Orientul Mijlociu

On January 23, 2024, Channel 1 (Iran) aired a report about “multitudes” of drones that were manufactured by Iran’s Ministry of Defense and are being delivered to the Islamic Republic of Iran Army for use in its countrywide combat arrays. The drones – which include the Arash, Karrar, and Ababil-5 drones – have operational ranges of up to 1700 kilometers and can reportedly be used to carry out precision strikes, perform reconnaissance, or intercept hostile aircraft.

On January 21, 2024, “Al-Anbar Al-Yawm,” a media outlet which opposes Iran-backed militias in Iraq, shared a report by a news outlet, “Iraq Eye,” detailing how the Iran-backed Iraqi Hizbullah Brigades militia is building its own “drug empire” in Iraq with the help of Lebanese Hizbullah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The aim, according to “Iraq Eye,” is to monopolize the drug trade in the region.[1]

The Islamic State has regained its momentum, and the Biden administration might inadvertently give it another boost.

Since Hamas’s brutal attack against Israel on Oct. 7 and the resulting Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip, tensions and hostilities across the Middle East have reached fever pitch. And with such a complex regional crisis playing out, it should not come as a surprise that the Biden administration is reconsidering its military priorities in the region.

Latest Developments

U.S. forces carried out airstrikes on Kataib Hezbollah on January 24 in response to the Iranian-backed group’s targeting of American troops in Iraq. Kataib Hezbollah conducted rocket and ballistic missile attacks on Al-Asad base in western Iraq on January 20, injuring four U.S. service members. U.S. Central Command said that the strikes on January 24 targeted “three facilities used by Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other Iran-affiliated groups in Iraq.” The facilities included a headquarters for Kataib Hezbollah, a storage location, as well as an area used by the group to train with missiles and drones.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken toured the Middle East this month in an effort to prevent a wider regional war.

But while Blinken was there, Jordanian jet fighters struck Iran-backed militias and narco-traffickers in Syria.

Après l’Ukraine, les «sept fronts» d’Israël (Gallant dixit, ministre de la défense) ont atteint de nouveaux sommets lorsque les Gardiens de la révolution islamique d’Iran (CGRI) ont lancé de manière inattendue des missiles balistiques de représailles sur des cibles situées dans la capitale provinciale kurde d’Erbil, dans le nord de l’Irak, où le centre d’espionnage offshore du Mossad israélien a été touché, ainsi qu’en Syrie.

Explosion possibly caused by Palestinian RPG attack as IDF prepared structures for demolition using explosives, with nearby tank hit by a missile; death toll in ground op reaches 219

Twenty-one Israeli soldiers were killed Monday when they came under attack in the southern Gaza Strip, triggering a blast that collapsed two buildings with soldiers inside them, the military said Tuesday morning.

Concern grows of widening Middle East conflict

The Iran-backed Houthi rebel movement vowed to continue attacking ships in the Red Sea on Friday, hours after the U.S. and U.K. carried out strikes targeting the group in Yemen in retaliation for stepped-up Houthi attacks on shipping in the vital Middle Eastern waterway. President Biden announced the U.S. and allied strikes in a statement Thursday night, which were conducted with assistance from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands.