Iran replaces IRGC’s intelligence chief

Taeb’s apparent dismissal comes after Israeli media outlets identified him as masterminding plots against Israeli citizens in Turkey.

Iran has replaced the head of the intelligence unit for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hossein Taeb, the IRGC confirmed on Thursday.

Arabs to Biden: Shut Down Iran’s ‘Expansionist Project’

Ahead of Biden’s visit, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, in a clear message to the US administration and other Western powers, affirmed that any nuclear agreement or future negotiations with Iran must address the Iranians’ “destabilizing behavior in the region, their support for terrorist militias, and their missile program.”

Syria’s Assad Accepts Credentials of Bahrain’s New Ambassador to Damascus

Syrian President Bashar Assad accepted the credentials of Bahrain’s new ambassador to Damascus. Assad “exchanged discussions with him on a number of topics and issues of concern to the two brotherly countries, wishing him success in his mission,” according to the state news agency SANA. Waheed Mubarak Sayyar was appointed as Bahrain’s ambassador to Syria more than six months ago, but reportedly just took up his post more than a week ago when he was received in Damascus by Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, who also attended Sunday’s ceremony.

13 Killed in Bus Ambush in Northern Syria

Eleven soldiers and two civilians were killed in an attack on a bus in northern Syria on Monday, the Syrian military said in a statement. The bus was ambushed at 6:30 am local time while en route from the Ar Raqqah Governorate to the central province of Homs in an area called al-Jireh, said the statement. Three soldiers were wounded in the attack. The military did not say who perpetrated the attack, which called it an act of terrorism, nor has anyone claimed responsibility for it.

Russia, Iran won’t endorse Turkish military operation in Syria

At the latest Astana Group meeting on Syria, Russia and Iran tried to soothe Turkey by rejecting the Kurdish-led self-rule in northern Syria in a joint declaration this week.

Turkey failed to garner Russian and Iranian backing for a fresh military intervention against Syrian Kurdish forces at the meeting of the Astana platform this week.