Argentina Detains Three Terror Suspects On Eve Of Jewish Event

Reuters received information from police and security sources, but no further details were provided regarding the party responsible for the attack.

Field sources have indicated that a high-ranking commander of the Iran-backed armed group Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba (HHN), along with his assistant, was killed in the attack.

However, social media reports suggest that the targeted facility was Hashd al-Shaabi's logistics base in Baghdad and that US drones carried out the strike.

If so, it would be a rare retaliation for over 100 attacks since the Gaza war broke out in October, Iran's proxies targeting US facilities in Iraq and Syria, and now the Red Sea shipping route, in retaliation for US support of Israel's right to defend itself.

While Iran has not directly engaged in the conflict, it has utilized its network of armed groups to target both Israel and US forces in the region. Iran, a staunch supporter of Hamas, has issued threats to the United States, warning that if the attacks on Gaza persist, they may impact US interests.

He stressed that there is no credible reason to believe Israel played a role in the incident and conveyed condolences to the victims, cautioning against further escalation.

“We have no reason to believe that Israel was involved in this explosion,” he said.

In the aftermath of Iran's leaders vowing revenge, a senior administration official, in a subsequent briefing with reporters, noted that the attack exhibited similarities to previous actions by ISIS. No group has as yet claimed responsibility.

Iran is amidst a complex situation, facing potential adversaries that include exile groups, militant organizations, and state actors.

The blast unfolded in southern Iranian city of Kerman at the gravesite of former IRGC Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani on Wednesday, claiming the lives of at least 95 people and injuring more on the fourth anniversary of his US drone strike killing. The event occurred following a suspected Israeli attack in Lebanon, resulting in the death of Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy political leader of the Palestinian designated terror group Hamas. 

While Israel has undertaken operations in Iran related to its nuclear program, they have typically involved targeted assassinations and targeted military and nuclear infrastructure. Large-scale attacks resulting in civilian casualties in Shiite-majority Iran have been historically attributed to Sunni extremist groups, such as the Islamic State group, although not specifically in relatively peaceful regions like Kerman.

Last month, the State Department informed Congress that the threats against Pompeo, former secretary of state, and Hook, former special envoy for Iran, are still “serious and credible,” which justify the renewal of their protection programs.

According to the Associated Press, the notifications to Congress regarding the extension were signed by Deputy Secretary of State for Management Richard Verma.

This is the 13th and 16th time that the State Department has extended protection to Pompeo and Hook, respectively, since they left office. The 24-hour security measures to protect the former officials cost the US government more than $2 million per month.

Pompeo and Hook were among the staunch supporters of President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign against Tehran.

The Islamic Republic has time and again threatened revenge against former US officials for the killing of Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian regime’s top military and intelligence operator in the Middle East who died in a US drone strike in January 2020 in Iraq.

In February 2023, Amirali Hajizadeh, the head of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace force, repeated the threat to avenge the US killing of Soleimani.

“God willing, we are looking to kill Trump. Pompeo ... and military commanders who issued the order (to kill Soleimani) should be killed,” Hajizadeh said.

Another former official with government protection is John Bolton, UN ambassador during President George Bush and National Security Advisor during Trump. The Justice Department revealed in August 2022 that an operative of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard tried to hire a hitman in the US to kill Bolton.

Hours before the UNSC met, 12 countries led by the United States issued a joint statement to warn the Houthis of what awaits them if they continue their “illegal, unacceptable, and profoundly destabilizing” attacks in the Red Sea.

“We call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews,” read the statement. “The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways.”

The statement was notably reposted on X by the US Central Command, making it look like a ‘final warning’ from the force most likely to follow through on the threat.

It comes amid reports that the Biden administration may be considering direct strikes on the rebels and the US military readying options for it, in case the attacks continue.

Signatories of the statement include Germany, Japan and the UK. The only country from the Middle East to have signed the statement is Bahrain, which hosts the US Fifth Naval Fleet. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are the conspicuous absentees, weary, perhaps, of potential repercussions of getting on the wrong side of the Houthis and their sponsor Iran.

Both have maintained their belligerent tone so far.

“The Yemeni Armed Forces warn the American enemy or any other party that any American aggression will not go unanswered or unpunished,” said Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea in a televised briefing Wednesday, reiterating their will to target Israel-bound vessels until “necessary supplies of food and medicine” are delivered to the people besieged in Gaza.

Houthis –funded, guided, armed by Iran– have targeted more than 30 commercial vessels in the Red Sea (and a few American warships even) since Israel began its onslaught on Gaza. As a result, 18 shipping companies have re-routed away from the Red Sea, according to a UN maritime agency report, and “more than $200 billion in trade” has been diverted from the crucial route, which leads to the Suez Canal and from there the Mediterranean Sea.

As political as the current crisis is, the decisive factor pushing the US and others towards an unwanted war with Iran and its proxies may very well be the economic burden.

According to a CNBC report Wednesday, since the start of 2024, rates for freight from Asia to northern Europe and North America have increased around 100% and 60% respectively. The hike in the cost of shipping will push up the price of consumer goods –or the ‘cost of living’, which scares most governments.

It is partly the reason why President Biden has allowed Iran to sell oil in spite of sanctions: to keep US fuel prices low as he bids for reelection later in the year. But his policy seems to have had the opposite effect: emboldening the Iranian regime and its proxies to effectively close the Red Sea and disrupt global trade.

Even China is alarmed by the disruption of maritime trade.

“China is concerned about the repeated incidents of attacks and seizures of merchant ships in the Red Sea,” said the Chinese representative at the UN Security Council Wednesday. “China also urges the parties to respect and guarantee the freedom of navigation for all countries in the waters.”

More notably, however, the Chinese mission highlighted the link between Houthi attacks and the ongoing Israeli onslaught on Gaza.

“The current tensions in the Red Sea are one of the manifestations of the spillover effects of the conflict in Gaza,” said Geng Shuang, deputy permanent representative of China to the UN, tacitly countering Israel’s argument at the same session that the Houthi threat in the Red Sea is not Israel's problem.

The bipartisan Mahsa Amini Human rights and Security Accountability Act (MAHSA Act) sanctions the Supreme Leader and the President of the Islamic Republic, among others, for their role in human rights abuses.

It passed the House of Representatives with overwhelming majority in September 2023, but has not yet been marked up for a vote in the Senate.

Iranian-American activists –who have been chasing Cardin for months to no avail– say they will stage a peaceful protest at the senator’s office next week, hoping to highlight “the importance of holding the leaders of the Islamic Republic in Iran accountable.”

The MAHSA Act is named after a 22-year-old Iranian woman who was detained in September 2022 for not covering her hair as much as the authorities deem enough. She received fatal head injuries while in custody and died in hospital shortly after.

Her death sparked the most widespread anti-regime protests in decades. Across Iran, the security forces and plain clothed thugs attacked people, killing more than 550 and injuring thousands.

The MAHSA Act was first introduced to the US House of Representative in January 2023 and passed with broad bipartisan support.

It’s unclear why Senator Cardin is blocking the bill to go up for a full vote in the Senate. His stance seems in line, however, with the Biden administration’s Iran policy –which some critics have called “appeasement” in pursuit of some kind of nuclear agreement.