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Arabia

Saudis shut down oil pipeline as Houthis tighten grip on Red Sea shipping

2026-09-12

[Reuters] Saudi Arabia has shut down its East-West pipeline, after the vital oil conduit came under aerial attack in the widening Middle East war, threatening to send energy prices even higher.

The world’s largest crude oil ‌exporter said it temporarily closed the pipeline as a precaution after a drone attack that both Baghdad and Riyadh said had originated in Iraq, where Iranian-backed militias operate.

That’d be the Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation). There are about forty groups on the IRGC payroll, not all in Iraq and not all Iraqi Shiites.

Iraq dismissed a military commander on Saturday in response to the attack.

Hmmmm…

The 1,200-km (745-mile) pipeline running across the Arabian Peninsula has served as the main route out for global supplies of Middle East oil for the past six months while the Strait of Hormuz has been largely shut by war. It has been moving 4 million to 5 million barrels per day, amounting to 4% to 5% of global supply, sparing Saudi Arabia the brunt of the disruption that has crippled other Gulf oil and gas exporters.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the strikes. Satellite images showed black smoke rising from an area of the pipeline south of Medina. The attack resulted in some injuries and damage that was being assessed, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said without detailing the impact on exports.

U.S. President Donald Trump, ⁠visiting Ireland to attend a golf tournament at one of his resorts, said Iran was probably to blame.

SAUDI LEADER ASKS FOR MILITARY HELP
Oil prices shot up over the past week and the retail price of diesel in the United States surged past a record $6 a gallon, as the United States and Iran both fired on tankers and the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen advanced along the Red Sea, potentially extending disruption to another major oil route.

Washington now faces a dilemma over whether to help the Saudis fight the Houthis, risking further expansion of the war.

Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, phoned Trump on Thursday and asked for U.S. military help fighting the Houthis, three sources told Reuters. They said the prince was told that Washington would not intervene directly for now but would help with intelligence.

Trump confirmed on Saturday that he had spoken to the crown prince, and said the Houthis had also phoned his administration and asked Washington not to become directly involved in the conflict.

Four Yemeni government sources told Reuters that the Houthis had seized the strategic island of Perim on Friday in the middle of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — the "Gate of Tears" at the mouth of the Red Sea.

Courtesy of badanov:

Saudi Arabia says Iraq-launched drones hit pipeline, Baghdad opens probe
[Rudaw] Saudi Arabia said Friday that drones launched from Iraq struck its East-West oil pipeline, causing casualties and damage, prompting Baghdad to condemn the attack and announce an urgent investigation into those responsible.

The Saudi foreign ministry condemned “in the strongest terms” the targeting of the pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions by “several drones originating from Iraq,” saying the strikes caused “human casualties and some damage that is currently being addressed.”

Riyadh said it had decided against retaliating for now after Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi asked the kingdom to give Baghdad an opportunity to take measures to prevent attacks launched from Iraqi territory.

“The Kingdom has opted not to respond at this stage, and to support the efforts of the Iraqi government,” the Saudi foreign ministry said.

It added that Saudi Arabia reserves the right to “take all measures” necessary to protect its sovereignty, security, infrastructure, citizens and residents.

Baghdad swiftly condemned the strikes and reiterated that Iraqi territory would not be allowed to serve as a launchpad for attacks on other countries.

Link

Terror Networks

Global Mercenary: The Geography and Methods of Kyiv's Proxy Terrorism

2026-08-01

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited

Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin. Text taken from an article at tass.ru
[ColonelCassad] The detention of Kyiv-linked terrorist cells by Iraqi security forces has once again brought to the forefront the issue of the internationalization of Ukrainian terrorism and its exploitation for the benefit of external actors.

According to Qasem al-Aboodi, the Iraqi Prime Minister's National Security Advisor, several detained groups had shelled targets within the country and, during interrogation, confessed to working for Kyiv. This allowed Baghdad to assert Ukrainian interference in the republic's internal affairs. Although the targets of the attacks were not directly specified, given the context of Ukraine-Iran relations and Kyiv's subordination to Western interests, the attacks could have been directed against local pro-Iranian forces—such as Hezbollah, the Hashd al-Shaabi, or Haqqarat al-Nujaba—or carried out under a false flag to subsequently incriminate Tehran.

FALSE FLAG OPERATIONS
This issue became particularly acute after the March phase of the war, when, amid Tehran's retaliatory strikes against US and Israeli targets in the Middle East (including Iraq), the Jewish state, according to a military source with the Iranian news agency Tasnim,

…who may or may not have been telling the truth…

conducted a series of false flag operations. Their goal was precisely to discredit Iran and draw neutral countries in the region—Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar—into the conflict.

Big claims require strong proof. So prove it, Opie.

This was also pointed out by American journalist Tucker Carlson, who reported on the arrest of Mossad agents in Doha who were preparing such provocations.

We already know Mr. Carlson has a fondness for creating his own “facts” to fit his prejudices, a particularly annoying behaviour for a journalist.

At the same time, Tehran officially accused the US and Israel of using terrorist groups (ISIS—banned in Russia, Kurdish and Baloch radicals) to carry out attacks and destabilize the situation within the country.

Now they’re just getting silly.

Similar accusations have already been made repeatedly in relation to Ukraine.

Russia has a history of wandering a fair distance from the truth, too.

The bombing of the Russian Nord Stream pipeline system in the Baltic Sea also used Ukrainian terrorism to cover for the real perpetrators.

Huh? Now I'm confused.

Back in 2023, American journalist Seymour Hirsch detailed this, pointing out that US and Norwegian intelligence agencies were behind this infrastructure attack.

If you’ll believe Mr. Hirsch, fairy tales are next on the agenda, along with djinns in your science textbooks.

Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else

SUPPORT FOR TERRORISTS IN IDLIB:
Another example is Syria, where Ukrainian instructors were deployed in 2023–2024. They trained militants from groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
(both organizations banned in Russia) in operating FPV drones and quadcopters.

And now HTS is seen as the legitimate government in Syria, replacing the Baathist thing Bashir al Assad inherited from father, that used to be yet another client of the Soviet Union. O tempora! O mores! as Cicero said so succinctly.

According to Russian estimates, the total number of the Ukrainian contingent reached 250. Of these, according to American media, at least 20 operator-instructors and 150 drones were sent directly to Idlib. The skills acquired from Ukrainian specialists were actively used by radicals during the offensive on Aleppo, Hama, and Homs, which influenced the course of the battle against government forces. This is confirmed by the testimony of captured militants.

It's no secret that the overthrow of Assad in Syria has been a strategic goal of the United States and Israel since 2011, as well as part of their broader campaign against Iran, which now involves Syrian airspace. In this architecture, Ukraine once again emerged as one element of the Western proxy forces operating against the legitimate government in Damascus, which stood in the way of Western plans.

TERRORIST AGGRESSION AGAINST THE SAHEL:
Ukraine is being similarly used against the Sahel countries, which, as part of decolonization, freed themselves from French neocolonial control and embarked on a path of independent development with the support of Russia and several other countries. Having failed to keep the puppet pro-French presidents in power in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, Paris initially attempted to use the threat of ECOWAS intervention for revenge. Following the failure, France shifted to covert support for separatist and terrorist groups—from the Azawad Liberation Front to al-Qaeda in the Sahel (banned in Russia)—to attack local governments, units of the private military company Wagner, and the Russian Ministry of Defense's African Corps.

The goal of these strikes is to destabilize and overthrow the nationally oriented military authorities of the Alliance of Sahel States, bringing back pro-French proxies. To implement these plans, Ukrainian instructors with drones were deployed to Mali, among others. As in Syria, they are training terrorists to use FPV drones and quadcopters against local armies and Russian troops. Here, Ukraine is once again acting as a proxy for the West—local jihadists and Ukrainian nationalists are essentially being used to reassert colonial control.

Specifically, Ukrainian specialists assisted in an attack on a Malian army and Wagner PMC convoy near the town of Tinzaoutine in 2024, as directly confirmed by the French publication Le Monde. During the spring and summer offensive of combined terrorist groups in Mali in 2026, Ukrainian militants also actively supported attempts to overthrow the legitimate government. However, these attempts were thwarted by units of the Russian Armed Forces' African Corps.

After Ukraine's cooperation with terrorist groups in the Sahel became evident, local states consistently accused Ukraine of supporting terrorism. In 2024, Mali and Niger completely severed diplomatic relations with Kyiv, while Burkina Faso and Senegal officially condemned Ukraine's destructive actions in Africa. The Russian Foreign Ministry also directly accused Paris of coordinating these processes and emphasized the Kyiv regime's involvement.

"As for Ukrainian mercenaries and instructors, they are indeed present on the side of Islamists and separatists operating in Mali. Unfortunately, these forces are supported by France, and directly. And France similarly facilitates Ukrainian participation in the activities of extremist terrorist groups that are attempting to harm the legitimate authorities of Mali and several other countries," noted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Borisenko.

LIBYAN FOOTHOLD:
Relatively recently, the deployment of Ukrainian instructors to Libya, in areas controlled by the Western-aligned Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, was also revealed. Tripolitania is being used not only to train local forces in drone operations but also to launch attacks on Russian vessels in the Mediterranean. Specifically, it was from the coast of Tripolitania that the attack on the Russian gas carrier Arctic Metagaz was carried out near Malta on March 3, 2026.

As a result of the strike by Magura V5 unmanned boats, the vessel sustained significant damage and was completely destroyed by fire. The Russian Ministry of Transport classified this as an act of terrorism and maritime piracy. Meanwhile, in eastern Libya, under the control of Marshal Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA), friendly and partner-like relations with Russia remain.

Western media confirm that up to 200 instructors and fighters from the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense are deployed in Libya under a secret agreement with the West. This contingent, deployed in Tripoli, Misrata, and Zawiya, is being specifically used to target Russian interests in the Mediterranean region.

SUPPORT FOR THE CIVIL WAR IN SUDAN:
Ukrainian fighters also made their mark in the Sudanese civil war, fighting on the side of the rebel "Rapid Reaction Forces." They also trained them to operate drones and directly participated in battles against the government army. Specifically, Ukrainians were involved in the assault on the city of El Fasher in Northern Darfur. After capturing it, the rebels consolidated their control through mass terror and the killing of civilians, which drew harsh condemnation even from international organizations.

CONCLUSIONS
The West is using the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime not only against Russia but also as a transnational terrorist resource to maintain its own hegemony. Russia, Iran, Iraq, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Syria, Sudan, and Libya are far from a complete list of states that have already encountered Ukrainian proxy forces.

Ukrainian militias have been granted complete immunity from collaborating with any radical groups (from separatists to jihadists) to undermine sovereign governments unpopular with the West. The aforementioned incidents have yet to receive due condemnation from international institutions, despite efforts by other countries.

Contemporary Ukrainian terrorism has, one might say, adopted the role of the main destabilizer of sovereign countries from ISIS and Al-Qaeda (both organizations are banned in Russia). While in the 2010s, American officials—including Hillary Clinton—admitted that radical Islamists in Syria were "playing on the US side," today Kyiv is fulfilling this function. For the West, there's no difference between religious fanatics and Ukrainian radicals—they're merely expendable means of achieving geopolitical goals.

It's important for Russia and its allies in the Global South to recognize that we will continue to encounter Ukrainian proxy terrorism in the service of the West, not just on Ukraine's borders, but also on its farthest borders. This threat will remain unchanged as long as the current regime, which has turned its own state into an instrument of international destabilization, remains in power in Kyiv.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Names and Titles of Attendees at the Ayatollah's Funeral - Can't tell the players without a scorecard

2026-07-05

[Telegram] by me, so it’s not official.

🇦🇫 Afghanistan: Taliban, Afghan resistance delegation, Fatemiyoun delegation
🇦🇲 Armenia: PM
🇦🇿 Azerbaijan: Parliament speaker
🇧🇩 Bangladesh: Parliament speaker
🇧🇾 Belarus: Parliament speaker
🇧🇬 Bulgaria: Parliament/political representatives
🇧🇫 Burkina Faso: FM
🇧🇴 Bolivia: Cultural/Religious delegation
🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina: Religious leaders
🇨🇳 China: Vice-chair of the National People’s Congress
🇨🇩 DR Congo: FM
🇨🇺 Cuba: Higher-education minister/special representative
🇪🇬 Egypt: Senate speaker
🇪🇨 Ecuador: Cultural/Religious delegation
🇬🇪 Georgia: President + Muslim delegation
(🇩🇪) Germany: Shia community delegation
🇭🇺 Hungary: Religious leaders
🇮🇳 India: Special government envoy, Deputy foreign minister level + Hindu leaders
🇮🇶 Iraq: President + Parliament speaker + Several officials + Hashd al-Shaabi delegation + Kataib Hezbollah delegation
🇮🇩 Indonesia: no official delegation, Islamic delegation only
🇮🇶 Kurdistan Region president: President
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan: FM
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan: Parliament speaker
🇱🇧 Lebanon: Defense minister + Hezbollah high political delegation + Amal high delegation
🇲🇾 Malaysia: Agriculture minister
🇲🇲 Myanmar: Special envoy / minister
🇳🇦 Namibia: Cabinet minister
🇳🇮 Nicaragua: FM
🇴🇲 Oman: State Council / Council of State speaker + Omani delegation
🇵🇰 Pakistan: PM + Army Chief + Senate speaker + Shia leaders + Delegation
🇵🇸 Palestine: Hamas leadership + Islamic Jihad (PIJ) leader + other scholars delegation
🇶🇦 Qatar: Parliament Speaker
🇷🇺 Russia: Special presidential representative/Dep Security Council chairman (Medvedev) + scholars + cleric delegation
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia: DepFM + MFA delegation
🇷🇸 Serbia: Communications minister + gov delegation
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka: Parliament speaker + delegation
🇪🇸 Spain: Cultural/Religious delegation
🇰🇷 South Korea: Delegation
🇰🇵 North Korea: Delegation
🇹🇯 Tajikistan: President
🇹🇿 Tanzania: Special gov representative
🇹🇭 Thailand: Deputy PM + Shia community delegation
🇹🇳 Tunisia: Gov representative + religious/scholarly representatives
🇹🇷 Türkiye: Vice president + party/political delegations
🇹🇲 Turkmenistan: National Leader/Chairman of People’s Council
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan: Parliament speaker
🇾🇪 Yemen: Vice president + AnsarAllah delegation

🌊 Persian Gulf countries: Various
Shia delegations from Persian Gulf countries

⚖️ Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO): Secretary-general

⚖️ Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC): Deputy secretary-general

⚖️ D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation: Secretary-general

⚖️ Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO): Secretary-general

@FotrosResistancee

Mourners chant 'death' to America and Israel as Iran begins days-long Khamenei funeral
[IsraelTimes] Massive crowds gathered as Iran began a days-long funeral Saturday for the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with many calling for “revenge” and “death to Israel,” months after an airstrike killed him at the start of the war.

Authorities unveiled the casket containing Khamenei’s body in a glass case at the Grand Mosalla in Tehran, Iran’s capital. Mourners wept at the sight, with some chanting: “Our word is one! Revenge! Revenge!” and “We will kill, we will kill he who killed our Imam.”

Some carried banners and red flags, a symbol of revenge in Shiite Islam, while billboards across the city bore Khamenei’s image. Crowds of men rhythmically beat their chests in mourning, a common practice at Shiite funerals.

“We have come not for the funeral but for revenge,” a eulogist at the event chanted. “We’re never going to give up your blood, which is the reddest line.”

“We must rise up and, God willing, avenge the blood of our leader,” said Hamidreza Shabani, an 18-year-old student.

“I am here to say goodbye to my beloved leader Ali Khamenei,” said a weeping Hananeh Mousavi, 27, who attended the funeral alongside her mother. “I never expected to see such a day. I wish I had died before this tragedy.”

An outdoor stage set up at the Grand Mosalla resembled the stage where Khamenei once gave his speeches at a husseiniyah, or Shiite congregation hall, at his compound in downtown Tehran.

That site was destroyed in the Israeli airstrike that killed Khamenei and some of his family at the start of the Iran war on February 28. The caskets of his dead family members sat beneath his, which had his black turban atop it, identifying him as a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.

Some mourners carried portraits of Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has succeeded his father but remained out of public sight.

Also seen among the crowds was the yellow flag of the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah, which has been battling Israeli forces in southern Lebanon since the regional war broke out. Hezbollah is part of the Iran-aligned “Axis of Resistance”, a network of terror proxies across the Middle East that is opposed to Israel and the United States.

Iran’s government expects to see millions flood the streets of the capital in scenes reminiscent of the burial of the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989. Organizers sprayed water on the crowds and offered cold drinks to help those with the summertime heat.

“We attended the funeral to show that we are all committed to defending our country and religion,” said Ali Kazemi, who came from the northwestern city of Tabriz, some 530 kilometers (330 miles) away from Tehran.

A large turnout could provide a boost for Iran’s government, particularly as it tries to leverage its hold on the Strait of Hormuz in negotiations with the United States over a permanent end to the war, and as concern still lingers that Israel could attack yet again.

Khamenei, who was 86 at the time of his death, ruled Iran since 1989, and oversaw the expansion of its nuclear program and terrorist proxy network. Like other Iranian leaders, he was sworn to Israel’s destruction.

FUNERAL STARTS AS US MARKS ITS 250TH ANNIVERSARY
Iran chose July 4, the 250th anniversary of the creation of the US, to begin the funeral.

While authorities did not acknowledge the timing, crowds at the ceremony in Tehran chanted: “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” — reprising chants that have been common in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and US Embassy takeover and hostage crisis.

“We knocked the hell out of Iran,” US President Donald Trump said in a speech at the same time in South Dakota in front of Mount Rushmore. “They want to settle so badly. We gave them a week off for a funeral.”

The American president was not forgotten in Tehran. In the crowd in Grand Mosalla, several mourners held a large flag that read: “#KillTrump.”

As the ceremony went on, Iran’s chief negotiator Kazem Gharibabadi criticized a joint statement overnight from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, which suggested their militaries stood ready to patrol the Strait of Hormuz.

Control of the strait has been a major point of leverage for Iran, which has suggested it wants to charge vessels passing through it, upending decades of the world considering it an international waterway.

“The security of Hormuz lies with the coastal states — the crisis-makers will be held accountable for the consequences of their adventurism,” Gharibabadi wrote on X. “This is a serious warning.”

Khamenei’s body will be transported to cities in both Iran and neighboring Iraq. Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life in Tehran for the mourning.

It remains unclear whether Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, will appear at his father’s funeral. The late supreme leader appeared in 1989 at Khomeini’s funeral, weeping visibly, as he began his journey to lead Iran for decades with an iron fist while confronting the West. Mojtaba Khamenei’s late wife was one of the dead on display at the Grand Mosalla.

Israel’s repeated threats to kill Mojtaba Khamenei drew a warning from Iran’s joint military command Thursday, which told Israel and the US “to avoid any miscalculation” over the coming days.

Iran said to fear Israel could kill Mojtaba Khamenei if he attends father’s funeral
[IsraelTimes] Officials nixed supreme leader’s request to perform burial rites for his father and predecessor Ali Khamenei, as Mojtaba’s public absence fuels conservative infighting, NYT says.

New IRGC Navy chief named
[IsraelTimes] The chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy is Rear Admiral Ali Ozmaei. Ozmaei appears to be the replacement for Alireza Tangsiri, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in March.

Link

Iraq

'Straight from the sand': Iraqi authorities learned about the Israeli base on their soil from the media

2026-05-15

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
by Shamil Kerashev

[REGNUM] The situation in the Middle East, which remains far from stable, has been exacerbated by an unexpected scandal in Iraq. The country's parliament summoned the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Internal Affairs, and the heads of the intelligence agencies, suspected of concealing critical information, to emergency hearings.

The investigation was sparked by an article in the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, which reported that a secret base had been built in the deserted southwestern Iraqi province of Najaf to serve the Israeli Air Force.

It was allegedly deployed several months ago, when the Americans and Israelis were actively preparing for an operation against Iran. The result was not just some primitive airfield with a couple of runways, but a fully-fledged hub with satellite terminals, electronic warfare systems, command posts, and secure communications for drone operators.

If this is indeed the case, the base allowed the Israelis not only to significantly reduce the time it took to approach the Iranian border, but also to coordinate strikes while in the "blind spot" of Iranian air defense forces.

What about the Iraqi authorities? Was anyone in the republic's leadership aware that fighters from the Jewish state, officially designated as hostile by Baghdad, had established themselves on the outskirts of a remote governorate?

"This is a serious violation of our sovereignty, which for some reason was allowed by someone," says Iraqi MP Raed al-Maliki.

He also points out that the general public should have learned about the base not in mid-May, but much earlier—in early March. That's when a shepherd from Najaf reported unusual military activity to the police. He claimed to have witnessed several helicopters—clearly not local—rising "straight out of the sand" right before his eyes.

To be fair, there was certainly a reaction at that stage. A small group of Iraqi special forces was sent out to reconnoiter. However, none of them were able to approach the suspicious area: a series of airstrikes prevented them. Moreover, as a result of this attack, one soldier was fatally wounded.

"It appears that before the strikes, there were some troops in that area with air support. They proved too much for our units," stated Lieutenant General Qais al-Muhammadavi of the Iraqi Armed Forces' Joint Command.

However, there was no talk yet of an Israeli connection. Al-Muhammadavi himself was transparently hinting at the involvement of the United States, whose military facilities are present in the region on a legal or semi-legal basis. Washington responded with a dry, laconic denial—and that seemed to be the end of the story.

This new development, which poses a number of uncomfortable questions for Baghdad, is all the more intriguing. Chief among them: how did the Israelis manage to deliver military equipment to Najaf in the first place, given that they don't share a border with Iraq?

Middle East analysts are putting forward several hypotheses. The first, the most dubious, involves the delivery of the equipment through the airspace of Jordan, which, while formally at odds with its Western neighbor, has long been firmly integrated into the American-Israeli regional security system.

However, this objective fact never implied Jordanian open siding with the Jewish state. Therefore, direct—even passive—assistance to Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet would have been too risky for the kingdom.

The second theory shifts the focus northward to Iraqi Kurdistan. The elites of the autonomous federal region are largely independent from Baghdad, and their security forces are known to maintain trusting relationships with their Israeli counterparts. Theoretically, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) cargo planes could have easily traveled along the Syrian border to Erbil or Sulaymaniyah, and from there, the components for the base were presumably sent onward under the supervision of the Kurds themselves.

However, this assumption also has a critical flaw. For the radars and satellite receivers to reach Najaf from Kurdistan, they would have to be transported literally across Iraq from north to south. This lengthy route would inevitably pass by dozens of government checkpoints, Sunni enclaves, and, most importantly, patrol areas of the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi militia. They would hardly have turned a blind eye to an entire caravan of trucks escorted by Kurdish militias.

This is precisely why experts lean toward a third, far more realistic interpretation of events, according to which the approval for the deployment of the base was given by certain forces within Iraq itself. It's worth remembering here that a deep, systemic conflict has been simmering for years in the republic between the Ministry of Defense and the National Security Agency. The latter, formed with the direct participation of the CIA, traditionally works closely with foreign advisers and very rarely reports on its actions to the army's top brass.

Consequently, nothing would have prevented the security forces, playing their own game, from approving the construction of the notorious airbase—especially if the foreign customer had covered up their intentions with some kind of legend like “strengthening the fight against terrorists.”

Another issue is that now that the secret has been revealed, classic Middle Eastern conspiracy theories are coming to the forefront. The very ones that build on rumors of the total infiltration of Arab intelligence agencies by Mossad agents.

"We have no doubt that this foreign outpost on our soil continues to function in one way or another, and we are eager to understand what factors allowed the Israelis to expand so freely," said Shaker Abu Turab al-Tamimi, a representative of the Badr Organization political party.

Will public expressions of discontent be effective? It's no secret that modern Iraq's sovereignty is highly relative. The country is essentially a patchwork quilt, with a significant portion of territory outside the control of official state institutions, and real power dispersed among external actors and paramilitary movements whose interests often conflict.

But for the sake of completeness, it would be a good idea to understand why and on whose initiative the existence of the base in Najaf was declassified by The Wall Street Journal.

As is well known, this publication is considered one of the main mouthpieces of the American conservative establishment, close to the current Donald Trump administration. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that someone in the US president's team gave the go-ahead for the leak. This sent a signal to Israeli partners, who sometimes too conspicuously neglect to coordinate their actions with Washington.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Tehran has turned into a barracks for foreign militias under IRGC command

2026-04-13

🚨 “Tehran has turned into a barracks for foreign militias under IRGC command.”

Here is a first-hand account of what’s happening right now inside Tehran. What follows describes a city that is no longer functioning normally, but operating under heavy militarization and systemic… https://t.co/fSVYDzctGd pic.twitter.com/YxafmGCcK6
— The Iran Watcher 🇮🇷 (@TheIranWatcher) April 12, 2026

Text:

🚨 “Tehran has turned into a barracks for foreign militias under IRGC command.”

Here is a first-hand account of what’s happening right now inside Tehran. What follows describes a city that is no longer functioning normally, but operating under heavy militarization and systemic breakdown.

⚪️ Streets filled with Toyota Hilux pickups mounted with DShK machine guns, turning the city into a militarized zone
⚪️ Checkpoints across highways and intersections with IRGC, Zainebiyoun, Fatemiyoun, and Hashd al-Shaabi flags, creating traffic paralysis and harassing civilians
⚪️ Parks, schools, and mosques occupied by security forces, with suppression units deployed across major junctions
⚪️ Government offices barely functioning, staff absent, services abandoned mid-day, and phone response near zero
⚪️ Public transport reduced drastically, with buses repurposed for Basij and special units

More at the link

Link

Iraq

7 Iraqi Army soldiers were killed and 13 wounded after a U.S. airstrike

2026-03-25

7 Iraqi Army soldiers were killed and 13 wounded after a U.S. airstrike hit the clinic and engineering department at the Habbaniyah base in Anbar.

The base, which is shared by the Iraqi Army and PMF/Hashd al-Shaabi, was struck in two consecutive U.S. attacks on March 24–25.… pic.twitter.com/FF9sFWHdst
— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 25, 2026

Text:

7 Iraqi Army soldiers were killed and 13 wounded after a U.S. airstrike hit the clinic and engineering department at the Habbaniyah base in Anbar.

The base, which is shared by the Iraqi Army and PMF/Hashd al-Shaabi, was struck in two consecutive U.S. attacks on March 24–25.

Baghdad called the strikes a serious violation of Iraqi sovereignty, especially because a military medical facility was hit, and has begun diplomatic and security consultations.

Link

Iraq

Airstrikes kill 15 Iran-backed troops in Iraq, targeting HQ and leader

2026-03-25

[IsraelTimes] Popular Mobilization Forces head Falih al-Fayadh was not present when his residence was hit; command headquarters in Anbar was targeted while personnel were on duty there

Airstrikes in Iraq killed 15 members of Iraq’s umbrella group for Iran-backed Shiite militia on Tuesday, the deadliest attack on the group since the 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 ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
war began.

The Popular Mobilization Forces, part of Iraq’s regular armed forces but which also includes brigades belonging to Iran-backed groups, blamed the strike that killed a commander and 14 other fighters on the United States.

Iraq has been pulled into the war triggered by Israel and the United States striking Iran on February 28, and which has since engulfed much of the region.

PMF leader Falih al-Fayadh was not present when his residence was hit in the northern city of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, which he uses only during visits to the city, according to two security sources.

The dead included the PMF’s operations commander in the province, Saad al-Baiji. Later on Tuesday, a large crowd of angry mourners carried his coffin and portraits of him through the streets of Baghdad.

The statement said US forces had targeted a command headquarters in Anbar while personnel were on duty. The security sources said the strikes there hit during a meeting attended by senior commanders.

On Tuesday, the PMF urged "political forces to take responsibility and confront these repeated American violations."

Thirty other people were maimed, security and health sources said. The health sources said some of the maimed were at death's door and the corpse count could rise. Rooters filmed ambulances bringing the maimed to hospital in the regional capital Ramadi during the night.

The PMF, known in Arabic as Hashd al-Shaabi, is an umbrella group of mostly Shiite paramilitary factions that was formally integrated into Iraq’s state security forces and includes several groups aligned with Iran.

In autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, a ballistic missile attack killed six peshmergas on Tuesday, with the region accusing Iran of conducting the first such deadly attack since the war began.

Although close with Washington, Iraq’s Kurds have sought to maintain neutrality in the Iran war, after their relations with the Islamic Theocratic Republic had warmed in recent years.

Neither the United States nor Iran commented on the accusations.

Last week, the Pentagon acknowledged that combat helicopters had carried out strikes against pro-Iran gangs in Iraq during the current conflict.

Tehran-backed gangs have launched attacks on US bases in Iraq and the US embassy since the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran on February 28.

The conflict has spilled beyond Iran’s borders, with Tehran launching strikes on Israel and Gulf Arab states hosting US military installations, while Israel has carried out attacks in Leb
Leb

...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel...
following cross-border fire by Iran-aligned Hezbollah.

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Iraq

The Logic Behind Iraq’s Militia Strike Campaign

2026-03-23

[NationalContext] Since 28 February 2026, US and Israeli airstrikes have hit positions belonging to at least fifteen PMF-affiliated militias across seven Iraqi governorates, from the Syrian border to the Nineveh Plain. The strikes have killed dozens, destroyed ammunition warehouses and communications facilities, and hit groups as different as Kataib Hezbollah, the IRGC’s closest Iraqi instrument, and Hashd al-Shabak, a Shabak village militia rooted in the Nineveh Plain.

At first glance, the breadth of the campaign can make the target set look uneven or hard to read. But the pattern is more coherent than it first appears. The strikes become much easier to understand once they are read through three overlapping lenses: proximity to the IRGC, operational hostility toward US and KRG interests, and the geography in which these militias operate.

The first lens is proximity to Iran’s command structure. The southern Shia factions taking the heaviest and most geographically dispersed strikes are not necessarily the largest or most politically powerful PMF groups. They are the ones most operationally tied to Iranian command structures in the current war. Kataib Hezbollah has been struck in ten locations across five governorates. Badr, the most powerful armed-political movement in the Hashd, has barely been touched.

The second lens is operational hostility. The local minority militias in the disputed territories, especially Shabak and Turkmen formations, are real components of the Iranian-aligned PMF network. But that alone does not explain how heavily they have been hit. These groups have also been among the most active in launching drone and rocket attacks against the Kurdistan Region, including attacks on US military facilities and on Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in the Kurdistan Region.

The third lens is geography. Almost every strike has fallen in Iraq’s northern half, above the Baghdad line, but the social and political character of the strike zones varies sharply. In Anbar, southern Shia formations are being hit at exposed border positions in entirely Sunni territory and are suffering the campaign’s heaviest losses. In Nineveh, local Shabak formations are being struck in their own villages, but with far lighter casualties, in part because they can disperse into the communities they come from. In Kirkuk and Tuz Khurmatu, local Turkmen formations are being hit alongside southern militias in the same coordinated waves. By contrast, the seven Shia-majority governorates south of Baghdad, where the main militias recruit and where their families live, have not been struck at all.

A useful analysis.

More at the link

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Iraq

Airstrikes Target Iraq’s Disputed Territories and Sunni Heartland, Not the Shia-Dominated South

2026-03-22

[NationalContext] From Jurf al-Sakhar and Baghdad to al-Qaim, Mosul, Kirkuk, and Tuz Khurmatu, the strike campaign has widened sharply since late February. But even as it has expanded, it still concentrates on the militias’ forward military infrastructure in Iraq’s disputed north, western border belt, and Sunni heartland, while avoiding the deep southern Shia core where these factions retain their densest political and social base.

The expanding strike campaign against Iran-aligned militias in Iraq is not random. Even as the map has widened since late February, its geographic logic remains remarkably consistent. The attacks are still concentrated on militia deployments, headquarters, checkpoints, command nodes, and logistics infrastructure in Iraq’s northern, western, and disputed belts, while the deep Shia south remains outside the strike map.

By faction, Kataib Hezbollah and its linked structures appear to be the most heavily targeted militia family, especially through repeated strikes on its Brigade 45 network in Anbar, later hits on its linked Brigade 63 structures in Kirkuk and Salah al-Din, and additional Kataib Hezbollah-linked sites in Baghdad, Fallujah, Jurf al-Sakhar, and Tuz Khurmatu. It is followed by Hashd al-Shabak, or Quwat Sahl Nineveh, whose Brigade 30 positions across the Nineveh Plains came under repeated attack, and by Kataib Imam Ali, whose Brigade 40 was repeatedly struck across Kirkuk and Nineveh.

What the updated map shows is not a nationwide air war, but a calibrated one. The campaign has widened into Baghdad, Babil, and Wasit, and has touched a broader range of militias than in its first phase. But it still stops short of Basra, Maysan, Dhi Qar, Muthanna, Najaf, and Karbala. In other words, it is hitting the militias’ exposed operational arc, not their deepest political home ground.

THE GEOGRAPHY IS WIDENING, BUT NOT IN EVERY DIRECTION
The earlier phase of the campaign centered on places like Jurf al-Sakhar, Akashat, al-Qaim, Muqdadiya, Bartella, Qayyarah, Rashidiya, Dibis, and Baiji. The newer map adds repeated strikes in Baghdad, more sites in Salah al-Din and Kirkuk, and further pressure on the Mosul area, the Nineveh Plains, and the Syria-facing border zone in Anbar.

That expansion matters, but it has not erased the campaign’s underlying pattern. The militias being hit are still overwhelmingly deployed in mixed, militarized, or frontier spaces. That includes Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, Hashd al-Shabak, Kataib Imam Ali, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Ansar Allah al-Awfiya, Saraya al-Khorasani, Badr-linked formations, Turkmen PMF units, Kataib Jund al-Imam, Risaliyun, Fawj Amerli, Waad Allah, Kataib Babiliyoun, Haras Nainawa, Liwa Salah al-Din, and mixed PMF command structures.

Baghdad has now clearly entered the map. So have some central Iraqi belts. But widening is not the same as becoming nationwide. The strikes have edged into the capital and its approaches, but they still avoid the deep southern provinces where the militias’ political offices, patronage networks, leadership environments, and social base are strongest.

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Terror Networks

A Kurdish commander warns of the rise of ISIS amid the conflict around Iran

2026-03-20

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] The terrorist group Islamic State (IS, a terrorist organization banned in Russia) is exploiting the military conflict around Iran to strengthen its position in the region. This was stated by Rasul Omar Latif, a commander of the Kurdish paramilitary forces (Peshmerga) in northern Iraq, to Die Welt on March 19.

According to Latif, who has been actively involved in the fight against ISIS, the extremist group is monitoring the situation in the region, rebuilding its strength, and preparing for "an opportune moment" to carry out further attacks.

"These are people with combat experience," Latif emphasized, explaining that the terrorists had been trained in Afghanistan and Syria, among other places.

He added that the extremist organization is currently divided into groups entrenched in cities and valleys. Furthermore, according to the Peshmerga commander, terrorists are active in areas around the Iraqi cities of Kirkuk, Mosul, and Tuz Khurmatu, as well as in Salah ad-Din province, located in northern Iraq.

Earlier, the Iraqi Armed Forces press service reported that the death toll among members of the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi militia had risen to eight as a result of an airstrike near the Iraqi-Syrian border. The Hashd al-Shaabi militia is officially part of the Iraqi army and reports directly to the country's prime minister. However, from the US perspective, it is a pro-Iranian structure allegedly financed by the authorities in Tehran.

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Iraq

Eight militiamen were killed in an airstrike near the Iraqi-Syrian border

2026-03-17

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] The death toll among members of the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi militia has risen to eight as a result of an airstrike near the Iraqi-Syrian border. The Iraqi Armed Forces press service reported this on March 16.

It was reported that positions of the 18th militia brigade near the city of Al-Qaim in the Iraqi border province of Anbar were attacked from the air. At least seven people were wounded. Brigade headquarters also noted that a medical unit serving with the militia was hit by the airstrike.

The command's statement noted that the attack on regular Iraqi troops is viewed by the country's authorities as an encroachment on the state's sovereignty.

The Hashd al-Shaabi militia is officially part of the Iraqi army and reports directly to the country's prime minister. However, from the US perspective, it is a pro-Iranian structure allegedly financed by the authorities in Tehran.

PMF says Israeli strike kills six members at Iraq-Syria border checkpoint

[Rudaw] Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) said on Monday that one of its positions at a checkpoint on the Iraq-Syria border in western Anbar province was hit by an Israeli strike, killing six fighters and injuring four others.

The PMF said its position at the Martyr Haider checkpoint in Anbar province’s al-Qaim district was hit by a "Zionist attack," resulting in the killing of six of its fighters and the injury of four others.

Some PMF factions have carried out drone and missile attacks on US diplomatic missions and military bases in Iraq in support of Iran
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 ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
in its ongoing war with the United States and Israel. In response, several PMF bases - part of a force that was once a paramilitary group but is now integrated into the Iraqi state forces - have been targeted, resulting in dozens of casualties. Some of these strikes have been blamed on the US, though neither Washington nor Tel Aviv has grabbed credit.

"The bombing was by warplane and directly targeted the Popular Mobilization Forces security room at the checkpoint," at 3:30 pm, Abdullah al-Jughaifi, advisor to the security and defense committee of Anbar’s provincial council, told Rudaw.

Jughaifi said that in the same attack, a member of Anbar’s emergency police force affiliated with the Iraqi interior ministry who was at the checkpoint was maimed, along with two civilians.

More than two dozen fighters from the PMF were killed in suspected US strikes on their bases in Anbar and central Kirkuk province on Thursday.

Kataib Hezbollah in late February called on its fighters to prepare for what it described as a potential "war of attrition that may be long-term, exceeding the estimates of the US administration."

Kataib Hezbollah has said that the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...>
during Israeli strikes at the onset of the war had made undermining the security of US assets and expelling them from the region a top priority for Iran-aligned Iraqi gangs.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Kurdish armed group preparing to expel Iranian forces from Kurdish areas

2026-02-10

🎥 KURDISH FORCES RELEASE VIDEO THREATENING IRGC FORCES

A Kurdish armed group has released a new video claiming past successes against ISIS, Hashd militias, and the IRGC in locations including Hawija, Pirde, Ilam, Kermashan, and Lorestan, while warning it is preparing to expel… pic.twitter.com/rif8l1Til0
— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) February 9, 2026

Text:

🎥 KURDISH FORCES RELEASE VIDEO THREATENING IRGC FORCES

A Kurdish armed group has released a new video claiming past successes against ISIS, Hashd militias, and the IRGC in locations including Hawija, Pirde, Ilam, Kermashan, and Lorestan, while warning it is preparing to expel Iranian forces from Kurdish areas.

The video reflects a growing effort by Kurdish fighters to shape the narrative internationally, using media and messaging to draw attention to their struggle against Iran.

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