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US Issues Further Sanctions on Iran, Targets Drones

Drones are seen at a site at an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on April 20, 2023. Photo: Iranian Army/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

The United States on Thursday issued further sanctions on Iran, targeting Iranian drones, including their use by Russia in the war in Ukraine, as Washington seeks to ratchet up pressure on Tehran.

The US Treasury Department in a statement said the action, taken in coordination with the United Kingdom and Canada, targets over one dozen entities, individuals, and vessels it accused of playing a key role in facilitating and financing the clandestine sale of Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles to Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).

MODAFL in turn supports Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a US-designated terrorist organization, and Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Treasury said.

“Iran’s Ministry of Defense continues to destabilize the region and world with its support to Russia’s war in Ukraine, unprecedented attack on Israel, and proliferation of UAVs and other dangerous military hardware to terrorist proxies,” Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, said.

Washington also targeted two companies and a vessel involved in the shipment of Iranian commodities, the Treasury said.

“The United States, in close coordination with our British and Canadian partners, will continue to use all means available to combat those who would finance Iran’s destabilizing activities,” Nelson said.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Treasury said it targeted Sahara Thunder, accusing it of being a main front company that oversees MODAFL’s commercial activities in support of the IRGC and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

It said the company plays a key role in Iran’s design, development, manufacture, and sale of thousands of drones, many of them ultimately transferred to Russia for use against Ukraine.

As of 2022, Russian officials were negotiating a deal for Sahara Thunder to deliver and produce thousands of drones per year at a facility in Russia under US sanctions, the Treasury said.

Sahara Thunder’s leadership and shipping network, which the Treasury said the company relied on for the sale and shipment of Iranian commodities on behalf of MODAFL to jurisdictions including China, Russia, and Venezuela, were also targeted.

An Iran-based company involved in the procurement and development of unmanned aerial vehicles, its leadership, and an Iranian cargo airline were also among those hit with sanctions.

The US earlier this month had warned it would impose further sanctions on Iran following its unprecedented attack on Israel.

Washington has since taken measures, including targeting Iran’s drone program, steel industry, and cyber actors.

Iran this month launched more than 300 drones and missiles against Israel, its first direct attack on the country, in retaliation for a suspected Israeli air strike on its embassy compound in Damascus on April 11 that killed IRGC officers.

The post US Issues Further Sanctions on Iran, Targets Drones first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israeli Official: Reports of a Deal to Be Unveiled on Saturday Are Premature

Israeli troops on the ground in Gaza. Photo: IDF via Reuters

i24 News – An Israeli official speaking to i24NEWS on the condition of anonymity on Saturday sought to rebuff reports that a ceasefire and hostage deal could be announced in the coming hours.

Even allowing that an agreement on the framework of the deal is in place, there are still many details to thrash out, including the names of the prisoners to be released, which has yet been discussed at this stage, the official told i24NEWS.

Certainly no agreement is expected on Saturday, seeing as the head of the Mossad, Dedi Barnea, has not traveled to Cairo today.

As for US assurances regarding the end of the war, the source said these are promises made by the Americans to Hamas, and it is only theirs. Israel will maintain a military presence in Gaza, the official underscored, “because the Israeli public will not accept a different reality.”

The post Israeli Official: Reports of a Deal to Be Unveiled on Saturday Are Premature first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Pro-Palestinian Group Demands California University Cut Ties With Jewish Community Organizations

Illustrative: Students Supporting Israel and Reservists on Duty protests the SJP National Conference at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities / Source: SSI

i24 News – Extremist campus group Students for Justice for Palestine issued a demand for UC Santa Cruz to boycott both Israeli and Jewish community organizations, a move described by Jewish groups and student and blatantly antisemitic.

SJP demanded that the university “Cut ties UC wide with all zionist [sic] organizations — including study abroad programs, fellowships, seminars, research collaborations and universities. Cut ties with the Hellen Diller foundation, Koret foundation, Israel Institute and Hillel International.”

US campuses have been roiled for weeks by anti-Israel and pro-Hamas encampment and riots, including scenes of violence at UCLA and other top universities, where anti-Israeli rhetoric has consistently glided over into antisemitism.

However, this latest demand is noteworthy in its apparent lack of interest in the usual fig leaves of anti-Israeli activism.

“Three of the four organizations cited in the academic boycott demand by encampment activists at UCSC are Jewish charities and communal groups,” the Bay Area Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) said in response.

“They are pillars of the Jewish community. This isn’t just about opposing Israel’s Gaza actions but seems aimed at Jewish institutions, revealing underlying antisemitism.”

The post Pro-Palestinian Group Demands California University Cut Ties With Jewish Community Organizations first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Hamas-Linked Gunmen Rob Bank of Palestine of $70 million – Report

Palestinian fighters from the armed wing of Hamas take part in a military parade to mark the anniversary of the 2014 war with Israel, near the border in the central Gaza Strip, July 19, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

i24 News – Palestinian gunmen belonging to several Gazan groups and gangs robbed the Bank of Palestine of some $70 million, French media reported Saturday.

The robbery, carried out in several installments, targeted several branches of the bank on several days, according to Le Monde.

The bank’s biggest Gaza branch was attacked by commandos saying they answered to “Gaza’s highest authorities,” understood to mean Hamas.

Days earlier, the staff of another branch discovered a hole in the ceiling of the safe deposit room and found that some $3 million worth of Israeli shekels set aside for ATM machines were missing.

The post Hamas-Linked Gunmen Rob Bank of Palestine of $70 million – Report first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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