Monday marked the two-year anniversary of the day a US missile sent Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani to meet his Maker – and not the Maker he was expecting to see. The US has been expecting retaliation against its troops, and the Iranians did not disappoint. Rocket and drone attacks have been launched over the past several days against the American forces base at the Omar oil field in Syria, the Ein al-Assad base in Iraq, and the Baghdad International Airport. Most of the weapons were shot down, and those that weren’t caused little damage. Writing was found on two of the damaged drones, with one saying “Soleimani’s Revenge” and the other “Revenge Operations of the Commanders”.
More than just revenge for Suleimani, the Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria promise more attacks against the US for reneging on its departure from Iraq. After another UAV strike on the Ein al-Assad base and an attack on an American logistics convoy last night, a spokesman for the Sayyid al-Shuhada militia, Sheikh Kasem Al-Fartousi, promised greater quality and quantity of attacks as time goes on. This is the same UAV-skilled militia that features so prominently in Operation Joktan.
Unfortunately, it was a rare good week for Tehran. Iran launched three new satellites into orbit for research purposes as part of their burgeoning space program. Under pressure from the US and the West, Egypt canceled its deal to buy SU-35 fighter jets from Russia. Iran was quick to jump in and is expected to negotiate a deal to scoop up these technologically-passé planes for their own antiquated air force. Finally, as evidence of the cyber threat that I wrote about last week, Iranian hackers broke into the servers of the online version of The Jerusalem Post and the Twitter account of news outlet Maariv and posted a picture of a missile hitting Israel’s Dimona nuclear site with the grammatically awkward caption “We are close to you where you don’t think about it.”
An Emirati ship bound for Saudi Arabia from an island off Yemen was seized by Houthi rebels. The Saudis, declaring it an act of piracy, protested saying that the ship was carrying materials from a disused military hospital. But the Houthis posted video of Saudi coalition military equipment from on-board. This action could be considered the one Houthi “success” in a week that has seen the Saudi coalition destroying rebel warehouses filled with Iranian UAVs, the shooting down of their suicide drones, and other airstrikes aimed at their military infrastructure.
The Lebanese currency hit a historic low of 30,000 to the dollar on Tuesday. Responsibility for the free-fall can be laid at the feet of the terrorist group Hezbollah, which has so ingrained itself into Lebanon’s government. There was an encouraging moment that same day when Hezbollah’s secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, with no apparent self-awareness, accused King Salman of Saudi Arabia of being a terrorist. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati was quick to counter the statement saying it served no purpose and was contrary to Lebanon’s position. It’s good for a change to see the government dissenting from the true terrorists.
Lebanese Hezbollah has not just been busy destroying their own country. They and the IRGC are building a facility at Aldimas military airport northwest of Damascus for storing UAVs and strategic weapons. Military equipment from other parts of the country is being brought to this location and two Iranian Air Force cargo planes have landed in Syria since the start of the year.
Hamas celebrated the New Year by launching two rockets at Israel. Both landed out in the Mediterranean, and the terror group was quick to blame the attack on bad weather. You can hear much more about it on my Breaking News update from January 1. Later that night, the Israeli Defense Forces hit back with airstrikes directed at a rocket-making facility, while tanks bombarded border outposts. The IDF was also busy yesterday when it targeted a number of Hezbollah observation posts near the Golan Heights in a ground attack.
The nation of Israel mourned the loss this week of two Air Force helicopter pilots. LTC Erez Sachyani, 38, and Maj. Chen Fogel, 27, were killed during a routine mission.
Despite the resignation of the entire government, Kazakhstan continues to burn as rioters battle police and military. Dozens of protesters have been killed in the violence, as well as 13 security forces. Initially the protests began against rising fuel prices, but they have since expanded to the need for much wider government reform. Earlier today, Russia sent paratroopers in to help quell the uprising.
