The US, Iran and the Middle East

Analysts: Fire at Iran nuclear site hit centrifuge facility

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A fire and an explosion struck a centrifuge production plant above Iran’s underground Natanz nuclear enrichment facility early Thursday, analysts said, one of the most-tightly guarded sites in all of the Islamic Republic after earlier acts of sabotage there.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran sought to downplay the fire, calling it an “incident” that only affected an under-construction “industrial shed,” spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said. However, both Kamalvandi and Iranian nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi rushed after the fire to Natanz, a facility earlier targeted by the Stuxnet computer virus and built underground to withstand enemy airstrikes.

Iran says it has built underground missile cities along Gulf coastline

DUBAI (Reuters) - Tehran has built underground “missile cities” along the Gulf coastline, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy chief said on Sunday, warning of a “nightmare for Iran’s enemies”.

“Iran has established underground onshore and offshore missile cities all along the coasts of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that would be a nightmare for Iran’s enemies,” Rear Admiral Ali Reza Tangsiri told the Sobh-e Sadeq weekly.

Pompeo says U.S. seized Iranian weapons on way to Houthi rebels in Yemen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Wednesday that U.S. and partner forces seized a boat in June carrying Iranian weapons to Houthi rebels in Yemen as he renewed his call for the U.N. Security Council to extend an arms embargo on Iran...

The weapons, he said, included 200 rocket-propelled grenades, more than 1,700 assault rifles, 21 surface-to-air and land-attack missiles, several anti-tank missiles “and other advanced weapons and missiles...”

Lebanon's Hezbollah talks to government about Iran fuel idea

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The powerful Hezbollah group said on Tuesday it is in talks with the Lebanese government about the possibility of Iran supplying the country with refined oil products in exchange for Lebanese pounds.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, said a “calm discussion” was underway with the Beirut government over the idea that would ease the pressure on Beirut’s hard currency reserves...

Explosion reported in west Tehran, denied by officials

DUBAI (Reuters) - An explosion was heard in western Tehran on Friday, state broadcaster IRIB said, citing online reports that officials in that part of the city denied.

IRIB said power was cut in the area of the city suburbs where the blast occurred. It provided no further information about the cause of the blast or possible casualties...

Defying U.S., China and Iran Near Trade and Military Partnership

Iran and China have quietly drafted a sweeping economic and security partnership that would clear the way for billions of dollars of Chinese investments in energy and other sectors, undercutting the Trump administration’s efforts to isolate the Iranian government because of its nuclear and military ambitions.

The partnership, detailed in an 18-page proposed agreement obtained by The New York Times, would vastly expand Chinese presence in banking, telecommunications, ports, railways and dozens of other projects. In exchange, China would receive a regular — and, according to an Iranian official and an oil trader, heavily discounted — supply of Iranian oil over the next 25 years.

The document also describes deepening military cooperation, potentially giving China a foothold in a region that has been a strategic preoccupation of the United States for decades. It calls for joint training and exercises, joint research and weapons development and intelligence sharing — all to fight “the lopsided battle with terrorism, drug and human trafficking and cross-border crimes...”

Seven ships catch fire at Iran's Bushehr port

At least seven ships have caught fire at Iran’s Bushehr port, the Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday, in what appeared to be the latest in a series of fires and explosions around the country, some of which have hit sensitive sites.

No casualties have been reported, the agency said...

In Somalia, Iran Is Replicating Russia’s Afghan Strategy

Iran has established covert ties with the Somalia-based al-Shabab terrorist group well known for its attacks in the Horn of Africa. Following Russia’s playbook in Afghanistan and the surrounding regions, Tehran is allegedly using al-Shabab to attack the U.S. military and other foreign forces in Somalia and in the region, according to senior Somali government and security officials familiar with intelligence and briefed on the matter.

Using financial inducements as their means for recruitment, Iran has a proxy network in Somalia and uses facilitators to provide support to violent extremist organizations to counter the influence of the United States and Persian Gulf states, including using Somalia to funnel weapons to Houthi rebels in Yemen and to transit weapons to other countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan, Mozambique, and Central African Republic...

Iraq PM, on Tehran visit, says won't allow threats to Iran from Iraqi soil

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said on a visit to Tehran on Tuesday that Iraq would not allow any threat to Iran coming from its territory...

“Iraq is a country that won’t allow any aggression or challenge to Iran from its territory,” said Kadhimi...

Syria says Israel strikes southern Damascus, sources say Iranian bases hit

AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian air defenses on Monday intercepted a new Israeli “aggression” above the capital Damascus, state media said, in the latest wave of attacks that Western intelligence sources have said were Israeli strikes on a major Iranian-backed ammunition depot on the edge of the capital...

Syrian military defectors said the strike targeted a major Iranian-run ammunitions depot in Jabal al Mane near the town of Kiswa, where Iranian Revolutionary Guards have long been entrenched in a rugged area almost 15 km (9.3 miles) south of the center of Damascus. Other strikes hit Muqaylabiya and Zakiya towns near Kiswa where Lebanese pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia are deployed with other pro-Tehran militias in strength, according to two senior army defectors...