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Friday, September 09, 2022

09/09 Links Pt1: Maybe Israel should review its rules of engagement with US; Lapid - no guts, no vision on the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

From Ian:

David Singer: Lapid - no guts, no vision on the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine
It beggars belief that not 1 of the 120 members of Israel’s current Parliament has uttered one word that I can find anywhere supporting or rejecting the Saudi Plan.

The Saudi Plan’s author – Ali Shihabi – a confidant of Saudi Arabia’s next King - Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman – expressed his own feelings to me at this veil of silence that had descended over every one of Israel’s politicians:

"Israel is the key factor. It holds most of the cards and its military, economic and political success since 1948 has made its leaders arrogant and contemptuous of the Arabs generally since the Israelis have imposed their terms on the region despite all Arab efforts and noise made in decades past. This arrogance is clouding Israeli judgement and blinding them to the opportunity that presents itself today for them to drive a sustainable peace process.

"They can get a lot of what they want but have to give a bit to get a sustainable solution that will integrate them into the region permanently, but this will require an Israeli De Gaulle with guts and vision, and I don’t see one on the horizon unfortunately"

Confident I could meet Shihabi’s challenge – I asked Lapid, Defence Minister Gantz and Opposition Leader Netanyahu the following questions:
-When he first became aware of the Saudi plan?
-Has he commented on the Saudi plan since its release on 8 June 2022?
-If so - when and where were such comments published?
-If he has made no comment - would he like to make any comment on the Saudi plan that I can publish verbatim and attribute to him?
-Is he prepared to promise Israeli voters that he will use his best endeavours to implement the Saudi plan if he becomes Israel's next Prime Minister?

Lapid – like Gantz –failed to respond.

Netanyahu told Ben Shapiro that he wants an assurance of complete Israeli security control west of the Jordan River – not presently promised in Shihabi’s plan.

Over to you for your considered response Mr. Shihabi
JPost Editorial: Israel doesn't need to be told how to defend itself
In their eyes, the battle didn’t take place in a war zone but rather in a civilian neighborhood in a territory that most of the world considers occupied and under military control.

They don’t know the IDF Code of Ethics, nor that our soldiers dedicate a considerable amount of time during basic training to learn how to think long and hard before pulling the trigger. They also don’t know that IDF soldiers are taught at the very beginning of their service that they have the right – and the obligation – to refuse an order that would lead to the harming of innocent people.

What happened with Abu Akleh was tragic and devastating. A journalist should not be killed, even in a combat zone.

The IDF must draw lessons from the investigation and see how to avoid such outcomes in the future.

Unfortunately, such incidents happen, especially in complicated places like Judea and Samaria. And while the American criticism – especially when considering that Abu Akleh held US citizenship – is expected, the IDF does not need intervention when it comes to its rules of engagement.

No military in the world goes to the lengths that Israel does to spare civilian casualties. Look at recent Gaza operations when Israel called homes and buildings and gave known Hamas operatives time to evacuate before attacking.

Look at the way the IDF has prosecuted soldiers in the past for violating these rules and look at the way this country sanctifies lives – whether by opening a field hospital for Syrians or in Ukraine.

This is the Israeli way of fighting. We have a conflict and we need to do better. What we don’t need is to be told how to defend ourselves.
Melanie Phillips: Maybe Israel should review its rules of engagement with US
For America's ambassador to Israel, Thomas Nides, this wasn't enough. He declared that he had "aggressively engaged" with Israel over these draft rules since February and would continue to press for them to be further loosened up in coordination with "key stakeholders," including the PA

Yet Nides is not "aggressively engaged" with the PA over the rapidly rising radicalization and terrorist violence in the areas under its control. Instead, he is pressuring Israel to relax the restrictions it imposes purely to keep its citizens safe.

America is not "aggressively engaged" with Iran over its terrorist proxies that are now taking over those Palestinian areas. On the contrary, it is bending every sinew to empower Iran through a deal that would funnel billions of dollars into Tehran to boost those terrorist activities.

Many have bought the Bennett/Lapid claim that former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bullhorn diplomacy, loudly protesting at the policies of former President Barack Obama, harmed Israel by turning Obama against it.

That was always absurd. Netanyahu was reacting to the fact that Obama was already throwing Israel under the Iranian bus.

Stuffed with Obama retreads, the Biden administration has continued with that policy. Most Americans are unaware of the depths of this perfidy—because Israel has chosen not to tell them. If the American public doesn't know, it won't create any political pressure to stop the administration from undermining its key ally in the Middle East.

Silence has been a disaster. Israel must now protest loudly about America's Abu Akleh travesty and its appeasement of Iran.

It is essential to inform the American public about what its own government is doing to weaken the defenses of both Israel and the west against the enemies of civilization—an evil being perpetrated in America's name.


US, EU should butt out of Israel's security policies - opinion
Perhaps the EU or UN Security Council – neither of which has done diddly-squat about the 11-year-long civil war slaughter in Syria, or Iran’s subversive muckraking across the Middle East.

I say: Butt out! None of you have the right to jeer Israel’s defensive actions in the territories and along its borders, nor Israeli military operations beyond its borders – even if the IDF were to use devastating and indiscriminate force, which it isn’t.

Israel need not apologize for defending itself against Palestinian terrorist cells, Palestinian terror attack tunnels, Palestinian rocket barrages, and yes, pro-terrorist anti-Israel NGOs. By the same token, Israel need not apologize for striking recurrently at Iranian commando posts and armament depots in Syria and Lebanon.

Israel also must never apologize for repeatedly reminding the world that Jews are not foreigners in their ancestral homeland. Israel is not an occupying force in the Sharon plains, or the sand dunes of the Negev adjoining Gaza, or the hilltops of Judea and Samaria, or in Jerusalem. It has a right to defend its homeland without being subjected to cheeky censure and supercilious second-guessing.

The nations of the world ought to be exceedingly circumspect in telling Israel what to do, how to conduct its politics, where to erect its security fences, how to conduct its military campaigns, where to draw its borders and how to defend them, or what ancestral lands to trade away – if at all.

Having failed the Jewish people throughout history all the way through to the Holocaust; and having been so wrong with Pollyannaish hopes for the Oslo Accords, the Arab Spring, and the JCPOA nuclear deal with Iran – the nations of the world ought to give Israeli leaders the benefit of the doubt. They ought to respect Israeli decision-making, not sneer at it, when Israel’s leaders proceed cautiously in the diplomatic arena or act resolutely in the security sphere.

As former prime minister Menachem Begin once challenged and chastised the German chancellor, “Are we a vassal state? And would you prefer a weak Israel?”
What Were They Thinking? State Dep. Meddling in IDF’s Rules of Engagement on Eve of National Election
It’s no longer a friendly conversation between friends and allies, that’s a superpower dictating to a client state. How many lives would it cost the Israeli security forces to ensure that some pro-Palestinian Arab journalist won’t be killed when she decides to step into a shooting war in locations reminiscent of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness?

And that’s when the Israelis lost it. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Yair Lapid, Alternate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, and Defense Minister Benny Gantz launched an angry counter-attack.

“The IDF does not shoot innocents,” Lapid declared at the graduation ceremony of a naval officers’ course. “I will allow the prosecution of an IDF fighter who defended his life against terrorists’ fire just so that we would receive applause abroad. No one will dictate to us our rules of engagement when we are fighting for our lives. Our fighters have the full backing of the Israeli government and the people of Israel.”

Bennett rebuked Ambassador Nides in a well-publicized face-to-face meeting: “The IDF is the most moral army in the world. I am not willing to lose soldiers in vain. The American intervention in the IDF’s rules of engagement is a dangerous and unacceptable precedent.”

Gantz also attacked the American position and said in a statement: “The commanders and soldiers implement their instructions carefully – there never was and never will be political involvement in this matter.”

And during his visit Wednesday morning to the Intelligence Division, Gantz said: “The Chief of Staff determines and will continue to determine the rules of engagement in accordance with the operational needs and the purity of our weapons – those instructions are strictly implemented and the IDF soldiers have our full backing to protect the citizens of Israel.”

The principle of “the purity of our weapons” has been part of Israel’s military tradition since before the establishment of the state. It means that an Israeli soldier or member of the security forces will not shoot an innocent or helpless person – including enemy combatants.

Needless to say, there’s no such thing as a pure weapon because, you know, there’s nothing pure about killing. Killing can be justified, for sure, but using the term “pure” borders on fetishism. Still, if you wake up most Israelis in the middle of the night, they’d tell you that our weapons are pure. And what Thomas Nides and Vedant Patel did was step on that sacred myth. And they did it on the eve of a national election in Israel. Now, that was unwise, to use diplomatic language.

Kaboom.


As ties to Syria fade, Golan Druze increasingly turning to Israel for citizenship
Druze men look out over the border between Israel and Syria near Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights on February 14, 2014. (AP/Oded Balilty)

In the four decades since Israel effectively annexed the Golan Heights, the Druze residents of the volcanic plateau have zealously maintained their Syrian identities and ways of life. From signage that gives no quarter to Hebrew to farms that ship their produce across the border rather than down the road, sharp-eyed visitors can see how the community has thoroughly rejected integration into Israel, instead maintaining strong commercial, social and academic ties to Damascus.

Neither the improved economic situation of the Druze population nor the concerted efforts of successive Israeli governments to cut those links have made any difference.

In recent years, however, a quiet shift has taken place. After years of near-blanket rejection of Israeli offers of citizenship, the number of Golan Druze applying to become Israeli citizens has begun to tick upwards.

Official government figures obtained through a freedom of information request submitted by Shomrim, via the Movement for Freedom of Information NGO, show that over the past five years, the number of citizenship requests filed by Druze residents of the Golan Heights has gradually jumped from 75 requests in 2017 to 239 in 2021.

The number for 2022 will likely be even higher still. In the first half of the year alone, 206 requests were submitted.

The reasons for the change are not entirely clear, but appear to be connected to the Syrian civil war, which made links with Damascus harder to maintain and altered attitudes toward the regime in Damascus. Generational shifts may also be at play, with many Golan Druze coming of age today bound to Syria only by stories.
Second annual Central America-Israel Forum in Panama draws 14 nations
The second annual Central America-Israel Forum concluded on Thursday in Panama City, Panama, with Latin American Jewish leaders and dignitaries celebrating Israel’s relations with Central American countries.

The focus of this year’s forum was strengthening ties between Christians and Jews.

A total of 14 countries in the region took part in the event from Sept. 6-8, according to B’nai B’rith International, which co-sponsored the forum. It was organized by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), the Center for Jewish Impact and the Panama-Israel Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group.

Dozens of ministers, politicians, mayors, religious leaders and heads of NGOs participated in the forum. Guests included human-rights activist Natan Sharansky, chair of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy; Panama’s Minister of Education Maruja Gorday de Villalobos; Gerardo Amarilla, vice minister of environment in Uruguay; and Fernando Lottenberg, the commissioner to monitor and combat anti-Semitism for the Organization of American States.

The participants discussed relations between Central America, Israel and the United States, and addressed the global issue of Jew-hatred and anti-Semitism.


Moroccan chief of staff to visit Israel, take part in int'l IDF conference
Morocco’s Chief of the Royal Armed Forces Lt.-Gen. Belkhir El Farouk will make his first official visit to Israel this coming week and take part in an international conference held by the IDF.

The week-long “operational innovation” conference will see military delegations from 25 different countries participate. El Farouk will be one of nine chiefs of staff that will take part in the conference, including Finland, India, Poland, Italy, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, United States, Greece, Cyprus, NATO and others.

The military says the conference will “enable the deepening of cooperation in the areas of strategy and defense, as well as for the expansion of in-depth mutual learning and international cooperation when developing and operating military capabilities.”

“The conference is an additional milestone in strengthening the cooperation between the IDF and other countries worldwide as well as for the creation of regional security and stability,” the statement added.

El Farouk hosted IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi in the North African kingdom in July. Kohavi also met with Defense Minister Abdellatif Loudiyi and with the chief of Morocco’s Intelligence Directorate, Brahim Hassani. The officers then held a strategic panel in the presence of division heads of the Morrocan military.


Swiss military shows off new Israeli fleet of Starliner drones
The Swiss Air Force is looking toward future threats with its new fleet of Hermes Starliner unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) manufactured by Israel’s Elbit Systems.

The six UAVs will be based out of Emmen Air Base near the city of Lucerne and the fleet will be fully operational by the end of 2023.

The Starliner has a wingspan of 17 meters (56 feet), and weighs 1.6 tons. The unarmed reconnaissance system can carry an additional 450 kg. (992 lbs.)of electro-optical, thermal, radar and other payloads should additional ones be required. It has a maximum flight capability of 24 hours of continuous flight at a maximum speed of 260 kph (162 mph).

Switzerland bought the six UAVs, known in Switzerland as ADS-15, in a deal worth some $290 million in 2015 to replace the Ranger ADS-95 that were decommissioned after 20 years of service.

Though the systems will be mainly used for situation and target intelligence gathering, the deal garnered a lot of controversy in Switzerland.

Though Swiss law prohibits arming drones with air-to-ground missiles, Col. Walser from Switzerland’s Joint Forces Command told reporters that the military would not exclude the idea.

Walser said the drones were purchased not only for future conflicts, but also for reconnaissance missions that would support ground forces and border forces including dealing with illegal infiltrations into the country.
Israel doesn't have an alternative to Palestinian Authority
There is no doubt that part of PA's problems with maintaining governance stem from internal affairs, unrelated to Israel. Its political echelon, headed by Abbas, is perceived as corrupt, rotten, and incapable of functioning in the eyes of most of the public in the West Bank. Despite cooperating with Israelis on security issues, Abbas does not intend on becoming a Zionist any time soon, and will throw Israel under the bus if need be.

The problem Israel is facing right now is that Abbas and the PA are irreplaceable. In other words, Abbas' retirement, or PA's dissolution may lead to the kind of spike in violence we have not seen in many years - if ever.

Abbas, which many Israelis consider an enemy, is one of the only Palestinian leaders that outright rejects violence and terror.

In the past few years, Palestinian security forces thwarted hundreds of terror attacks, and many Israelis owe their lives to Abbas and his people. PA security cooperation with Israel has significantly weakened, but not died down all together. But, if Israelis continue to antagonize Abbas, whatever remains of these efforts will no longer persist.

The only alternative to the PA is full on Israeli occupation of the West Bank. Not a partial one that leans on the PA, exempting us from governing the lives of 2.8 million of Palestinians, but one with military presence in the heart of Palestinian cities.

No Israeli leader wants such a thing. Neither Lapid, nor Netanyahu - who had actually mulled getting rid of the PA but never actually did so. While Netanyahu did quite a lot to bolster Hamas, he was smart enough to avoid the destruction of the PA.

He probably had good enough reasons for that.
The Israel Guys: The Oslo Accords Are Dead: Here is the CRAZY REASON WHY
The Palestinian Authority is busy trying to illegally take over Area C in Judea and Samaria, which in effect, will create a de facto Palestinian State. At the same time, terrorist organizations in Area A of Judea and Samaria have gotten so large and violent that the IDF is in the midst of rooting them out.

Two years ago, the PA officially reneged on all agreements with Israel, including security agreements. This means that the Oslo Accords, which are now nearly thirty years old, are officially dead.

On today’s program, we explain why any attempts from the PA to form an agreement with Israel, or create legitimacy with the international community, mean absolutely nothing. The Oslo Accords are dead, the IDF is cleaning house, and the Arabs are trying to take over Judea and Samaria.


Hatzalah names volunteer house after Noam Raz, killed by Palestinian Terrorist
United Hatzalah is honoring the memory of one of its volunteers who was killed on May 13 by a Palestinian terrorist by naming a volunteer house after him.

Noam Raz was a volunteer paramedic and member of Israel’s National Counterterrorism Unit, Yamam. During what was called a “complex and delicate” operation in Jenin, the 47-year-old father of six from the town of Kida was shot and killed.

Now his former colleagues in Hatzalah are honoring his memory with the opening of the United Hatzalah Volunteer House that will serve as a medical-supply distribution point for the Binyanim region, as well as a training center and a second home for emergency medical volunteers from the organization in that region.

“Thank you for this beautiful and moving event; you are continuing Noam’s life path,” said Raz’s widow, Efrat Raz. “Noam was a paramedic for 19 years but from the moment he started the paramedic course until his death, he never stopped studying and learning about the newest practices, as well as reviewing older material, in order to be the most efficient he could at saving lives. Whenever he had a few minutes on the bus he would open up a medical book. His dedication to saving lives was limitless.”


US mediator notes progress, but says Lebanon-Israel maritime deal needs more work
US mediator Amos Hochstein on Friday noted progress in indirect talks between Lebanon and Israel over a maritime border dispute, but said more work was needed for a final agreement.

The dispute which involves competing claims over offshore gas fields escalated in June after Israel moved a production vessel near the Karish offshore field, which is partly claimed by its northern neighbor.

Energean, the London-listed company licensed by Israel to extract gas from Karish, said on Thursday that gas would begin flowing within weeks, despite the disagreement.

“I really feel that were making progress these last few several weeks,” Hochstein said at Beirut airport after meetings with Lebanon’s president, prime minister and parliament speaker.

“I am hopeful with what I heard today and with what we discussed today but still more work needs to be done,” he told reporters at the end of his third visit to Lebanon since June.

Hochstein was in Israel on Thursday where he met with National Security Council chairman Eyal Hulata and Foreign Ministry director Alon Ushpiz.


Dore Gold: Tehran's Mounting Violations of the Iran Deal and Its Accelerating March to A Nuclear Weapons Arsenal
Many of the Iranian violations are particularly severe. Under the original JCPOA from 2015, Iran was entitled to operate 5,060 first-generation IR-1 centrifuges until 2025.2 Yet on April 10, 2021, Iran began testing an advanced centrifuge known as the IR-9, which could enrich uranium 50 times faster than the older IR-1.3 Nearly three months later, Iran started to process uranium gas to manufacture uranium metal that could be used in the core of a nuclear weapon. It was not permitted to make uranium metal until 2031, according to the JCPOA, yet it moved ahead anyway, ten years ahead of schedule.

This month the IAEA reported that Iran now had enough 60 percent enriched uranium so that it had already crossed the threshold for one atomic bomb.4

What is clear is that Iran is determined to race ahead and build a nuclear weapons arsenal. This was further demonstrated when Israeli security services unveiled a secret nuclear archive in Tehran that exposed Iranian intentions to return to the option of building nuclear weapons. Iran told the international community that it had no such intentions, but the archive proved that the exact opposite was the case.5

Finally, Iranian work on a nuclear weapons program has not been confined to enriching uranium alone. Already in 2011, the IAEA reported that Tehran was working on redesigning “a missile re-entry vehicle.” This involved “the removal of the conventional high explosive payload from the warhead of the Shahab-3 missile” and replacing it with a new payload assessed as being nuclear in nature. Thus, all aspects of a new nuclear arsenal were being developed.
Blinken says Iran moved ‘backwards’ in nuclear talks, US won’t rush to sign deal
Iran’s latest reply on a nuclear deal is a step “backwards,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday, insisting Washington would not rush to rejoin at any cost.

European mediators last month appeared to make progress in restoring the 2015 accord as Iran largely agreed to a proposed final text.

But optimism dimmed when the United States sent a reply, to which Iran in turn responded.

“In past weeks, we’ve closed some gaps. Iran has moved away from some extraneous demands — demands unrelated to the JCPOA itself,” Blinken told reporters, using the acronym for the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

“However, the latest response takes us backwards. And we’re not about to agree to a deal that doesn’t meet our bottom-line requirements,” he said.

“If we conclude a deal, it’s only because it will advance our national security.”


Aryeh Lightstone: If Iran gets the bomb, it's America's fault | Top Story
In this week’s episode of Top Story, JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin speaks with Rabbi Aryeh Lightstone, who served in the Trump administration helping to bring about the Abraham Accords and the author of a new memoir about his experiences.

They discussed the fate of the Abraham Accords under a disinterested Biden administration and the threat of a new Iran nuclear deal. “My concern isn't whether or not the Biden administration wants to support the Abraham accords, but do they want to give $250 billion to Iran?" Furthermore, he asserts that the US is in fact the only country really pushing Iran to join the deal and provide a path to a nuclear missile.


Call Me Back (Podcast): Iran, Israel & a Masterclass in US foreign policy
Are we getting closer to or farther away from an Iran deal? Walter Russell Mead of The Wall Street Journal has been following developments closely. I wanted to check in with him. But I also wanted to talk to Walter about his big new and groundbreaking book, called “The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People.”

Walter has been immersed in writing this book for over a decade – it covers the history of the U.S.-Israel relationship, but it’s much more than that. It’s also a book about the history of US foreign policy.

What has been America’s calculation behind U.S. support for Israel? Is it based on shared values – a fellow democracy in a dangerous region, defending a country born out of the ashes of the Holocaust? Or has U.S. policy been based on realpolitik – because Israel advances U.S. geopolitical interests? Or is it a blend of all of the above? What role does U.S. domestic politics play in all of this, if at all?

Walter’s book frames our discussion not only about the history of the U.S.-Israel relationship, but the future of the relationship, and the future of U.S. foreign policy.

Walter is at the Hudson Institute, he is the Global View Columnist at The Wall Street Journal and a professor at Bard College. He was previously the Henry Kissinger fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Seven Questions for Robert Malley about the Iran Nuclear Deal
On September 14, US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley will brief members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the Iran nuclear deal, in a classified session. Here are the seven questions that we would like to see answered:
1. On August 12, you told PBS that, due to United States sanctions, Iran cannot sell oil on the international market. Yet Reuters reported last March that “China’s purchases of Iranian oil have risen to record levels in recent months, exceeding a 2017 peak when the trade was not subject to US sanctions.” The same article reported that the Biden administration “has so far chosen not to enforce the sanctions against Chinese individuals and companies amid the negotiations on reviving the 2015 deal.” Who’s telling the truth, Reuters or you?

2 If the United States rejoins the JCPOA, will the Biden administration expect Israel to stop conducting military and intelligence operations designed to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program? If Israel does continue such operations, will the White House see them as attacks on American interests as codified in the JCPOA? Will you recommend to the president that he immediately provide Israel with the capabilities needed to prevent Iran from going nuclear in case the JCPOA fails?

3. Should the United States promise Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries that it will support their efforts to gain the same access to Russian and Western nuclear technology, the same fuel cycle capabilities, and the same security guarantees for their own nuclear programs that Iran will enjoy under the JCPOA?

4. In October 2025, the JCPOA’s snapback mechanism will expire, meaning that unless all five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council agree to reimpose sanctions or restrictions on Iran (a virtual impossibility due to the current geopolitical tensions), the threat of unified international action against Iran will disappear. What makes you think that Iran will comply with the terms of the JCPOA after the threat of snapback is gone?
Mossad to CIA: Israel will not stand by as Iran defrauds the world
Even publicizing Barnea’s visit is not par for the course, as spymasters’ global travels are typically shrouded in secrecy. But Lapid has been using Barnea as an apolitical security expert to publicly pressure the US as of late.

On August 25, The Jerusalem Post and other media outlets were given access to the substance of Barnea’s briefing to Lapid in which he criticized the United States for rushing into a terrible deal.

Further, in the briefings, Barnea said a new nuclear pact with Iran would not block his agency from acting against the Islamic Republic in the future to protect Israel’s security interests.

“Israel is not signed on to the deal. Israel is permitted to defend itself any way possible, and will act this way. We cannot sit quietly and just watch as the danger grows closer,” Barnea, who took up his post in June 2021, told Lapid and other Israeli officials.

It seems his feeling that a new deal is imminent led him to push harder with his views, which are expected to be relayed to the US.

Part of the message Lapid seems to be using Barnea to convey is how serious Israel is about continuing to hit Iran even if a deal is signed.
US Imposes Sanctions On Iran Over Cyber Activities, Cyberattack On Albania
The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on Iran‘s Ministry of Intelligence and Security and its minister, accusing them of being tied to a disruptive July cyberattack on Albania and engaging in other cyber activities against the United States and its allies.

The move comes after Albania severed diplomatic relations with Iran on Wednesday for the same incident, ordering Iranian diplomats and embassy staff to leave within 24 hours.

The US Treasury Department in a statement said the Ministry of Intelligence and Security directs several networks of cyber threat actors, including those involved in cyber espionage and ransomware attacks in support of the Iranian government.

“We will not tolerate Iran’s increasingly aggressive cyber activities,” the Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, said in the statement.

The ministry was already designated under US sanctions. Iran‘s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Microsoft, whose cybersecurity research team helped investigate the incident, said in a blog post on Thursday that the Iranian cyber operation involved a combination of digital espionage techniques, data wiping malware and online information operations. The goal of the hackers, according to researchers, appeared to be to embarrass Albanian government officials.
US Treasury sanctions Iranian company for providing drones to Russia
The US Treasury Department sanctioned an Iranian company shipping drones to Russia for use in the invasion of Ukraine, as well as three other Iranian companies for their involvement in producing drones, the Treasury announced on Thursday.

The Tehran-based Safiran Airport Services was sanctioned for coordinating Russian military flights between Iran and Russia, including flights transporting Iranian UAVs, personnel and related equipment from Iran to Russia. After assembly and testing, the Russian Aerospace Forces intend to deploy the UAVs in the war in Ukraine, according to the Treasury's announcement. Paravar Pars Company reverse engineered US, Israeli drones

The Paravar Pars Company, which is closely associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-controlled Imam Hossein University, has produced drones for the IRGC's Aerospace Forces and tested drones for the IRGC's Navy.

The company was specifically involved in the research, development, and production of the Iranian Shahed-171 UAV and received US and Israeli-made drones from the IRGC which they then reverse-engineered to reproduce Iranian-made versions.
Iranian Terrorists Will Get Billions of Dollars Before Congress Can Review New Nuclear Deal
Iran will gain immediate access to billions of dollars in cash assets on the day a new nuclear accord is signed, money that will flow to Tehran's top terror organizations before Congress has a chance to review the deal, former senior U.S. officials and experts told the Washington Free Beacon.

Sanctioned entities linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)—the country's paramilitary fighting force that is trying to assassinate U.S. officials—will receive a massive influx of cash the moment the deal is signed. The Biden administration will also release some $7 billion in frozen assets tied to IRGC funding "prior to a single day of congressional review," Richard Goldberg, former director for countering Iranian weapons of mass destruction on the White House National Security Council, told the Free Beacon.

"While Iran is actively trying to assassinate former U.S. officials and kidnap Iranian Americans, the Biden administration is offering Iran billions in upfront sanctions relief for the IRGC prior to a single day of congressional review," Goldberg said. Other former U.S. officials who worked on the Iran portfolio estimate that about 172 sanctions will be lifted before the deal is submitted to Congress.

As the Biden administration and its European allies inch closer to securing a revamped version of the 2015 nuclear accord, former officials like Goldberg say Iran's global terrorism enterprise stands to receive an immediate boost in cash and clout as sanctions that handicapped Tehran's militant operations are lifted before Congress gets the chance to exercise its legal mandate to review and approve the deal. This day-one sanctions relief is part of a concessions package crafted by the United States to assure Iran that it will get access to hard currency even if Congress rejects the deal and pushes to maintain sanctions on the hardline regime.




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