Pressures Grow In Washington 'To Rein In' Iran
Two weeks after Hamas attacked Israel, diplomatic efforts have intensified to prevent a full-blown regional war involving Iran and its proxies in the Middle East.
Two weeks after Hamas attacked Israel, diplomatic efforts have intensified to prevent a full-blown regional war involving Iran and its proxies in the Middle East.
On Friday, President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen, who has traveled to Washington for a US-EU summit, raised the issue with US President Joe Biden.
“We must work actively to prevent regional escalation,” von der Leyen said, “I am particularly concerned about Iran and its proxies. We have all seen the incidents involving missiles and drones from Yemen potentially targeting Israel.”
Pentagon officials confirmed Friday that the American warship USS Carney intercepted 4 cruise missiles and 15 drones over a period of 9 hours in the Red Sea, all headed towards Israel reportedly.
Targeting Israel from a place as far as Yemen is yet another worrying sign that the Israel-Hamas conflict may very well escalate beyond Gaza.
Biden suggested on Friday that the aim of Hamas' attack on Oct. 7 was to disrupt the potential normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Tensions run high, particularly since an explosion in a Gaza hospital for which Israel and Hamas blame one another. Arab leaders are anxious about the popular rage in their countries, created by the plight of Gazans.
Many fear that the war between Israel and Hamas may bring in other regional actors such as Hezbollah or Shi’a armed groups in Iraq.
German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock warned these groups to not enter the conflict. “I'm warning Iran,” she said during her trip to Israel, “I'm warning Shiite militias in Iraq, I'm warning the Houthi in Yemen not to ignite and join in the terror."
The biggest threat to Israel, however, is Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has been engaged in a relatively low-profile war with Israel for more than a week. The Group has reportedly amassed tens of thousands of rockets since Israel’s last attack on southern Lebanon in 2006.
Hezbollah’s shelling of northern Israel has forced the country’s Defense Ministry to preemptively evacuate around 20,000 of the border town of Kiryat Shmona.
There is little doubt that Hezbollah, Houthis, and other militant groups in the region are more emboldened than ever before. And more than a few in Washington and elsewhere are pinning the blame on President Biden for what they see as a cowed Iran policy.
Senator Tom Cotton, a vocal critic of the administration said Friday: “President Biden needs to make it crystal clear to Iran that we will treat any proxy attack on American targets as an attack by Iran itself and respond accordingly. Anything less invites more violence.”
In a rare speech from the Oval Office Thursday evening, President Biden asked for billions to be spent on the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel, but strikingly mentioned Iran only once.
Around the same time as Biden was addressing Americans, rockets hit a military base near Baghdad's international airport which hosts US troops and forces from other countries. Ironically, this was the day after a big chunk of UN sanctions on Iran –including on its missile program– expired under the terms of the 2015 Nuclear Deal.
“Biden has given Iran another gift by permitting a set of UN sanctions on Iran to expire, even after Iran and its terror proxies orchestrated a heinous attack massacring and kidnapping American and Israeli citizens,” said Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida and 2024 Presidential Candidate.
In a lengthy post on X, DeSantis laid out six actions aimed at curbing the Iranian regime's influence, which include "imposing severe sanctions," "halting all clandestine negotiations and agreements," and "urging US allies to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization."
“America must turn the screws on the Mullahs,” he concluded.
Republicans on the Capitol have been mounting pressure on Biden for many months, especially since the ‘double scandal’ in September: the exposure of an Iran influence network and the $6 billion ransom to free five Iranian-American hostages held in Tehran.
On Thursday, Rep. Darrel Issa introduced a bill that would force the Biden administration to sanction Iran, according to Fox News. He hammered Biden for ‘systematically’ under-enforcing oil sanctions and freeing Iranian funds in Iraq.
“This comprehensive legislation marks a necessary course correction in American policy to treat Iran not as a strategic partner, but as the enemy they are," he said, calling his bill the No Funds for Iran-Backed Terror Act.
The measure was introduced Thursday. Republicans in the House have still yet to come to agreement to elect a new speaker after Rep. Kevin McCarthy was voted out from the post earlier this month.
The legislation cannot be considered until a new House speaker is elected.
God commanded Muslims to defend and protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the hardliner cleric said, and that means keeping “infidels” away from Jerusalem.
Alamolhoda is Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representative in one of the most important Shiite cities, Mashhad, where a revered imam is buried. He is also the father-in-law of Ebrahim Raisi, who was handpicked by Khamenei to become president in 2021, simply by barring all other serious candidates from running, in what turned out to be a selection rather than an election.
One of the special characteristics of Palestine, he said, is that God defeats all infidels in the blessed land. “The Holy Essence proclaims that divine signs are manifest in the land of Palestine. Any atheist movement with intentions of trespassing and committing crimes in this land shall be annihilated.”
The hardline rhetoric comes even though Islam recognizes Jews and Christians as peoples of God, and not pagans. However, as signs emerge that many in Iran do not support the government’s policy of full financial and military backing for the militant groups, state propaganda intensifies.
Alamolhoda also drew parallels between the present day and the era of Crusaders, saying that Muslims were able to take back Jerusalem after Christian invaders occupied the land. He went on to boast that Iran’s regional proxies, such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Iraqi Shiite militias are engaged in the conflict, emphasizing that Hezbollah has 100,000 precision missiles.
Khamenei’s trusted cleric said that all militant groups are ready to help Hamas, fighting against Israel and “destroying that cancerous cell.” He emphasized that these groups are not afraid of the United States.
In what appeared to be coordinated remarks by Friday Imams across the country, Khamenei’s appointed Imam in Fars province stated that "Hamas's attack on Israel was a defensive move accompanied by courage and heroism." He added, "We tell Israel's accomplices that resistance will not let you rest until the end of your era."
Tehran Friday Imam, Kazem Sedighi, praised Hamas’ attack and claimed that they did not kill any civilian and all 1,500 victims were Israeli soldiers.
The Imam in Gilan Province claimed that thousands of Revolutionary Guard, naval and other military forces have announced their readiness to go to Gaza and fight.
Many Iranians opposed to the Islamic Republic are mocking regime supporters, telling them to “please act according to your ideology and go to Gaza to fight.” Their message is that if regime supporters die in the war, the people of Iran will live in peace.
Hardline clerics also organized a gathering in the religious city of Qom, where it was claimed “youth from 100 countries” who were dubbed “lovers of fighting Israel” were present. Iranian media said that Bahrain’s Sheikh Isa Qassem, a pro-Iran Shiite cleric also attended.
A message from Khamenei’s foreign policy adviser Ali Akbar Velayati was read during the ceremony, which praised those ready to struggle for Palestine. Representatives of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad militant groups also attended.
Alireza Panahian, Khamenei’s chief of staff delivered remarks, saying that Hamas was “saving its energy for heavier blows against Israel.”
The Beverly Hills mayor, Dr. Julian Gold, and city council, including an Iranian-American lawmaker, Tuesday blasted the Islamist terrorist movement Hamas and its allies—the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Qatari government— for their role in the mass murder of at least 1,400 people, including around 30 Americans, on October 7 in southern Israel.
Iran International obtained a copy of the resolution, which notes that “The City of Beverly Hills unequivocally condemns those who have supported Hamas, harbored Hamas, and who have after the fact celebrated the death of the Jews and praised the Hamas terrorism attacks in state sponsored media, including the Islamic Republic of Iran and Qatar.”
Iran openly takes credit for supporting Hamas, while Qatar allows the militant group to maintain an office on its soil and provides safe haven to its leaders.
John Mirisch, the former mayor of Beverly Hills and currently a city councilman, told Iran International “I repeated my call for the Qatari consulate to be expelled from Beverly Hills, along with the call for an investigation into the financial interests of state sponsors of terrorism (i.e. Qatar and Iran) in Beverly Hills.”
Mirisch has spearheaded the move to confront the role of the alleged state-sponsors of terrorism, Iran and Qatar, in the massacre.
In August, Iran International reported on Mirisch’s call for the city council to investigate the pro-Iranian regime former Qatari prime minister Hamad Bin Jassim (HBJ) for his antisemitic comment. HBJ operates the Maybourne Hotel in Beverly Hills.
The British paper Manchester Evening News reported Monday on Iran International’s report covering HBJ and the role the Iran International article ostensibly played in forcing HBJ and his son to withdraw their bid to buy the English Premier League football club Manchester United.
The Iranian-American Beverly Hills city councilwoman, Sharona R. Nazarian, told Iran International “Hamas is not only a threat to the Middle East, but a threat to Western civilization and our way of life as we know it. This conflict is not about territory. It is about terrorism. “
She added, “We are strong and stand united regardless of religion, nation of origin or political affiliation against such acts of terror and violence, sending a resounding message that these actions will not be tolerated. We are committed to justice, peace, and the undeniable right of Israel to protect itself from those who seek to destroy it. The difference between right and wrong; good and evil is now. “
The resolution stated, “These terrorists committed unimaginable acts of savagery including mass rape and the systematic massacre of whole families and the brutalization and slaughter of babies and small children; and there were joyful celebrations of the massacre of Jews in Gaza by Hamas and their supporters.”
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) on Tuesday published a report titled “Presenters, Reporters From Qatar's Al-Jazeera Praise Hamas Attack, Celebrate Israel's Disaster.”
The United States has classified Iran's regime as the worst international state-sponsor of terrorism. The American government designated Hamas a foreign terrorist organization. Qatar has faced accusations from US congressional representatives and European politicians that it finances terrorism.