Iran Claims US Called For Deescalation After Soleimani Assassination

In a bid to undermine the fact that regional countries are turning towards the Jewish state, he claimed on Tuesday that "The position of the Islamic Republic is that countries that make the gamble of normalization with Israel will lose. They are betting on a losing horse.”

The remarks come at a time when Saudi Arabia is hosting its second Israeli minister in the span of a week, and the United States is actively working towards the normalization of relations between Riyadh and Tel Aviv. In 2020, the US-brokered peace accords saw countries including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain solidify ties with Israel, with huge economic benefit.

Khamenei recalled the words of Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, who characterized Israel as a “cancerous entity that would be eradicated by Palestinian and regional resistance forces,” though Israel had strong ties with Iran before the revolution, even helping Jews fleeing persecution in Iraq on their journey to Israel.

Last month, the Israeli foreign minister mentioned the possibility of a framework for establishing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, brokered by the US, being in place by early next year. This potential Israeli-Saudi normalization could significantly reshape the Middle East, aligning two major US allies against Iran.

While Iran re-established diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia earlier this year, Iranian officials have consistently criticized Riyadh's efforts to establish relations with Israel, viewing it as detrimental to the Palestinians.

Tehran supports militant Palestinian groups, including Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, which have escalated their attacks against Israel and its civilians this year. The groups are part of Iran's network of proxy forces spanning from Iraq to Lebanon and Yemen, receiving both financial and military support from Tehran, which the Iranian government openly acknowledges.

State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, reiterated Monday that he does “not have any reason to believe an Iranian influence operation infiltrated the United States government,” in spite of troves of information and documents revealed in a joint investigation between Iran International and Semafor, lifting the lid on a years-long influence operation reaching the top echelons of Washington. 

Directly implicating suspended Iran envoy, Robert Malley, the investigation revealed a web of actors bolstering the regime’s reach in the corridors of the White House through thousands of emails combed through by the Iran International and Semafor team. People named in the emails have not denied the veracity of the documents.

However, Miller merely told reporters this week that the investigation is ongoing into Malley, and he would not be drawn into questions on the matter which highlighted his three aides were part of an Iranian government network. 

The investigation also brought light to the fact that the think tank, The Iran Experts Initiative (IEI), was established by the Iranian foreign ministry in 2014 to extend Tehran's under the table dealings. Its members simultaneously worked for top Western think tanks and gave advice to both the US and Europe, showing the wide reach of the regime’s ‘soft power’ project. 

There is no doubt it has left the Biden Administration in one of its foreign policy weak points since coming to power, especially after Malley was put on unpaid leave. Critics and US politicians are now watching its Iran failings unravel daily. On the back of a prisoner swap deal which saw $6bn of frozen Iranian funds freed up in exchange for five US-Iranian dual nationals, there is no way out for Biden now, whose Iran blunders continue to draw global criticism. 

Many Republicans have indicated their readiness to investigate the issue and have sharply criticized the administration. In the latest such statement, Senator Bill Hagerty wrote on X, “The existence of the Zarif-masterminded Iran Expert Initiative raises new questions about the controversial backchannel engagements of former SECSTATE John Kerry, Rob Malley and their IEI associates during the Trump years like this John Kerry held backchannel talks with Iran, Javad Zarif - Washington Times”

Iran scholar Alireza Nader, was among the many outraged by the continued denials, writing on X: “Who is [the] State Department Spokesman kidding? We can all see what’s going on here. There’s a ton of evidence showing that the Islamic Republic has an active influence/lobby operation in Washington, DC, with regime sympathizers in the US government.”

Middle East expert, Walid Phares, whose own book on influence operations and lobbying by Iran was widely discredited until the revelations this week only prove its veracity, wrote on X: “The @CrisisGroup has been portrayed as one of the most recognized and praised think tanks worldwide dealing with conflict resolution. But the shocking revelations by @semafor and #IranInternational that its "Iran project" was a base for influence operation by the Iran Regime on the US, shows how wide the reach of Iranian intelligence is in the West, and how "mainstream institutions" were/are penetrated.”

It is a huge blow to the administration, Phares adding: "Trust is crumbling," and claiming that the influence operation in the West and US is not the limits of Iran’s reach, which he says are on both sides of the Atlantic. “It is NATO wide,” he said.

Sarmayeh Bank, affiliated with the Teachers' Saving Fund, reported a net loss of over $160 million in the 12-month period ending in March. The cumulative loss of the bank totals over $960 million.

The bank has been embroiled in numerous corruption cases in recent years, involving 400 suspects, some of whom were family members of political officials in the Islamic Republic at various times.

Government interventions, excessive borrowing, and a lack of transparency and accountability in the banking sector are cited as other significant factors contributing to the bankruptcies.

The reports about the liquidation of the struggling banks have been circulating for a while. In August, the central bank officially warned of the risk of bankruptcy for Sarmayeh Bank, stating, "If the bank's board of directors and shareholders fail to take measures to increase the capital adequacy ratio, the bank will be subject to special penalties and restrictions, and it must present a clear plan to address its chronic imbalance."

However, similar to many other decisions in Iran, the liquidation never materialized, possibly to prevent causing widespread panic among the already distrustful population regarding the country's banking system.

Previously, Ayandeh (Future) Bank had been mentioned as one of the banks under consideration by the central bank for either dissolution or merger, which faced objections from central bank authorities.

Jason Schmidt, the district attorney overseeing the case, told Iran International that a “very important hearing” has been completed in favor of the prosecutor.

The defense wanted to “suppress certain statements that Mr. Matar made at the time that he was taken into custody by police,” said Schmidt. But the judge upheld the statements that the prosecutor wanted to “keep and introduce as evidence during the trial”.

Matar, 25, stabbed Rushdie in the neck and torso at a literary event in upstate New York last August. The renowned author had an Iranian bounty on his head since 1989, when he published his novel Satanic Verses, enraging many Muslims across the world. They deemed the book as insulting to the Prophet Mohammed.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s supreme leader at the time issued a religious edict that obliged Muslims to kill Rushdi, effectively forcing him to go into hiding. He had just begun relaxing his security measures when the attack happened.

“Matar had traveled from New Jersey,” Schmidt said, “so we do believe this is an attack that was pre-planned.”

Early police investigation suggested that Matar was sympathetic to Iran’s Islamic Republic’s Revolutionary Guards. On his Facebook, he had photos of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Qassem Soleimani, the IRGC general killed in a US drone strike in 2020.

At the time, Vice quoted European and Middle Eastern intelligence sources who said Matar had been in contact with some elements within the IRGC. The Islamic Republic officials have denied direct involvement but expressed support for the attack.

It’s been suggested also that Matar could have been influenced by the Iran-backed militant Hezbollah group during his time in Lebanon.

Commenting on potential links between Matar, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the regime in Iran, district attorney Schmidt said, “there is a concurrent federal investigation… they may be looking at something on an international or national scale… that investigation could go beyond Matar and to third persons or even the Iranian government.”

The officials in Tehran wasted no time in celebrating the attack and extending congratulations to the attacker. It was also announced that he would be given 1,000 square meters of fertile farmland in Iran.

Mohammad Ismail Zarei who heads the organization that was established to implement the original edict and kill Salman Rushdie thanked Matar “for his brave action in carrying out the historic fatwa of Imam Khomeini.”

Matar did not deny his feelings either.

Shortly after his arrest, Matar gave a video interview to the New York Post, in which he praised Khomeini and condemned Rushdie as “someone who attacked Islam. ”But he hasn’t revealed much beyond this.

Schmidt explained: “when the attack occurred and Mr. Matar was taken into custody, there were some efforts to interview him to develop as much information as possible surrounding the attack. But that interview was cut short when Mr. Matar asserted his right to counsel.”

Matar is charged in the State of New York with attempted murder of second degree and assault of second degree (related to injuries sustained by another man present at the scene).

If found guilty, he could face up to 25 years in prison.

Syrian government sources said, "At about 23:50 p.m. on Oct. 2, the Israeli enemy launched an air attack on some of our armed forces’ sites in the vicinity of Deir al Zor, and the aggression led to the injury of two soldiers and some material losses," a Syrian military source was quoted as saying.

According to a London-based group that monitors events in Syria, a powerful explosion was heard in Katibat Al-Radar area on the peak of Harabish Mountain in Deir Ezzor countryside where the Syrian air force and Iranian-backed militia have bases.

Three other explosions were heard around positions of Iranian militias in Al-Hamida area in Al-Bokamal near the Syrian-Iraqi border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights added, with no information on casualties.

Iranian militias have a heavy presence in these areas near Iraq, where they handle and protect shipments of weapons and men arriving from Iran. Al-Bokamal has been targeted by suspected Israeli strikes for years.

Israel began regularly hitting Iran-linked military targets in Syria in early 2017. Hundreds of attacks have been carried out in six years on bases and shipments of weapons intended to strengthen Tehran’s presence in Syria and supply missiles to its militant proxy the Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Iran got involved in the Syrian civil war in 2011 and played a key role in saving Bashar al-Assad’s regime, by financial and military assistance and with deploying thousands of Afghan and other militias recruited by the Revolutionary Guard.