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An Iraqi court Sunday issued a death sentence against the alleged killer of prominent Iraqi security analyst Hisham al-Hashimi, nearly three years after his assassination.

A criminal court sentenced police officer Ahmed Hamdawi al-Kinani to death for the analysts killing after convicting him of a terrorism charge, according to a statement from Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council. A video of al-Kinani appearing to confess to his purported involvement in the crime was released shortly after his arrest two years ago, but many say he had the backing of armed groups.

A relative of al-Hashimis said the family was pleased with the verdict but said those who ordered the assassination should be brought to justice in addition to those who carried it out.

Until now, we have not learned who is backing the killer of Hisham al-Hashimi and who gave the orders to execute, they said, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to fear of armed groups.

The family expressed concern over Sundays sentence being pardoned or commuted at the Court of Cassation, which the case has been referred to.

Al-Hashimi, 47, was gunned down in July 2020 in front of his home in Baghdad by two attackers on a motorcycle after receiving threats from Iran-backed militias. His killing was captured on surveillance footage and sent a chilling effect through the nation already experiencing a climate of fear amongst activists who accused the government of failing to reign in the powerful armed groups.

A regular commentator on television, al-Hashimi become well-known in Iraq and abroad as an expert on the inner workings of the Islamic State group and advised the U.S.-led coalition during its years of long battle with the extremists.

Following the territorial defeat of the Islamic State in December 2017, he became an outspoken voice criticizing the growing influence of some of the Iran-backed militias that helped to defeat IS.

Al-Kinani identified himself as a police officer with the rank of first lieutenant in the Interior Ministry in the video aired on state media in 2021. Shortly after his arrest, two security officials speaking on the condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that he was connected to a militia group but did not specify which one.

His purported confession did not acknowledge any links to armed groups.

After Sundays ruling, the case will be referred to the Court of Cassation, which is a judicial body that considers the ruling.

Many government and security personnel have links to the rival powerful militias that have varying degrees of incorporation into the Iraqi state. For this reason, successive governments have been criticized for allowing them to operate with impunity.

The killings of activists and other critical voices became pervasive in Iraq during a crackdown on a mass protest movement that erupted in 2019, with many blaming Iran-backed militias. Al-Hashimi had reportedly received multiple threats from such groups in the period before his death.

See the article here:
Iraqi Officer Convicted of Killing Critic of Iran-Backed Militia - Voice of America - VOA News

The deputy commander of Irans Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) has issued a veiled warning to the US Navy days after it seized an Iranian oil tanker.

Ali Fadavi said if America and its allies pose a threat to Iranian vessels the Islamic Republic will be hard on them.

Speaking on Sunday, he said that all the enemies admit that the power of the Islamic Revolution has defeated them, and they do not dare to pose a threat when Iran is concerned.

His commentscome as sources told Reuters last weekthat the US confiscated an Iranian oil tankerat sea in a sanctions enforcement operation.

Iran seized another oil-laden tanker in retaliation on Thursday, at least five days after the US Navy seizure, according to maritime security firm Ambrey.

Well-placed sources who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter said Washington took control of the oil cargo aboard the Marshall Islands tanker Suez Rajan after securing an earlier court order. The tanker's last reported position was near southern Africa on April 22, ship tracking data showed.

The US Navy said Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker in the Gulf of Oman on April 27.

In the latest escalation in a series of attacks on commercial vessels since 2019, Iran seized a second oil tanker on Wednesday in Persian Gulf waters.

However, TankersTrackers.com said the seizure of the Panama-flagged vessel Niovi was entirely staged, given the tankers history of receiving Iranian oil during the sanctions era as well as being currently empty of cargo.

In 2020, Washington confiscated four cargoes of Iranian fuel aboard foreign ships that were bound for Venezuela and transferred them with the help of undisclosed foreign partners onto two other ships which then sailed to the US.

See more here:
IRGC Commander Warns US Against Posing Threat To Iranian Vessels -

Iran has executed two people who had been sentenced to death for blasphemy, showed Irans judiciary website Mizan Monday.

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The execution of Yousef Mehrdad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare was carried out for crimes including blasphemy, insulting the religion of Islam, the prophet and other sanctities, the website showed.

First published on: 08-05-2023 at 10:27 IST

Continued here:
Iran hangs two men for blasphemy, says report - The Indian Express

BySam Dagher

(Bloomberg) The US is trying to convince Middle East allies to add dozens more robot vessels around the Arabian Peninsula to better detect threats from countries like Iran, a move to protect waterways vital to global commerce and oil trade.

The US, which leads two international maritime coalitions out of Bahrain, wants to have more than 100 unmanned surface vehicles sometimes called robots at sea in operation by the end of the summer,Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, who commands the coalitions and the Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet, said in an interview. An initial target of 50 was met in February and the technology delivers a cost-effective and efficient way of deepening US partnerships, he said.

The plan is being carried out as Iran,emboldened by a China-brokered deal to re-establish relations with US ally Saudi Arabia,seized a seciond tanker in less than a week. The US Navy released footage of boats it said were owned by Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps swarming the Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi as it sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and Oman.

In addition to Iran, the US is concerned about Chinas efforts to expand military and security ties with Gulf Arab states, who have historically relied on the US for defense needs. China, the largest trading partner for most of those countries and the top buyer of crude oil from the region, already has a naval base in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.

Its only logical China would want military bases in the Middle East to be closer to the action, saidJohn Schaus, a defense expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

In March, China held joint naval drills with Iran and Russia in the Gulf Oman.

You cant compare a rudimentary exercise to the broad sophisticated integration with large partners that we are leading here, said Cooper, referring to those drills. He described a US-led maritime exercise earlier this year as the largest in the region, involving 42 countries, 7,000 people, 35 ships and 30 USVs. It also included amockpatient transfer in a USV.

In an operations room at the Bahrain naval base packed with screens and computers, Captain Colin Corridan, commander ofTask Force 59which is responsible for deploying the new USVs, said a lot of the footage and information collected from the sea robots is synthesized by artificial intelligence to ease the burden on humans. The USVs are made by Canadian, Israeli and US companies, among others, and cost from $800,000 to $3 million. They range in size from slow-moving solar-powered buoys to large unmanned speed boats.

They are just eyes on the water constantly sending signals, said Corridan.

At an outdoor hangar displaying some of the USV models, Lieutenant Commander Jorge Lens from the Spanish navy and a member of Corridans task force says some unmanned vessels can stay out for months without the need to refuel and resupply the record is 220 days in the Red Sea.

Julie Angus, co-founder of CanadasOpen Ocean Roboticswhich manufactures USVs, was among those who traveled to Bahrain in November to take part in anaval exercise. She has alsotouted the autonomous vessels potential in the field of marine conservation.

So far only Bahrain and Kuwait have publicly announced plans to buy USVs, according to Commander Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for US and coalition naval forces in Bahrain. The Iran tanker seizures are precisely why the more enhanced visibility provided by USVs is critical to regional security and stability, he said in emailed comments.

Bilal Saab, director of theDefense and Security Programat the Washington-based Middle East Institute, warned the US faces an uphill battle convincing Gulf Arab states, who typically take large and expensive military gear, of the utility of these vessels. That said, USVs are exempt from the lengthyForeign Military Salesprocess that Gulf countries often complain about.

Its mind-boggling, your entire economy and national survival depends on your export of oil yet you do not have the maritime capabilities to secure your waters, they have always relied on us, said Saab.

The US military including the Navy must also contend with the narrative that its attention is turning away from the Middle East and Gulf Arab states have to think of security alternatives including potential alliances with China and Russia.

Bahrains Undersecretary for Political AffairsAbdulla bin Ahmed al Khalifasaid that while his own country is committed to its partnership, certain regional states are frustrated with the human-rights conditions often attached to US military sales. This is making them look elsewhere.

Its an open market, he said in an interview.

With assistance fromJulius DomoneyandPaul Richardson.

2023Bloomberg L.P.

Link:
US Planning More 'Robots at Sea' In Middle East To Combat Iran - gCaptain

Ever since a French diplomat and developer, Ferdinand de Lesseps, sliced the Suez canal through Egypt in 1869, linking east and west, many Middle Eastern countries have tried to follow suit. Israel has recently broached cutting a canal from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, or a rail link from its port at Haifa via Jordan and on to the Gulf. A former Iraqi transport minister tirelessly promotes a scheme to carve a canal from Iraqs southern port of Basra all the way to Turkey. The most serious venture, though, is a Russo-Iranian one to link the Caspian sea to the Indian Ocean.

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After decades of feasibility studies, a joint fear of isolation by Western powers is driving Russia and Iran to build a sanctions-proof corridor. Since the West tightened sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine, the ostracised pair have opened a roundabout rail-link via Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Russia is upgrading its own ports with Iranian investment. An Iranian shipping company on the Caspian is boosting Irans fleet of freighters. Russia is helping build a 164km railway through Iran to its border with Azerbaijan on the Caspian shore. Once this is complete it will provide a sanctions-defying rail link that runs from the Baltic down to Bandar Abbas on Irans Persian Gulf.

Annual Russian-Iranian trade has already leapt by 20% in a year to nearly $5bn, says Emil Avdaliani, a Georgian think-tanker. Russian pundits predict that trade with Iran could surpass that with Turkey, worth $30bn. Last month Russia supplied refined oils (petrol and diesel) to Iran by rail, some of it for transporting onward. It recently shipped 12m tonnes of grain through Iran to India. Other projects include upgrading Russias canals between the Don and Volga rivers that link the Black Sea to the Caspian. Another rail link, to Irans south-eastern port of Chabahar, could speed up Russian exports to India even more.

Russia once shied away from investing in Iranian infrastructure for fear of Western sanctions. But the war in Ukraine has made it cast such caution aside. It has encouraged Iran to send it military drones for hammering Ukraine. Last year Russia was Irans biggest foreign investor, far ahead of China. To evade Western sanctions, the pair have unveiled a finance-messaging system as an alternative to SWIFT. And both countries voice simultaneous grandiloquence in challenging a wicked world order.

Continued here:
Russia and Iran are upgrading their transport links - The Economist