Al-Golani’s defiance of Turkey leads to Syrian government control of Khan Sheikhoun

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai During the first week of this month of August, the ex-ISIS commander and current head of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra) Abu Mohammad al-Golani held a press conference in the occupied northern city of Idlib. He declared himself unconcerned by the ceasefire established in the course of […]

Iran’s dangerous deterrence policy: trading tankers- and another partial withdrawal from the JCPOA

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai The UK acknowledged its first defeat by Iran when it released the Iranian super tanker “Grace 1” captured by 30 Royal Navy commandos in the first week of July in response to a US request, as the Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell revealed. In response, Iran will release the British-flagged tanker […]

From 2006 to 2019: after failures in Syria, Iraq, Palestine and Yemen, war is no longer an option for Israel

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai During the summer war of 2006, Israel managed to destroy a large number of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile stocks. Most Hezbollah missile units were destroyed and, in the suburb of the capital Beirut, over 250 buildings (mainly but not exclusively hosting Hezbollah offices, warehouses and officers’ homes) were flattened by Israeli […]

Why did the UK commander of HM Montrose refrain from firing on the IRGC? Who in Iran gave orders to capture the “Stena Impero”?

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai The US officially asked Europe, in particular the UK, France, Germany and Italy, to provide a naval force to patrol and protect ships sailing in the Straits of Hormuz, even if the command and control is handled by the Europeans and not the US. Washington wants to drag the old continent into […]

Iran imposes its Rule of Engagement: “An eye for an eye”.

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai Iran has meticulously selected its political steps and military targets in recent months, both in the Gulf and the international arena. Its partial and gradual withdrawal – tactical yet lawful -from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the nuclear deal, is following a determined path. Its clear […]

Khamenei’s three commandments for the Iranians: the Middle East is heading towards “maximum danger”

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai The Middle East is heading for “maximum danger” following the “maximum pressure” imposed on Iran by US President Donald Trump who, unilaterally and unlawfully, withdrew over a year ago from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the nuclear agreement, and imposed harsh sanctions on Iran that Tehran considers a […]

What makes Iran strong enough to stand against a superpower like the USA?

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s the Islamic Republic of Iran deployed the slogan “Karbala, Karbala we are coming” ( كربلا كربلا ما دارييم مياييم) to “defend the value of Islam”. In Syria the battle cry “Zeinab shall not be abducted twice” helped mobilise Shia allies and rally thousands of men […]

The UK must release the Iranian tanker; The UAE’s mission to Tehran

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai Before Emmanuel Bonne, the special envoy of the French President Emmanuel Macron to Iran, visited President Hassan Rouhani, he promised to deal with the “Grace I” crisis between Iran and the UK. Iran considered the UK confiscation of its supertanker, loaded with two million barrels of oil, an act of unlawful piracy […]

Will Europe stand with US hooliganism, or stand by its treaty obligations to Iran?

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai Since the Iranian revolution took power in 1979, the world stood against Iran because it is an “Islamic Republic”, unwilling to acknowledge and bow to US dominance of the Middle East and the entire world. I say the world because the revolution was followed by the Russian Perestroika and the […]

Iran declares war on the USA’s covert influence in Iraq.

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai When US officials visited Baghdad and met with the Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi, they had two requests: first, to close all commerce and financial exchanges with Iran to strangle the Iranian economy and bring it to its knees. The second was to neutralise the Iraqi groups (known as […]

Iran and the EU: divorce proceedings underway

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai As promised, Iran is partially pulling out of the JCPOA nuclear deal. This can be called a “phase one withdrawal” since other phases are expected to follow in the coming months. The basis for this act is not limited to the actions of US President Donald Trump – who shredded the […]

Cheated by the JCPOA, Iran no longer trusts Europe and is heading towards full withdrawal

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai For more than 14 months now, Europe has offered no solution to ease the crippling US sanctions on Iran, giving the “Islamic Republic” no valid reason to hold on the JCPOA nuclear deal. The Leader of the Revolution Sayyed Ali Khamenei advised Iranian officials to trust neither the US nor Europe. […]

Trump imagines a quick US war with no Plan B, but overlooks Iran’s possible Plan B

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai In another of his characteristic messages via Twitter, US President Donald Trump declared his army’s capacity to use “obliteration” fire power against Iran if necessary and in case of war between the two countries. Further, Trump’s claimed that such a war won’t last “very long”. Both statements suggest that the […]

Iran has warned to target Arab countries in case of war: The US “like a Lion in a Persian story”.

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai Iran has summoned the United Arab Emirates’ chargé d’affaires in Tehran to protest that the UAE allowed the US to use its Al-Dhafra base in UAE to launch the Global Hawk surveillance drone (worth some $130 million) that was downed on the 20thof June by the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) air defence missile […]

Iran and Trump on the edge of the abyss

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai Iran is pushing US President Donald Trump to the edge of the abyss, raising the level of tensions to new heights in the Middle East. After the sabotage of four tankers at al-Fujairah and the attack on the Aramco pipeline a month ago, and last week’s attack on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman, […]

The Gulf is facing a small-scale War Scenario: no obvious solution

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai The attacks taking place in the Gulf and its waters against harbours, energy supply pipelines and oil tankers have assumed the proportions of a small scale war; however a wider war will happen only if Iran or the USA make future mistakes or incite new frictions. A suspicious move or misinterpretation of events […]

Trump propose de suspendre les sanctions des USA pendant les négociations avec l’Iran, une offre rejetée par Khamenei : d’autres attaques sont à prévoir

Par Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai Traduction : Daniel G. Le premier ministre japonais Abe Shinzo a transmis un message du président américain Donald Trump à l’intention des dirigeants iraniens, qui les invite à s’asseoir à une table de négociation en ajoutant « qu’il (Trump) serait prêt à suspendre toutes les sanctions seulement pendant les négociations ». Aucune garantie n’a été […]

Iran’s Leader of the Revolution recommends four steps for confronting the US

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai In a private meeting with the Iranian leadership, the Leader of the Revolution, Sayyed Ali Khamenei, recommended a four-step plan to confront US sanctions and US threats to Iran. The first step suggested by Sayyed Ali Khamenei is for Iran to develop its resources and reduce imports to a minimum […]

A Russian-American-Israeli meeting in Jerusalem: Syria and Iran on the table

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai This month of June, the National Security Advisors of Russia, the US, and Israel, Nikolay Patrushev, John Bolton and Meir Ben-Shabbat, respectively, are expected to meet in Jerusalem to talk about Iran and Syria and what Israel considers the “threat to its security” in the Levant. Well-informed sources believe the meeting […]

Trump’s bellicosity sells weapons but also boosts Iran and the Palestinian cause

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai When the “Islamic State” (ISIS) occupied large territories in Iraq and Syria, it shifted Middle East and world attention to it, moving the focus away from the Palestinian cause. The countries affected by the ISIS horror concentrated on recovering their occupied territories in the Levant and Mesopotamia, eliminating the infrastructure […]

US and Iraq: walking successfully between landmines.

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai Notwithstanding the failure of US foreign policies in the Middle East over the last four decades, the US administration seems to have managed not to earn the animosity of the Iraqi government. The US administration demonstrated its failure to produce an efficient and clear policy in the Middle East by […]

How Yesterday resembles Today: Iran confronted the US in the Straits of Hormuz in the 1980s

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai “We are going to intercept and stop all oil exports from the (Middle East) region if we are prevented from exporting our oil. We shall take every measure possible to close the Straits of Hormuz. If the US aims – by sending jets, carriers – to reinforce its positions and […]

The US is aware the confrontation with Iran is over a large geographical area: next rendezvous in less than 60 days

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai US President Donald Trump no longer has any cards to wave in the face of Iran nor any grounds for negotiation. He can only resort to more economic sanctions and wait by the phone for a call from Iran, unlikely in view of Iran’s clear decision to reject any negotiations […]

Netanyahu took Trump to new heights of global tension and dropped him

By Elijah J. Magnier: Israel prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu claimed he personally convinced the US president Donald Trump to abandon the Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA agreement, and wished Iran to “disappear with the help of God”. Israel is much more experienced in dealing with the Middle East than the current US president and […]

After a fruitless first round against Iran, the US has nothing to negotiate

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai When US president Donald Trump says he doesn’t want war with Iran, he expresses a position similar to that of Iranian Leader of the Revolution Sayyed Ali Khamenei, who has announced that Iran doesn’t “want to go to war nor to talk” with the US. That brings the bras-de fer between the […]