While the eyes of the world continue to focus on Russia and Ukraine, Iran has increased their own campaign of mayhem. Despite the embarrassing desperation of the U.S. to get a new nuclear deal signed – even going so far as to consider removing the vicious Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from their list of terrorist organizations – not every country is falling into Tehran’s trap. On Tuesday, a tri-lateral summit was held between Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. At this first of its kind meeting, the leaders discussed ramifications of the eastern Europe conflict, but also focused on the dangers surrounding the Iran deal. For these three men to gather together, it gives every indication that something big is going to happen very soon.
Iran may have gotten a taste of what is to come when a huge explosion rocked the Kermanshah region, registering as a 4.1 earthquake on the Richter scale. As usual, Iran is keeping quiet about what happened. This is the same area where Israel bombed an IRGC base destroying hundreds of drones. The recent Iranian missile attack in Erbil was the response.
Not only is Iran progressing in their nuclear program, the Israeli ambassador to the UN warned the body that Tehran continues to expand their network of proxy terror militias. They are particularly focused on explosive drones and precision-guided missiles.
There is speculation that as the Islamic regime in Tehran is watching what Putin is doing in Ukraine, they are starting to put their eyes on the Kurdish regions to their northwest with thoughts of moving in. They also may feel that they now have the power to begin influencing the Gulf States and Azerbaijan to start backing away from Israel.
As an example of the continuing impact Iran is making with their support of terror militias, over the weekend the Houthi rebels carried out three strikes against Saudi Arabia in just two days. Their targets were gas, power, and water facilities. Since the onset of the Yemeni Civil War in 2014, this conflict has turned into the world’s number one humanitarian disaster.
The inevitable has happened and Afghanistan’s tri-color flag is now gone. The only flag allowed in all offices is the white flag of the Islamic Emirate.
Europe has started to get jittery when it comes to energy. Boris Johnson reached out to the Saudis for an increase in oil production, but he was rebuffed. Germany had greater success with Qatar, signing a natural gas deal that will help them wean off of Russia’s supply.
Russia keeps upping their game when it comes to armaments, using newer and more powerful weapons. The threat of battlefield nuclear weapons remains. I don’t believe it will come to that, but it is certainly not out of the realm of possibility.
Belarus appears to be preparing for a possible offensive against Ukraine. They are also laying the groundwork for opening their borders to the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons.
The opposite is happening in Poland as they prepare for a possible invasion by Russia. On Friday, President Andrzej Duda signed a bill tripling the size of the country’s military from 100,000 troops to 300,000. There are several concerning signs. First, Russian TV is voicing threats, claiming that the Baltic states and Poland are behaving “too boldly” and discussing plans to bomb Poland. Second, Poland has discovered 45 Russian intelligence officers in the country and are trying to expel them, despite Russia promising payback if they are successful. Third, smoke from the Russian embassy in Warsaw caused everyone concern wondering if the diplomatic staff were inside burning documents as they did just prior to the invasion of Ukraine.
In a telling interview, U.S. Indo-Pacific commander Adm. John C. Aquilino warned that we need to keep our eyes on China. He said, “I think over the past 20 years we’ve witnessed the largest military buildup since World War II by the PRC [the People’s Republic of China]. They have advanced all their capabilities and that buildup of weaponization is destabilizing to the region.” In other China news, many watched in horror as a video circulated of a China Eastern Airlines 737 plunging nose first into the ground, killing all 133 passengers on board.
On Tuesday, a Bedouin terrorist killed four innocent Israelis and wounded two others in a vicious stabbing in Be’er Sheva. A bus driver who witnessed the attack shot the assailant dead. Meanwhile, the Palestinians in Gaza passed out cookies in celebration of the murders.
Also on Tuesday, the Israeli Air Force celebrated receiving the Tal Shamaim (Sky Dew), an elevated sensor and radar system. It is designed to detect a wide range of threats from a very high altitude. This will be a tremendous asset for keeping Israel’s skies safe.
In a crowd estimated between 350,000 and one million, ultra orthodox Jews took to the streets of Jerusalem on Sunday to mourn the passing of venerated Talmudic scholar Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky. Traffic was backed up for hours, and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even found himself trapped by the mass of mourners at Kanievsky’s home after he had stopped by to pay respects.
