A changed security situation

Norway is facing a more serious threat environment now than it has in decades. As the war in Ukraine enters its third year, Russia is about to gain the military upper hand. The Russian military industry is running at full steam, and China, Belarus, Iran and North Korea are providing considerable materiel support. Russia is better positioned in the war than it was a year ago, and the Russian armed forces remain the main military threat to Norway’s sovereignty, its people, territory, key societal functions and infrastructure.

Iran, Hezbollah Hold Talks In Lebanon

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and Secretary General of the Lebanese Hezbollah Seyed Hassan Nasrallah held a meeting in Beirut on Saturday.

The top Iranian diplomat, who arrived in Beirut on Friday evening, held negotiations with Nasrallah on Saturday morning.

A killer is among us. How the GRU infiltrates human rights activists, journalists and filmmakers

Russian spy-saboteurs from military unit 29155 of the GRU travel around the world under false names, organizing murders, explosions and chemical weapons poisonings, but before going abroad they need to create a reliable legend. Sometimes, for this purpose, they spend years infiltrating the circles of human rights activists, journalists or filmmakers. Having gained trust in these circles, the GRU killers were able to infiltrate Kasparov’s forum, join the Documentary Film League and get a job at the newspaper.

Dozens killed in Israeli strikes ahead of Rafah ground assault

Israeli air strikes killed 28 Palestinians, including ten children, in Rafah early on 10 February, after the Israeli military intensified air raids ahead of a coming ground invasion.

The killings came hours after aid agencies warned that huge numbers of Palestinians will die if Israel moves forward with a planned large-scale military offensive on the southern Gaza border city, where some 1.3 million Palestinians are living, including hundreds of thousands in tent cities.

Islamic State Khorasan Province

Established In: 2015;

Key Members: Hafiz Saeed Khan, Shahab al-Muhajir;

Operational Area: Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, India;

Size: 1,000 (US estimate); 2,500-4,000 (UN report); 10,000 (Russian estimate);

Involved In: Bomb Attacks, Assasinations, Armed Attacks, Kidnapping;

Sanctions Add Pressure on the Axis of Resistance

The United States and its partners have imposed additional sanctions on Iran and its axis of resistance partners to try to deny them the resources to continue their ongoing campaign of armed attacks.

Sanctions imposed since mid-January have targeted Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iranian allies in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, and companies and persons helping these groups move money and weapons around the region.

Houthi Attacks Upend Beijing’s Regional Strategy

The Houthi attacks on Red Sea commercial shipping are adversely affecting China’s economy, causing China’s leaders to question the benefits of relations with Iran.

The Red Sea crisis has demonstrated that militant factions in the Middle East can undermine Beijing’s interests just as they can challenge the United States and its allies.

U.S. Strikes Aimed at Restoring Deterrence without Escalating Conflict with Iran

The United States’ opening salvo in response to the attack in Jordan that killed three U.S. troops last week included attacks against targets in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.

The U.S. response is expected to be multi-tiered and unfold over weeks, targeting an array of groups that form part of Iran’s so-called “axis of resistance,” including militias in Iraq and Syria that operate under the umbrella of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.