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Iranian Navy Reveals Cutting Edge Missile Boat as Regional Tensions Escalate
The Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a missile boat unveiled by the Iranian regime. Photo: Screenshot
Iran’s armed forces have showcased a new arsenal of deadly naval weaponry as fears of a regional conflagration pitting the State of Israel against the Tehran regime and its regional allies intensify.
The main vessel on display at an unveiling ceremony on Sunday in the port city of Bandar Abbas was a cutting edge missile corvette, described by industry outlet Defence Blog as a “futuristic missile boat equipped to accommodate various drones and speedboats.”
Named after Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi Islamist militia commander who was killed alongside Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a US airstrike in Jan. 2020, the new vessel was hailed by Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiria of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a “mobile maritime city ready to carry out ocean missions, ensuring the sustainable security of sea communication lines and providing aid to the commercial and fishing fleets of the Islamic Republic and regional countries.” The ship is equipped with a range of weapons, including anti-ship cruise missiles, 20mm Gatling guns, and surface-to-air (SAM) missiles.
Speaking at the ceremony, the IRGC’s commander, Gen. Hossein Salami, warned Iran’s adversaries that the Islamic Republic now possessed significant naval warfare capabilities.
The new hardware also includes 100 fast-attack crafts equipped to carry missiles with a range of over 100 miles.
In the three months since Hamas terrorists backed by Iran carried out a pogrom in southern Israel on Oct. 7 that took the lives of more than 1,200 people, the Iranian regime has doubled down on its goal of eliminating the Jewish state, with key regional allies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi rebels in Yemen respectively firing missiles at towns in northern Israel and targeting shipping in the Red Sea bound for Israeli ports.
At a ceremony on Sunday marking the anniversary of Soleimani’s assassination, Brig.-Gen. Iraj Masjedi of the IRGC pledged that the regime would support Hamas and other terrorist organizations until the “total elimination” of Israel was achieved.
Urging Palestinians to exact further “harsh revenge” against Israel, Masjedi said that Iran’s “enemies, the Americans and the Zionists, should know that the Islamic forces will not shy away from defending their rights and their lands against the Zionists.”
The post Iranian Navy Reveals Cutting Edge Missile Boat as Regional Tensions Escalate first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: IDF Probes Whether Houthis Used Iranian Cluster Bomb-Bearing Missile
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
i24 News – The Israeli military said Saturday it launched a probe into the failure of its defenses to fully intercept a missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi jihadists, parts of which struck not far from the Ben Gurion airport on Friday night.
According to the Ynet website, one of the hypotheses being examined is that the projectile contained cluster munitions, similar to those used by Iran to fire at Israeli cities during the 12-day war in June. Cluster munitions pose a challenge to interceptors as they disperse smaller explosives over a wide area.
In June, Iran fired several missiles carrying scattered small bombs with the aim of increasing civilian casualties.
The IDF said on Saturday that its initial review suggests the ballistic missile from Yemen likely fragmented in mid-air. Five interceptors from various systems engaged with the missile, including THAAD, Arrow, David Sling & Iron Dome.
Authorities said that shrapnel impacted a house in the central Israeli moshav of Ginaton, yet no one was hurt, with the fragment landing in the house’s backyard.
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Iran Forces Kill Six Militants, IRNA Reports, Israel Link Seen
The Iranian flag is seen flying over a street in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 3, 2023. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iranian security forces shot dead six militants in a clash in southeastern Iran on Saturday, a day after armed rebels killed five police officers in the restive region, the official news agency IRNA reported.
IRNA said evidence showed the group was linked to Israel and may have been trained by Israel‘s Mossad spy agency. There was no immediate Israeli reaction to the allegation.
Another two members of the militant group were arrested, the report said. All but one of the militants were foreign, it added, without giving their nationality.
Iranian police said this month they had arrested as many as 21,000 suspects during the 12-day war with Israel in June.
Iran’s southeast has been the scene of sporadic clashes between security forces and armed groups, including Sunni militants and separatists who say they are fighting for greater rights and autonomy.
Tehran says some of them have ties to foreign powers and are involved in cross-border smuggling and insurgency.
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Benny Gantz Urges Time-Limited National Unity Government to Further Chances of Hostage Deal
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz attends his party’s meeting at the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz on Saturday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition politicians to form a temporary national unity government to further the chances of bringing home the hostages held in Gaza.
Addressing Netanyahu, Yair Lapid and Avigdor Liberman, Gantz said that the proposed government’s two supreme priorities would be the release of Israeli hostages held by the jihadists of Hamas and instituting universal conscription in Israel by ending the exemption from military service enjoyed by the ultra-Orthodox.
Upon attainment of the goals, the government would dissolve and call an election.
“The government’s term will begin with a hostage deal that brings everyone home,” Gantz said in a video address. “Within weeks, we will formulate an enlistment outline that would see our ultra-Orthodox brethren drafted to the military and ease the burden on those already serving. Finally, we will announce an agreed-upon election date in the spring of 2026 and pass a law to dissolve the Knesset [Israeli parliament] accordingly. This is what’s right for Israel.”