Friday, December 07, 2018
U.S. Fears Iran Planning ‘Massive Regional War’ in Middle East
The Trump administration disclosed that Iran is behind the construction of several underground tunnels leading into Israel that Hezbollah militants and other terror forces have been using to conduct attacks, according to multiple U.S. officials who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon and communicated fears that Tehran is preparing to lead a "massive regional war."
The public identification of Iran isn't likely to surprise international observers, but signals aggressive moves by the Trump administration to tie Iran to the rise of terrorism not just in Israel, but across the Middle East, where Iranian-backed militants continue to strike U.S. interests and allies.
The Obama administration, in contrast to Trump, was careful to avoid singling out Iran as the chief force for terrorism against Israel and U.S. allies in the region in hopes of appeasing the hardline regime as it sought to ink the landmark nuclear pact that Trump abandoned earlier this year.
Senior U.S. officials familiar with Israel's discovery of these new tunnels—a tactic long used by Hezbollah and Hamas to conduct cross-border raids against Israeli civilians and military personnel—say they mark a massive escalation by Iran's terror proxies.
The Israeli military conducted operations to destroy the tunnels earlier this week, shortly after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a one-on-one meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels.
The timing of Israel's military operations signal a deep coordination with the Trump administration, which told the Free Beacon the United States will stand side-by-side with the Jewish state as it works to thwart Iran's terror enterprise.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) said the tunnels show Iran used money from sanctions lifted under the Obama administration for military purposes.
"Senator Cruz has been tracking the Israeli campaign against these attack tunnels closely, and every day brings new disturbing revelations," said a spokesperson for Cruz. "It's now clear that Iran used its windfall from the Obama Iran nuclear deal to arm Hezbollah for an all-out war against Israel, and that the United States must do more to undo the damage of that deal. Sen. Cruz has also been unequivocal that our Israeli allies have an absolute right to defend themselves, especially against threats and violations of their sovereignty like these attack tunnels."
The joke of Palestinian ‘democracy’
In a recent Conflict Zone interview, acclaimed journalist Tim Sebastian grilled veteran Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat. While Erekat may not remember the interview as his finest hour, it could—and should have—been much worse had Sebastian pointed out a number of ludicrous statements that Erekat made.Exclusive: My year in the Palestinian Authority territories
During the interview, Erekat argued that the Palestinian Authority is “a true democracy,” that Mahmoud Abbas “won 62 percent of the vote” in the 2005 elections for head of the P.A., and that “Hamas carried out a coup d’état in Gaza” in 2007.
Closer examination of these claims shows their inherent contradictions.
While Abbas did indeed win 62 percent of the 2005 vote to be elected head of the P.A. (i.e., the Palestinian President), Erekat “forgot” that according to P.A. law, the chairman of the P.A. is elected to a four-year term. Since Abbas is about to start his 14th year of that four-year term, it is irrelevant to point to the level of Abbas’s support in order to substantiate the claim that the P.A. is a “true democracy.”
When examining Erekat’s claim about the Hamas “coup d’état” in the Gaza Strip, Erekat again “forgot” that Hamas won 74 seats of the 132 seat Palestinian Legislative Council in the last P.A. general elections held 13 years ago. Hamas therefore formed the legitimate P.A. government. As a result of immense international pressure threatening to cut off a vast amount of aid to the P.A., it was Abbas who deposed the democratically elected Hamas terrorist organization.
Accordingly, when Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas’s so-called “technocrat government” in the summer of 2007, Hamas was simply reasserting the mandate that it had been granted by the Palestinian population in democratic elections—control which had temporarily been usurped by Abbas.
“My first book appeared in 2000 and discussed Israel’s internal conflicts regarding the state’s identity. The Dutch title translates into English as 'A People that Dwells Alone.' I published my next book in 2007 which deals with the divisions between Christians in Israel. The title translates as 'Holy Quarrels'.”
Els van Diggele was born in 1967 in the Dutch village of Warmond. After her history studies at Leiden University she followed a postdoctoral journalism course at Rotterdam’s Erasmus University.
“I wanted to complete a trilogy by writing about the Palestinian Arabs. I resided in the Palestinian Authority region, carefully looking for people who would dare to tell the truth. Otherwise I would only hear: ‘Everything is fine. The Israeli occupation is the problem.’
“My first insight occurred when a Palestinian Arab asked me: ‘Do you write about our occupation? We are occupied by our leaders. The Palestinian occupation starts in our family with our father and uncles. Afterwards we are occupied by our boss and our leaders. The individual does not exist.’ He added: ‘That is our greatest real problem and explains our society’s stagnation.’
“I lived for a year in the Palestinian Authority territories. I did not register as a journalist with the authorities. I was not hindered by the authorities in any way, though there have been people who suspected me of being a spy.
“In Gaza I also did not encounter any hindrance. Interviewing there was even easier than in the 'West Bank.' In Gaza people are also fearful and society is very hierarchical. Yet the people were more open, perhaps because they are poorer and more desperate. It became clear to me that there is no historical unity between the 'West Bank' and the Gaza Strip. It is as if living in different worlds.
Caroline Glick: The Next War Between Hezbollah and Israel
For years, Israel has presented mountains of evidence that Hezbollah is openly operating along its border and that UNIFIL has done nothing. In the case at hand, Hezbollah used a greenhouse along the border to hide its quarrying activities as it excavated the tunnel. According to IDF Spokesman Ronen Manalis, the greenhouse is located just meters from a UNIFIL post.
In the next round of war, UNIFIL forces will have no constructive role to play. By pointing out their inaction and failure to fulfill their duties, Israel may be paving the way for the disbanding of UNIFIL. This is important because for the past 12 years, Hezbollah has used UN forces as human shields to protect its operations along Israel’s borders.
The final thing Israel is accomplishing through its small operation against the tunnels is to set events in motion on its terms. In previous rounds of war, Hezbollah has struck first, and often taken Israel by surprise, whether by kidnapping its forces or opening major barrages of missile attacks against Israel, or both. If the tunnel operation is followed or carried out in tandem with operations against Hezbollah’s missile arsenals and precision missile factories recently set up by Iran in Lebanon, then Israel will be able to shape the conditions for the next war to its advantage — and to do so while receiving international backing for its actions.
In his Hebrew-language briefing Tuesday evening, Netanyahu assured the public, repeatedly, that there is much more going on behind the scenes than is going on in front of them.
It is impossible to know precisely how events will develop over the next several weeks, but it is reasonable to assess that Netanyahu was telling the truth. If so, Tuesday appears to have marked the beginning of a serious bid by Israel finally to confront and defeat Iran’s growing military power along its borders.
Hezbollah wants another war with Israel. This is what can be done to prevent it: pic.twitter.com/qIHMgYH6IQ
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 7, 2018
IDF Blog: Operation Northern Shield
BackgroundIsrael May Expand Anti-Tunnel Operation Into Lebanon, Minister Says
2006 - During the Second Lebanon War the IDF was first exposed to Hezbollah’s extensive subterranean infrastructure. At the end of the war UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1701 was passed, forbidding armed groups other than the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL from going south of the Litani River and calling for the disarmament of all “armed groups.” Despite this, Hezbollah continued to arm itself and vastly develop their underground tunnel network in Southern Lebanon, preparing it for combat.
2012 - Hezbollah begins developing a plan against Israel.
2013 - While monitoring Hezbollah’s planning and preparation, the IDF asses concerns that Hezbollah is digging near the Blue Line.
2014 - The IDF exposes Hamas terror tunnels infiltrating Israel from the Gaza Strip. Knowing that Hamas and Hezbollah often share knowledge, Israel’s suspicion of a tunnel threat on the northern border is reinforced. Based on this, the IDF forms a technological intelligence taskforce to focus on the underground threat posed by Hezbollah.
2015 - The IDF expands its defensive efforts in northern Israel.
2016 - Advanced technological instruments are deployed along the Blue Line with the aim of locating and exposing Hezbollah tunnels.
2018 - Israel launches Operation Northern Shield to neutralize the tunnel threat.
The Current Situation
The attack tunnels from Lebanon constitute a threat to Israeli civilians as well as a violation of Israeli sovereignty, even before they were operational. Additionally, the tunnels serve as proof of Hezbollah’s blatant violation of Israel’s sovereignty and UNSC Resolution 1701.
These tunnels send a clear message as to the true priorities of the terrorist organization Hezbollah. In doing this, Hezbollah has also put its goal of Israel’s destruction before the safety of Lebanese civilians.
In response to Hezbollah’s Iran-backed terror activity along the border, we have enhanced our presence in the Northern Command and are ready to protect Israeli civilians from Hezbollah.
Israel is prepared to take action in Lebanon against Hezbollah cross-border tunnels if necessary, an Israeli cabinet minister said on Friday.Report: Hezbollah Mobilizing Missiles From Syria to South Lebanon
Israel‘s military said earlier this week that it had found a number of passages dug across the Israel-Lebanon border to be used in carrying out attacks inside Israel. The Israeli military sent mechanical diggers, troops and anti-tunneling equipment to the border to shut them down.
The Israeli military, which launched the operation on Tuesday, has said its activity would, for now, stop on the Israeli side of the border.
But Israeli news media on Thursday quoted a unnamed senior official saying that Israel could extend its activity into Lebanon, and on Friday Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz reiterated that messages.
“If we think that in order to thwart the tunnels that one needs to operate on the other side – then we will operate on the other side of the border,” Katz told Radio Tel Aviv 102FM.
What form the action would take was not clear. Over the past year, at least 15 tunnels from the Gaza Strip into Israel were found and destroyed, the Israeli military said.
Hezbollah has begun mobilizing missiles from Syria to southern Lebanon in a bid to counter a potential Israeli airstrike, rebel-affiliated media outlets in Syria reported on Thursday.Claiming ‘hacking’ of network, Lebanon condemns IDF warnings to its civilians
The Shi’ite terrorist group is reportedly concerned that the Israeli operation to neutralize its cross-border terror tunnels is the opening move to a wider military campaign, the reports said.
Syrian opposition officials said that Hezbollah was moving OTR-21 Tochka missile batteries to southern Lebanon.
The OTR-21 is a Soviet-made tactical ballistic-missile system ranging between 15 kilometers and 185 kilometers (nine miles to to 115 miles).
Other reports said that Hezbollah was also deploying short-range, Iranian-made projectiles in southern Lebanon, adding that the group has blocked dozens of roads in the area to allow the convoy smooth transport.
Lebanon’s ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday accused Israel of hacking into the country’s telephone network to warn southern Lebanese citizens of imminent Israeli military activity on the border, in what was described by Beirut as “extremely serious acts.”Man seen in IDF tunnel video identified as Hezbollah commander
Amal Mudallali’s letter to the United Nations Security Council came days after Israel launched Operation Northern Shield to dismantle cross-border attack tunnels it says were dug by the Hezbollah terror group.
“Lebanon condemns in the strongest possible terms the political and diplomatic campaign being waged by Israel against Lebanon, which it fears is a prelude to the launch of further attacks,” she wrote.
“That campaign is being accompanied by a number of extremely serious acts, of which the most recent is that Israel has breached the Lebanese communications grid by hacking into the telephone network and sending recorded messages to peaceable civilian inhabitants of the southern part of the village of Kafr Killa warning them of imminent explosions to take place on Lebanese territory that might put their lives at risk,” wrote Mudallali.
A man seen in footage released by the Israel Defense Forces from inside a tunnel penetrating from Lebanon into Israeli territory has been identified by reports as a senior member of terror group Hezbollah with Iranian links.Israeli Report: Hezbollah tunnel terrorist “trained with Mexican drug cartels near the United States border”
Israel announced on Tuesday that it had launched an operation dubbed Northern Shield to uncover and destroy subterranean passages dug by Hezbollah into Israel with the goal of attacking the Jewish state in a future war.
The IDF spokesperson said at a press conference the same day that Hezbollah operatives had been working inside the cross-border tunnel when it was exposed, publishing footage he said was filmed mere hours earlier inside the underground passage.
In the video, which was filmed by a small Israeli military robot, two men could be seen walking into the tunnel from the entrance inside Lebanon on Tuesday morning, hours before the army announced that the tunnel had been located and would soon be destroyed.
One of the men can be seen approaching the robot, which sets off a small explosive device, scaring them away.
On Thursday, several reports identified the man seen in the video as Imad Fahs, a mechanical engineer who commands both a Hezbollah observation unit and a tunnel unit.
On Thursday, i24NEWS revealed the identity of an Hezbollah operative caught on camera by Israel’s Defense Forces (IDF) in a cross border tunnel on the Lebanese border earlier this week.IDF: UNIFIL must close Hezbollah tunnels on Lebanese side of border
An unnamed security official told i24NEWS that the man who appeared on the video from the tunnel was Dr. Imad “Azaladin” Fahs, a commander of the Hezbollah observation unit on the border with Israel, as well as a commander in the tunnel unit.
“Azaladin” who is in his 30’s, has a PhD in mechanical engineering from Tehran’s University of Technology and is married with two children.According to the security official, “Azaladin” trained with Mexican drug cartels near the United States border.
Residents in southern Lebanon received text messages from Hezbollah, presenting two options; either cooperate with Hezbollah or evacuate from the area so as not to get involved in a future war.
i24NEWS source thus disputes the claim from Hezbollah which said the two men in the tunnel were drug dealers.
The IDF asked UNIFIL to “neutralize” Hezbollah attack tunnels after it announced on Thursday that it had uncovered a second underground passageway, which originated from the southern Lebanese village of Ramya and extended into Israeli territory.
On Thursday, the IDF presented the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon with its first concrete evidence of the tunnels, while the head of UNIFIL’s mission Major-General Stefano Del Col visited northern Israel with a technical team.
Earlier this week, Israel announced the discovery of the first tunnel from the Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, and it launched Operation Northern Shield to destroy such cross-border passageways from the Israeli side.
The 10,400 member UNIFIL peacekeeper force representing 41 nations is tasked with monitoring violations of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 along the border, which would include construction of attack tunnels.
But until the UNIFIL team arrived in Israel, it had no evidence that Hezbollah was constructing such tunnels.
“Based on the site inspection, UNIFIL can confirm the existence of a tunnel at the location,” Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, told reporters in New York.
“Accordingly, UNIFIL is now engaged with the parties to pursue urgent follow-up action. It is very important to determine the full picture of this serious occurrence. UNIFIL will communicate its preliminary findings to the appropriate authorities in Lebanon,” he added.
.@UNIFIL_, since you were able to confirm our findings, please review and, well, confirm the obvious: #Hezbollah dug that tunnel from Lebanon into Israel, and this is another of its countless violations of @UN SC resolution #1701.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 6, 2018
Thank u, next. https://t.co/Oh9W0LTXfL
Bahrain backs Israel for Hezbollah tunnel-busting operation
In a surprise move, Bahrain’s foreign minister on Thursday evening expressed support for Israel’s current operation to expose and destroy Hezbollah’s cross-border tunnels.A BBC Radio 4 presenter ‘explains’ UN SC resolution 1701
“Is Terrorist Hezbollah’s digging of the tunnels under Lebanon’s border not a flagrant threat to Lebanon’s stability, which it shares responsibility for? Who bears responsibility when neighboring countries take upon themselves to eliminate the threat they face?” Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa wrote on his Twitter account, in Arabic.
The statement appeared to put Bahrain in line with the US, the European Union, Germany, Austria, Canada and other states in backing Operation Northern Shield, which Israel launched Tuesday to find and destroy tunnels it says the Hezbollah terror group is digging from Lebanon into its territory.
In a second tweet, Khalid wrote: “International powers see it as a dangerous threat and the Lebanese state doesn’t comment,” together with a link to an article in a Lebanese newspaper about Israel’s operation.
Shah’s listeners were also not told that the 2006 resolution calls for the area between the Lebanese-Israeli border and the Litani river to be “free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the Government of Lebanon and of UNIFIL”, that it calls for all “armed groups in Lebanon” to be disarmed, that it forbids the presence of “foreign forces in Lebanon without the consent of its Government” and “sales or supply of arms and related materiel to Lebanon except as authorized by its Government”.Nikki Haley's speech on why the U.N. should condemn Hamas
Neither did they hear any explanation of the fact that the task of implementing that resolution was given to UNIFIL and that it is now obvious that years of cross-border tunnel construction had taken place literally under that UN organisation’s nose.
Instead of supplying BBC Radio 4 audiences with that crucial information, Shah preferred to promote a theme advanced by her World Service colleagues the previous day.
Good afternoon. Today could be a historic day at the United Nations. Or it could be just another ordinary day.Nikki Haley on Resolution Condemning Hamas: Does the UN Accept Terrorism Directed at Israel? (Full Speech)
Today could be a day in which the UN General Assembly unconditionally speaks out with moral clarity against one of the most obvious and grotesque cases of terrorism in the world. Or it could be a day in which it refuses to do that.
Ladies and gentlemen, last Friday the General Assembly approved six resolutions condemning Israel in a single day. Six. In an average year, the UN votes against Israel 20 times. Over the years, the UN has voted to condemn Israel over 500 times.
That’s what an ordinary day at the UN looks like.
Much as the United States finds that record appalling, no one can question whether the UN is on record in its hostility toward the State of Israel.
But for good measure, there will be another vote this afternoon that gives everyone another chance to put themselves on record in a way that goes against Israel.
RT @USUN: Today we spoke some hard truths. We can’t talk about peace in the Middle East until we can agree on a basic condemnation of Hamas and its terrorism. The UN had a chance to do that today, and it failed. pic.twitter.com/BSHvdgy94J
— Nikki Haley (@nikkihaley) December 7, 2018
Resolution condemning Hamas fails at UN, despite majority, unprecedented support
The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday failed to pass a resolution condemning Hamas, serving a defeat to Israel and its American ally in their efforts for a first ever UN condemnation of the terror group after weeks of diplomacy.
While the US-backed draft resolution got a comfortable majority of votes, it fell short of the two-thirds super-majority needed to pass.
Eighty-seven countries voted in favor of the resolution, while 57 opposed it. Thirty-three countries abstained and another 23 were not present.
Israeli leaders still praised the outcome as a show of wide support for their position against the terror group, which for years has targeted Israel with rockets, bombs and other attacks.
“Today we achieved a plurality. That plurality would have been a majority if the vote had not been hijacked by a political move of procedure,” Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said after the vote.
“But in one strong, courageous voice, we have brought Hamas to justice. For those member states that rejected this resolution, you should be ashamed of yourselves,” he said.
IsraellyCool: UNGA Fails to Pass Anti Hamas Terror Resolution…And I’m Glad
Having said that, I am actually glad the resolution condemning Hamas did not pass. It shines an even brighter light on not just how ineffectual the UN has become but how evil it has become.Palestinians applaud defeat of US-backed resolution condemning Hamas
The UNGA could not pass a resolution demanding that “Hamas and other militant actors including Palestinian Islamic Jihad” cease terrorism against Israelis. It could not pass a resolution condemning Hamas’s use of resources in Gaza for terror tunnels and rocket launching equipment “when such resources could be used to address the critical needs of the civilian population.”
No longer can countries claim they condemn Israel because they are somehow upholding international law. Or because they care about human rights or justice.
As Nikki Haley said, “There is nothing more antisemitic than saying that terrorism is not terrorism when it is used against the Jewish people and the Jewish state. There is nothing more antisemitic than saying we cannot condemn terrorism against Israel, while we would not hesitate for one minute to condemn the same acts if they were taken against any other country.”
It is not that the world is a darker place this morning. It is that more people can see the darkness.
Hamas hailed the failure of a US-sponsored resolution condemning the Gaza-based terror group Thursday, calling it a “slap” against the Trump administration.How does Trump's new U.N. ambassador stack up on Israel?
While the draft resolution received a comfortable majority of votes, it fell short of the two-thirds super-majority needed to pass, with a final tally of 87 in favor, 57 opposed and 33 abstentions.
Most of the “no” votes came from the Arab and Muslim world, while much of the West backed the resolution.
“The American draft resolution’s failure in the United Nations is a slap to the American administration, an affirmation of the legitimacy of the resistance and major political support for the Palestinian people and issue,” Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri wrote on Twitter, employing a phrase commonly used to refer to Palestinian terrorist groups.
Heather Nauert, State Department spokesperson and former Fox News reporter, will be replacing Nikki Haley as the next ambassador to the United Nations. With big shoes to fill, many Israelis wonder how Nauert will compare to her predecessor.
Though Nauert is a Trump favorite and a current voice for the administration, Haley was considered a cherished diplomat to the pro-Israel community. Those wondering how she'll weigh up will look to her time at the State Department, where Nauert speaks frequently about Israel and the Middle East.
During press briefings, Nauert often sticks to the script and maintains the Trump administration's staunch pro-Israel stance. In her briefings, when asked about controversial Israeli policies or decisions, she almost always defers to the Israeli government.
Questioned about the proposed demolition of Khan al-Ahmar, an illegal Bedouin village in the West Bank, Nauert emphasized the Israeli legal process and the decisions of its courts.
"The impending evacuation of the Bedouin residence in that village follows a lengthy legal process I believe that’s gone on for eight years or so, and I’d just have to refer you back to the Government of Israel on that one."
She embraced a similar approach on the case of Lara Alqasem, an American student who was denied entry to Israel for her alleged support of BDS and detained.
"Our embassy is providing consular access, as we would to all American citizens. We value freedom of expression." She went on to say, "Ultimately, it is up to the Government of Israel to decide who it wants to let into the country," while downplaying Alqasem's detainment, which was the focus of the reporter's question.
Nauert does display some of Haley's signature fiery rhetoric when condemning Hamas and Israel's enemies.
The Irish draft invokes the infamous Resolution 2334, which has fueled anti-Israel boycotts worldwide, and deems the holiest sites of Judaism—including the Western Wall and the Temple Mount where the Maccabees lit the ancient Menorah—to be "Occupied Palestinian Territory." pic.twitter.com/puVweIMLT4
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) December 6, 2018
Kuwaiti Journalist Ahmed Al-Jarallah: I Support Normalization with Israel; Only Peace Can Kill It
Kuwaiti journalist Ahmed Al-Jarallah, who is the editor-in-chief of the Kuwaiti Al-Seyassah newspaper, said that the Arab world cannot deny Israel's existence and that it should normalize relations and coexist with Israel like the rest of the world. He said that Israel and the Western countries share an ideology while every Arab country has a separate ideology, and that only peace with Israel can "harm or kill it." He said that Israel has stronger allies and a broader reach in the world than the Arabs do, and that occupations are something that "happens." He gave the example of Alexandretta, which he said some claim is Syrian despite it being under Turkish control. Al-Jarallah also said that the Arabs no longer have anything to do with the Palestinian-Israeli issue, and that they must not repeat the mistakes of the failed 1948 invasion of Israel. The interview aired on Al-Hurra TV (U.S.) on November 27, 2018.
Israeli-PA security coordination is at risk unless US law is changed
Security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is in jeopardy if a US law that was passed two months and grants American courts jurisdiction over anti-PA lawsuits is not changed in the coming weeks, senior US officials warned on Friday.EMBARRASSING: Europeans Realizing Trump Was Right About Iran
The officials fended off reports that the Trump administration was working to block the new law that would make it easier to compensate the families of American victims of Palestinian terrorism from the Second Intifada.
This would, for example, restore the Sokolow case – in which a US federal court ruled that the PA must pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the families of the American victims of Palestinian Authority-aided terrorism during the Second Intifada.
Known as the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act, the bill would likely lead the PA to decide to stop receiving aid from the US government which – after the Trump administration cut hundreds of millions of dollars - amounts to just $60 million allocated strictly to support security coordination between Israel and the PA.
“It is an American and Israeli interest that this aid continues and that the security coordination continues,” a senior US official told The Jerusalem Post.
It must be murder for them to admit it, but suddenly Western European leaders are realizing President Trump was right about ditching the Iran nuclear treaty.Iranian Sheikh: Massacre of Jewish Banu Qurayza Tribe Is a Holocaust-Like Fabrication by the Jews
On Tuesday, diplomats from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and France expressed their concern because of an Iranian medium-range ballistic missile test on Saturday.
The U.S. government stated that the missile Iran tested could reach Europe and the Middle East. According to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the missile could carry multiple warheads and violated Security Council Resolution 2231, which instructed Iran to refrain from “any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.”
That Security Council resolution was the implementation of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). President Trump walked away from the deal last May, although China, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K. stayed with the deal.
But after the missile test, the U.K. and France called a closed-door meeting of the Security Council. The government of France stated, “France is concerned by the launch of a medium-range ballistic missile by Iran on Saturday. It condemns this provocative and destabilizing act. France reiterates that the Iranian ballistic missile program is not in compliance with UNSCR 2231 (2015). It calls on Iran to immediately cease any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be able to carry nuclear weapons, including launches using ballistic missile technology.”
Iranian Sheikh Sadiq Akhvan said that no story has led Islamic scholars and historians into a trap laid by the Jews as much as the story of the massacre of the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza in Medina, which he said is "another Holocaust-like lie." He said that the Jews are infamous for fabricating myths. Sheikh Akhvan added that the Jews should have established Israel in Germany or Britain instead of Palestine. His remarks aired on Al-Kawthar TV (Iran) on November 17, 2018.
