UK Decision On Terror Ban For IRGC 'Under Review'

As part of the cooperation, Iran is providing Russia with one-way attack drones, including more than 400 since August, national security adviser John Kirby said at a news briefing.

"This is about a burgeoning defense relationship" that allows Russia to kill more people in Ukraine and also enables Iran to stock up on its military hardware and pose a greater threat to its neighbors, Kirby told reporters.

The US and its European allies have already imposed sanctions on individuals and entities for their role in Tehran’s drone program and their delivery to Russia. Washington has also listed Tehran’s military cooperation with Moscow as one of the impediments to resuming talks aimed at limiting Iran’s nuclear program and lifting crippling economic sanctions.

Drones are the primary military help Iran is providing to Russia, which is seeking to acquire advanced level types, he said.

Russia uses Iranian Shahed drones mainly to target civilian infrastructure and also swarm Ukrainian air defenses during large-scale missile strikes. The tactic was repeatedly used last year when Moscow tried to cripple Ukraine’s energy sector.

The Unites States will be announcing additional designations targeting increased military cooperation between Russia and Iran, Kirby added.

The origin of that attack had never been reported, but a senior US military official acknowledged it to The Wall Street Journal on Saturday.

As a result of the attack on a maintenance hangar near Hasakah, Syria, the US contractor was killed, making it the first American fatality since Biden took office. Injuries also affected 24 US service members, many of whom suffered traumatic brain injuries.

“When that attack happened, we did not know the launch point. We were able to exploit the engine of the drone, which had a serial number, which clearly tied it back to Iran,” the senior US official said.

“We’re not looking to get into tit for tat skirmishes with these groups, which some of the groups want us to do,” said the senior US official. “Our policy is to hold Iran accountable for all these attacks.”

It is clear from the strikes that the Biden administration faces difficulties in the Middle East as it shifts its military focus to deterring China and Russia.

Additionally, it highlights the challenges the United States faces in coming up with a policy to deal with Iraq 20 years after Saddam Hussein's regime fell.

Several former officials and experts have criticized the administration's approach for downplaying problems in Iraq, such as those caused by militias supported by Tehran.

Ukraine's Air Force Command says it brought down the Shahed pilotless vehicles overnight, along with a Russian-made Orlan-10 drone.

The clash took place in the air over the northeast of Ukraine.

Russia has repeatedly used Iran-made drones as well as guided bombs in its invasion of Ukraine.

Russian long-range missile stockpiles have dwindled after repeated attacks on civilian targets since October when Moscow also began using hundreds of Shahed suicide drones, supplied in defiance of sanctions against weapons sales to the Moscow regime.

Iran first denied it had supplied drones to Russia but in early November foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian admitted the deliveries, but claimed they were sent before the Russian invasion.

There have been intelligence reports that Tehran might be planning to also supply long-range missiles to Russia.

The US and its NATO allies have strongly condemned Iran’s drone deliveries to Russia. Washington, which has stopped nuclear talks with Tehran, has indicated that it expects the deliveries to stop before any further negotiations take place.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei completely denied Iran’s involvement in the war during a speech he delivered in mid-March.

Ukraine has had increasing success in shooting down the relatively slow-flying Iranian drones. On December 5, the military said it had downed 60 of 70 Shahed drones, but Kiev continues to request reinforcements to its air defense systems from the West.

Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday: “We changed the equation thwarting the entire top echelon of the Islamic Jihad in Gaza."

Netanyahu commended the success of the operation "Shield and Arrow" in the Gaza Strip during the meeting.

As part of the operation, which lasted almost five days, the Israeli military killed several Islamic Jihad commanders and targeted strategic positions and weapons stocks.

A ceasefire was agreed between Israel and the Palestinians on Saturday evening, and came into effect at 11 p.m. It has so far been respected.

Netanyahu did not mention the ceasefire. However, according to The Times of Israel, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi thanked Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi for facilitating the agreement.

Washington welcomed the ceasefire agreement on Saturday, thanking Egypt and Qatar for their efforts.

The latest round of confrontation did not involve Hamas, and only Iran's main ally, the Islamic Jihad took part.

Iran urged Hamas to join Islamic Jihad in the new round of attacks following the killing of three militants in Gaza, Iran International had learned.

According to informed sources, Tehran exerted strong pressure on Hamas to repay assistance it has received over the years, and unite with Islamic Jihad to launch a fresh wave of attacks.

During the conflict, the terror group fired nearly 1,300 rockets, including about 1,000 rockets that hit Israeli territory. Two people were killed in Israel and 33 killed in Gaza.

The diplomatic spat exposes tensions between the neighbouring states despite a security deal both signed last month over Kurdish attacks on Iran.

On Saturday Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said Baghdad’s envoy to Tehran had been summoned to “strongly protest” over the presence of Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups at the event on Thursday in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

The ceremony had been held to inaugurate a cultural center in tribute to the late Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani.

The spokesman said “movements of some terrorist groups” in the Iraqi Kurdish region is “contrary to the recent security agreement between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iraq”.

Although the groups were not named, Iran may be referring to Kurdish armed groups such as the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan.

The party advocates the overthrow of Iran's regime and the separation of Kurdistan's northwestern province from Iran.

A deal with Iraq was signed last month in Baghdad by Iran's security chief Ali Shamkhani that aimed to end "completely and fundamentally" Kurdish attacks on Iran and prevent the use of Iraqi borders as a threat.

Last year, Iran's Revolutionary Guards launched missile and drone attacks against Iranian Kurdish groups based in northern Iraq, accusing them of fomenting protests that were sparked by the death of an Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of the morality police.

Kurdish parties − including Komala and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) − generally favor Kurdish autonomy within a federal Iran. However, Pejak (the Free Life Party of Kurdistan), an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, formed in Turkey but also based in northern Iraq, wants a unified, independent Kurdistan uniting Kurds in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and Iran.