Orientul Mijlociu

Operation Trapiche revealed the shadow of Iran behind the failed Hezbollah plot in Brazil. According to Brazilian Federal Police documents exclusively obtained by the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), the two masterminds wanted by Interpol, Mohamad Khir Abdulmajid, a naturalized Syrian-Brazilian, and Haissam Houssim Diab, a Lebanese national, had strong connections to the Islamic Beneficent Cultural Center of Brasilia (CCBIB). This Shiite center has been funded by Iran since 2019.

The “February deadline” set by Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for the Syrian regime forces’ withdrawal from the territory that Turkey says is part of the Idlib de-escalation zone (meaning behind Turkey’s observation posts) in north-western Syria has timed out. Thus, the end-of-February deadline has opened doors to new possible scenarios and questions in the area.

The Iranian presence in Syria has always been a source of concern at a regional level, for Arab countries on the one hand, and for Israel on the other. If the partial Arab severance of relations with al-Assad has pushed the issue of Iranian presence off the negotiation table, this does not reflect a resignation to Tehran’s influence in Damascus, contrary to the vision presented by the Syrian regime president, Bashar al-Assad, in March 2023 (before returning to the Arab League).

The Qatar-owned channel Al Jazeera has unjustifiably become part of the Gaza war story.

In January, two Al Jazeera reporters, Hamzah Dahdouh and Mustafa Thurayya, were killed in the war. On Monday, the Israeli military freed Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza Ismail Al-Ghoul, hours after arresting him during its renewed operations in the Al-Shifa medical compound.

Iranian Islamic scholar Mohammad Mousavi criticized Islamic extremism in Iran during a March 11, 2024 interview on DidarNews on YouTube. He suggested that the Islamic Republic let go of some of the restrictions in some areas of the country. Mousavi said that Islamic tradition does not give clerics permission to enforce the hijab. He continued to say that religious fanaticism has killed more people than the coronavirus or the world wars. Mousavi added that Iranian religious extremism is more dangerous than an atomic bomb. He said that Iran has spent trillions of dollars on annihilating Israel within 25 years, financing Palestinians, Iraqis, and Syrians, while it promises its own citizens rewards only in the afterlife. Mousavi said that the economic policy of the Islamic regime has brought Iranians to sell their organs and mothers to sell their bodies in order to afford baby formula.

Terror organization: IRGC Intelligence Organization

Status: Associated with Iran-based cyber company Afkar System Yazd Co. (Afkar) since at least 2015. He is working in cyber command of the IRGC Intelligence Organization (Division 2000).

Roll: Amir Hossein Nickaein Ravari (Nickaein) is wanted for his alleged involvement in a coordinated campaign that compromised hundreds of computer networks across the United States and abroad.

Terror organization: Hamas

Status: Operative, leading the branch in Turkey

Roll: Responsible for facilitating activities for the terror group. Yaghmour’s nefarious activities began in the early 90’s when he was implicated in the Hamas-coordinated abduction of IDF soldier Nahshon Waxman in 1994. Although he was sentenced to life in prison by an Israeli court in October 94, he was released from Israeli prison in 2011 at the “Shalit deal” (prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel), exiled to Turkey, and became the head of Hamas’ Turkey branch. He was in the closest circle to Salah al Aruri, was directly involved in Hamas’ clandestine operations, planning terror attacks in Judea and Samaria, involved in planning 2014 “boys kidnap” and was involved in money laundering and maintain strong connections with the Turkish intelligence agencies and the Turkish government.

Terror Organization: Al-Qaeda;

Status: On the run, escaped from jail in Yemen;

Roll: Elbaneh is charged of providing, and conspiring to provide, material support to Al-Qaeda.;

Location: Last known location is Yemen;

Terrorist Organization: Hezbollah;

Status: Head of Rada clan Latin America;

Roll: Leading the clan for decades in the Latin American region. Connected to high figures in Hezbollah. Lebanese – Venezuelan, involved in money laundering, drug smuggling and weapon trafficking for Hezbollah. Above all, he had an operational and critical part on the ground in both terror attacks that took place in Argentina in the 90’s against Israeli targets. At least in one case he was the guy who provided the suicide terrorist his c4 explosives for the attack;

Terror organization: Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), or Hashd al-Shaabi, an umbrella group for the Iran-backed Iraqi militias;

Status: Chief of Staff. served before as the secretary-general of Iran-backed Iraqi Shiite militia Kata’ib Hezbollah, one of the units of the PMF;