RSS
IRGC, Hezbollah Commanders in Yemen to Direct Houthi Attacks
Newly recruited fighters who joined a Houthi military force intended to be sent to fight in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, march during a parade in Sanaa, Yemen, Dec. 2, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
i24 News – Regional and Iranian sources told Reuters about the extent of Iran’s involvement with the Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes, from supplying drones and missiles to providing know-how, data, intelligence and guidance.
According to the report, sources said commanders from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group were on the ground in Yemen to direct and oversee the attacks.
A senior regional source described the relationship to Reuters, “the political decision is in Tehran, the management is Hezbollah, and the location is the Houthis in Yemen.”
Another source, described as an Iranian insider, said “the Revolutionary Guards have been helping the Houthis with military training (on advanced weapons).”
“A group of Houthi fighters were in Iran last month and were trained in an IRGC base in central Iran to get familiar with the new technology and the use of missiles,” the second source explained, adding Iranian commanders had set up a command center in the Houthis capital Sanaa and was being run by a senior IRGC commander.
A clear presence of IRGC and Hezbollah operatives could be seen in Yemen, two former Yemeni army sources told Reuters, explaining their functions as supervising military operations, training and reassembling missiles that get smuggled in.
“They came and helped the Houthis and left, just as they did with Hezbollah and Hamas,” a leader within the coalition of pro-Iranian groups told Reuters, denying that the Iranian and Lebanese commanders were currently in Yemen.
The source went on to claim that the Houthis knew the terrain and already had the systems in place for attacking ships, including high-precision equipment from Iran.
“We don’t deny that we have a relationship with Iran and that we have benefited from the Iranian experience in training and military manufacturing and capabilities but the decision taken by Yemen is an independent one that has nothing to do with any other party,” Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters.
The post IRGC, Hezbollah Commanders in Yemen to Direct Houthi Attacks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
White House Withdraws Nomination for US Hostage Envoy
FILE PHOTO: Adam Boehler, the CEO of the US International Development Finance Corporation, addresses the daily coronavirus task force briefing in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, US, April 14, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
The Trump administration has withdrawn the nomination of Adam Boehler to serve as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, the White House said on Saturday.
Boehler, who has been working to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, will continue hostage-related work as a so-called “special government employee,” a position that would not need Senate confirmation.
“Adam Boehler will continue to serve President Trump as a special government employee focused on hostage negotiations,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
“Adam played a critical role in negotiating the return of Marc Fogel from Russia. He will continue this important work to bring wrongfully detained individuals around the world home.”
A White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Boehler withdrew his nomination to avoid divesting from his investment company. The move was unrelated to the controversy sparked by his discussions with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
“He still has the utmost confidence of President Trump,” said the official.
“This gives me the best ability to help Americans held abroad as well as work across agencies to achieve President Trump’s objectives,” Boehler told Reuters in a brief statement.
Boehler recently held direct meetings with Hamas on the release of hostages in Gaza. The discussions broke with a decades-old policy by Washington against negotiating with groups that the US brands as terrorist organizations.
The talks angered some Senate Republicans and some Israeli leaders. According to Axios, Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer expressed his displeasure to Boehler in a tense phone call last week.
Boehler was given permission from the Trump administration to engage directly with Hamas, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this week, calling the talks a “one-off situation” that had not borne fruit.
Boehler has been credited with helping secure the release of Fogel, a US schoolteacher who was freed by Russia in February after three and a half years in prison.
The post White House Withdraws Nomination for US Hostage Envoy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Bernard-Henri Lévy, German Officials Bow Out of Israeli Antisemitism Conference
French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy addressing the 38th Zionist Congress. Photo: Screenshot.
i24 News – A French intellectual superstar and a pair of German officials announced that they withdrew from a conference on antisemitism organized by the Israeli government, citing the participation of far-right figures in the Jerusalem event.
Iconic thinker Bernard-Henri Lévy, who was set to deliver the conference’s keynote address, opted out upon learning that Marion Marechal and Jordan Bardella from France’s far-right National Rally party were among the other speakers.
Felix Klein, the Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight Against Antisemitism, “has decided not to attend,” his representatives told Haaretz.
“He was unaware of the other attendees when he accepted the invitation, and upon learning who the other speakers were, he decided to withdraw.”
Volker Beck, a former Green Party parliamentarian who chairs the Germany-Israel Friendship Society (DIG) also announced he was cancelling his attendance. “If we associate ourselves with extreme right-wing forces, we discredit our common cause; it also goes against my personal convictions and will have a negative impact on our fight against antisemitism within our societies.”
The post Bernard-Henri Lévy, German Officials Bow Out of Israeli Antisemitism Conference first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
US Kicks Out South Africa’s Hamas-Linked Ambassador
Marco Rubio speaks after he is sworn in as Secretary of State by US Vice President JD Vance at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, Jan. 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
i24 News – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday designated the South African ambassador to Washington Ebrahim Rasool as a Persona Non Grata, branding Rasool a “race-bating politician.”
The decision comes after Rasool made the inflammatory allegation that Trump was “leading global white supremacist” movement.
A known supporter of the genocidal Palestinian group Hamas, Rasool even boasted that he owned a keffiyeh signed by late Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh.
South Africa filed a claim with the International Court of Justice, alleging that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza during its ongoing war against Hamas, a charge both Israel and the US regard as slanderous and antisemitic.
The post US Kicks Out South Africa’s Hamas-Linked Ambassador first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login