In rare retort, Iran's Revolutionary Guards rebut Putin on Syria evacuation

"After Hamas, Hezbollah and the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis are almost the last arm of Iran's axis of evil. They are finding out, and will find out, the hard way that whoever harms Israel – will pay a very heavy price," he said.

He made the remarks following dozens of strikes across Yemen early Thursday, about an hour after a Houthi missile struck a school in Ramat Gan.

"This morning, the Air Force attacked strategic targets of the Houthis in the port of Hodeidah and deep into Yemen," Netanyahu said. "We did this in response to repeated Houthi attacks against civilian targets in Israel," he added.

Last year, the Houthis launched a maritime blockade of the Red Sea region. Originally aimed at Israeli-linked vessels, it has since targeted global shipping.

"They are not attacking just us – they are attacking the entire world," Netanyahu said. "They are attacking the international shipping and commercial lanes. Thus, when Israel takes action against the Houthis, it is acting on behalf of the entire international community. The Americans understand this very well, as do many others."

In February, US and British forces launched a series of strikes on Houthi targets. They were supported by an international coalition, including Australia, Bahrain, Denmark, Canada and the Netherlands.

The criticism underscores the rift between the two Mideast heavyweights just as Ankara has gained more influence after Syrian rebels it supports ousted Iran's main Arab ally, President Bashar al-Assad.

"With all due respect to our Iranian friends, I mean, we’ve had this discussion maybe 1,000 times with them because their presence in Syria didn’t prevent a big genocide in Gaza," Fidan said in an interview with pan-Arab channel Al Jazeera published on Wednesday, referencing remarks made by Iran's Supreme Leader earlier in the week.

In his speech, Ali Khamenei emphasized that Tehran's armed groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah, remain strong despite external challenges. Addressing developments in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, Khamenei accused the United States and Israel of underestimating the strength of the Iran-backed resistance movement.

"They thought resistance was over. They are gravely mistaken. The spirit of Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah is alive; the spirit of Sinwar is alive," Khamenei said, referring to Hezbollah and Hamas leaders killed by Israel.

"Their martyrdom has not removed them from existence. Their path continues."

The plight of Gaza is a key issue animating political opinion in the Islamic world but neither Turkey nor Iran have been able to dent Israel's ongoing assault there.

Syria, under Assad, was a key component of Iran’s so-called 'Axis of Resistance,' serving as a vital land corridor for supplying weapons and materiel to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Over the years, Israel sought to disrupt this supply line through hundreds of airstrikes.

Fidan said Iran and Russia had realized their ally Assad was growing weaker.

“The Russians and Iranians have been in Syria a long time, and they know exactly how the Syrian regime has gone in a negative direction. They are very much familiar with the problem of the old Assad regime."

Fidan did not comment on whether any guarantees had been given to Iran or Russia, saying that it is for Syria’s people and government to decide.

In an interview earlier this week, Fidan said that Iran must better understand its actions following Assad’s downfall.

“I think Iran will also learn lessons in the new period; we need to help Iran in a constructive way,” Fidan said in an interview with Saudi-affiliated Al-Hadath on Sunday. He outlined Turkey’s vision for the Middle East as one based on cooperation and respect for sovereignty, adding, “We don’t want Iranian domination, Turkish domination, or Arab domination. It’s time for us to come together and establish our own interests, our own order in the region, shoulder to shoulder.”

“The IAEA is obligated to promote, facilitate, and support peaceful nuclear technology so that it is accessible to all nations,” Eslami said during a state TV interview. “They mediate whatever is necessary to enable other countries to provide the technology you need, but when it comes to us, they create obstacles because they are implementing US congressional laws.”

"The sanctions are not aimed at economic goals; rather, they are intended to instill this narrative: 'If you don’t have money, why spend it on nuclear energy?' This is their tactic and tool to pursue their objective of preventing us from obtaining nuclear knowledge," Eslami said regarding sanctions on Iran's nuclear program.

Eslami also criticized the director of the UN nuclear watchdog on Wednesday for making what he described as provocative statements regarding Tehran’s nuclear program. He said that despite Iran accepting limitations on its nuclear activities to build trust and in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, the agency continues to misrepresent Tehran’s efforts.

Rafael Grossi, head of IAEA, said Monday that the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is no longer sufficient to curb Tehran’s uranium enrichment, which has exceeded international limits.

"Iran is enriching uranium close to military levels and is rapidly moving towards becoming a nuclear state," Grossi told the ANSA news agency. "The philosophy of the original accord with Iran can be used, but that agreement is no longer useful," he added.

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, also responded to Grossi’s remarks, stating, "The Director General of a specialized organization is expected to speak based on facts and technical reports from the Agency's inspectors. Reading intentions based on hypothetical scenarios is not part of the Director General's duties and is contrary to the letter and spirit of the Agency's statute."

On December 6, the IAEA reported that Iran had significantly accelerated its production of 60% enriched uranium, which is now approximately five times higher than a month ago. Iran is believed to possess enough 60% enriched uranium to produce four to five atomic bombs, should it choose to pursue nuclear weapons.

Since the US withdrew from the JCPOA, Iran has breached its nuclear commitments, increasing uranium enrichment to 60%, near weapons-grade levels. Subsequent negotiations with the US and the E3 (France, Germany, and Great Britain) have failed to revive the deal or secure a new agreement. With ten months remaining until the “Termination Day” for UN Resolution 2231, which sealed the JCPOA, the impasse on restoring the nuclear deal continues.

Tehran's Governor Mohammad Sadegh Motamedian said closures of facilities this week have had little impact on reducing energy consumption or alleviating pollution.

"The closures have merely shifted the crisis from one point to another," he said, adding that they had led to more traffic, higher gasoline consumption, and, consequently, increased pollution.

The crisis has been unfolding across Iran. Ahmad Mousavi, CEO of the electricity distribution company in Golestan province, said that only a 10% decrease in consumption was seen after four-day closures.

The closures, which began earlier this week, are part of a broader set of measures taken across the country to combat both air pollution and the ongoing energy crisis.

It has seen the shutdown of 390 public and private swimming pools in Tehran alone. Additionally, industrial units have been forced to operate at reduced capacity, with small industrial units now working only two to three days a week due to ongoing energy shortages.

The economic cost of the closures is substantial for a country in the midst of the worst recession since the founding of the Islamic Republic, with losses estimated at 50,000 billion rials (over 63 million dollars) per day.

Industries face full wage payments despite significantly reduced working hours, and businesses are struggling to absorb the financial burden of both energy shortages.

The ongoing disruptions are also expected to exacerbate budgetary challenges for the government, which has projected a 39% increase in tax revenues for the next fiscal year—a target that may be difficult to meet given the widespread economic losses.

With the energy crisis showing no signs of easing, in spite of Iran's having one of the world's largest natural gas reserves and vast oil reserves, the situation is expected to worsen if international sanctions and domestic mismanagement continue to stifle necessary investment in the energy sector.

Energy expert Narsi Ghorban estimates that $250 billion is required to address oil and gas infrastructure issues, with an additional $19 billion needed for the electricity sector.

The looming threat of a return to stricter sanctions, particularly with the return of Donald Trump who has promised "maximum pressure" in his Iran policy, adds further uncertainty to Iran’s already fragile economic outlook.

Just as Iran had originally requested Russia transport its units to Syria to back now ousted President Bashar al-Assad, Putin said in remarks carried by state media, Tehran again sought Moscow's aid to evacuate the soldiers.

"If earlier, for example, our Iranian friends asked us to help them transport their units to Syrian territory, now they asked us to withdraw them from there," Putin said. "We took 4,000 Iranian fighters to Tehran from the Hmeimim base. Some of the so-called pro-Iranian units left without a fight for Lebanon, some for Iraq."

But a senior commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards swiftly denied the claim later on Thursday, marking a rare public disagreement between the two partners in arms.

"A large number of Iranians have been living in Syria for a long time, and Russia relocated most of them to Iran," said Mohammad Jafar Asadi, deputy commander of the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, a construction giant.

"These were not Iran's advisory forces; we withdrew our advisory forces from Syria ourselves," he added. "We do not allow Russia to relocate our military forces."

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a transnational military organization that lies at the heart of Iran's ruling establishment, has been a key ally of Russia in Syria and Ukraine.

Moscow has launched hundreds of IRGC-provided drones at Kyiv's forces while Iranian and Russian troops together fought the Islamist rebels now running Syria after they seized Damascus from President Bashar al-Assad.

Staying in Syria

Putin suggested Russia's decades-old military presence was not set to be upended by Syria's upheaval, even as Iran appeared to have been decisively ejected.

“We maintain contact with all groupings in Syria and all countries in the region. They all say that it would be better if we kept our bases there,” Putin said in his first public comments on the subject.

Putin also said he had not yet met with former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since his overthrow and subsequent flight to Moscow earlier this month but noted that he planned to do so.

Russia, which intervened in Syria in 2015 and shifted the course of the civil war in Assad's favor, had also informed other countries that they could use its air and naval base to deliver humanitarian aid to Syria, he said.

"You want to portray everything that is happening in Syria as some kind of failure, a defeat for Russia. I assure you, it is not. And I'll tell you why. We came to Syria 10 years ago to prevent a terrorist enclave from being created there," said Putin.

"On the whole, we have achieved our goal. It is not for nothing that today many European countries and the United States want to establish relations with them (Syria's new rulers). If they are terrorist organisations, why are you (the West) going there? So that means they have changed."

His comments come as European Union (EU) nations seek assurances from Syria's new leaders that they will distance themselves from Russia and Iran and work toward a peaceful future for the country after years of civil war.

“Russia and Iran are not your friends, (and) are not helping you if you are in trouble. They left Assad’s regime, and that is a very clear message showing that their hands are full elsewhere and they are weakened,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday, addressing Syria’s new leaders.