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Since the September 2022 death of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in police custody for wearing an "inappropriate" hijab, the slogan "woman, life, freedom" has become a rallying cry for Iranians protesting against extensive state violence and repression of civil liberties.

So, when the daughter-in-law of Iran's former monarch posted #zanzendegiazadi (the slogan in Persian) on Instagram over the image of a female Israeli soldier, it produced more than a few baffled reactions.

Yasmine Pahlavi posted the image on Tuesday while accompanying her husband Reza on his trip to Israel, where the son of the former Iranian shah met with numerous officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Reza Pahlavi has for many years sought to present himself as one of the main leaders of the Iranian opposition in exile, and since the beginning of the anti-government protests he has been a regular figure in international media and political circles.

However, many other opposition groups have been fiercely critical of him and his supporters, warning that Iranians would not accept removing the Islamic Republic only for a return to monarchy, citing the widespread human rights abuses and repression of dissent that occurred under his father, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.

Although Reza Pahlavi has called for a "secular, democratic" Iran to replace the Islamic Republic, both he and his wife have publicly defended his father's legacy.

Seamus Malekafzali, an Iranian-American freelance journalist who writes on Middle East issues, told Middle East Eye that it was grimly ironic to see the heirs to the Pahlavi dynasty using a slogan founded by the Kurdish leftists, which they crushed so ruthlessly, and applying it positively to the Israeli army.

"[It is ironic] that a slogan, which has found newfound popularity in Iran as a message not just against patriarchal impositions but against structural violence from the government, finds its way into a post supporting one of the most obvious and visible examples of structural violence from a government, the [Israeli army]," he said.

A number of commentators have also noted the irony of Yasmine Pahlavi using a phrase that originated with a Kurdish political movement linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) armed group in reference to an Israeli soldier.

During the early 1980s, many PKK fighters were based in Lebanon, where they received training from fellow Marxist-Leninists in the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), and other Palestinian armed groups.

In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon and the PKK aided Palestinian groups in fighting the Israeli army. At least 11 PKK fighters died during the conflict.

'Pahlavi's trip to Israel occurs as monarchists in the Iranian opposition increasingly butt heads with other factions'

- Matthew Petti, researcher

Matthew Petti, a Jordan-based researcher who has specialised in the Kurdish role in the Lebanese civil war, said associating the phrase with the Israeli army was bizarre considering it originated with a movement founded by "Kurdish exiles in Lebanon, where they were trained by Palestinian guerrillas and saw some of their first serious combat fighting against Israeli forces".

While the PKK itself was not formed until 1978 - during the dying days of the Pahlavi dynasty - the shah was a fierce opponent of Kurdish autonomy within Iran and regularly fought with other Kurdish separatist groups.

Perhaps the most prominent Kurdish opponent of the shah was the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDK-I), which supported the revolution that eventually ousted him.

The group has since become an opponent of the Islamic Republic, and its bases were targeted by Iranian air strikes during the anti-government protests.

During his visit to Israel, Reza Pahlavi visited the Western Wall Jewish holy site and was photographed wearing a kippah and praying.

He did not meet, however, with Palestinian representatives or officials of the Palestinian Authority during the trip.

The Pahlavi monarchy, which ruled Iran between 1925 and 1979, had been a close ally of Israel.

The Islamic Republic, formed following the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, has by contrast become Israel's archenemy and has regularly referenced the shah's alliance with Israel in its propaganda.

Petti said the trip appeared to be an attempt by Pahlavi to shore up support for the monarchist movement.

"Pahlavi's trip to Israel occurs as monarchists in the Iranian opposition increasingly butt heads with other factions, and as Saudi Arabia withdraws its support from the movement," he said, referring to Saudi Arabia's recent detente with Iran.

"It seems to be a gambit to portray Pahlavi as a leader who can secure renewed foreign support and make weighty decisions on the direction of the movement."

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Wife of Reza Pahlavi posts 'woman, life, freedom' over image of ... - Middle East Eye

(Bloomberg) -- The final wave of the Permian Basin oil boom is expected to add the equivalent of Irans total output to global production. That growth, however, will look more like a trickle than a gusher taking years to ramp up and underscoring OPEC+s grip on the market for now.

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Americas largest oil basin, covering swaths of West Texas and southeast New Mexico, will expand output by 40% until hitting its peak of 7.86 million barrels a day in 2030, according to a Bloomberg survey of four major forecasters. While that would be bigger than all OPEC nations except for Saudi Arabia, the outlook comes with a lot of caveats.

First, theres the slow pace of expansion: Theres no huge increase expected this year or next, so the Permian wont do much to ease the worlds current problems with energy-driven inflation.

Second, producers, who enjoyed record profits last year, have little incentive to quickly pump their remaining acreage because investors have consistently rewarded discipline. And third, shortages of everything from labor to steel pipes and drilling equipment will also restrain growth if and when companies decide to boost supplies. Lastly, while President Joe Biden has recently implored the industry to keep pushing output, his agenda also includes the fight against climate change, which means the political picture could easily swing against shale.

Public companies are making the conscious choice to limit capital spending for new wells in favor of boosting returns to shareholders, said Raoul LeBlanc, vice president for North American upstream oil and gas at S&P Global. Accelerating output despite a shortage of labor and equipment would be difficult and erode profitability, he said.

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The go-go days of shale growth turned a 4 million barrel-a-day system into a 12 million barrel a day system, but it lost a lot of money, he said. Now, theyre looking for payoff.

Slow growth in the Permian is likely to create problems for consumers. A surprise oil-production cut from OPEC+ earlier this month jolted global economies and effectively set a floor for crude prices. It also leaves the century-old field, famous for its pancaked layers of oil-soaked rock, with a new identity after leading the world in crude growth.

The Permians not dead, said Chet Sharma, a senior associate at Enverus. Its kind of entering the next phase of its growth, which is much smaller compared to the shale boom era.

Read more: Fracturing US-Saudi Oil Pact Adds to Feds Inflation Stress

Output in 2030

The surveyed forecasters S&P Global, Rystad Energy, Wood Mackenzie and Enverus on average expect the Permian to add 2.4 million barrels of daily output by 2030 from 2022 levels. Thats nearly equivalent to the total amount of production from Iran, the fifth-biggest member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies.

Once the Permian is past its 2030 peak, the basins decline will be slow. becoming a reliable pillar of global oil markets for decades. In 2035, Rystad and S&P Global see Permian production 1 million barrels a day higher than this years output. With this growth, US government forecasts show American production hovering between 12.3 million and 13.3 million barrels a day higher than Saudi Arabias record annual output in 2022 all the way out to 2050.

Other US oil regions like the Eagle Ford in south Texas and the Gulf of Mexico are stable or declining. So its up to the Permian to drive overall US production.

We have not seen yet peak production from Permian, Vicki Hollub, CEO for Occidental Petroleum Corp. said April 12 during Columbia Universitys Global Energy Summit in New York.

While other basins in the US may be plateauing, the Permian will continue to increase and will be able to overtime offset the declines from the other basins, she said.

--With assistance from Sheela Tobben.

(Updates with comment from analyst beginning in fifth paragraph.)

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Permians Slow Burn to Iran-Sized Growth Shows OPECs Grip - Yahoo Finance

TEHRAN- Hina Rabbani, Pakistans state minister for foreign affairs, has said the role of Iran and Pakistan are crucial to ensuring long-term peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Rabbani made the remarks in a meeting on Tuesday with Mohammad Ali Hosseini, the Iranian ambassador to Pakistan.

In reference to her visit with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on the heels of the fourth Foreign Ministerial Meeting of Afghanistans neighbors in Samarkand last week, Rabbani emphasized the crucial contributions that Pakistan and Iran make to regional stability, particularly when it comes to matters pertaining to Afghanistan.

Regarding the resumption of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Rabbani also said Pakistan warmly welcomes restoration of ties between Tehran and Riyadh.

The conversation between Pakistans state minister for foreign affairs and Ambassador Hosseini focused on the importance of building strong political, economic, and commercial connections between Islamabad and Tehran.

Hosseini stated that commerce between Iran and Pakistan has grown greatly in recent years and is projected to grow further by enhancing infrastructure at the two nations borders.

Hosseini and Rabbani discussed increasing Irans electricity exports to Pakistan as well as arranging the formal opening of the Pishin-Mand border market.

The discussion also covered ways to activate bilateral cooperation mechanism such the Political Advisory Committee, Joint Consular Commission, and Special Committee on Security.

The Iranian ambassador also met separately with Pakistans Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq. During the talks, the Pakistani officials stressed the significance of advancing high-level consultations between the two friendly and neighboring countries in order to deepen bilateral cooperation in a variety of areas.

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Islamabad calls Iran and Pakistan key players in Afghan peace ... - Tehran Times

The Pentagon now says 23 troops were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries from attacks by Iran-backed militants in Syria in March that killed an American contractor.

The military originally said last month that six service members had TBI following the attacks waged by an Iran-made drone and militant rockets, but acknowledged medical assessments were ongoing and more cases were possible.

The cases were diagnosed among troops at two locations in northeast Syria that were attacked. One additional service member and a contractor were also injured on the base in Hasakah and a facility known as Mission Support Site Conoco.

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"We make every effort to ensure we are providing the media and the public with timely, accurate information, so I apologize for any inconvenience," Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the top Pentagon spokesman, said in a released statement on Monday. "Our thoughts and prayers remain with those affected by this tragic loss of life and injury."

Ryder said on Monday that the Pentagon approached Central Command for updated figures on the injuries in the March attacks and were then provided the new numbers.

Eleven troops suffered TBI in the Iran-made drone strike on the base housing U.S. personnel in Hasakah, Syria, on March 23. Another 12 troops suffered TBI during an attack on Mission Support Site Conoco on March 24, according to the new figures.

There was also a follow-up, Iran-backed attack on March 24 on the Green Village outpost, though the newly updated Pentagon figures say there were no injuries in that attack.

At the time of the attacks, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a series of retaliatory air strikes that killed eight militants, raising concerns over potential escalation with Iran. Its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has backed strikes by militant groups on about 900 U.S. troops, and an unknown number of contractors, who are deployed in Syria.

Those deployed forces are focused on tracking down and eliminating members of the Islamic State, nearly a decade after the U.S. launched an air war against the terrorist group in Iraq and Syria.

On Monday, U.S. Central Command announced that a raid killed an ISIS senior leader and operational planner. The raid was launched following intelligence that the group planned to kidnap officials abroad.

But the few U.S. personnel who have remained in Syria and Iraq have at times been caught in Iran-sponsored violence as Tehran seeks to spread its influence in the region.

The U.S. initially denied any troops were injured in January 2020 when Iran struck Al Asad air base in Iraq with 15 ballistic missiles. Former President Donald Trump said some service members had reported "headaches" that were minor injuries.

Eventually, the Pentagon confirmed that 109 troops had been diagnosed with TBI.

The troops injured in the March attacks on Syria bases required medical treatment. The contractor was the only death reported by the Pentagon.

"One service member was medically evacuated to Landstuhl [Regional Medical Center in Germany] to receive treatment and two U.S. service members and the U.S. contractor are receiving medical treatment in Iraq," Ryder said on March 30.

-- Travis Tritten can be reached at travis.tritten@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @Travis_Tritten.

Related: At Least 6 Troops Diagnosed with Brain Injuries After Deadly Iran-Backed Strikes in Syria

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Nearly Two Dozen Troops Suffered Brain Injuries in Iran-backed Syria Strikes, Pentagon Now Says - Military.com

Brigadier General Hamid Vahedi made the remarks among the pilots and flight staff of the Air Force on Wednesday.

Referring to the Army National Day parades held on Tuesday, he said thatthe message of the parades was peace and friendship. "If the enemies make mistakes in their calculations against Iran, we will give them a hard and crushing response with all our strength."

The Army is a supporter of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Velayat-e faqih [guardianship of the Islamic jurist], he noted, adding that Army forces will defend the Establishment with all might.

The National Army Day, which is celebrated annually on April 18, was established by the founder and first Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, in 1979.

Four divisions of the Iranian Army, namely the Ground Force, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Air Defense, held military parades marking the National Army Day on Tuesday in the presence of President Ebrahim Raeisi in Tehran.

Iran Army units have unveiled a broad range of advanced gear such as homegrown missiles, tanks, armored vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles, radar systems and air defense missile systems.

Among the major achievements put on display during the parade was the Mohajer-6 drone, which is capable of carrying guided bombs and sophisticated surveillance equipment. It has already been used in combat by the Iranian Armed Forces.

Iranian military experts and technicians have in recent years made great headways in manufacturing a broad range of indigenous equipment, making the armed forces self-sufficient in the arms sphere.

Iran maintains that its military power poses no threat to the regional countries, saying that the Islamic Republics defense doctrine is entirely based on deterrence.

MNA/5758948

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Iran to respond crushingly in case of enemies' mistake - Mehr News Agency - English Version