Iran Navy Commander Warns Neighbors Not To Allow Israel Into Region

In his visit to the Sayyad-Khodaeis on Sunday, Ebrahim Raisi said that his assassination by the opponents of the Islamic Republic in Tehran near his home, instead of confronting him on the battlefield, is a sign of their despair and a victory for the country.

Despite Raisi’s assertion of victory, the assassination was seen as an intelligence and security failure by the government that allowed the killing of a secretive officer in broad daylight in the capital.

Sayyad-Khodaei was the acting commander of the elite Quds Unit 840, who was shot dead behind the wheel of his car on May 22 by two gunmen who fled the scene on a motorbike.

A European security source told Iran International in late May that Sayyad-Khodaei was in charge of planning terror operations outside Iran, including attacks in India, Thailand, Cyprus and Georgia. Suspicions for his assassination fell on Israel and according to some reports, Israeli officials told the United States that they had targeted Sayyad-Khodaei.

After his assassination, Iran International’s sources in Iran reported that another Quds Force unit 840 commander died under suspicious circumstances in Karaj, west of Tehran, on May 30. Colonel Ali Esmailzadeh died when he fell from the roof of his home.

Aníbal Fernández, Argentina’s security minister tweeted on Saturday that “The Government immobilized in Ezeiza [Airport in Buenos Aires] a Venezuelan plane sanctioned by the United States and withheld the passport of five Iranian crew members.” The tweet came after a local website leaked the news about the plane.

The plane was previously operating for Iran’s Mahan Airlines, sanctioned by the United States for its links to Tehran’s extraterritorial intelligence and secret ops outfit, the Quds (Qods) Force since 2008. The specific aircraft which belonged to French airlines since it entered service in 1986, was sold to Mahan Airlines in 2007 and apparently was later sanctioned by the United States.

Early in 2022, Venezuela’s Conviasa decided to set up a cargo division that came to be called Emtrasur Cargo and its first plane was the Boeing 747-300M bought or leased from Mahan airlines and christened ‘Louisa Caceres Arismendi.’ What is more interesting is that its next two planes were also supposed to be Mahan Airlines aircraft.

With close military and economic cooperation between Caracas and Tehran, the newly established cargo company could to be a joint venture.

However, a Mahan spokesman in Theran denied that the plane had any links with the company and said that it was "sold to Venezuela about a year ago."

The Boeing 747 flew from Mexico to Argentina on June 6, carrying automotive parts, but according to Argentinian media, someone knew something and decided to inspect the aircraft carefully, Aviacioline reported on June 11.

Although it turned out that there was no illegal cargo on board and the auto parts shipment were delivered to its recipient in Argentina, authorities became more suspicious that there were five Iranians and at least a dozen Venezuelans on board, with the Iranians not appearing in the passenger manifest. As a result, the passports of the Iranians were seized and all the passengers are reported to be in a hotel.

According to the same local sources, Argentina suspects that the Iranians are members of the Quds Force but are allowed to leave the country on regular scheduled flights.

But the fate of the plane is another story. No fuel company is willing to provide service to the aircraft for fear of third-party US sanctions. It tried to leave Argentina for Uruguay to get fuel, but had to turn back when permission was denied, according to Spanish-language news website Infobae.

The news about the aircraft emerged after an Argentinian opposition lawmaker, Gerardo Milman, submitted a request for information, citing “the enigmatic behavior of the flight, the confusing ownership of the aircraft and the composition of the crew.” On point that Milman has highlighted is that the Boeing 747 first flew to Cordoba from Mexico, ostensibly because of fog in Buenos Aires and a few hours later flew to its final destination, while its transponder was off.

It is not clear if the fog was the real reason why the plane diverted to Cordoba, and if its crew left the plane or not.

What is also not clear is who provided information to Argentina to carefully inspect the plane and its passengers. Apparently the Venezuelan cargo operation and this particular aircraft were under observation for some time.

The signing ceremony between the two allies, both subject to United States sanctions, was officially held in the presence of their high-ranking officials in the Iranian capital Tehran on Saturday, when most of the speeches focused on resisting US pressures.

The inking of the agreement "shows the determination of top officials from both sides to develop relations despite US and Western pressure," Raisi said during a joint news conference.” He added that "Venezuela has passed hard years but the people, officials and the president were determined to resist the sanctions. This is a good sign that proves to everyone that resistance will work and will force the enemy to retreat."

According to state media, the partnership agreement includes cooperation in science, technology, agriculture, oil and gas, petrochemicals, tourism as well as culture, but no tangible details were released about the accord.

Iran has also signed a 25-year cooperation agreement with China and a proposed 20-year deal with Russia exists, both lacking details and concrete plans. Partly because of this, some Iranian social media users go as far as claiming that the Islamic Republic is "selling out the country and its people" to China and Russia.

Despite Iran’s currency dropping to an all-time low against the US dollar on Saturday, as well as regular protests over rising prices, mismanagement and systematic corruption, the Iranian president said Washington's ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran has miserably failed, calling it a victory for Iran.

Maduro, in turn, said the pact covers different areas of cooperation including energy, oil, gas, refineries and petrochemicals as well as "working together on defense projects", adding that “We will use the historical experiences of Iran and put technology at the focal point of this cooperation agreement.” Maduro also talked about financing shared projects through the Iran-Venezuela Relations Development Bank.

“The youths of Iran and Venezuela must know that the world of the future is a world of equality and justice. We stand against imperialism, and together we must build the future. I tell the Iranian people to count on all our support and cooperation,” Maduro said.

In addition to the significant role of Iran’s Oil Minister Javad Owji in relations between Tehran and Caracas, Iran's Defense Minister Mohammad-Reza Gharaei Ashtiani is also said to have played an outsized role as he greeted Maduro at the airport and has been a constant presence in the engagements to date.

Iran and Venezuela have been slapped with sanctions by the US, which does not currently import oil from either nation, and has in recent years reimposed sanctions on Iranian state entities, including the national oil company NIOC, and in 2019 blacklisted Venezuela’s energy firm PDVSA.

The two countries strengthened their cooperation in 2020, with Venezuela importing condensate from Iran, key to thinning its extra-thick crude oil. Iran has also stepped in to help its South American ally with engineers, refined products and spare parts for its oil industry.

They also recently expanded a swap agreement signed last year to increase the supply of Iranian heavy crude to Venezuela's El Palito refinery and Paraguana Refining Center (CRP).

In early May, Owji traveled to Venezuela to visit oil facilities and sign contracts in the energy sector. Later in May, an oil tanker carrying about one million barrels of Iranian crude arrived in Venezuelan waters for delivery to the country's largest refinery.

The rial approached 330,000 to one US dollar, falling by more than 25 percent since the end of March and tenfold since 2017, when it traded at around 33,000.

The drop came as Iran was censured by a resolution passed in an overwhelming vote at the International Atomic Energy Agency board meeting on Wednesday. The 35-nation board of governors criticized Tehran for not cooperating with the UN nuclear watchdog.

Iran’s nuclear talks with the United States and its European allies to restore the 2015 agreement known as JCPOA came to a halt in early March, prompting pessimism over the prospects of lifting US sanctions and providing a lifeline to Iran’s economy.

Food prices have soared since early May when the government lifted import subsidies for essential goods to save foreign currency. Economists in Tehran have warned of triple-digit inflation in the coming months.

Anti-government Protests took place in May as prices soared and the political environment remains highly volatile.

US oil export and banking sanctions imposed against Iran in 2018 by the former US administration triggered a serious economic crisis that has gotten worse amid government inefficiency.

The rial was trading at 70 against the US dollar in 1978, before the Islamic revolution. The currency has fallen close to 5,000-fold in 44 years.

Syria closed the Damascus International Airport on Friday “until further notice” after Israeli air strikes damaged the airstrip and a terminal, the transport ministry said.

Hardliner media in Tehran Saturday morning barely mentioned the attack, excpet carrying the condemnation of the Iranian foreign minister.

As the news about the Israeli raid spread, Mohsen Rezaei, a former chief commander of the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and a vice president in the government, said at a ceremony in Tehran Friday morning that “I wish Israel would dare to take a wrong step and give us an excuse, so we could eradicate it from this earth.”

But Rezaei, known for his boisterous comments, was not referring to the attack on the Damascus airport. His comments were a reaction to recent Israeli statements threatening to take action against the Islamic Republic.

The only Iranian reaction to Friday’s attack worth noting was the response of the foreign ministry. Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian condemned the attack as a "clear violation of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity... (and) contrary to international law and human principles", in a phone call with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad, Iran's state media reported.

Israeli attacks against the Damascus airport and targets in its vicinity said to house weapons and Iran-backed forces have been a regular occurrence in recent years.

But this time the attack seems to have been more direct and punishing. The transport ministry on Friday said the airport had stopped all flights, and a later statement said Israeli air strikes damaged the runway and one of the terminals.

“As a result of this damage, all arriving and departing flights at the airport have been suspended until further notice,” the ministry’s second statement said.

Maria Zakharova, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, condemned the Israeli attack. “In this regard, we are forced to emphasize again that the ongoing Israeli shelling of the Syria territory … is absolutely unacceptable. We strongly condemn Israel’s provocative attack on critical Syrian civilian infrastructure,” Sputnik quoted a published statement as saying.

Last month, there were reports that Russia is withdrawing forces from Syria and possibly handing control of some bases to Iranian forces, because of its hard-pressed military situation in Ukraine.

There were also speculations if Israel will become more emboldened in taking action against Iran in Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday the Israeli bombing had damaged the runway after targeting "warehouses of Iranian militias" near the airport.

An Israeli military spokesperson declined to comment, Reuters reported.

For several years, Israel has been attacking what it has described as Iranian-linked targets in Syria, where Tehran-backed forces, including Lebanon's Hezbollah, have deployed to help President Bashar al-Assad. But there was clear political coordination with Russia, as former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Moscow multiple times and held long discussions with President Vladimir Putin.