German-Iranian Charged For Tehran-Backed Synagogue Attack

Ahmad Naderi, a member of the Presiding Committee of the parliament representing Tehran, made the threat in a tweet on Friday in reaction to the Swedish parliament voting in favor of designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The Swedish parliament's decision to list the IRGC as a terrorist group is only “a show" that has no real value, he said, adding that "formerly colonialist countries like France and England, which are the leaders in Europe, do not have the courage to do this because they know that we will attack their forces in the region”.

Without further details, he added that plans to retaliate against Sweden for its recent designation on Wednesday still stands.

It followed the execution this week of Swedish-Iranian Habib Chaab (Asyud) which saw Sweden's Ministry of Foreign Affairs summon Iran's chargé d'affaires in protest of the execution, one of hundreds since the start of the year.

Iran's relations with Sweden have been strained since July when a Swedish court sentenced a former Iranian jailor, Hamid Nouri, to life imprisonment over executions of political prisoners in 1988.

The US has already designated the IRGC which for decades has conducted operations abroad including maritime hijackings, political assassinations and hostage taking. Other nations such as the UK are hesitant in hopes to resume dialogue on Iran's nuclear program.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen Mark Milley testified before the Senate Defense Appropriations subcommittee, where they called for budgetary support in the face of Russian, Chinese and Iranian threats.

“Iran threatens to push the Middle East yet again into instability by supporting terrorists and proxy forces and they continue to improve the capability to produce a nuclear weapon,” Gen. Milley said.

“From the time of Iranian decision by the Supreme Leader, Iran could produce enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon in less than two weeks from time of decision. It will take several more months to produce an actual nuclear weapon. United States policy remains the same. United States remains committed that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” he added.

Although this has always been the Biden administration’s position, Gen. Milley’s previous testimony at the House Appropriations subcommittee on Defense in March had raised questions.

Gen. Milley at the time said that “the United States remains committed as a matter of policy that Iran will not have a fielded nuclear weapon.”

The term “fielded” led to questions about what the Biden administration’s policy exactly is regarding Iran becoming a nuclear power. Previously, President Joe Biden and all top officials had repeatedly said that US policy is not to allow the Islamic Republic to acquire a nuclear weapon, threatening that all options were on the table.

It was not clear what Gen. Milley meant by a “fielded” nuclear weapon. Did it mean the administration would allow Iran to build a bomb but not “field” it, which in essence is a vague concept.

Being a nuclear threshold state is a familiar concept, meaning that a country has the fissile material and the knowhow to build a nuclear bomb but has not decided to do so, but once a bomb is produced, it is not clear what the difference would be between a bomb in the basement and one “fielded.”

But in the Senate testimony on Thursday both Austin and Milley were clear that the administration is committed to prevent any Iranian nuclear weapon.

Secretary Austin in response to a question by Senator Susan Collins also emphasized that his responsibility is to present options to the President for making sure that the United States can prevent Iran from building a bomb.

Iran began to breach the low-level uranium enrichment it was allowed under the 2015 nuclear accord, the JCPOA, when former President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement and imposed economic sanctions in 2018. But Tehran accelerated the enrichment, stockpiling 20-percent and 60-percent enriched uranium once the Biden administration began talks in early 2021 to revive the JCPOA. Currently it is believed that Iran has enough enriched fissile material for 2-5 nuclear bombs.

Israel has repeatedly vowed to resort to military force to stop Iran from crossing the threshold and has reportedly been behind several sabotage attacks against Iran’s nuclear facilities since July 2020.

The US has expanded military cooperation with Israel and regional Arab states in the past two years, conducting large military drills with the Israeli armed forces in January.

The twitter account of Iran’s embassy in Dublin announced the release on Thursday, saying, “Constructive diplomatic engagement between Iran and Ireland has resulted in pardoning and releasing of the Irish citizen on consular and humanitarian grounds.”

Phelan was arrested in October during anti-regime protests that have swept the country following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in September. He has allegedly taken photographs of protests and a mosque that had been burned.

Bernard Phelan, 64, who is a travel consultant has been accused by the Islamic Republic of "propaganda against the establishment" and "photographing police and security officers". He was imprisoned in Vakil Abad prison in Mashhad northeast of Iran.

He spent several weeks on a hunger strike and his health deteriorated, his sister said in March, adding his brother was at risk of dying in custody.

Given that Phelan had entered Iran with a French passport, his case was pursued by the French Embassy in Tehran.

Iran has been accused of wrongfully detaining at least a dozen foreign and dual nationals on trumped up charges, effectively as hostages to extract concessions from Western governments. However the full extent of these prisoners is unknown. Most are held on spurious spying charges.

Khatami has reiterated in a meeting with teachers that Islamic Republic's policies are self-destructive and suggested that the government should embark on reforms. Khatami pointed out that governance in Iran needs to be reformed if the Islamic Republic is to survive. 

He further suggested that all social groups in Iran should follow the non-violent style of Iranian teachers' protests. He further said that the government should represent the people and the people should be able to replace the government. This can be achieved though free and fair elections, adding that in an ideal system everybody should have equal right to power, wealth and status. 

“A regime change in Iran is impossible, but the government is undermining itself. I suggest it reform itself instead,” the mild-mannered reformist politician said.

Khatami who was president from 1997-2005 tried to boost freedom of speech in his first time but he was over-ruled by conservatives supported by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who closed dozens of newspapers and cracked down on dissidents.

Meanwhile, former Majles Speaker Ali Larijani in a sarcastic letter denying an IRGC-linked Tasnim news agency report that the he was preparing to run for parliament in early 2024, said: "The country needs a change in policy." He also accused Iranian hardliners of purging the political landscape of moderate voices. 

Reformist commentator Sadeq Zibakalam in an article interpreted Larijani's statement as meaning that "existing policies cannot stand any longer." 

He said Larijani has used the word "purification" rather than purging in his letter as a political detour to evade a harsh response by the government. However, he meant that the regime can no longer continue the policies it has been following during the past 44 years. What Larijani wants, said Zibakalam, is "a revision of Iran's political structure."

Zibakalam added: "In a nutshell, the government needs to ask itself whether the country's main problem is political or economic or social. What has led to the sulking of the post revolution generations with the government? Why there is so much despair and disillusionment in the society? In fact, Laijani has used the word purging or purification to make sure that he will not be accused of sympathy with protesters, opposition or counter-revolutionaries."

Zibakalam also referred to the term "artificial [political] competition" in Larijani's letter where he said: "It is unlikely that you can create artificial competition ahead of the election [by spreading disinformation about the participation of moderate political figures]." 

Zibakalam said: "In fact, the protests last year shook many state officials. Larijani and individuals like him have realized that wrong policies of the government have pushed the country into a dead-end. What he is saying is that if the government continues those policies, even political figures such as him will find the election meaningless. And what is more important is that apart from the elections, the country is suffering from this chaos."

Zibakalam explained: "Other moderate and realist political figures and groups should also come to the conclusion that an election which is not free and fair would be meaningless. Even some conservatives should understand that. If nothing changes, only the ultraconservative Paydari Party and radical groups will take the 2024 election seriously." 

The outspoken commentator, who has somehow evaded arrest so far, said that with the Raisi administration's economic failure, more moderates and moderate conservatives such as Larijani will demand a change in policies.

"The Iranians have continued to smuggle weaponry and narcotics toward this conflict, and we are very concerned that this would continue despite the benefits that would come from a Saudi-Iran deal. So, I think that is a space we have to watch," US envoy for Yemen Timothy Lenderking said in a briefing.

The US, British and French navies have captured several shipments of weapons headed from Iran to Yemen in recent months. In February the US military announced the seizure of 3,000 assault rifles, 578,000 rounds of ammunition and 23 anti-tank guided missiles onboard a vessel in international waters.

“Despite the fact that we welcomed an agreement between the Saudis and the Iranians, I remain concerned about Iran’s role,” he said, contending that Tehran has trained Houthi fighters and equipped them “to fight and attack Saudi Arabia.”

Tehran denies arming the Houthis, who seized Yemen's capital Sanaa in 2014 after ousting the government and extending their control over large areas of the country.

The Saudi-Iran deal alone will not end the conflict, which can only be settled through negotiations between the Yemeni sides, Lenderking said.

Iran has been accused of violating UN resolutions by providing drones and missiles to the Houthis to conduct cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia, but no such attacks have been reported in the last year.

Millions of people are in need of international assistance because of the war, which has killed tens of thousands of people.