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Showing posts with the label #IRGCterrorists

Iran’s future cannot be made in Washington

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  U.S. should empower the Iranian people, denying the regime regrouping time By Carla Sands – Wednesday, August 26, 2026 OPINION: For more than four decades, the regime in Tehran has fueled terrorism, destabilized the Middle East through proxy militias, pursued nuclear weapons capability and brutally oppressed its own people. Successive American administrations tried diplomacy, sanctions and accommodation. None has fundamentally altered Tehran’s behavior. By confronting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and refusing to accept the regime’s long-held assumption that it can threaten American interests without consequence, President Trump has changed the strategic landscape. Still, military action alone does not guarantee lasting political victory. The recent weakening of the regime has created a historic strategic opportunity. Continuing the maximum pressure campaign, the United States should embrace a political strategy that empowers the Iranian people, denying the regime tim...
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Kamikaze Drones and Hostage Diplomacy: The Price of Survival

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  By: Arash Kamangir When in the documented reports of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and in leaked documents from the IRGC’s clandestine networks, we encounter the footprint of Shahed drones in the war in Ukraine, in Hezbollah’s warehouses in Lebanon, and in the hands of the Houthis, we can no longer speak of a “defense industry.” What is being exported is terrorism packaged as technology. The Iranian regime has for years continued its survival with a simple equation: Create crisis to remain inside. The kamikaze drone is not just a weapon; it is a bargaining tool. When this same drone explodes over Kyiv, the negotiating table in Vienna and Brussels also trembles. This is what I call “hostage diplomacy.” Of course, hostage-taking for ransom began exactly on the first day of the establishment of the clerical regime – the occupation of the US Embassy on November 4, 1979 and holding 52 American diplomats hostage for 444 days, to hostage-taking in Lebanon in the 1980...
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Strait of Hormuz Diplomacy Exposes Iran's Deepening Power Struggle

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  By Struan Stevenson As Iran’s economy buckles under runaway inflation, a collapsing currency, and mounting strikes by workers, pensioners, and teachers, the ruling establishment in Tehran has entered a dangerous new phase – open internal conflict. The slogans of “unity” and “resistance” endlessly repeated by regime officials now ring hollow. Beneath the surface, rival factions are battling over how to preserve a system that increasingly appears incapable of saving itself. The divisions have become impossible to conceal. Even regime-controlled newspapers now openly acknowledge fierce struggles inside the Majlis (parliament) and across the security and diplomatic apparatus. The latest confrontation erupted during the May 25 elections for the third session of Iran’s 12th parliament, where extremist factions mounted a determined effort to weaken Speaker Mohammad-Baqer Ghalibaf. Although Ghalibaf secured another term, the infighting revealed something far more significant than routine...
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Cutting the Mullah’s Long Arm: German Police Storm Extremist Mosques

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  By Mostafa Aslani On July 24, 2024, German authorities executed a series of coordinated  raids  targeting the Islamic Centre Hamburg (IZH) and its affiliated organizations, exposing the Iranian regime’s extensive influence and efforts to propagate its fundamentalist ideology in Europe. The operation, which spanned eight federal states and involved the search of 53 properties, marked a significant crackdown on institutions linked to Iran’s government and Hezbollah. The Raids and Immediate Actions At dawn, heavily armed police units stormed the Imam Ali Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque, in Hamburg. This mosque, operated by the IZH, has long been under surveillance for its extremist activities and connections to Iran. Simultaneously, raids were conducted in Berlin’s Tempelhof district and other locations across Bavaria, Bremen, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, and North Rhine-Westphalia. In Hamburg alone, 30 properties were searched. The police used...
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Iranian Regime’s Fourfold Objectives in the Gaza Crisis

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  Written by Mahmoud Hakamian Irrespective of why and how the current Gaza conflict started, its far-reaching complications have not been serving those in Gaza. All major players in this strategic equation know very well that the Iranian regime’s Supreme Leader Ali  Khamenei is pulling the strings , despite his regime’s calls for de-escalation. While the  how  for Khamenei’s strategic gamble is most certainly common knowledge, the  why  begs for contemplating and immediate action. On the national level, Khamenei aims to obstruct the path of Iran’s imminent revolution by exploiting the domestic and international focus on the Middle East crisis to eradicate dissent through increased executions, repressive laws, and enhanced domestic security measures. Politically, Khamenei seeks to employ a  conflict in the Middle East  to quell internal feuds and consolidate power, thereby preparing for the upcoming elections of the Parliament and the Assembly of E...
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Iran’s Regime Faces Serious Domestic Challenges Following Damascus Embassy Strike

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  Written by Shahriar Kia Three-minute read Authorities in Iran held funeral services on Wednesday for two generals from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who had been  killed the previous day  in an apparent Israeli strike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus. Meanwhile, the official death toll from that strike rose to at least 16, including several other Iranians and an officer from the regime’s Lebanese militant proxy, Hezbollah. While the Iranian regime celebrated the two deceased generals, international media provided additional information about their backgrounds and roles both within the IRGC and in Syria, where the hardline paramilitary group was instrumental in  preserving the government of Bashar  al-Assadi through a years-long, multilateral civil war. Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi had reportedly served as head of the Syrian and Lebanese division of the IRGC’s foreign special operations wing, the Quds Force, until 2016. He was killed in Tues...
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Tehran’s Dilemma: Inaction Amidst Damascus Strike Fuels Internal Strife

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  Written by Mehdi Oghbai Three-minute read On April 1, reports indicated a massive attack on the Iranian regime’s consulate in Damascus, leaving several casualties, including seven senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). While  saber rattling and bragging  about another “harsh revenge,” Tehran hasn’t done anything. Many experts considered this attack one of the toughest military strikes against the Iranian regime, following the elimination of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC’s extraterritorial Quds Force in 2020. Reports indicate that Tehran’s highest-ranking IRGC Quds Force commander in Syria, Mohammad Ali Zahedi, along with his deputy and chief of staff were killed in this strike. While some tried to portray this attack as a part of a minor regional conflict, facts on the ground confirm this attack was the result of Tehran’s involvement in the current war in Gaza. On April 3, the Council of the Coalition of Islamic Revolutionary Forces “honored...
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Beware Russia and Iran – partners in war crimes

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  By Struan Stevenson Stephen King, the famous American author, wrote: “Killing children for God, or ideology, or both – no hell could be hot enough for those who’d do such things”. It could be a fitting epitaph for Vladimir Putin and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, two partners in crime and mass murder. As Russia and Iran gradually consolidate their relationship, the foundation stones for this pariah alliance are clear to see. The dominant factor is a mutual hatred of the West and in particular America. Both countries have been subjected to tough international sanctions. Both have engaged in real or perceived nuclear threats against the West. Both regard the Middle East as an area of key geopolitical importance. Iran has sought for years to become the main player in Middle East Shi’ite politics, funding Bashar al-Assad’s brutal civil war in Syria, backing the Houthi rebels in Yemen, controlling the Shi’ia militias in Iraq, financing the terrorist Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. Ru...
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Iran – UK must label Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as terror group, says thinktank

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  Report from rightwing thinktank calls for tougher sanctions on Iran as October expiry of UN sanctions looms Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor The October expiry of UN sanctions limiting Iran’s missile programme must become a hard deadline for the UK to adopt a  tougher policy  that includes proscription of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), a rightwing thinktank has warned. The report from the Henry Jackson Society (HJS) is the second from a right-of-centre thinktank in two days demanding tougher action on  Iran , and suggests that the UK ministers’ preferred strategy of introducing an Iran-specific sanctions regime that could lead to sanctions for activities outside Iran has fallen flat with Tory hawks. The UK government has examined the possibility of proscribing the IRGC for months and rejected the option, fearing diplomatic fallout with Tehran. The Foreign Office decision announced a fortnight ago gave political space for Labour’s shadow home secret...
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