'Life Is Living Hell', Says Israeli Citizen on Clashes with Hezbollah

State-affiliated media quoted Amir Ahmadi, the Public Prosecutor of Baharestan County, in Tehran province, announcing that two cafes were sealed after being identified for serving alcoholic beverages.

Selling, possession and drinking alcohol by Muslims was prohibited in Iran after the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979. During the monarchy alcoholic beverages were unrestricted, subject to certain regulations.

IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency on Sunday quoted Ahmadi as saying, "A cafe in the city of Salehieh that served alcoholic beverages at the premises was sealed. The cafe owner and two of the customers of the cafe were arrested."

Ahmadi further stated that arrests were made in addition to the cafe being sealed.

“The operator of the cafe and two of the customers were arrested,” he added.

He also warned that all cafes in Baharestan County are being closely "monitored" and "must comply with Sharia law."

"We will not allow alcohol to be served in public places and cafes in the city under any circumstances," Ahmadi stated. "If we find any violations, decisive action will be taken against the operators, as demonstrated by the recent closures of cafes for serving alcohol."

The increased crackdown on alcohol consumption coincides with government efforts to enforce hijab rules

Additionally, on May 15, Asghar Jahangir, Iran’s judiciary spokesperson announced the arrest of a garden owner accused of producing homemade alcohol that poisoned some people. The garden was subsequently sealed, according to Entekhab News.

He added that 24 people were present at this gathering of which 6 were poisoned and 1 died as a result of consuming counterfeit alcohol.

Moreover, last year in July, Mohammad Yousefvand the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor of Robat Karim County, Tehran Province, announced that five cafes had been sealed and four individuals were arrested. Yousefvand further stated that 6 individuals were killed as a result of consuming bootleg alcohol, and 22 people were poisoned in Robat Karim.

Individuals who breach the ban on alcohol are punished with lashings and monetary penalties. For those who distribute alcohol, the penalties are even higher with the possibility of capital punishment. In September last year, four men were sentenced to death for their involvement in counterfeit alcohol distribution which allegedly led to the death of 17 individuals.

Despite the ban and the recent heightened crackdown by authorities on cafes, shops, parties, and gatherings where alcohol is served or sold, Iranians continue to consume alcohol.

A survey by Iran Open Data in 2021 found that half of all adults in Iran regularly drink alcohol with homemade alcohol being the preferred choice.

Furthermore, a survey by World Health Organization in 2018, placed Iran in the 9th ranked among 189 countries for alcohol consumption per capita.

With bootleg alcohol consumption on the rise in Iran, some critics believe that hardliners are involved in widespread alcohol poisoning as they believe those who consume alcohol must be punished.

Nevertheless, with alcohol consumption unregulated and prohibited, Iranians lack safety measures for responsible drinking, leaving them vulnerable to the dangers of counterfeit alcohol which include poisoning, blindness, and death.

The interviews with Masoud Pezeshkian and Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf took place on Monday and were focused on the economy and other issues without any reference to foreign policy, the nuclear issue, or hijab.

In his first interview with the news channel Monday evening, Pezeshkian, the only approved ‘reform’ candidate referred to the “divide between the people and the government” as a major issue.

Pezeshkian stressed that his government would not introduce any new economic strategies and policies. Instead, he said, it will try to efficiently implement the existing development plan by reforming the administrative system, making it transparent and accountable.

Pezeshkian criticized the lack of justice in distribution of wealth and resources among the country’s provinces and stressed the importance of improving the lives of civil servants, relying on experts and the elite personnel, improving and stabilizing the environment for domestic and international investment for a desirable level of economic growth.

However, the issue in Iran is not only fair distribution but lack of resources to distribute. The country’s bombastic foreign policy and its expanding nuclear program have impeded oil exports, foreign trade, technology and investments.

Pezeshkian, 69, is running against five hardliners including “neo-conservative” Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.

The outspoken cardiac surgeon, served as health minister under reformist Mohammad Khatami and has been elected five times as representative of Tabriz, capital of the East Azarbaijan Province since 2007. He was deputy speaker from 2016 to 2020.

Spokesman of the Reforms Front, Javad Emam, in a statement Sunday expressed regret over the disqualification of the Front’s two other candidates, Abbas Akhundi and former Vice-President Es’haq Jahangiri, as well as candidates of other political groups and confirmed that the Front would be supporting Pezeshkian as its candidate.

The Reforms Front had insisted it would not participate in the elections if none of its three proposed candidates were allowed to run. The Front’s leader, former President Mohammad Khatami, abstained from voting in the parliamentary elections in March to protest the extensive disqualification of ‘reformist’ candidates by the un-elected watchdog, the Guardian Council.

In a short statement Monday, Jahangiri who also registered to run but was barred by the Guardian Council announced his full support for Pezeshkian as the Reforms Front’s candidate.

In a tweet Monday, however, former Vice-President Mohammad-Ali Abtahi warned about too much optimism over Pezeshkian’s chances of being elected based on the increasing attention he is gaining on social media. “Social media only reflects [the views] of a small part of the society. Candidates and their supporters shouldn’t be misled by the social media,” he tweeted.

Journalist and political commentator Ahmad Zeydabadi opined in an interview that for Pezeshkian to succeed, he must become a symbol of change for the younger generation like the leader of the Green Movement Mir-Hossein Mousavi in the 2009 elections.“Two things matter to those who want to vote: what direction are [the candidate’s] plans and how feasible their execution is given the existing structures,” he wrote.

“Mr. Pezshkian has high influence among ethnic groups,” Zeydabadi said, adding that not only the Turki-speaking population but also the Kurds and other ethnic minorities may go to the ballots to vote for him. According to Zeydabadi Pezeshkian’s chances of being elected is good but “what happens after he is elected” that worries him.

Pezeshkian is the front-runner in an online poll by Tabnak, a conservative news website close to the secretary of the Expediency Council, Mohsen Rezaei, with 67 percent of the 16,500 votes Monday. In the same poll, Ghalibaf and Jalili both have less than 13 percent of the votes.

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on Monday that it is sanctioning a network under the control of Houthi financial facilitator Sa’id al-Jamal in a bid to strangle the terror group’s commercial power as it disrupts global shipping in the key trade route.

The latest round includes 10 individuals, entities, and vessels, including tanker captains, engaged in the illicit transport of oil and other commodities for Iran’s Houthi militia.

“The Houthis continue to leverage an expansive support network to facilitate their illicit activities, including hiding the origin of cargo, forging shipping documents, and providing services to sanctioned vessels,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.

“As we demonstrated with our military strikes last week, the United States government is committed to disrupting and degrading the Houthis’ ability to engage in attacks against commercial shipping and naval vessels, as well as target those who seek to facilitate these activities.”

The OFAC designated Sa’id al-Jamal in 2021 for having supported the Houthis and its illegal trading network in order to fund Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force (IRGC-QF), which was designated by the US in 2007 for its support of terror groups.

The Houthis were re-designated by the US in January after three months of a blockade by the terror group saw US shipping targeted with a series of attacks. The blockade began in November after orders from Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, to blockade the trade route, targeting Israeli-linked ships in support of the Iran-backed Hamas war in Gaza.

In retaliation to the Houthi blockade, the US and UK have launched direct attacks on Houthi infrastructure in Yemen with the US leading a more than 20-nation coalition to battle Iran’s proxy armed with state-of-the-art missiles and drones. In February, the action led the Houthis to declare both the US and UK targets in its blockade which began against Israel.

The latest sanctions span multiple countries including India and China as the Houthis utilize a global network of money laundering operations which have also aided Iran’s largest proxy, Hezbollah, in Lebanon, in transporting sanctioned goods.

Among the companies sanctioned is Hong Kong-based Lainey Shipping Limited, for its role in carrying sanctioned cargo on behalf of Hezbollah-owned and OFAC-designated Concepto Screen SAL Off-Shore to Southeast Asia.

Among the individuals sanctioned is Ahmad al-Jamal who has managed millions of dollars worth of currency transfers to Yemen as part of massive money laundering operations for the Sa’id al-Jamal network.

In January, shortly after the US designated the Houthis a terror group, the UK and US issued joint sanctions against four senior Houthi officials following attacks on British and American merchant vessels and their civilian crews, among other rounds of sanctions since the blockade began. 

Dozens of civilian seamen have been taken hostage since the blockade began in November with little outcry from the international community and just two days ago, 11 UN workers were taken hostage in Yemen.

Israel has intensified covert strikes in Syria against weapons sites, supply routes and Iranian-linked commanders, seven regional officials and diplomats said, ahead of a threatened full-scale assault on Tehran's key ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.

A June 2 air raid that killed 18 people, including an adviser with Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, targeted a clandestine, fortified weapons site near Aleppo, three of the sources said. In May, an air strike hit a convoy of trucks headed to Lebanon carrying missile parts and another raid killed Hezbollah operatives, four said.

Israel has for years struck militant groups backed by arch-foe Iran in Syria and elsewhere, in a low-level campaign that burst into open confrontation after Israel and Palestinian group Hamas - another Iranian ally - went to war in Gaza on Oct. 7.

Israel has since killed dozens of Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and Hezbollah officers in Syria, from just two last year before the Oct. 7 attack, according to a tally by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank.

The battle hit fever pitch in April when Israel bombed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing the top IRGC commander for operations in the Levant. In retaliation, Iran fired some 300 missiles and drones at Israel, almost all of which were shot down. Israel then attacked Iranian territory with drones.

This direct confrontation, a first for the two countries, stopped there. Israel also briefly reduced the number of strikes it was carrying out against Iranian proxies, said Selin Uysal, a French diplomat seconded to the Washington Institute, citing the tally, which counted publicly-known attacks in the weeks immediately before and after.

"There was a slowdown" after the face-off in April, she said.

"But they are picking up again because of suspected Iranian weapons transfers to Lebanon. There is a kinetic effort in Syria and Lebanon to disrupt the supply chain between Iran and Hezbollah."

Reuters interviewed three Syrian officials, an Israeli government official and three Western diplomats about Israel's Syria campaign. The officials asked not to be named to talk freely about sensitive matters.

The Syrian officials gave previously unreported details of the targets of Israeli strikes around the cities of Aleppo and Homs in recent months, including the June 2 attack.

All those interviewed said Israel's moves suggested it was gearing up for a full-scale war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which borders Syria, that could begin when Israel dials down its campaign in Gaza.

"The statements of our leaders have been clear that escalation could be imminent in Lebanon," the Israeli government official said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that his country was prepared for "very strong action" at its frontier with Lebanon, where it has been fighting a so-far limited battle with Hezbollah since October 8.

War in Lebanon is not inevitable. Israel has also indicated openness to diplomatic efforts being brokered by Washington and France. The Israeli government official said the campaign in Syria was also aimed at weakening Hezbollah and thus discouraging it from a war with Israel.

The Israeli government and military did not respond to questions for this article. Israel rarely publicly acknowledges targeted killings overseas and has not commented on the recent strikes in Syria. A senior Israeli official said last year Israel was determined to prevent Syria becoming part of a new front.

The IRGC and a Syrian government spokesperson did not respond. Hezbollah declined to comment.

KILLING COMMANDERS, STRIKING SUPPLIES

Syria, a longtime Iranian ally, became the key conduit for Tehran's arms supplies to Hezbollah after Iran deployed military personnel and thousands of allied paramilitaries from around 2013 to help President Bashar al-Assad during his country's ongoing civil war.

Some weapons parts are smuggled into Syria while others are assembled there, the three Syrian officials said.

Israel's Syria campaign aims to make sure Hezbollah, Iran's most loyal ally and the linchpin of Tehran's projection of regional power through militant proxies, is as weak as possible before any kind of fight begins, the Syrian officials and Israeli official said.

The June 2 killing of Saeed Abyar, described by Iranian state media as an IRGC adviser, showed Israel's reach in taking out key personnel and targeting equipment even when Iran has tried new methods of protecting weapons and parts bound for Hezbollah, the Syrian officials said, including moving the manufacture of weapons to more hidden or fortified locations.

Abyar was visiting a manufacturing plant for missiles for Hezbollah that was hidden inside a stone quarry east of the city of Aleppo when he was hit, the Syrian officials said. "The facility was in an area designed to be hard to find and hard to hit," said one of the officials, an intelligence officer.

Iran blamed Sunday's strike on Israel and the head of the IRGC has vowed to retaliate.

The officials said the strike killed 17 other people, including Iran-aligned militiamen. It was the first targeting of an IRGC official since Israel bombed the Iranian consulate, they said.

But it is not the only attack it has carried out since then.

An air strike near the Syrian city of Homs on May 29 targeted a vehicle carrying parts for guided missiles from Syria to Lebanon, the Syrian intelligence officer said. Another strike on May 20 targeted members of Hezbollah, the officer said.

Before the Iran consulate attack, a series of air strikes in late March around Aleppo hit warehouses storing high explosives for missile warheads, the officer said.

Other attacks have targeted Syrian air defence systems that had in recent years given Hezbollah and Iranian military personnel some security to operate, including Russian-made Pantsir air defence systems, mobile missile launchers that the Syrian military uses, a Syrian military official said. Other strikes had targeted early-warning radar systems, the official said.

"In some cases Israel is hitting even before we install our equipment," the official said.

The Israeli government official said Israel's targets were advanced anti-aircraft weapons, heavy rockets and precision-guidance systems for missiles.

ISRAEL TIPPING THE BALANCE?

The number of Israeli attacks in Syria jumped dramatically after October 7, when Israel and Hamas went to war.

"The frequency has doubled," said the Washington Institute's Uysal.

Israel carried out 50 air strikes in Syria in the six months after the Gaza war began, she said. "These included attacks on Aleppo airport, the Nairab military airport, Damascus airport, and the Mezzeh military airport, which are key in weapon transfers. Weapons caches were also among the targets."

The strikes have included the killing of some 20 IRGC officials and more than 30 Hezbollah commanders, Uysal said. Between January and October of 2023, two IRGC officials and no Hezbollah commanders were killed by Israeli strikes in Syria, Uysal said.

"The attacks in Syria certainly stop arms and ammunition deliveries and damage the ability of Hezbollah or Iran to organise," said Lior Akerman of Reichman University, a former Brigadier-General in Israel's domestic security service.

Iran sends limited numbers of advisers to Syria, such as the senior IRGC officials killed in the consulate bombing. Hezbollah has deployed thousands of fighters there.

Hezbollah official Nawaf Musawi told the Iran-aligned Al Mayadeen TV channel in March that the group was opening new ammunition depots "and getting more precision missiles and better quality weapons by land, sea and air."

Farzan Sabet, a senior researcher at the Geneva Graduate Institute who specialises in Iranian foreign policy, said attacks on Israel by Hezbollah and Iran's allies in Iraq and Yemen during the Gaza war had taken a toll on Israel.

"But it has killed many more Hezbollah operatives and senior figures including IRGC personnel in Syria, so on balance it's a bigger loss" for Iran's allies, Sabet said.

(Report by Reuters)

"A surface-to-air missile was launched toward an Israeli Air Force UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) that was operating in Lebanese airspace. As a result, the UAV was damaged and fell in Lebanese territory," the Israeli military said.

Iran-backed Hezbollah said in a statement it hit a Hermes 900 aircraft, an Israeli-made reconnaissance and attack drone.

The Israel-Lebanon border has seen an uptick in hostilities over the past week, with both the Israeli military and Hezbollah striking locations outside the border strip where the exchanges of fire have been concentrated, and with increased intensity.

Earlier on Monday Hezbollah said it attacked with a "squadron of drones" an Israeli military post in the Golan Heights. Israel's military said it identified two drones crossing from Lebanon into northern Israel and falling in the northern part of the Golan Heights.

Israel's military also said its fighter jets struck two Hezbollah military structures and a launch post in the areas of Aitaroun and Ayta ash Shab in southern Lebanon.

(Report by Reuters)