightly wounding some residents, as Israel named several Iranian officials it killed in recent days.
Fragments from one intercepted missile impacted in Jerusalem’s Old City, causing damage to a parking lot in the Jewish Quarter — around 400 meters from the Western Wall and al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the Temple Mount.
No injuries were reported.
Israel Police officers soon after inspected a public playground, just below the site where debris from the intercepted Iranian missile careened onto the walled city’s southern flank, for further fragments.
The impact was just above Dung Gate, one of seven functional entrances into the Old City, and came shortly before the start of Shabbat, disrupting residents’ preparations with a loud bang.
After the hit, soldiers moved away crowds of Orthodox children craning their necks to see the damage. Up a limestone passageway, an Armenian man quietly swept up shards of glass blown out from his window.
In the central city of Rehovot, the cluster attacks set one home ablaze, as fragments from intercepted missiles impacted in some 8-10 locations, according to police.
A man and a woman in their 70s were lightly maimed by a blast, while part of a missile landed inside another resident’s living room.
Zohar Damati, who lives nearby, told the Ynet news site: "There was a crazy boom, we realized it was exactly where our next-door neighbor lives. They said he was taken to a hospital, now we’re praying for him to get better."
Yonatan Ben David, another neighbor, said: "We felt a really huge boom, but we knew it hadn’t went kaboom! because there wasn’t any blast hitting the windows," calling what happened a "crazy miracle."
A bomblet impact also caused a small crater in a playground in the central city of Kiryat Ono, without no injuries reported.
The Health Ministry reported earlier in the day that the total number of hospitalizations as a direct or indirect result of the war in Iran was 4,099.
Among those treated in hospitals over the previous day, two were at death's door, two were in moderate condition and 136 were in good condition. Ten people were treated for anxiety.
The ministry did not give a breakdown of the causes of injuries, and some were presumably sustained by people trying to reach shelters rather than as a direct result of an Iranian missile attack or rocket fire from Leb ...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... IDF: KILLED BASIJ INTELLIGENCE CHIEF IN MONDAY STRIKE
The Israel Defense Forces announced Friday that one of its Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in Tehran earlier this week, which killed the commander of Iran’s volunteer Basij militia and his deputy, as well as the paramilitary force’s intelligence officer.
On Tuesday, the military had said Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani, his deputy and several other top officers were killed in the strike.
The same strike also killed Ismail Ahmadi, the chief of intelligence in the Basij, the IDF confirmed.
The brass hats in the oppressive force, a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, had been targeted while at a tent camp that was recently established by the Basij.
According to the IDF, the Basij set up the camp after the military struck many of the headquarters of the paramilitary force.
Later Friday, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin announced a top official in Iran’s Intelligence Ministry was killed in an airstrike in Tehran earlier this week. Defrin said the strike on Wednesday that killed Mehdi Rastami Shamastan came following "joint intelligence research by the Military Intelligence Directorate, the Mosssd ...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end... and the Shin Bet."
Shamastan was "a key figure in advancing terror activity against Israeli and Jewish civilians in Israel and around the world," he said.
IRGC SPOKESMAN BOASTS TO PRESS, IS KILLED BY TIME HE’S QUOTED
During a presser Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the US-Israeli campaign against the Islamic Theocratic Republic was destroying Iran’s existing store of ballistic missiles and had destroyed its ability to manufacture them.
On Friday, IRGC front man Gen. Ali Mohammad Naini was quoted by the state-run IRAN newspaper as rejecting that assertion.
"Our missile industry score is 20," he said, referring to a perfect score in the Iranian schools’ grading system. "And there is no concern in this regard because we are producing missiles even during war conditions, which is amazing, and there is no particular problem in stockpiling."
Hours after the comments were published, the IRGC announced that Israel killed Naini in an airstrike the previous night.
The IDF confirmed it had killed Naini, saying in a statement that the strike was carried out by the Israeli Air Force, following intelligence provided by the Military Intelligence Directorate.
The military said the slain general "served in several propaganda and public relations roles" over the years, including as "the IRGC’s main propagandist" for the past two.
"In his role, Naini disseminated the regime’s terrorist propaganda to its proxies across the Middle East to influence and advance terror attacks against the State of Israel from the different fronts," the IDF said.
US, ISRAEL SAID TO STRIKE IRANIAN CARGO SHIPS
Also Friday, the United States and Israel struck 16 Iranian cargo vessels in port towns on the Gulf, local media reported, saying the ships were burnt.
"Following the American—Zionist air attack, at least 16 cargo vessels belonging to citizens of the towns of Bandar Lengeh and Bandar Kong were completely burnt in the fire," a local official from the southern Hormozgan province said, quoted by the Tasnim news agency.
Additionally, the IDF announced twice Friday that it was carrying out waves of airstrikes in Iran — first overnight in Tehran, then midday in the city of Nur, northeast of the capital.
It said the overnight strikes targeted "infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime across Tehran," along with dozens of Iranian military sites, including weapons factories and facilities used to develop components for ballistic missiles.
East of Iran’s capital, IAF aircraft hit facilities where ballistic missiles were being stored, while Iranian soldiers were operating there, the military said.
The IDF added that in recent days it has identified that Iran is firing ballistic missiles at Israel from the center of the country, after the military "degraded most of the regime’s capabilities to launch from western Iran."
According to military officials, more than a dozen Israeli Air Force drones have been shot down over Iran amid the current war.
An exact number was not given, but the officials said that fewer than 20 unmanned aerial vehicles have been lost.
The military said its policy during the war is that loss of unmanned aircraft is acceptable for the purpose of thwarting ballistic missile attacks on Israel’s home front.
For that reason, the IAF has been sending cheaper UAVs for riskier strike missions in Iran, knowing that they are likely to be shot down. In at least one case, one of these cheaper drones actually made it back to Israel, according to military officials.
No Israeli fighter jets have been shot down, though pilots have come under anti-aircraft missile fire numerous times. In one case, the military said a fighter pilot was "close to being hit."
[IsraelTimes] Jerusalem resident Raz Cohen allegedly provided info on workings of interception system, locations of batteries and IAF bases to Iranian handler in return for $1,000 in crypto
The police and Shin Bet announced on Friday that an IDF reservist serving in the Iron Dome air defense system was recently arrested and indicted on charges of spying for Iran.
A joint investigation by the police’s Unit for International Crime Investigations and the Shin Bet found that the reservist, 26-year old Raz Cohen from Jerusalem, was in contact with Iranian intelligence agents for about a month, and provided information about Iron Dome and other military sites to his handler during that time.
These included passing sensitive security information to the Iranian agent during December 2025, including details about how Iron Dome works, locations of Israeli Air Force bases, and the locations of Iron Dome batteries.
The indictment, served to the Jerusalem District Court on March 18, makes clear that Cohen was fully aware he was working with an Iranian agents.
He received the equivalent of $1,000 in cryptocurrency in return for the information he passed to his handler, before he cut off contact with him in February this year.
Cohen has been charged with assisting the enemy during a war, transmitting information to the enemy with the intent to harm state security, and transmitting information to the enemy which is likely to assist the enemy.
The sentence for assisting the enemy during a war provided in the penal code is life in prison or the death penalty , although the courts do not implement the death penalty.
According to the indictment, Cohen performed his compulsory military service between 2019 and 2022 in the IAF’s Aerial Defense Array, and served as a command and control technician and a launcher in the Iron Dome system.
He performed reserve duty following his compulsory service in the same role, and served in the unit following the October 7, 2023 Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... invasion, during the 12-day war with 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... in June 2025, and in the run-up to the current conflict with Iran, until he was arrested.
The indictment states that the Iranian agent made contact with Cohen on December 6, 2025 via the Telegram messaging application, introduced himself as an Iranian agent, and offered Cohen money in return for his cooperation.
Cohen himself volunteered the information that he performed reserve duty in the IDF’s Iron Dome system to the agent, specifically that he served in the battery’s control center and that he was responsible for replacing cases and arming the launcher.
He also explained the division of labor within the Iron Dome system to his handler, and further explained the roles of different technicians in the battery.
"The defendant explained to the Iranian handler how the Iron Dome battery is constructed, the components of the battery, and also explained that there are other components connected to the battery spread out around the area, as well as launch sites that are not located with the Iron Dome [system] but are deployed in the periphery," the indictment alleges.
Cohen also provided details about the system’s armaments and how the battery is armed.
Around December 9, Cohen sent his handler 27 pictures and videos of Iron Dome via Telegram, showing firing processes, rates of fire, the fact that there is a backup launcher, and arming procedures for the launcher.
At the Iranian handler’s request, Cohen also provided details of the locations of seven IAF bases where he had previously served in the Iron Dome system, as well as the location of two Iron Dome batteries — one at the Hatzerim base and the other at the Palmachim base.
Cohen also supplied personal details and contact details of other Israeli citizens to the agent, including that of a security guard at the President’s Residence, and a relative of his serving as an air force pilot, among others.
On January 18 this year, Cohen was called up to reserve duty once more to prepare for the current war with Iran.
But when his handler contacted him again on February 18 using a Telegram user profile with a picture of Cohen’s sister, Cohen blocked the agent. The handler then threatened to expose Cohen to Israel’s security services, apparently via a different user profile, leading Cohen to delete his Telegram app from his phone entirely.
[NYPost] Iran launched two intermediate-range ballistic missiles aimed at a joint US-UK military base 2,500 miles away in the Indian Ocean, but failed to hit its target, according to a new report.
One of the missiles that was directed at the Diego Garcia base failed while in the air as a US warship fired an SM-3 Interceptor at the second missile, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
It was not known if the interceptor had successfully destroyed the missile, but the base was not hit by an enemy strike, according to the outlet.
The Journal did not specify when the missiles were fired.
Iran’s attempt to reach Diego Garcia has worried experts who believe the rogue nation’s long-range missile capabilities have increased despite a reported self-ban on missiles that can go further than 1,200 miles.
Iran Watch, part of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, found that some Iranian missiles can reach up to 2,500 miles, roughly the distance to Diego Garcia.
Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago, is an atoll and part of the British Indian Ocean Territory.
The base houses American bombers, nuclear submarines and guided-missile destroyers.
The US recently transported military personnel and bombers, including the B-1 Lancer, to both Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, England.
The B-1 Lancer can carry 24 missiles and reach speeds up to 900 mph.
Earlier on Friday, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer gave the US military permission to launch strikes at Iran from both the Diego Garcia facility and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, England, the Times reported.
Starmer, who previously denied the US access to the bases, said that permitting the launch sites was for the “collective self-defense” to protect the Strait of Hormuz.
The about-face angered the already weakened Iranian regime, which claimed it would target the UK if it joined the war, started when the US and Israel launched joint operations targeting Iran’s regime and military infrastructure.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Starmer was “putting British lives in danger by allowing UK bases to be used for aggression against Iran.”
“Iran will exercise its right to self-defense,” Araquchi said in an X post
Courtesy of badanov:
The Iranian Islamist Regime Appears To Target U.S.-UK Diego Garcia Military Base in the Chagos Archipelago For The First Time!
A high-level security source in the Middle East has confirmed that radar systems around the Persian Gulf detected the launch of a ballistic missile with… pic.twitter.com/rGZnB2vO93
The Iranian Islamist Regime Appears To Target U.S.-UK Diego Garcia Military Base in the Chagos Archipelago For The First Time!
A high-level security source in the Middle East has confirmed that radar systems around the Persian Gulf detected the launch of a ballistic missile with a range of over 4000 km toward Diego Garcia.
Toward the final phase of its trajectory, the missile disappeared from radar screens, indicating that it was either shot down or malfunctioned mid-air.
The U.S./Israeli airstrikes against Iran are destroying the stockpiles of these long-range missiles, also helping to improve the security of countries within range located in southern, central and Eastern Europe.
Posted by: Clem+Elmish4239 ||
03/21/2026 06:01 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1806 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
How many more do they have? 2500 miles/4000 kilometers is all of India, all of the Middle East, a large part of Europe & Africa.
Poland & Romania have Aegis ashore (SM-3). Of our Nato 'allies' only France & Italy (joint program) have a missile and that is only good for short or medium range ballistic missiles.
The SM-3 is also used by Japan and South Korea.
Source is Wikipedia, which is usually reasonably accurate for non-political information
[IsraelTimes] Regime-loyal volunteers for highly decentralized force man dozens of checkpoints; over 100 Iranians arrested for alleged ties to enemy states, some for holding Starlink internet dishes
Hours after Israel killed the top commander of Iran’s Basij this week, it struck again — this time at the rank and file of the feared force that helped crush widespread protests this year. A drone blasted one of the Basij’s many temporary roadblocks erected around the capital, Tehran.
Israel and the US say they aim to break the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s tools of domestic control in their campaign of bombardment, now nearly three weeks old. Since the war began, monitors estimate that up to a third of strikes have targeted the top echelons and major bases of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and its Basij volunteers tasked with enforcing loyalty to Iran’s theocratic rulers.
Last week, Israel began striking Basij checkpoints, extending the threat to low-ranking members. But the Basij, police and Revolutionary Guard have maintained their grip, and there has been no sign yet of Iranians heeding US and Israeli calls to rise up, as many seek refuge from the Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s and uncertainty.
Residents say security forces still have an intimidating presence in Tehran. War monitors say an intensified crackdown that began with the crushing of January’s nationwide protests continues, often targeting those who take videos of strikes or try to get around a weekslong internet blackout to contact the outside world.
Israel’s campaign may aim to undermine the morale of Basijis and prompt defections or refusals to serve. It could also encourage the many Iranians who remain furious over the thousands killed in January’s crackdown. In early March, Israel’s military issued a Farsi-language message urging the mothers of Basijis to "save their children" by encouraging them to put down their arms.
But the Basijis are highly ideological and "the most decentralized force within an already highly decentralized system," said Hamidreza Azizi, an expert on Iran’s security and foreign policy.
Israel’s killing of its top commander, Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, early Tuesday, is unlikely to disrupt it, Azizi said. The Basij chief is chosen not for expertise but for "ideological rigidity and demonstrated loyalty to the supreme leader," playing a more symbolic role.
"In most cases, Basij units operate autonomously or semiautonomously, particularly in operational matters," Azizi said.
Basij checkpoints have proliferated across Tehran, often just a line of traffic cones and a few vehicles.
One resident said there were five or six new checkpoints in his upscale neighborhood alone. They search vehicles for weapons, examine documents and sometimes demand to look at people’s phones, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered... for his safety.
ISRAEL STRIKES BASIJ CHECKPOINTS ACROSS TEHRAN
The strikes on checkpoints began on March 11, with at least 15 incidents on a single day documented by Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a US-based monitoring group.
"We are landing crushing blows on the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij, both in the streets and at checkpoints," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the next day, adding that the aim was to create the conditions for Iranians to overthrow their government.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military said it struck more than 10 Basij positions across the capital. A video posted online and verified by the AP showed two vehicles burning near traffic cones on a multilane boulevard in central Tehran. The location matched that shown in aerial footage released by the Israeli military of a Tuesday strike hitting a checkpoint as a bus and cars passed.
Iranians have been spreading videos and posts on social media showing locations of checkpoints, often tagging the Farsi account of the Israeli military and urging it to strike, sometimes in the name of protesters who were killed in the area. Others trade news about checkpoints to alert commuters to traffic.
Several videos show checkpoints set up under bridges, apparently as cover from strikes.
BASIJ PROVIDING MANPOWER AS POLICE ENGAGED AMID WAR
The Basij, Farsi for "mobilization," has tens of thousands of volunteers under the command of the Revolutionary Guard. Most are unarmed, engaged in "ideological and political activities," said Azizi, a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
They function like the Communist Party did in the Soviet Union, with branches in schools, universities, government institutions and other organizations, he said.
Volunteers, both men and women, work to ensure loyalty to the Islamic Theocratic Republic. That might mean holding religious lectures or harassing those who flout social restrictions. They can also be mobilized for state-organized events, including counterprotests, Azizi said.
District-level paramilitary units deploy in times of domestic unrest — like the January protests — armed with everything from batons and electroshock devices to live ammunition.
Since those protests and into the current war, the Basij’s role has been to provide manpower, said Azizi.
"The state’s security apparatus has been continuously engaged, leaving many of its core forces both deeply entrenched and likely fatigued," he said. By manning checkpoints, the Basij helps security agencies to focus on information gathering and arrests.
100+ ARRESTED IN ONE WEEK, ACCUSED OF ‘CONSPIRING’ WITH ENEMY
Iranians describe mass text messages warning against protests and aggressive Basij patrols in Tehran. On Thursday, 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... announced the execution of three men detained in the January protests, the first such sentences known to have been carried out.
In the last week, semiofficial news outlets have reported the arrest of more than 100 people across Iran, most accused of conspiring with enemy states or sharing media reports with foreign entities. At least 14 were accused of possessing Starlink internet dishes or planning to sell them or virtual private network cards. Starlink has been one of the only ways to access the global internet since the unprecedented blackout began on January 8.
The government has also reportedly shut down parts of Iran’s internal internet and revoked some VPN cards given to people with specialized jobs.
The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, a US-based group, said people have been rounded up for taking pictures identifying the location of checkpoints, bases and military installations. Authorities are also still detaining people linked to the January protests, former political prisoners, or members of minorities.
The rights group said it had reports of security forces opening fire at checkpoints. In one incident, two teenage brothers were shot and killed after honking their car horn in celebration of the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...> in the war’s opening salvo.
[IsraelTimes] French FM expresses concerns over possible IDF invasion of Lebanon as Sa’ar tells him Israel ‘will act decisively against’ enemies; one said killed in Israeli strike
The US ambassador to Leb ...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?... on Friday hailed the Lebanese president’s proposal to launch direct negotiations with Israel to put an end to the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah, as the Iran-backed terror group continued its attacks on the north.
Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2, to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...> "We appreciate the importance of the issue for the president and the importance of his responsibility in finally deciding that he must meet with the Israelis, because matters are not resolved without talking," Michel Issa told journalists following a meeting with Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai in Beirut.
"Each party has their point of view of how meetings start," he said, however, adding that he believed Israel "has decided not to stop" striking Lebanon yet.
"That means Lebanon has to decide whether it can meet the Israelis in this case," he said.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, on March 9, proposed direct talks with Israel, but Israel has since said there are no talks planned. The IDF announced on Monday that it had launched "limited" ground operations in Lebanon after the incessant rocket fire.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who spoke with Lebanese leaders last week, expressed hope on Thursday that Israel would agree to direct talks with Beirut, and offered to host talks in Gay Paree.
VISITING FRENCH FM VOICES CONCERN OVER IDF GROUND OP IN LEBANON
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Friday that he outlined La Belle France’s reservations about an Israeli ground operation in southern Lebanon, speaking to news hounds after meeting with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in Jerusalem.
Barrot added that the Lebanese army must do everything possible to disarm Iran-backed Hezbollah as demanded by the Lebanese government.
Barrot spoke during a brief visit to Israel after traveling to Lebanon on Thursday amid efforts to reduce regional tensions and secure a ceasefire there.
The top French diplomat said he does not see an obvious end to Middle East tensions during the ongoing US-Israeli aerial assault against Iran, but that La Belle France and its allies would continue to work towards trying to find a lasting solution.
"There is no obvious short-term way out of the ongoing regional escalation, which has in some ways been unfolding since October 7, 2023," he said. "But this must in no way serve as a pretext for inaction."
In a post on X, Sa’ar said the two discussed the war against 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 intensified fighting with Hezbollah during their meeting.
Sa’ar said he reiterated to Barrot that "the Lebanese government and its army are not taking any meaningful action against Hezbollah, neither militarily nor in other aspects," and that he "presented Israel’s precise operations against Hezbollah operatives, while making efforts to minimize harm to the civilian population as much as possible."
"Israel will continue to defend itself and its citizens and will act decisively against all those who seek its elimination," Sa’ar told his French counterpart, calling on La Belle France and the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... to designate "the entirety" of the Iran-backed group as a terrorist organization, "not only its military wing," as some European countries have done.
Meanwhile,
...back at the Alamo, Davy was counting their remaining cannon balls and not liking the results... Hezbollah carried out sporadic rocket barrages and drone attacks on northern Israel on Friday, with no reports of injuries or major damage.
Sirens had sounded across the Galilee, with some of the rocket barrages targeting the Safed area.
Many of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses, while others struck open areas, according to the IDF, with several dozen rockets in total fired throughout the day. The IDF also reported shooting down several Hezbollah drones that were launched toward the north.
The IDF has said that Hezbollah is launching most of its attacks from deeper within southern Lebanon, and not from close to the border.
The Israeli military also said Friday it has killed over 570 Hezbollah operatives, including 220 members of the terror group’s elite Radwan Force, since hostilities escalated amid the war with Iran.
More than 2,000 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon have also been struck in the past three weeks, the IDF says, including 120 command centers, 100 weapon depots, and 130 missile launchers.
Lebanese state media also said that an Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... hit a house in a southern town early on Saturday, killing one person and wounding two others.
"Israeli fighter jets launched a heavy strike at dawn on a house in the town of Ghandouriyeh... resulting in one martyr and two maimed people who were pulled from under the rubble," the official National News Agency said.
Lebanon’s health ministry says Israeli attacks have killed over 1,000 people since the war began and displaced more than one million people. The corpse count does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
#1
Screw the talks, Lebanon should step up and do something about their roaches. Same with Iran, take care of your bullshit and finally be done with this or we will be doing it again in a few years.
Posted by: chris ||
03/21/2026 6:31 Comments ||
Top||
[Gateway] On Friday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced that Iran’s ’main propagandist,’ Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini, was killed in an overnight strike.
Naini, Iran’s very own ’Bagdad Bob,’ consistently spread propaganda of the country’s ’readiness for prolonged high-intensity war’ in the weeks before his death.
He was killed just a day after issuing a message on Iranian state television, which challenged the US Navy’s presence in the Persian Gulf.
Fars News Agency quoted him as recently saying, "Our missile industry deserves a perfect score... and there is no concern in this regard, because even under wartime conditions we continue missile production," and asserting the country’s missile production is uninterrupted.
Courtesy of Lord Garth:
Four More IRGC big shots eliminated 20 March
🚨 Big night on the eve of Nowruz, as multiple senior Islamic Republic commanders have been eliminated.
❌ Ali Mohammad Naini, IRGC spokesperson ❌ Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, Basij intelligence chief ❌ Mehdi Gharish, aerospace forces commander ❌ Kavous Dehrood, special forces… pic.twitter.com/82IS0YHoaT
🚨 IDF UPDATE: IDF carried out two strike sorties in and around Tehran, targeting missile production sites, storage facilities, and launch infrastructure—even as regime personnel were present.
Dozens of military assets tied to Iran’s ballistic missile program were hit, including… pic.twitter.com/2AK6TtA8wX
🚨 IDF UPDATE:
IDF carried out two strike sorties in and around Tehran, targeting missile production sites, storage facilities, and launch infrastructure—even as regime personnel were present.
Dozens of military assets tied to Iran’s ballistic missile program were hit, including components for long-range missiles posing a direct threat to Israel.
More at the link
Posted by: badanov ||
03/21/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1768 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
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.
...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade....
...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end...
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
...
...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?...
[Gateway] On Friday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced that Iran’s ’main propagandist,’ Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini, was killed in an overnight strike.
