US Military Destroys Houthi Drone In Red Sea

In a meeting between the defense ministers of Iran and Syria Saturday, the Iranian official said his country is willing to “utilize its full capabilities” to help Syria strengthen its “defense and deterrence” against Israel and the United States.

Shortly after, the Syrian army announced that Israeli missiles had hit “several points” in southern Syria early Sunday local time, injuring one soldier and causing some “material damage”.

No more details were offered immediately, neither by Syria nor by Israel –which rarely comments on such events. Several local sources reported, however, that the targets had links with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and were located around the Syrian capital, Damascus.

Syrian opposition sources indicated Israel launched missiles from the Golan Heights targeting the Damascus countryside. Some reports spoke of large explosions lighting up the night sky.

Israel is known to launch frequent airstrikes inside Syria, often targeting IRGC-related sites or personnel. These airstrikes have intensified since October 7, when Hamas forces stormed Israeli territory bordering Gaza, killing more than a thousand civilians and soldiers.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has recorded 24 Israeli attacks inside Syria this year, killing more than 40, including members of Hezbollah and the IRGC.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have scaled back deployment of senior officers in Syria due to a spate of deadly Israeli strikes and were relying more on allied Shi'ite militia to preserve their sway there, Reuters reported in February.

The attacks early Sunday seem to have hit a weapons depot linked to Iran and a military airport, both in the outskirts of Damascus. SOHR has said that two Hezbollah bases in north-east Syria have been targeted.

It’s unclear if the timing has had anything to do with the meeting between the defense ministers of Iran and Syria Saturday –where the Iranian general warned Israel and America not to ‘intensify’ the ongoing crisis in the region.

Iran and its regional allies, identifying themselves as the Axis of Resistance, have been in a state of heightened military tension since last October, but have so far managed to avert a full-blown war, thanks also to the Biden administration’s reluctance to confront Iran.

The Israeli government, however, has been far more willing to launch direct attacks on Iranian interests, especially in Syria, where several IRGC officers were killed a few months ago. As a result, the regime in Tehran seems to have slowed the flow of its IRGC personnel into Syria.

The scale and significance of the latest attack is yet to be known. So is Iran’s response, if any. Recent history suggests that Iran prefers to let such attacks go unanswered, focusing instead on enabling and coordinating its allied groups to keep threatening US and Israeli interests.

Reports emerged Friday that senior Houthi and Hamas representatives held a rare meeting in Lebanon last week to discuss “expanding confrontations and encircling" Israel. Other Palestinian factions were also present at the meeting, according to AFP, including the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

The aim, AFP reports, was to find ways to “coordinate their actions of resistance" for the "next stage" of the war in Gaza. It is hard to imagine Iran –or IRGC’s Quds Force, to be more specific– not having played a leading role in this.

The clash, reported by Iranian media outlets citing the Sistan and Baluchestan Police Information Center, took place Friday afternoon.

The incident unfolded between police forces and occupants of a Peugeot vehicle in a village near Saravan county.

The fallen officer has been identified as Ali Kouchakzaie by the Baluch news website Halvash, which also highlighted the critical condition of one of the injured officers. No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Previously, Jaish al-Adl, a militant group advocating for enhanced rights and improved living conditions for the Baluch ethnic minority, has conducted numerous assaults on Iranian security forces in the province.

Domestic media outlets have refrained from publishing any updates regarding the arrest or casualties of the attackers.

The incident adds to the concerning trend of armed attacks targeting government forces in Sistan and Baluchestan, as well as violence by government forces in recent months. On Thursday, a young Baluch activist was killed by unknown assailants in another part of the province.

Prior incidents, such as the attack on a police station in the village of Shuru near Zahedan on January 25, and an armed assault on a checkpoint near Rask on January 10th, resulting in the death of at least one law enforcement officer, underscore the escalating violence in the region.

In addition to the main character, Sa’dollah Amirshaghaghi, three other people have also been detained in connection with the case, and six people are being sought, Yerlikaya wrote on X on Saturday.

Amirshaghaghi, aka Saeed Amiri, used someone else’s identity to stay in a hotel in Izmir and was arrested while preparing to flee abroad. Turkey’s interior minister also said that Amirshaghaghi was the head of an organized crime group that runs illegal Iranian betting and gambling sites. It is not yet clear whether he has been arrested at the request of Iranian officials.

The report further added that during the operation, $120,000, €80,000, 9 luxury watches, 15 companies worth $500,000, 10 cars, and partnership shares in 17 houses and buildings and 9 other companies were identified, discovered, and seized upon court order.

Amirshaghaghi’s name has been in the news for a long time after accusations by Iranian officials. In an interview with Iran International in September 2021, he had claimed that some people accuse him of running betting sites because they do not want the identities of the real administrators to be revealed. “I am sure that the operators of the betting sites are inside Iran,” he stressed.

"I'm not involved in politics, and I respect the Islamic Republic. However, I'm puzzled as to why I'm consistently portrayed as the central figure behind these sites," Amirshaghaghi told Iran International.

Betting is forbidden in Iran as it violates Islamic Sharia law. However, many Iranians argue that the network of betting sites is launched or at least supported by the Iranian government as these sites can freely use Iranian bank payment gateways for their transactions.

According to the Iranian media, those behind such websites reportedly employed Turkey-based Instagram influencers and celebrities such as Milad Hatami and Davoud Ghaffari, known as “Davoud Hazineh,” to lure Iranians into gambling over the past years. Both individuals have been arrested and deported to Iran.

Hatami was sentenced to death in October 2023 over such allegations as “corruption on earth” and “widespread promotion of corruption.”

The most famous figure linked to betting sites is Amirhossein Maqsoodlou, an Iranian rapper better known by his stage name “Tataloo.” Turkish authorities detained and extradited him to Iran in December.

Tataloo's alignment with the regime was evident when Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei praised one of his songs titled "Nuclear Energy." Khamenei described it as having a "good melody" and "good content," expressing satisfaction that it had unsettled the "enemy."

Although in custody in Iran, the latest news from Iranian officials indicated that he has written an apology, which can help his legal case.

Tataloo also backed Ibrahim Raisi’s failed campaign in Iran’s 2017 presidential elections.

In 2021, Mehr news agency, close to Iran’s hardliners, estimated the total turnout of the Persian gambling sites to be over 5,000 billion rials (around $200 million a year).

“Tell Iran that the next Houthi missile or drone launched at an American ship will result in the sinking of Iran’s spy ships that target our Navy,” Senator Sullivan (R-AK) wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden on Friday.

Pointing out that US attacks on Houthi targets have not deterred the Iran-backed US-designated group against attacking commercial ships, he argued that the only way to stop the Houthis’ assaults is letting Iran know that it would face direct consequences.

He referred to a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, citing General Eric Kurilla, the Commander of US Central Command, as saying that that recent US strikes on Iranian proxies in the region “sent a very strong deterrent message.”

Kurilla, however, said Iran was not deterred from assisting Houthi strikes on US military and civilian targets, emphasizing that “Iranian spy ships are providing the Houthis with targeting information to sink American ships and kill US sailors and Marines.”

“Yet, Iran is facing zero consequences for this collusion... They are not paying the cost,” he said.

“As General Kurilla also noted, however, 'deterrence is always temporary’ and Houthi terrorists in Yemen have not been as effectively deterred,” Sullivan said in his letter. “If we ever expect Tehran to call off its terrorist proxies and make deterrence more than a temporary respite, Iran must be made to pay a price.”

Last week, the Houthis struck a commercial vessel, killing three of its crew members. In a separate attack two days later, American forces also shot down 28 drones and missiles.

During the hearing, Sullivan suggested Kurilla could order attacks to sink Iranian vessels after such an event, even thoughno US or allied vessels were damaged. Kurilla said that Biden would have to issue an order for such an operation.

Sullivan asked the CENTCOM commander if he had recommended sinking Iranian ships to Biden. Kurilla answered, “I provide options ranging everything from cyber to kinetic and I also identify the risk of escalation and all of those options.”

“In fact, the Houthis grow bolder by the day,” Sullivan said in his letter.

On Thursday, Iran-backed Houthis vowed to expand their operations beyond the Red Sea to block “Israel-linked ships” sailing through the Indian Ocean towards the Cape of Good Hope. This is the route many commercial vessels have been forced to take in the past few months, since the Houthis, armed by Iranian missiles and drones, have effectively closed the more common, far shorter path between Asia and Europe through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.

"Were Iran to proceed with providing ballistic missiles or related technology to Russia, we are prepared to respond swiftly and in a coordinated manner including with new and significant measures against Iran," the G7 leaders said in a statement.

Iran has provided Russia with a large number of powerful surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, sources told Reuters last month, deepening the military cooperation between the two countries, which are both under US sanctions.

A senior US official told a small group of reporters on Friday that G7 nations are prepared to respond with severe new penalties that could include a ban on Iran Air flights to Europe if Iran proceeds with the transfer of close-range ballistic missiles to Russia. "Our message today is, if Iran proceeds with providing Russia with ballistic missiles, the response from the international community will be swift and severe," the official said.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said one option under consideration "would have the effect of ending flights from Iran Air, its flagship state-owned carrier, into Europe -- point being, this is not business as usual."

The G7 group of major Western democracies is currently chaired by Italy and also includes the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France and Canada.

The statement came as the European Union is also considering measures against Iran for arming Russia, Reuters reported this week.

UN Security Council restrictions on Iran's export of some missiles, drones and other technologies expired in October. However, the United States and European Union retained sanctions on Iran's ballistic missile program amid concerns over exports of weapons to its proxies in the Middle East and to Russia.

The United States has said Iran has already provided Russia with drones, guided aerial bombs and artillery ammunition that Moscow has used to attack Ukrainian targets.

(With reporting by Reuters)