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Israel fears that Iran could seek to attack Israelis abroad to avenge a senior Iranian military commander who was assassinated in Tehran, and is set to issue recommendations against travel to some destinations that border the Islamic Republic, Channel 12 News reported Thursday.

The concerns came in the wake of leaks tying Israel to the slaying of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Colonel Sayyad Khodai who was killed on Sunday by a gunman on the back of a motorcycle as he sat in his car outside his home. The New York Times cited sources as saying Israel told the US it had carried out the hit.

Israel fears the developments will increase Irans motivation to strike Israelis abroad.

Senior government and defense establishment figures held a series of consultation meetings in recent days on the matter and will apparently make a decision soon to reiterate travel advisories against traveling to countries neighboring Iran, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, and possibly Turkey.

The government doesnt intend to issue travel warnings, but rather to stress existing instructions to be cautious, the report said.

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An Israeli official told the station there are currently no specific intelligence warnings of attacks. However, the source said that Israelis would be advised to be particularly cautious when visiting Azerbaijan and to avoid visiting the UAE or Bahrain unless it is essential due to the presence of terror infrastructures in those countries.

Illustrative image: A demonstrator holds an anti-Israeli placard at a pro-Palestinians gathering in Tehran, Iran, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

According to the report, Israel was surprised at the leak which is believed to have come from a US source.

There were lots of phone calls today between Israel and the US over the leak, the report said, noting that the two sides have now put the incident behind them.

However, the director-general of Israels Foreign Ministry said the US must provide answers regarding the New York Times report.

I leave the explanations for our talks with the Americans, Alon Ushpiz told the Kan public broadcaster.

MK Ram Ben Barak, who heads the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said during an interview Thursday morning on Israels 103FM radio station that the incident mainly harms trust.

We have very many close relationships and a lot of cooperation which is all dependent on trust, and when it is violated in some way then it damages future cooperation, he added. I hope the Americans investigate the leak and figure out where it came from and why it occurred.

The Revolutionary Guards denounced Khodais killing as a terrorist act, blaming it on elements of global arrogance in reference to the US and its allies, including Israel.

The son of Irans Revolutionary Guard Col. Hassan Sayyad Khodaei mourns over his flag-draped coffin during his funeral ceremony in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, May 24, 2022. (AP/Vahid Salemi)

The spokesman for the joint chiefs of staff of the Iranian armed forces, General Abolfazl Shekarchi, said on Monday that an investigation had been opened into the circumstances surrounding Khodais murder.

An unnamed intelligence official told The New York Times on Wednesday that Israeli officials had passed along information about the killing of Khodaei, who was shot dead outside his Tehran home on Sunday.

The report did not specify which country the intelligence official represented, but according to Ynet, the Israeli security establishment believes the source was American and is furious about the leak. Israeli officials told the Hebrew news site that they are demanding answers from their American counterparts, as the New York Times report places responsibility for the killing solely on Israel and absolves the US of having played any role.

According to the Times report, Israeli officials claimed Khodaei was deputy head of the so-called Unit 840, a shadowy division within the IRGCs expeditionary Quds Force that carries out kidnappings and assassinations of figures outside of Iran, including against Israelis. Khodaei was specifically in charge of Unit 840s Middle East operations, but he had been involved in attempted terror attacks against Israelis, Europeans, and American civilians and government officials in Colombia, Kenya, Ethiopia, the UAE and Cyprus, in the last two years alone.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that among the targets Khodaei was planning to kill, was French Jewish philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy.

French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy arrives at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, on May 21, 2019 for a meeting with the French President and other authors and philosophers who signed the tribune Europe at risk. (Ludovic Marin / AFP)

His killing was meant to warn Iran that the group should stop its activities, the intelligence official quoted by the Times said.

Israel has made no official comments on the incident and has reportedly raised the security alert level at its embassies and consulates around the world, fearing a retaliatory Iranian attack.

Khodaeis assassination was the most high-profile killing inside Iran since the November 2020 killing of top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

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Excerpt from:
Israel said to fear Iran will target Israelis abroad in bid to avenge slain officer - The Times of Israel

Iran's state TV is reporting that a senior member of the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard has been killed outside his home in Tehran by gunmen on a motorbike

ByThe Associated Press

May 22, 2022, 6:45 PM

2 min read

TEHRAN, Iran -- A senior member of Irans powerful Revolutionary Guard was killed outside his home in Tehran on Sunday by unidentified gunmen on a motorbike, state TV reported.

Although the Guard gave only scant detail about the attack that occurred in broad daylight in the heart of Iran's capital, the group blamed the killing on global arrogance, typically code for the United States and Israel.

That accusation, as well as the style of the brazen killing, raised the possibility of a link with other motorbike slayings previously attributed to Israel in Iran, such as those targeting the country's nuclear scientists. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The two assailants shot Col. Hassan Sayyad Khodaei five times in his unarmored Iranian-made Kia Pride, state media said, right off a highly secure street home to Iran's parliament.

Reports identified Khodaei only as a defender of the shrine, a reference to Iranians who fight against the extremist Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq within the Guards elite Quds force that oversees foreign operations.

Little information was publicly available about Khodaei, as Quds officers tend to be shadowy figures carrying out secretive military missions supporting Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, and other militias in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere.

The Tehran prosecutor arrived at the crime scene within hours of the killing to investigate and demanded police urgently arrest the perpetrators. The probes speed suggested Khodaei's prominence in the murky structure of the Guards overseas operations.

Those operations have come under repeated Israeli air attack in Syria. An Israeli strike near the Syrian capital of Damascus killed two Guard members in March, prompting Iran to retaliate by firing a missile barrage into northern Iraq.

Security forces were pursuing the suspected assailants, state TV reported, without offering further details or giving a motive for the killing.

Around the same time, state-run media said the Revolutionary Guard's security forces had uncovered and arrested members of an Israeli intelligence network operating in the country, without elaborating on whether they had any connection to Khodaei's slaying.

See original here:
Iran Revolutionary Guard colonel is shot dead in Tehran

Unidentified gunmen on a motorbike have killed a senior member of Irans powerful Revolutionary Guard outside his home in Tehran.

The corps gave only scant detail about the killing, which occurred in broad daylight in the heart of the Iranian capital, but blamed it on global arrogance typically code for the US and Israel.

The accusation and the style of the attack raised the possibility of a link with other motorbike killings previously attributed to Israel, such as those targeting the countrys nuclear scientists.

Two assailants shot Col Hassan Sayad Khodayari five times in his unarmoured Iranian-made vehicle just off a highly secure street that is home to Irans parliament, state media said.

Reports identified Khodayari only as a defender of the shrine, a reference to fighters against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq from the Revolutionary Guards elite Quds force that oversees foreign operations.

Little information was publicly available about Khodayari, but Quds officers tend to carry out secretive military missions supporting Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group and political party, and militias in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere.

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The Tehran prosecutor arrived at the crime scene within hours to investigate and demanded police urgently arrest the perpetrators. The speed of the developments suggests Khodayari may have been a prominent Quds figure.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. State TV reported that security forces were pursuing the suspected assailants without offering further details or giving a motive for the killing.

State-run media also said around the same time that the Revolutionary Guards security forces had uncovered and arrested members of an Israeli intelligence network operating in the country.

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Iran: Revolutionary Guard colonel killed by motorbike gunmen in Tehran ...

It could be make or break time for the Iran nuclear deal.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was the Obama administrations top foreign policy achievement. It led to dramatic reductions in Irans ability to enrich uranium in return for the U.S. and its allies lifting nuclear-related sanctions that were crippling Irans economy.

Under Trump, the U.S. designated an elite Iranian military unit as a foreign terrorist organization. That led to extreme sanctions against individuals and agencies connected to this group.

Former President Donald Trump abrogated the agreement just over four years ago. The Biden administrations talks with Iran to revive the deal have since progressed impressively, but now they have stalled again.

The problem lies with one of the many new sanctions Trump imposed against Iran during his last days in office that have nothing to do with Irans nuclear program or the JCPOA.

Under Trump, the U.S. designated an elite Iranian military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as a foreign terrorist organization. That led to extreme sanctions against individuals and agencies connected to this group.

The designation was explicitly designed by Trump to serve as a poison pill that would make it politically much harder for the U.S. to rejoin the deal, since it would require lifting sanctions against a so-called terrorist organization.

Unfortunately, the ploy seems to have worked.

The Senate recently approved a nonbinding GOP-backed measure pressuring the Biden administration not to de-list the Revolutionary Guard, even though getting back to the agreement will be almost impossible without delisting. Diplomats on all sides are working to overcome this obstacle, but time is running short.

Trumps blatantly political move has made the United States, the region and the world less safe.

During the period that the JCPOA was in effect, all sides agreed that Iran was in full compliance with its requirements. But still it faced devastating new sanctions from the Trump administration.

While Iran has gradually enriched uranium to higher levels since Trump abrogated the deal, it has made no attempt to acquire nuclear weapons. Returning to the JCPOA is the best way to prevent this from happening.

Israel is the regions only current nuclear weapons state. But others including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Turkey (which already has U.S. nuclear weapons on its soil as part of NATOs nuclear sharing) could end up joining the nuclear club if Iran does.

To repeat, Iran has, to date, not moved toward acquiring nuclear weapons. But its people continue to endure punishing economic sanctions, with the poorest and most vulnerable always the hardest hit.

A renewed JCPOA provides a way to avoid the threat of war initiated by one of Irans regional rivals, or even the United States that would arise should Iran at some point move toward nuclear capability. It might also serve as the basis for future negotiations with Iran on broader military and regional issues, and even set the stage for beginning negotiations towards global nuclear disarmament.

Negotiations over restoring the JCPOA are ongoing, and a resolution could come soon. A separate agreement between Iran and the UN's nuclear watchdog agency, allowing UN inspection of Irans nuclear sites, is scheduled to expire around June 6. That gives sharp urgency to getting the U.S. team to the table.

Theres still time to undo Trumps reckless abandonment of diplomacy. The last thing the world needs is another regional arms race, or another war.

This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives, which is run by The Progressive magazine and distributed by Tribune News Service.

See the rest here:
Reseal the Deal with Iran - Progressive.org - Progressive.org

DUBAI, May 23 (Reuters) - Iran and Oman have agreed to form a committee to jointly develop the Hengam oilfield, which straddles both countries' sea border, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported its oil minister Javad Owji as saying on Monday.

In 2005, both countries signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop the Hengam oil field but the agreement did not materialise and Iran decided to develop the field independently in 2012.

"As the first basis of my talks with Omani Oil Minister Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Rumhi, it was agreed to form a joint technical committee to develop the next phases of the Hengam oil field in a seamless manner between Iran and Oman," Owji said.

"Joint exploitation, in contrast to competitive exploitation, will be mutually beneficial to both countries as this method leads to less damage to the reservoir and allows for more extraction," the oil minister added.

Last week, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported that Owji had agreed to revive a long-stalled project to lay an undersea pipeline to carry gas to Oman. read more

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Original post:
Iran and Oman agree to jointly develop shared oilfield, Fars reports - Reuters