Thus it is explained why Turkey has been so generous to that Hellhole that is Somalia.
[ShabelleMedia] President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important... and Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar waved off the Ottoman Turkish research vessel Oruc Reis on Saturday as it set sail from Istanbul bound for Somalia.
The vessel’s mission is to perform seismic surveys for oil and natural gas exploration off the Somali coast, where The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... has secured rights.
The Oruc Reis, which will navigate through the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal, and the Red Sea, is expected to reach Somali waters by late October. Accompanying the ship are two naval frigates along with support vessels including the Zaganos Pasa, Sancar, and Ataman.
According to a ministry statement, the vessel will conduct three-dimensional seismic studies in unexplored maritime territories of Somalia, a venture that could reveal significant hydrocarbon reserves. The exploration is set to last approximately seven months, focusing on collecting data that will be analyzed in Ankara to pinpoint potential drilling sites.
Minister Bayraktar emphasized the pioneering nature of the mission, stating, "Oruc Reis will conduct 3D seismic studies in areas where such work has never been done before. We believe this region shows promise for oil."
Constructed entirely in Turkey, the Oruc Reis is a testament to the country’s technological capabilities in maritime research. Since its launch in 2017, this 87-meter-long vessel has been instrumental in seismic data collection over 23,000 square kilometers.
This deployment follows earlier agreements between Turkey and Somalia, which allowed Ottoman Turkish Petroleum to explore three offshore zones, each approximately 5,000 square kilometers. This collaboration marks a significant step in Turkey’s strategic expansion in energy exploration beyond its borders.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
10/06/2024 2024-10-06 04:05 ||
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[IsraelTimes] French leader says continuing conflict bad for Israeli security, spreads ‘hatred’; PM retorts: ‘Their shame will continue long after the war is won’; Élysée calls words ‘excessive’
French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday urged a halt to deliveries of arms to Israel that can be used in its war against Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , drawing a furious reaction from Jerusalem.
"I think that today, the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza," Macron told broadcaster La Belle France Inter.
"La Belle France is not delivering any," he added during the interview recorded early this week.
Macron reiterated his concern over the conflict in Gaza that is continuing despite repeated calls for a ceasefire.
"I think we are not being heard," he said. "I think it is a mistake, including for the security of Israel," he said, adding that the conflict was leading to "hatred."
Macron also said avoiding an escalation in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... was a "priority," asserting that "Lebanon cannot become a new Gaza."
Tell Hezbollah. Tell Iran. They’re the ones who set up the situation and were preparing for a second 10/7.
Responding to Macron on Saturday evening, Netanyahu called his comments "a disgrace."
"Israel is defending itself on seven fronts against the enemies of civilization," he said in a video statement, pointing to Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank, Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... , Syria, Iraq and Iran. "As Israel fights the forces of barbarism led by Iran, all civilized countries should be standing firmly by Israel’s side."
"Yet President Macron and other Western leaders are now calling for arms embargoes against Israel," he continued. "Shame on them."
Netanyahu asked rhetorically whether Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... is imposing an arms embargo on its proxies. "Of course not," he said. "This axis of terror stands together."
"But countries who supposedly oppose this terror axis call for an arms embargo on Israel," Netanyahu continued. "What a disgrace!"
Netanyahu promised that Israel will win "with or without their support. But their shame will continue long after the war is won."
Responding to Netanyahu’s angry statement, the Élysée stressed that Macron "supports Israel’s security and demonstrates it."
Macron’s office noted that La Belle France had mobilized its military after this week’s Iranian missile attack, as it did following another attack in April.
The statement said that Macron "personally told the Iranian president of La Belle France’s commitment to Israel’s security. He reiterated that La Belle France would not allow Iran or any of its proxies to attack Israel and would always find us facing it if it resorted to force."
At the same time, Macron believes that "the urgent need is to avoid the escalation of tensions in the region," including an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
"It is in this context that the President calls for an end to arms exports intended for use in Gaza," Macron’s office continued. "We must return to diplomatic solutions."
"La Belle France is Israel’s steadfast friend," the Élysée concluded. "Mr. Netanyahu’s words are excessive and unrelated to the friendship between La Belle France and Israel."
On Monday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot will be in Israel to mark the October 7 attacks, part of a regional tour his office says is meant to push for deescalation.
"He will reaffirm La Belle France’s call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas, including Frenchies Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi," said the French embassy.
The United States provides about $3 billion in weapons to Israel each year.
In May, the State Department said it did not have enough evidence to block shipments of weapons but that it was "reasonable to assess" that Israel has in some cases used arms in ways inconsistent with standards of humanitarian law.
In September, Britannia said it was suspending some arms exports to Israel, citing a "clear risk" that they could be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law.
[X] To be fair, there have been repeated incidents when the native Dutch police also stood by and refused to protect Jews. Anne Frank’s betrayal was not an outlier at the time.
BREAKING:
Telegraaf reports on an increasing trend of migrants serving in the Dutch police who refuse to guard Jewish sites and events.
Their superiors accommodate them by giving them other duties instead.
[Rudaw] Iraq has received more than 5,500 Lebanese refugees since the start of Israel’s escalated attacks, a spokesperson for the Iraqi interior ministry said on Saturday.
"We have received as of now 5,693 refugees from Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... who came via Najaf International Airport and Baghdad Airport, and the al-Qaim border crossing" with Syria, Miqdad Miri, Iraq's interior ministry spokesperson, said in a presser in Baghdad.
Miri said that they have had "high coordination" with Beirut’s embassy in Baghdad to assist Lebanese nationals who want to enter Iraq but do not have travel documents.
Miri also said that they established a field hospital at the Qaim border crossing with Syria’s Deir ez-Zor province to provide care for the incoming refugees.
More than 1,500 people have entered the country through Qaim, Ali Majeed, director of health for the Iraqi Red Islamic Thingy, told Rudaw’s Mushtaq Ramadhan on Saturday.
Among the displaced Lebanese nationals were "tens of people with injuries, with six of them being released [from hospital] after receiving primary health care and first aid services," Majeed said.
The Iraqi Red Islamic Thingy Society has also provided humanitarian aid to Lebanon via air and ground shipments since the intensified conflict began two weeks ago, according to Majeed.
Israel, which has frequently targeted sites in Lebanon since its war with Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... began a year ago, has recently escalated its attacks. Since the conflict began, 1.2 million people, nearly a quarter of the Lebanese population, have been displaced, Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Wednesday.
The United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... on Monday, citing Lebanese officials, reported that more than 1,600 people have been killed and 8,000 maimed in Lebanon by Israeli bombardments since October 2023.
Lebanon is also hosting 1.5 million Syrian refugees, in addition to 13,715 refugees of other nationalities.
1,500 Lebanese nationals arrive in Iraq from Syria: Red Crescent
[Rudaw] Iraq has received approximately 1,500 people from Lebanon through the al-Qaim border crossing with Syria since the latest escalation between Israel and Hezbollah two weeks ago, an Iraqi Red Crescent Society official said on Saturday.
Ali Majeed, head of the health department for the Iraqi organization, told Rudaw that among the displaced Lebanese nationals were “tens of the cases of injury, with six of them being released [from hospital] after receiving primary health care and first aid services.”
The Iraqi Red Crescent Society has also provided humanitarian aid to Lebanon through air and ground since the latest conflict began two weeks ago, according to Majeed.
Around 5,000 Lebanese people have been displaced to Iraq since Israel struck southern Lebanon late last month, according to Iraqi state media, citing official data.
Baghdad has facilitated travel for people from Lebanon who want to come to Iraq.
The Iraqi government has opened bank accounts to receive donations from citizens, companies, and businessmen for those who can help the Lebanese people.
“These accounts will be subject to ongoing audits by the Federal Board of Supreme Audit to ensure transparency,” Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s media office said on Thursday.
Last week, Sudani ordered Iraq’s interior ministry to issue expedited travel documents for Lebanese citizens without a passport who wish to enter Iraq.
Majeed detailed that the Iraqi Red Crescent has delivered tons of food and medicine to Lebanon.
[IsraelTimes] Qatari officials mediating hostage deal talks with Hamas told the families of captives last week that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was no longer calling them, Channel 12 reports.
The Qataris said Sinwar was now only communicating with a pen and paper — a decision made after a series of assassinations that took out Hamas’s and Hezbollah’s leadership
…that poor, terrified man. He’s going to die exhausted…
— which poses a challenge to their mediation efforts, the report says.
The officials also told the families that it is likely Sinwar has surrounded himself with hostages, and dispelled speculation that he may have been killed in an Israeli airstrike, according to the report.
“Israel has adopted a policy of assassinations that is incompatible with the deal. In the past, there was [former Hamas leader Ismail] Haniyeh and he was eliminated. Now there is Khaled Mashaal and he is much more difficult than Haniyeh,” the officials told the hostage families, Channel 12 reports.
The location of the meeting was not immediately clear.
Haniyeh was killed in Tehran in July, in an assassination blamed on Israel, though Jerusalem has not confirmed or denied its involvement.
[IsraelTimes] After pre-Oct. 7 employment in Israel vanished and debts started piling up, many chance arrest or death to find jobs, sometimes with help of smuggling gangs
Ships of the Iranian Navy and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy continue to flee from their Ports, due to fears of an Imminent Israeli Attack. https://t.co/fr77Q6kTaW
Prudent. Not valiant or even defiant, but given that they face the deserved wrath of the Lions of David, in comparison to whom they turn out to be squeaking little mice, puling cowardice is the better choice. Not that it will help— did you see, dear Reader, that Israel has been selling Hezbollah bugged walkie-talkies since 2015(!!!!), and we’d previously learnt the IRGC’s anti-Mossad unit had twenty (20!!!) Mossad agents as founding members — but at least this way when they die they’ll have enjoyed extended time in the fresh air and sunshine.
Posted by: 3dc ||
10/06/2024 02:32 ||
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Oh my God. Allah must really, really hate them. Almost an entire decade, and they never had the slightest clue? Wow.
[IsraelTimes] The Washington Post delves into previously unreported details of the alleged Israeli operation that blew up pagers and walkie-talkies used by Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group last month, injuring thousands and kicking off an ongoing flareup that has dealt immense blows to Hezbollah, including the killing of its leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The report — which cites Israeli, Arab and American security officials, politicians and diplomats, as well as sources close to Hezbollah — says the pagers were made in Israel and conceived by the Mossad spy agency, including a feature that caused many Hezbollah operatives to use the devices with both hands when they detonated, leading to them being rendered unable to fight.
After Mossad officials revealed the capability to elected officials on September 12 and the operation was eventually okayed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, thousands of Hezbollah operatives got a message telling them they had received an encrypted message that requires pressing two buttons — practically forcing them to use both hands, and to be injured in both hands when the blasts occurred as they pushed the buttons.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahaha….. ow. You know how your belly hurts when you laugh too hard?
The report also reveals that the booby-trapped walkie-talkies — which were detonated a day later — had been used by Hezbollah since 2015, providing Israel continued real-time access into the terror group’s communications for many years, before the devices were weaponized in a more literal way.
And never the slightest hint. Impressive.
The tiny explosives in the pagers and the walkie-talkies were concealed in a way that taking apart the device — or even X-raying it — could not reveal the danger to the unwitting Hezbollah members, who readily embraced the Israeli-designed and manufactured gadgets, The Post reports.
Jewish technology is the best, donchaknow. Especially when you get it on sale, Xtra cheap.
It adds that the sales pitch that convinced Hezbollah to purchase the large-battery AR924 pagers earlier this year was made by an unidentified woman working with a Taiwanese firm who had not been aware of the Israeli plot.
So stay away from sales, or you too, may find yourself keying in your code with two thumbs one day soon.
#2
Somewhere in the storerooms of the Hezzis, the have to be examples of both that weren't in service. Powered off, spares. On a shelf. You always buy spares.
The question is, who "gets to" take them apart?
Posted by: ed in texas ||
10/06/2024 17:04 Comments ||
Top||
[IsraelTimes] Since 2020, Islamic Republic is thought to be behind at least 33 thwarted kidnappings and murders of officials, Jewish and Israeli targets in West — likely an undercount
As the Iran-Israel conflict intensifies, Tehran is roiling the West with a wave of attempted hits and kidnappings against targets in Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... and the United States. Washington and its allies have reported a sharp rise in such plots linked to the Islamic Theocratic Republic in recent years. Since 2020, there have been at least 33 liquidation or abduction attempts in the West in which local or Israeli authorities allege an Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... link, Rooters found in an examination of court documents and public statements by government officials.
Among recent alleged targets: a building that houses a Jewish center and kosher restaurant in downtown Athens.
From his perch in Iran, a Pak named Sayed Fakhar Abbas recruited an old acquaintance living in Greece and directed him to attack the site, Sherlocks allege in documents submitted to judicial authorities in the case and viewed by Rooters. Abbas told his contact that he was working for a group that would pay some 15,000 euros per kill.
In a January 2023 WhatsApp exchange detailed in the documents, the two men discussed whether to use explosives or arson in the attack. Abbas stressed the need to provide proof of casualties after the strike.
"There are secret agencies" involved, he said, without naming names. "Do the job in a way that does not leave any room for complaints by them."
The previously unreported documents include hundreds of pages of evidence gathered during Greece’s pre-trial probe, including witness testimony, police statements and details of WhatsApp messages. They purport to show how Abbas groomed his contact, a slim-built fellow Pak named Syed Irtaza Haider, as the two drifted between prosaic talk of life back home and plotting attacks.
Greek authorities arrested Haider and another Pak last year, saying police helped dismantle a terrorist network directed from abroad that intended to inflict "human loss." The two men face terrorism-related charges. They deny wrongdoing.
Haider, released from pre-trial detention this spring with restrictions, says he’s innocent. In an interview, the 28-year-old told Rooters he sent Abbas images of the building but intentionally stalled on carrying out any attack, hoping to get paid without harming anyone.
"It was all talk but no action," he said. His lawyer, Zacharias Kesses, said Haider "never participated substantially" in illegal activity.
Alleged ringleader Abbas also faces terrorism-related charges. Back home in Pakistain, he is wanted on suspicion of murder, a Pak police official said. Abbas remains on the lam and couldn’t be reached for comment. The third suspect also couldn’t be reached. That man has denied wrongdoing, according to Iraklis Stavaris, a lawyer who represented him when he was charged.
Greek police declined to comment. The case awaits a decision by judicial authorities about whether to proceed to trial, according to Haider’s lawyer.
The Mossad, which assisted the Greek probe, has said the planned attack was orchestrated by Iran as part of a multinational network operated from the Islamic Theocratic Republic. Israel declined to comment on the case or other Mossad activities.
Iran denies the Mossad’s claim. The operational techniques fit patterns seen in some other alleged Iranian plots, however. That includes the type of target — Israeli or Jewish civilians — and the use of hired non-Iranian assassins. At least two other cases tallied by Rooters allegedly involved Pak nationals.
Targets of other recent alleged plots include senior US officials as well as Iranian journalists and others in the diaspora. Former US president Donald Trump ...They hit him with slander, they impeached him twice. Nancy Pelosi tore up his State of the Union address on national TV. They stole an election and put his adherents in jail. They vilified him. They couldn't crucify him, so they shot him. Still, they can't keep him down... was briefed by US intelligence on "real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him," his campaign recently said. Tehran has publicly denied involvement in some alleged plots in the US.
The shadow war is also playing out in Europe, site of most of the alleged plots tallied by Rooters.
"Since 2020, Iran has dramatically intensified lethal plotting against former US officials, Iranian dissidents and Jewish and Israeli interests in the United States and abroad," said Brett Holmgren, acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center, a US intelligence-coordinating agency.
Tehran has in turn accused its rivals of terrorist acts, pointing to killings of senior members of its security forces by Israel and the US.
The Iranian mission to the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... in New York told Rooters that the Islamic Theocratic Republic "harbors neither the intent nor the plan to engage in liquidation or abduction operations, whether in the West or any other country." It called such allegations "fabrications" meant "to divert attention from the atrocities committed by the Israeli regime" in the conflict in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...> , has over the years repeatedly called for an end to Israel, and Tehran has been accused of antisemitism by US and other Western politicians. Iran has said it respects Judaism but opposes Israel.
The recent rise in alleged hit attempts comes amid escalating tensions between the Islamic Theocratic Republic and Israel.
Iran on Tuesday fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday, driving millions into bomb shelters, amid Israel’s escalation against Iran’s Lebanese proxy Hezbollah over the past two weeks. Israel also recently said it thwarted an Iranian-backed liquidation plot targeting prominent people.
HIRED ASSASSINS
The Rooters tally of Iranian plots includes incidents that were alleged or found to have been orchestrated by the Islamic Theocratic Republic, conducted on its behalf, or directed by someone in Iran or with close ties to it.
It is likely an undercount, because it captures only cases in which authorities have publicly alleged an Iran connection. Some governments are wary of publicly calling out Iran due to diplomatic considerations, said Matthew Levitt, director of the counterterrorism program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy think tank.
Mossad director David Barnea said last year that over the previous year, Israeli intelligence had worked with international partners to disrupt 27 teams that tried to mount attacks abroad that were "orchestrated, criminal masterminded, and directed by Iran." Israel declined to provide details.
One key trend among the alleged plots reviewed by Rooters is the use of hired hit men, including organized criminals and gang members. Washington and its allies say the outsourcing is an attempt to obscure links to the Islamic Theocratic Republic.
In December, a German court sentenced a German-Iranian man to two years and nine months in prison for planning an arson attack on a synagogue on behalf of the Iranian state. After learning of the security measures around the synagogue in Bochum, he threw a Molotov cocktail at a building next door, the Higher Regional Court in Dusseldorf found. The man admitted throwing the device at the building, according to the court’s ruling.
In echoes of the Greek case, he was recruited by a man living in Iran, another German-Iranian who is being investigated in Germany for two unrelated murders there, the court found. It said the Iran-based man was following orders by Iranian "government agencies." Tehran has called the allegation "baseless."
In the US, there have been at least five alleged Iran-linked liquidation or abduction cases brought by prosecutors since 2020. Three involved murder-for-hire plots.
Prosecutors recently charged a Pak man who they say had close ties to Iran in connection with a foiled attempt to assassinate a US politician or government official in retaliation for the US killing in January 2020 of Tehran’s most prominent military commander, Qassem Soleimani .
Former US president Trump was discussed by the suspect as a potential target, but the 2024 scheme wasn’t conceived as a plot to assassinate him, according to a person familiar with the matter, as Rooters previously reported.
After spending time in Iran, the suspect, Asif Merchant, flew from Pakistain to the United States to recruit hit men for the plot, according to a July criminal complaint. Merchant was indicted last month for allegedly attempting to commit terrorism and murder-for-hire. Merchant has pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." . His lawyer didn’t respond to requests for comment.
After Soleimani’s death, Iran’s Khamenei said harsh Dire Revenge awaited the "criminals" responsible. Iran’s UN mission told Rooters that Tehran’s policy is to lawfully prosecute those responsible for killing Soleimani.
’LETHAL OPERATIONS’
The target of another murder-for-hire plot in the US was an Iranian-American journalist and prominent critic of the Islamic Theocratic Republic.
Prosecutors allege members of an Eastern European crime group attempted to assassinate the journalist under the direction of a man in Iran. An Azeri living in the US allegedly received instructions and a $30,000 payment from the Iran-based man. The Azeri turned up at the journalist’s Brooklyn home with an AK-47-style assault rifle, prosecutors say.
The target, Masih Alinejad, told Rooters she was shocked when US authorities informed her the armed man had come to her house. She said she had heard someone at the door but hadn’t answered because she was engrossed in a video call.
Alinejad, a vocal critic of Iran’s head-covering laws for women, was previously the target of what prosecutors say was a foiled Tehran-backed kidnapping plot. Iran has denied that.
Alinejad, 48, said she was forced to abandon her home, leaving behind friends and neighbors for a series of temporary hideouts. She said she’s had to relocate nearly 20 times in recent years under US law-enforcement protection. In one long stint, she and her husband were separated from her stepchildren.
"We don’t feel safe anymore," Alinejad said of Iranian dissidents living in the US.
US prosecutors have charged three men in the murder plot. A fourth — the Azeri man, Khalid Mehdiyev — was named as a co-conspirator in an indictment filed last month. The Justice Department had no comment; Mehdiyev’s lawyer didn’t respond to comment requests.
Two of the other men have pleaded not guilty in the case. The third man faces charges of aiding murder and other crimes in his home country of Georgia, according to Czech authorities, who arrested him last year.
Matthew Olsen, the US assistant attorney general for national security, said Tehran has failed to hide its hand in the wave of plots on American soil.
"We’ve managed in a number of these cases to identify the malicious actors who are part of these proxy groups, but also to expose their direct ties back to the Iranian regime," Olsen said in an interview.
Among the Iranian officials named by Washington as responsible for directing attack planning is Mohammad Reza Ansari. The US says he is part of a Revolutionary Guards unit focused on "lethal operations" in the United States, Europe and elsewhere.
Ansari tried to kill two top former US government officials beginning in late 2021 with the help of another Iranian, Shahram Poursafi, according to Washington.
US prosecutors have charged Poursafi, who they say is a Revolutionary Guards member, with plotting to murder former US National Security Adviser John Bolton and another unnamed individual. Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo identified himself as the second target in one of his books.
Bolton, in an interview, said he believes he remains a target of Iran. "I think this is the most unprecedented campaign of attempted liquidations against American officials and former officials in our history," he said.
Iran has called the allegations "ridiculous and baseless." Poursafi remains on the lam. He, Ansari and the Revolutionary Guards didn’t respond to requests for comment.
HEIGHTENED TENSION
At least six of the plots tallied by Rooters in Europe since 2020 involve Israeli or Jewish targets. Nearly all of those allegedly involve hired hit men.
It was during this time that Abbas contacted Haider from Iran. Haider was living in Greece as an undocumented migrant, according to the legal records Rooters viewed. Haider told Rooters that the two knew each other from back home. Both came from the same town of Alipur in Punjab ...1. Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2. A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3. A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots
.... province, eastern Pakistain. Both are Shi’ite Moslems, the faith of Iran’s theocracy, he told Greek authorities.
Haider studied engineering in Pakistain and arrived in Greece in 2019, he told Rooters. He settled on the island of Zakynthos, a popular tourist destination. He lived in an apartment building with other Pak nationals and found work in an olive grove and other seasonal jobs.
Abbas also came from Pakistain. Authorities there suspect him of criminal masterminding an October 2021 abduction and murder, according to a police official who works in Punjab province.
Greek police identified an Instagram account in the documents under the name Shani Shah Sherazi that they say belongs to Abbas. The last post to the account was in mid-October 2021.
Abbas, a married father of two, crossed into Iran by road in February 2022 and hasn’t returned, a Punjab intelligence official told Rooters.
It was after arriving in Iran that Abbas recruited Haider. By April 2022, the two were in contact via WhatsApp, according to Haider’s testimony to the investigative magistrate and messages detailed in the legal documents.
In a November 2022 WhatsApp exchange, the two men discussed targets and methods of lethal attacks. Abbas told Haider to emphasize to other potential recruits what the group was willing to pay: "The reward per head is five million rupees" — roughly 16,000 euros at the time.
The men frequently discussed money. Haider badgered Abbas to send funds, according to the WhatsApp records. Abbas complained in December 2022 that he couldn’t pay his rent and had to borrow cash.
"When the job is done, for the rest of our lives, we won’t want money again," Abbas wrote to Haider that month.
A STAGED MURDER
As 2022 drew to a close, Abbas pressed Haider to obtain images of the Chabad of Athens. The two-story building, on a side street in a bustling part of the capital, houses the Jewish center, which has a prayer area and a kosher restaurant.
Haider enlisted the help of the third suspect to supply photos and video of the building in December 2022, the man testified to the magistrate. The third suspect also told authorities he was unaware the building was a Jewish center. The third man said it was only later that Haider relayed Abbas’s proposal to pay for killings, whereupon he immediately refused.
In early January 2023, Haider traveled to Athens and recorded videos of the Chabad of Athens and surrounding area, he testified. In forwarding the footage to Abbas, Haider described the area as full of shops and tourists. Abbas responded by saying "good job."
Their methods were amateurish at times.
Haider staged a fake murder in an apparent effort to hoodwink Abbas and his bosses. While in Athens, Haider convinced a Nepalese-born man to play the part of the victim in a mock execution, promising to pay him 2,500 euros, according to testimony by the Nepalese man contained in the documents. Haider dressed him in clothes stained in what he said was blood from a slaughtered goat, then told him to lie on the floor and play dead so Haider could video him, the man testified. The Nepalese man couldn’t be reached for comment.
Haider told the investigating magistrate that he staged the ruse because Abbas was pressuring him to kill people.
MOUNTING PRESSURE
By the second week of January 2023, Abbas and Haider were focused on the Chabad of Athens restaurant, Sherlocks allege in the documents. Abbas suggested arson, the messages indicate.
"Anything you can, do it quickly, I won’t be given much time," Abbas wrote on January 9.
"It will be done, I promise," Haider responded.
Within weeks, authorities swooped in. Acting on an anonymous tip, Greek police searched Haider’s apartment and detained him for possessing fake identity papers. Prosecutors filed terrorism-related charges the next month. In testimony after his arrest, Haider described the group Abbas recruited him into as a large but unnamed Iran-based organization.
As he awaits trial, Haider says he is working two jobs on Zakynthos — in a restaurant kitchen and as a security watchman. He has trouble sleeping. He faces prison in Greece, but if he beats the charges, home isn’t an option, he said, because he fears retribution from Abbas or his circle.
"I am afraid because I don’t know what will happen here," he said, "and I cannot go back to Pakistain."
#1
super interesting TW
In Australia, many years ago, some shitites bombed the Hakoah Club, a jewish club in Bondi
people wondered why when the conflict at that time was Israel vs Sunni PLO.
The soccer/football team? When was that? This has been going on pretty much since the Mad Mullahs took over.
Ahmad Vahidi, wanted in Argentina for blowing up the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1994, killing 85 and maiming over 300, later served as Iran’s minister of defense, which shows where their priorities lie.
Two years earlier, also in Buenos Aires, Hezbollah set off bombs at the Israeli embassy that killed 29 and maimed 200 on Iran’s orders.
The Mullahs and their creatures have a real problem with Jews who think they’re just as human as anyone else. Every few years they either pull something off or get caught working on it, somewhere around the world, including here in America. And of course, they fund, train, and arm jihadis in Gaza (Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad), the West Bank, and Hezbollah in Lebanon for the purpose of a mass attack from all directions to crush Israel. Just because it hasn’t worked yet is clearly no reason for them to stop working their plan, and no reason to avoid bringing Sunni jihad organizations in on the fun, each happily using the other for their joint project of killing lots of Jews. Differences of doctrine only matter after the Jews have been put in their place.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
...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 
