Israeli Strike Kills Top Hezbollah Commander On Lebanese Border

Mohsen Saravani, a 24-year-old law student, was accused of collecting classified information through government officials and sharing it with a Mossad agent. He was arrested in March 2022 and the execution took place mid-December after Saravani confessed under torture to espionage activities.

"This person communicated with foreign services, specifically Mossad, collecting classified information, and with participation with associates, provided documents to foreign services, including the Mossad," state media said after the execution without naming him, itself unusual. Usually, the regime makes loud examples of such cases, such as that involving Alireza Akbari. The British-Iranian dual national, a former member of the Iranian government, was executed a year ago, accused of spying in a very public display of outrage.

But this time, mystery surrounded the execution, which is one of hundreds raining down on Iran since the Women, Life, Freedom protests erupted in September 2022. IRNA said 'the accused' had handed classified information to a "Mossad officer" with the aim of "propaganda for groups and organizations opposed to the Islamic Republic". 

The execution, which took place in a Zahedan jail in Sistan-Baluchestan province, came a day after Baluch militants attacked a police station in the province, killing 11 security personnel and wounding several others. The impoverished Sistan-Baluchestan province, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan, has long been the scene of frequent clashes between security forces and Sunni militants.

Saravani's alleged collaboration with Mossad dates back to 2021, according to the Ministry of Intelligence. 

Since the age of 18, the young IRGC-Basij member served as an adviser to Ali Osat Hashemi, the former governor of Sistan-Baluchestan province. He also had close ties with the next governor Danial Mahboubi and Ali-Asghar Mirshekar, the deputy for security affairs of the governor’s office. Saravani’s photos alongside high-ranking officials, including the supreme leader’s chief personal aide Vahid Haghanian, suggested he was very close to Ali Khamenei’s inner circle. Saravani introduced himself as a representative of Zahedan’s prosecutor general to exert influence over provincial offices.

Mandana Zanganeh Soroush, a former economic deputy in the governor’s office, was accused of providing Saravani with thousands of classified documents. Zanganeh Soroush later transferred to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, where Saravani approached her for information gathering there too. Images of chat history obtained by Iran International suggest an emotional and sexual relationship between Zanganeh Soroush and Saravani. Zanganeh Soroush, previously sentenced to eight years, had her sentence reduced to one year on appeal.

Saravani is just one of the many people whom Iran has executed over charges of espionage for Israel. Late in December, Iran executed four men in West Azarbaijan province arrested a year earlier for “collaborating with Israel” and allegedly involved in acts of sabotage, the Judiciary said. The accused were tried in secrecy and except for a brief announcement about their alleged crimes, no other details were released. Human rights monitoring groups say that the convicted prisoners had appealed their death sentence, but authorities ignored the legal process and carried out the death sentences. 

The executions occurred shortly after the reported killing of Razi Mousavi, a senior Revolutionary Guards commander, in an attack attributed to Israel in the Zainabiyya neighborhood of Damascus, Syria. Some observers interpret the executions as potential retaliation by the Islamic Republic for the killing of Razi Mousavi. Mousavi played a crucial role in logistics and support for the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards, being one of the six senior commanders instrumental in the survival of Bashar al-Assad's regime and the consolidation of Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Iran has accused Israel of carrying out several attacks on facilities linked to its nuclear program and of killing its nuclear scientists over the years. In August, Iran accused Israel of being behind "one of the largest sabotage plots" targeting its defense industry and the production of missiles. In July, the intelligence ministry said it had arrested a network of agents working for Israel before they were able to carry out sabotage in sensitive locations. In January 2021, Israel said it had broken up an Iranian spy ring that recruited Israeli women via Facebook to photograph sensitive sites. In April 2021, Tehran blamed an act of "nuclear terrorism" for a disruption of power at its Natanz uranium enrichment facility in the desert in the central province of Esfahan (Isfahan).

It’s unclear what the proof was of Iranian involvement in manufacturing and operating of the missiles, although a photo has been presented along with the announcement, which Israel army says is a cruise missile produced by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Iran has never denied its support for Hamas and other armed groups in the region, providing funds, training, weapons and knowhow. But until now, Hezbollah in Lebanon has been widely believed to be the only group to have received precision-guided missiles (or the required technology to make it in-house).

The revelation about Hamas comes only a day after the Israeli army announced it had dismantled Hamas’s “military framework” in northern Gaza, and was now focusing on central and southern Gaza.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said that the onslaught on Gaza will continue until Hamas is “eliminated.” On Sunday, he told his war cabinet that “the war must not be stopped until we complete all of its goals.”

Netanyahu critics say his military ambitions may be driven by political interests. TheWashington Post on Sunday quoted an unnamed US official as saying “Netanyahu’s political career will end with it, incentivizing him to broaden the conflict.”

This could mean, above all, a possible war with Hezbollah in Lebanon –which is Iran’s most powerful ally and has frequently targeted Israel during the three months since October 7th.

The Lebanese Shiite militant group launched a barrage of rockets towards Israel early Saturday in response to the killing of a senior Hamas official in Beirut Last week. Shortly after, Israel hit several Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon.

Many –including the Biden administration– fear that the regular exchange of fire at the Israeli-Lebanese border would lead to an all-out war, especially since Netanyahu has spoken of a “fundamental change” to address the border fighting with Hezbollah.

The situation seems to be worrying enough for President Joe Biden to have sent his Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on yet another tour of the Middle East to try and prevent any widening of the ongoing conflict, which has killed more than a thousand in Israel and twenty times more in Gaza.

“We have an intense focus on preventing this conflict from spreading,” Blinken said in a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah.

Even more concerned than the US seems to be the European Union.

On Saturday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said it is “absolutely necessary” that Israel’s onslaught in Gaza does not drag Lebanon into a regional war.

“I am sending this message to Israel, too,” Borrell said after a meeting with the Lebanese foreign ministers, “I think that the war can be prevented, has to be avoided and diplomacy can prevail.”

Iran is also part of that conversation –behind the scenes, perhaps, with the Biden administration but publicly and openly with EU countries.

“I called Iranian Minister A Abdollahian and gave him a very clear message,” French foreign minister Catherine Colonna posted on X Saturday, “the risk of regional conflagration has never been so significant; Iran and its associates must immediately stop their destabilizing actions. No one would gain from escalation.”

The message, which also circulated on social media, warned Nasrallah against involving Lebanon in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. It stated, "In the name of God and the people, Beirut International Airport is not the airport of Hezbollah and Iran.

"To Hassan Nasrallah, you will not find supporters if you afflict Lebanon with war, and you will bear responsibility for it and its consequences. To Hezbollah, we will not fight a war on behalf of anyone else. You destroyed our port and now you want to destroy our airport by allowing weapons in. Let the airport be freed from international control."

Responsibility for the hack was claimed by a group opposing Hezbollah. An anonymous airport employee revealed that those involved in the internal breach, named as George Matta and two others, have been apprehended by security services.

The hack, executed through the Rafic Hariri International Airport’s intranet, impacted screens at check-in desks, arrivals and departures areas, as well as shopping area monitors. Normal functionality has since been reportedly restored to the screens.

It followed the warning of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah who spoke of repercussions for northern Israel if the Gaza war extended to the Israeli-Lebanese border. Iran-backed Lebanese proxy Hezbollah has been escalating its attacks on northern Israel while Israel's defence minister said this weekend that the country seeks a political solution.

Additionally, Nasrallah pledged revenge for the killing of deputy Hamas chief Saleh Al-Arouri in an Israeli airstrike on January 2 in Beirut, the first such killing abroad since the war broke out on October 7.

In the wake of the deadly explosions that targeted a memorial ceremony for slain Revolutionary Guard commander Qasem Soleimani at his grave, the Islamic Republic authorities are in hot water over the intelligence lapses and security failures that led to the incident, claimed by ISIS.

Trying to mend their blemished reputation, senior officials claim that they have arrested tens of people and foiled several other bombing attempts planned for the day, which saw the biggest terror attack since the Islamic Republic was founded in 1979. The blasts were described as "two suicide explosions" that killed about 90 people and injured over 200 others.

Head of the Armed Forces' Judicial Organization in Kerman, Ali Tavakkoli, claimed that over 64 bombs were discovered nationwide, intended to detonate during the fourth anniversary of the death of Soleimani, the former commander of IRGC’s extraterritorial force who is seen as the architect of Iran’s network of proxy militias and was killed by a US drone in 2020. 

Claiming that they had intel on enemy threats, Tavakkoli said that “16 explosive devices” designed to target the gathering at the cemetery were neutralized in Kerman prior to the January 3 attack. 

Echoing the clams, Mehdi Bakhshi, the prosecutor of Kerman, said that each of the 16 bombs discovered in Kerman province had a greater explosive power than the vests worn by suicide bombers in the twin blasts.

Bakhshi also claimed that, in recent months, 32 people, including 23 ISIS members related to the explosions, have been detained. He did not elaborate on how the individuals already in custody were involved in the attack. Additionally, he stated that two other suicide bombers who had planned to attack the funeral procession of the blast victims were also arrested. 

Meanwhile, the public relations office of Sarallah of Kerman, IRGC’s regional headquarters in charge of the security of the city, rejected reports of “neutralizing any bombs in recent days” in a statement on Sunday, labeling the reports as “rumors and fabrications.” It did not specify if the report about 16 discovered bombs mentioned by authorities is true or false. 

Bakhshi said that based on a series of on-site inspections and meetings with various security entities, including the Intelligence, IRGC, law enforcement, and army, “there has been no negligence” on the part of those responsible for the security of the event. “Our inherent duty is to address any deficiencies or negligence... We have no bias, and our approach is impartial, but as of now, we have not encountered any such findings."

However, critical voices are growing in Iran calling for punishment of senior authorities responsible for the security of the event. Jomhouri-e Eslami, a conservative Iranian newspaper, published an editorial Sunday saying that “security and intelligence officials must be accountable for every incident that occurs.” 

“Certainly, it is not the case that a crime as significant as the terrorist incident in Kerman occurs, and no one is found to be negligent or at fault,” said the daily, noting that one of the country's problems is that no one is held responsible for such incidents. “As soon as a major incident happens, officials start chanting slogans and delivering speeches aimed at directing all attention towards the enemy... Security is not ensured through speeches."

Former lawmaker Mohammad-Javad Haghshenas said Sunday that "There is no doubt about the negligence on the part of the Interior Ministry and security authorities in Kerman province,” calling on both the administration and the parliament to take punitive actions including impeachment. 

The failure that led to the Kerman attack has laid bare serious gaps in the country’s intelligence apparatus, which has intensified measures to silence any critical voice that defies the regime’s narrative of the incident. 

In addition to arresting dozens of people who discussed the incident online in recent days, Iran has also launched a targeted campaign on X (formerly Twitter), with cyber agents revealing the identities of anonymous dissident users and threatening them against sharing their thoughts about Soleimani’s bloody legacy for Iranians, who question how many more casualties the commander would cause even after his death. During Soleimani’s burial procession in 2020, about 60 people were crushed to death in a stampede. A few days later, the IRGC shot down Ukraine's flight PS752, killing 176 people onboard, as it was expecting retaliation for firing more than a dozen missiles at Iraqi bases hosting US troops to avenge Soleimani’s killing. 

Iran’s cyber police report that more than 500 people have been summoned to court over their online posts about the incident. Generally, questioning the efficacy of the security and intelligence services that had not seen the attack coming is not allowed and suggesting that the authorities were aware of the threats beforehand is also prohibited.

Generally, no one is allowed to question the efficacy of the security and intelligence services, nor can one suggest the authorities were aware of the threats beforehand.

The absence of high-ranking officials and the Soleimani family at the ceremony remains the elephant in the room and nobody dare describe the attendants of the memorial as supporters of “a terrorist” -- as labeled by former US president Donald Trump who ordered his killing. 

But questions now surround the atrocity which has left Iran with serious demands for answers.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claim the injured were identified as non-Syrian militia members affiliated with Iran, and were hospitalized. 

The attack took place on the road between Al-Ghabra city and Al-Hamdan Airport in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor after the truck crossed the Iraqi-Syrian border.

It follows action taken by Jordan on Friday, when airstrikes were launched on warehouses and hideouts linked to Iran-associated drug and weapons smuggling networks in Syria.

Jordanian officials, like Western allies, attribute the rise in smuggling activities to the influence of Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group and other pro-Iranian militias in southern Syria.

UN experts, along with US and European officials, contend that the illicit drug trade is financing pro-Iranian militias and paramilitary forces, a consequence of more than a decade of conflict in Syria.