US must 'take out' Houthis to deter Iran, senator says

“Armed groups supported by Tehran have no choice but to accept change,” said Sheikh Abdullah al-Jaghifi, Secretary-General of the Ahrar al-Furat Movement.

Al-Jaghifi said Syria was a cautionary tale of how geopolitical transformations can unravel entrenched alliances. Tehran lost its oldest Arab ally there, the Assad dynasty, to hardline Islamist-led rebels close to Turkey.

Speaking to Iran International, al-Jaghifi predicted 2025 would bring major changes across Iraq and the broader region, with Iran's influence continuing to wane.

The remarks come after discussions over integrating the militias into the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) – a move presented as a means to depoliticize Iraq’s paramilitary landscape. Yet critics question the sincerity and effectiveness of the initiative.

Mithal al-Alusi, founder of the Democratic Party of the Iraqi Nation, dismissed the proposed merger as a semantic maneuver.

“Iran is using wordplay to maintain its grip on Iraq and is turning the country into a base for extremist operations,” he told Iran International. He warned that Iran-backed networks are involved in transferring funds, passports and weaponry under the guise of Iraqi state structures.

Al-Alusi argued that Hezbollah and Hamas are being financed with dollars funneled through Iraqi channels, calling the practice “a serious crime against Iraq and the region – against people killed whether Israelis, Palestinians, Lebanese, Syrians and Yemenis alike.”

The leadership in Baghdad is pressuring Tehran-aligned armed groups not to attack Israeli targets to avoid a punishing military response, The New Arab news outlet reported on Wednesday.

The move follows a reported effort by a senior Iranian military commander to urge Tehran's armed allies in Iraq and Yemen to stand down attacks on their Mideast nemesis, potentially signaling an Iranian desire for detente in the region.

Iran faces an ultimatum by US President Donald Trump to ink a new nuclear deal or face attack after its home front and armed allies in the region have been dealt historic military blows from Israel in over a year of war.

The treaty was signed in January, during Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s visit to Moscow, and aims to institutionalize long-term cooperation between the two nations.

Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali said that the agreement consists of 47 articles covering a broad spectrum of collaboration, including "advanced technologies, cybersecurity, peaceful nuclear energy, military-defense cooperation, counterterrorism, and anti-money laundering measures".

He said the latest treaty now moves beyond the scope of a previous 20-year strategic pact signed in 2001 which was automatically extended for five years in 2021.

The leaders of both countries agreed that the existing agreement was outdated and insufficient to cover the current breadth of their evolving relationship, Jalali said.

While the specifics have not been publicly disclosed by either Tehran or Moscow, mirroring the secrecy surrounding Iran's 25-year agreement with China, Russia has indicated that the 2001 pact involved collaboration in industry and technology, security projects, energy, and the construction of nuclear power plants.

Russian state-run TASS news agency reported that the pact includes a security clause saying that "in the event of an attack on one party, the other party will under no circumstances support the aggressor."

Moscow and Tehran have leveled up their military cooperation in recent years, particularly in Syria, where both have backed former President Bashar al-Assad.

Additionally, Russia has deployed Iranian-made drones and missiles in Ukraine, despite Tehran’s official denials.

One of the key components of the agreement is energy cooperation, Putin announcing that Russia is moving forward with plans to export natural gas to Iran, with projections reaching 55 billion cubic meters per year.

However, he acknowledged delays in Russia’s nuclear infrastructure projects in Iran, saying, "We have a major project in the nuclear power industry. One unit is already operational, and we are discussing the possibility of building additional units."

The strengthening of ties between Russia and Iran has accelerated in recent years, driven by mutual isolation stemming from Western sanctions – imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and on Iran for its nuclear program, support for regional armed groups, and human rights abuses – as well as a shared strategic interest in countering US influence in the region.

Both countries are also seeking ways to circumvent the sanctions, with recent discussions exploring the expansion of trade using national currencies and alternative financial mechanisms.

Analysts suggest that the timing of the ratification process may also be influenced by the return of Donald Trump to the White House.

According to a presidential decree released Wednesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko will serve as Putin’s official representative when presenting the treaty for consideration in the Russian Federal Assembly.

“The death of Mahsa Amini was not caused by physical assault, beating, or head trauma,” the Special Committee for Investigating the 2022 protests wrote in its latest report, adding that its findings “reaffirm the conclusion of the Legal Medicine Organization and that law enforcement officers, emergency responders, and hospital personnel acted without negligence.”

Mahsa Amini was a 22-year-old Iranian woman whose killing at the hands of Iran's morality police in 2022 sparked nationwide ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ protests.

The report, released on Wednesday, repeats the state’s long-held narrative that Amini died from an existing medical condition. According to the committee, she suffered from a hypothalamic-pituitary axis disorder from childhood and died of “multiple organ failure (MOF) resulting from cerebral hypoxia.”

The panel maintained that medical records and scans were reviewed, though none were made public or shared with Amini’s family or international investigators.

Independent experts and leaked CT images cited by Iran International contradict the official account. The scans, obtained by a hacker group, showed skull fractures and signs of cerebral trauma, which doctors said were consistent with a heavy blow to the head.

Foreign blame and media accusations

The committee categorized the 2022 unrest as a coordinated campaign to destabilize the Islamic Republic. It said that “hostile and subversive domestic elements, as well as a significant number of foreign agents… exploited the protest environment out of opposition to the Islamic Republic and with the intent to incite riots and overthrow the State.”

It cited an array of foreign actors—including the United States, Israel, and European governments—as allegedly instrumental in fueling the unrest, accusing them of organizing “riot cells, arming demonstrators, and disseminating propaganda” through platforms like Iran International, BBC Persian, and the VOA.

The Islamic Republic has openly threatened Iran International’s reporters for covering developments in Iran and amplifying the voices of the people and has plotted to assassinate several of the network’s staff.

It also said platforms like Instagram were used to spread instructions on making Molotov cocktails and encourage attacks on security forces.

With the start of the 2022 protests, the Islamic Republic once again resorted to its familiar tactics of suppressing nationwide demonstrations by cutting off internet access across the country and heavily censoring the flow of information.

Numerous reports showed that during the anti-government protests in various cities across Iran, internet connectivity was disrupted and text messaging services were shut down.

Disputed death toll

The committee reported 281 fatalities in the unrest: 90 individuals it classified as “rioters,” 54 security officers, and 112 civilians it said were killed under ambiguous circumstances. It acknowledged 6,308 injuries, 90% of them among security personnel, and estimated financial damages exceeding 20 trillion rials (about $20 million).

It denied any pattern of abuse in detention, saying, “No complaints have been reported to the Committee” regarding mistreatment, and maintained that “each of the ten individuals” executed in connection with the protests was convicted of premeditated murder.

The findings contradict documentation from Iran Human Rights, which recorded at least 551 protester deaths—including 68 children—and dozens of suspicious deaths in custody.

While defending the conduct of law enforcement, the report conceded that “in rare cases some officers acted beyond their legal duties” and said 621 judicial cases had been filed against personnel, mostly resulting in convictions, acquittals, or dismissals.

The Islamic Republic’s special committee rejected widespread reports of sexual assault and rape against protesters, saying that out of the 45 individuals said to have been victims, only the identities of five had been provided — and that these five had not filed any complaints regarding such abuse at the time of their detention.

Harrowing testimonies from Iranian dissidents across multiple provinces suggest a systematic and widespread weaponization of sexual violence by security forces to stifle protests in 2022, according to a year-long investigation by Iran International.

A section of the report said that if security forces had used live ammunition as per the allegations from rights groups, the protests would have been suppressed more easily, fewer officers would have been injured, and there would have been less damage to public property.

International scrutiny and domestic defiance

Despite broad international condemnation of its handling of the protests and the UN Human Rights Council’s mandate for an independent fact-finding mission, Iran continues to reject the work of the team.

“The Special Committee—despite not recognizing the legitimacy of the International Fact-Finding Mission—held two virtual meetings with them,” the report said, adding that documentation had been provided via unofficial channels.

The committee did not clarify whether it will publish the evidence cited in its findings or allow independent verification.

The report concluded by recommending structural reforms, expanded propaganda efforts abroad, and increased legal action against perceived foreign interference.

The complaint, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, outlines an alleged scheme between 2022 and 2024 to illicitly ship, store, and sell Iranian oil for the benefit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the IRGC-QF.

According to the Justice Department, facilitators used deceptive tactics to conceal the oil's Iranian origin, falsely labeling it as Malaysian.

The alleged scheme involved manipulating the tanker's Automatic Identification System (AIS) to conceal that the oil was loaded from an Iranian port.

Additionally, the facilitators are accused of presenting falsified documents to a storage and port facility in Croatia, claiming the oil was of Malaysian origin.

Storage fees in Croatia were reportedly paid in US dollars through US financial institutions, transactions that authorities believe would have been rejected had the institutions been aware of the oil's Iranian connection.

The petroleum product was ultimately sold in 2024, leading to the seizure of the $47 million in proceeds that are now subject to the forfeiture complaint.

The Justice Department further contends that the petroleum is the property of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), which it accuses of perpetuating a federal crime of terrorism by providing material support to the IRGC and IRGC-QF.

The complaint alleges that profits generated from such sales support the IRGC's "full range of malign activities," including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems, support for terrorism, and human rights abuses both within Iran and internationally.

The Justice Department noted that funds successfully forfeited that are linked to a state sponsor of terrorism may be directed, in whole or in part, to the US Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund.

The case is being investigated by the FBI's Minneapolis Field Office and Homeland Security Investigations in New York, with Assistant US Attorneys and a Trial Attorney from the National Security Division handling the litigation.

The Justice Department emphasized that a civil forfeiture complaint is merely an allegation, and the government bears the burden of proving forfeitability in the civil forfeiture proceeding.

In February, US President Donald Trump's signed a directive restoring the so-called maximum pressure policy on Iran of his first term aimed at driving the Islamic Republic's oil exports to zero.

Oil is critical for Iran's economy, accounting for around 15% of Iran's GDP and at least half of the government's budget, employing around a third of the country's 25 million workers.

Under the Biden administration, Iran's oil revenues surged due to weak sanctions enforcement. Trump has vowed to reverse it and bring the oil exports to zero, if Iran refuses to curtail its nuclear program.

Kamal Kharrazi, who heads Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations and previously served as foreign minister, said: “Recent US behavior is psychological warfare—alternating between threats and offers of negotiation,” he said, referring to what he described as conflicting remarks from American officials and media coverage of a message sent by US President Donald Trump to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, earlier this month.

According to a report by Axios, the message from the US was described as “tough,” with a two-month deadline to reach a new nuclear deal and a warning of consequences if Iran expanded its nuclear program.

But Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, offered a more conciliatory version, saying the letter proposed peaceful dialogue and trust-building.

“They've reached back out,” Witkoff said in an interview last week, referring to indirect Iranian responses via multiple channels. “Trump believes this has a real possibility of being solved diplomatically.”

Kharrazi said such gestures appear designed to pressure Iran into accepting unfavorable terms. “This is not real negotiation—it is an attempt to impose one side’s will through coercion,” he said, adding that Iran’s experience with past agreements has made it wary of US commitments.

His remarks come after Iran’s foreign minister said direct talks with the US are currently impossible without major policy shifts. Iranian officials have acknowledged ongoing indirect communication through intermediaries, including Oman and European nations.

Last year, Kharrazi said Iran had the technical capability to build nuclear weapons but was restrained by a religious decree banning them. He warned that an existential threat could prompt a change in military doctrine.