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CENTCOM Chief in Mideast to Mobilize Against Iranian Attack

Illustrative: File photo: A F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, Red Sea, February 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

JNS.org – Gen. Erik Kurilla, commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), arrived in the Middle East on Saturday amid sky-high tensions as Israel prepares for an imminent attack by Iran and its terrorist proxies.

The trip by the general in charge of American forces in the region was already planned. However, in light of Tehran’s pledge to retaliate for the targeted killing of Hamas terrorist leader Ismail Haniyeh on its soil on July 31, his visit will focus on building a multilateral defensive alliance similar to the one that fended off the vast majority of the more than 300 missiles and explosive drones Iran fired at the Jewish state in mid-April.

Hezbollah, Iran’s Lebanese terror proxy, has separately vowed revenge for the targeted killing of senior member Fuad Shukr in Beirut on July 30.

Israel took responsibility for the Shukr killing, which occurred after Hezbollah murdered 12 children on a soccer field in the Druze Golan town of Majdal Shams on July 27. Jerusalem has not commented on the Haniyeh hit.

Kurilla is expected to visit several Gulf states, Jordan and Israel. Amman is an important stop because King Abdullah II played a pivotal role during the April 13 onslaught.

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi will visit Tehran on Sunday to discuss the security escalation in the Middle East following the Haniyeh assassination, the Qatari newspaper Al-Arabi Al-Jadid reported.

US increases defense posture in the region

Meanwhile, the Pentagon said on Friday that the US is boosting its defense posture in the Middle East in preparation for an expected attack against Israel by Iran and its terror proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “has ordered adjustments to US military posture designed to improve US force protection, to increase support for the defense of Israel, and to ensure the United States is prepared to respond to various contingencies,” the Pentagon statement from deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said.

Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group. In addition, destroyers and cruisers capable of ballistic missile defense will be sent to the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East.

“The secretary has also ordered the deployment of an additional fighter squadron to the Middle East, reinforcing our defensive air support capability,” said Singh.

CENTCOM forces destroy Houthi missile and launcher

CENTCOM reported on Saturday that its forces had destroyed a missile and launcher of Iran’s Yemen proxy the Houthis in an area of Yemen controlled by the terrorist group.

“It was determined these weapons presented an imminent threat to US and coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region. These actions were taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure,” CENTCOM said.

Iran planning larger attack

The Houthis could join the Iranian attack along with Tehran’s other regional terror proxies, with US officials expecting an attack “potentially larger in scope” than in April.

Three US and Israeli officials who talked to Axios reporter Barak Ravid said they expect Iran to attack Israel as early as Monday.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered a direct attack on Israel following the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran, The New York Times reported on July 31.

Iranian officials said that the drones and missiles would aim for “military targets in the vicinity of Tel Aviv and Haifa, but would make a point of avoiding strikes on civilian targets,” the Times reported.

However, Tehran said on Saturday that it expects Hezbollah to expand its scope beyond just military targets.

“We expect … Hezbollah to choose more targets and [strike] deeper in its response,” Iran’s mission to the United Nations said, as quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

“Secondly, that it will not limit its response to military targets.”

Report: Mossad hired Iranian agents to kill Haniyeh

Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency hired Iranian agents to plant explosive devices in the room where Haniyeh was staying in Tehran for the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to Iranian sources who spoke to British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

According to the report, the original plan was to kill Haniyeh in May when he visited Tehran for the funerals of Iran’s President Ibraham Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, who died in a helicopter crash on May 19. However, that plan was postponed after a large crowd gathered in the building where Haniyeh was staying.

Instead, the Mossad hired two Iranian agents who planted explosives in three rooms where Haniyeh was expected to stay at an IRGC guesthouse in the north of the capital, according to the report.

The agents, who were captured on CCTV entering and leaving the room, immediately fled the country, but left behind a source in Iran, according to the Telegraph. The regime in Tehran arrested dozens of suspects in connection with Haniyeh’s death, the Times reported on Saturday, including senior intelligence officers, military officials, and staff workers at the guesthouse.

“They are now certain that Mossad hired agents from the Ansar al-Mahdi protection unit,” an IRGC official told the Telegraph from Tehran, referring to the IRGC unit responsible for protecting high-ranking officials.

A second IRGC official told the Telegraph that “this is a humiliation for Iran and a huge security breach.”

“It’s still a question for everyone how it happened, I can’t make sense of it. There must be something higher up in the hierarchy that no one knows about,” the second official said.

“There is now an internal blame game taking over the IRGC, with different sectors accusing each other of the failure,” the first official said, adding that Quds Force commander Esmail Ghaani has been summoning people for questioning, arrests and possible execution.

“The breach has humiliated everyone,” said the IRGC official. “The supreme leader has summoned all the commanders several times over the past two days, he wants answers. For him, addressing the security breach is now more important than seeking revenge,” he added.

The post CENTCOM Chief in Mideast to Mobilize Against Iranian Attack first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’

Zohran Mamdani Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

In a warning sign for the campaign of Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani, a majority of city voters in a new poll say the candidate’s hardline anti-Israel stance makes them less likely to vote for him.

In the survey of likely city voters conducted by American Pulse, 52.5 percent said Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” coupled with his backing of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement made them less likely to vote for him in November. Just 31% of city voters polled were more likely to support him because of these positions.

At the same time, a significant share of young New York City voters support Mamdani’s anti-Israel positioning, a striking sign of shifting generational views on Israel and the Palestinian cause.

Nearly half  of voters aged 18 to 44 (46 percent) said the State Assembly member’s backing for BDS and “refusal to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’” made them more likely to support him.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist from Queens, has been under fire for defending “globalize the intifada,” a slogan many Jewish groups associate with incitement to violence against Israel and Jews. While critics argue it glorifies terrorism, supporters claim it’s a call for international solidarity with oppressed peoples, especially Palestinians. Mamdani has also voiced support for BDS, a movement widely condemned by mainstream Jewish organizations as antisemitic for singling out Israel.

The generational divide exposed by the poll comes amid a broader political realignment. Younger progressives across the country are increasingly critical of Israeli policies, especially in the wake of the Gaza war, and more receptive to Palestinian activism. But to many Jewish leaders, Mamdani’s rising support is alarming.

Rabbi David Wolpe, visiting scholar at Harvard University, condemned the phrase with a sarcastic analogy.

“‘Globalize the intifada’ is just a political slogan,” he said. “Like ‘The cockroaches must be exterminated’ was just a housing authority slogan in Rwanda.”

Jewish organizations have reported a surge in antisemitic incidents in New York and across the U.S. since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last fall. The blending of anti-Zionist slogans with calls for “intifada,” historically linked to violent uprisings, has deepened fears among Jewish communities that traditional red lines are being crossed.

Whether this emerging coalition reshapes New York politics remains to be seen. However, the poll indicates that among younger voters, views that were once considered fringe are quickly moving into the mainstream.

The post New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events

A Jewish gay pride flag. Photo: Twitter.

The research division of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) released a report on Wednesday detailing incidents of hate against Jews which took place last month during demonstrations in celebration of LGBTQ rights and identity.

Incidents reported by the group include:

  • At a Pride march in Wales, the activists Cymru Queers for Palestine chose to block the path and show a sign that said “Profiting from genocide,” an attempt to link the event’s sponsors — such as Amazon — to the war in Gaza.
  • A Dublin Pride march saw the participation of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which labeled Israel a “genocidal entity.”
  • In Toronto at a late June Pride march, demonstrators again attacked organizers with a sign declaring, “Pride partners with genocide.”

CAM also identified a recurring narrative deployed against Israel by some far-left activists: so-called “pinkwashing,” a term which the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement calls “an Israeli government propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQIA+ rights to project a progressive image while concealing Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies oppressing Palestinians.”

The report notes that at a Washington DC Pride event in early June Medea Benjamin, cofounder of activist group Code Pink and a regular of anti-war protests, wore a pair of goofy, oversized sunglasses and a shirt in her signature pink with the phrase “you can’t pinkwash genocide.”

Other incidents CAM recorded showed the injection of anti-Israel sentiment into Pride events.

A musical group canceled a performance at an interfaith service in Brooklyn, claiming the hosting synagogue had a “public alignment with pro-Israel political positions.” In San Francisco before the yearly Trans March, a Palestine group said in its announcement of its participation, “Stop the war on Iran and the genocide of Palestine, stop the war on immigrants and attacks on trans people.”

CAM notes that this “queers for Palestine” sentiment is not new, pointing to a 2017 event wherein “organizers of the Chicago Dyke March infamously removed participants who were waving a Pride flag adorned with a Star of David on the grounds that the symbol ‘made people feel unsafe.’”

In February, the Israel Defense Forces shared with the New York Post documents it had recovered demonstrating that Hamas had tortured and executed members it suspected of homosexuality and other moral offenses in conflict with Islamist ideology.

Amit Benjamin, who is gay and a first sergeant major in the IDF, said during a visit to New York City for Pride month that “All the ‘queers for Gaza’ need to open their eyes. Hamas kills gays … kills lesbians … queers cannot exist in Gaza.”

The post Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo

The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.

Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.

Iran’s parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.

“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said on X.

Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.

Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied it provided diplomatic cover for military action.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

“[Grossi] reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible,” the IAEA said.

The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tonnes of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.

That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, but Western powers say there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing the atom bomb.

As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which normally is closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries’ declarations. But the bombing of Iran’s facilities has now muddied the waters.

“We cannot afford that … the inspection regime is interrupted,” Grossi told a press conference in Vienna last week.

The post IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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