Iran has denied it was behind a drone strike that killed three U.S. troops at a military base in northeast Jordan on Sunday, but an Iran-backed militia based in Iraq said it had carried out four attacks in the area.
“Regional resistance factions do not receive orders from Iran, and Iran does not interfere in the decisions of the resistance to support Palestine or defend itself,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said at a press briefing Monday.
The Iran-backed militia group Islamic Resistance in Iraq put out a statement Monday saying it had targeted a U.S. garrison at al-Tanf, just across the Jordan-Syria border from the U.S. Tower 22 base that came under attack over the weekend, as well as two other U.S. bases in the region and an Israeli oil facility.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh on Monday blamed the attack on an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-backed militia and said the U.S. was trying to determine which one.
“Iran continues to arm and equip these groups to launch these attacks, and we will certainly hold them responsible,” Singh said.
A map shows the location of the U.S. military outpost called Tower 22 in northeast Jordan, near the border with Syria.
CBS News
A U.S. defense official said initial reports indicated that a drone flew in low and slow at the same time that a U.S. drone was returning to the Tower 22 base from a mission. Because the auto-response features of the air defense system were turned off to avoid shooting down the returning American drone, there was little to no warning of the incoming attack.
Most of the roughly 350 U.S. troops at the base were still in their sleeping quarters when the attack occurred in the early hours of the morning. The accommodations on the base offer very little structural protection from an incoming attack. More than 40 people were injured in the attack, Singh told reporters Monday.
In a news release Monday, the Defense Department identified the three slain American service members as Army reservists Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Georgia; Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Georgia; and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Georgia.
President Biden called the attack “despicable and wholly unjust,” vowing that the U.S. “will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing.”
The strike was believed to be the deadliest attack on U.S. service members since 13 Americans were killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul as the U.S. military was pulling out of Afghanistan in 2021.
The drone strike was just the latest in a growing number of rocket and drone attacks by Iran-backed groups targeting U.S. forces in the region. The attacks have increased significantly amid Israel’s war with Hamas, which is also supported by Iran, in the Gaza Strip.
David Martin, Stefan Becket, Kaia Hubbard and Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.
Haley Ott is cbsnews.com’s foreign reporter, based in the CBS News London bureau. Haley joined the cbsnews.com team in 2018, prior to which she worked for outlets including Al Jazeera, Monocle, and Vice News.
While the scale and target of Biden’s promised response is not yet clear, any unilateral move is likely to draw blowback from key allies in the Middle East who worry about sparking a regional war.
Turkey, a key NATO ally, has denounced Israel’s campaign in Gaza, while President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has accused the U.K. and the U.S. of trying to turn the Red Sea into a “sea of blood.”
“Turkey does not want to be drawn into this conflict because it shares a border with Iran,” said Selin Nasi, a visiting fellow at the European Institute of the London School of Economics. “If the U.S. as its main ally in NATO gets involved in this military conflict directly then Turkey has to choose a side, and that will mean it’s harder to maintain a balanced approach — like it has done with the war in Ukraine.”
The challenge for Biden is how to retaliate without risking escalation by Iran and its partners in the region. Conversely, doing nothing — especially after having said he would avenge the deaths of the three U.S. soldiers — would leave him vulnerable to a charge of weakness from Trump.
“Iran’s leadership probably calculates that the United States will be reticent to fulsomely respond in any manner that would risk escalation of tensions in the Middle East and spark the region-wide [conflict] the Biden administration has admirably tried to prevent the past three months,” said Jonathan Panikoff, a former U.S. deputy national intelligence officer.
But the U.S. may have “to undertake a more fulsome response to restore deterrence,” he added.
Jamie Dettmer, Jeremy Van der Haegen and Laura Kayali contributed reporting.
On Dec. 24, 2023, the names of 13 Iraqi prisoners with criminal sentences were unexpectedly called out on the loudspeaker inside the Nasiriyah Central Prison in Southern Iraq. The next morning, all the men were executed under the death sentence, in what one Iraqi media outlet described as “secret executions” carried out without any transparency or advanced notice to avoid any negative publicity and international condemnation. The 13 prisoners were not allowed to call their families or lawyers before they were executed, according to another inmate.
It was the first mass execution carried out by Iraq’s Ministry of Justice since November 2020, when 21 men were executed for terrorism charges. Now at least 150 prisoners face imminent execution without warning, Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned this week, if Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid approves their death sentences.
The executions appear to be a sudden pivot from 2020, when the number of executions and death sentences were on a downward trend in Iraq after the issue received critical attention from international rights groups.
“The mass executions in Iraq are a terrible example of the arbitrariness of the cruel punishment,” Aurelie Placais, the Director of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, tells TIME. “It’s arbitrary because there seems to be no specific reason as to why now, why these people and why in this prison,” she continues.
Nasiriyah prison is the only prison in Iraq that carries out executions. Commonly referred to as “al hout” or “the whale” by Iraqis for “swallowing people up and never spitting them out,” according to HRW, it has carried out mass executions in the past. In 2017, 41 and 38 people respectively were executed less than three months apart. Currently, 8,000 prisoners are reported to be on death row in Iraq, with the majority facing terrorism charges.
In the past, the Iraqi government has asserted that its use of the death penalty “is restricted to the most serious offenses,” including those that affect the “right to life or the peace and security of society.” Iraq currently ranks fifth among countries that carry out the most death sentences globally, according to Amnesty International.
Prisoners await their executions in Iraq in a file photo released by Iraq’s Ministry of Justice on June 29, 2018.Iraq Ministry of Justice / AP
HRW has called the latest renewal of mass executions “an appalling development,” urging Iraqi authorities to immediately declare a moratorium on all executions with the intention of abolishing the death penalty. Matthew Goldberg, who founded the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, added that “declaring a moratorium is the clearest path to immediately demonstrate respect for the fundamental principle of human dignity.”
Experts also say that the punishment is compounded by existing flaws in Iraq’s judicial system, including denying defendants a fair trial. The trend is most prevalent in terrorism trials, which have generally been described as rushed, based on forced confessions, and without the victim’s participation. HRW says Iraqi authorities have systematically violated due process under Iraqi law, which states that detainees have the right to a lawyer, speak to their families, and see a judge within 24 hours of their arrest.
“The death penalty is an unquestionably cruel punishment that appears to be only further exacerbated, in Iraq at present, by opaque and unfair legal processes,” Goldberg said. He continued, “We should have no confidence that fair trial rights and related safeguards are being protected, or upheld, in these circumstances.”
CBS News was taken aboard the USS Arleigh Burke in the Mediterranean Sea Friday, part of a combined 4,000-strong force of U.S. Marines and sailors deployed across the region as the U.S. continues its efforts to deter attacks from Yemen’s Houthi rebels on commercial vessels in the Red Sea. Charlie D’Agata reports.
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Erbil, Iraq — Iran’s foreign minister confirmed Tuesday that his country’s forces had launched ballistic missiles at targets in both Iraq and Syria, as the U.S. and Iraq condemned deadly strikes that hit close to the under-construction U.S. consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil.
Three armed drones were shot down over Erbil’s airport later Tuesday. The U.S. has forces based at the airport, part of an international coalition battling ISIS in the region. There was no immediate word on damage.
The drones were downed just hours after Iran launched at least 11 missiles targeting what it claimed was an Israeli intelligence headquarters in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, killing four civilians.
Teams carry out search and rescue operations after drone and missile attacks in Erbil, northern Iraq, carried out by Iran, Jan. 16, 2024.
Karzan Mohammad Othman/Anadolu/Getty
The Iraqi government condemned the attack, ordered an investigation and told its ambassador in Iran to come home and report on the strikes, while also summoning Iran’s top diplomat in Baghdad for discussions.
The U.S. State Department issued a statement saying it “strongly condemns Iran’s attacks in Erbil,” lambasting the “reckless missile strikes, which undermine Iraq’s stability.”
Iran claims it hit an Israeli spy base
Iran said the attacks were retaliation for “anti-Iran groups” in the region, including ISIS, after a deadly attack last week in the Iranian city of Kerman. Two large blasts just minutes apart targeted a commemoration on Jan. 4 for a prominent Iranian general who was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Iraq in 2020. The attack in Kerman left almost 90 people dead.
In the Erbil strikes, Iranian missiles hit the home of well-known Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayi, who was killed along with his 1-year-old daughter. His two sons and wife were seriously wounded.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards military unit said in a statement that “one of the main Mossad [Israeli intelligence] espionage headquarters in Iraq’s Kurdistan region was destroyed with ballistic missiles,” calling the Erbil strikes a response to “recent atrocities” it blamed on Israel.
A damaged building is seen following a missile strike launched by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Erbil, northern Iraq, Jan. 16, 2024.
SAFIN HAMID/AFP/Getty
It cited, specifically, “the killing of commanders of the Guards and the Axis of Resistance,” a term Iran uses to refer to the loosely affiliated anti-Israel groups it supports in the region, including Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
“Everything to do with the U.S.-Iran tit-for-tat”
It was the second time since March 2022 that the Iranian Guards had directly targeted Erbil, and both times they used the same justification. In 2022, the home of another Kurdish businessman was targeted with eight ballistic missiles.
Since Israel launched its war against Hamas in Gaza in response to the Palestinian group’s bloody Oct. 7 terror attack, Iran’s proxies across the region have intensified attacks on U.S. and coalition bases in Iraq and Syria, including many around Erbil.
“Last night’s attack has nothing to do with Israel or the Kurds, but it has everything to do with the U.S.-Iran tit-for-tat in the region,” said Hiwa Osman, a political analyst based in Erbil.
“This is a calculated Iranian act, within the parameters of the American’s tolerance, at the expense of the Kurds,” Osman told CBS News.
Western warplanes and guided missiles roared through the skies over Yemen in the early hours of Friday in a dramatic response to the worsening crisis engulfing the region, where the U.S. and its allies are facing a direct confrontation with Iranian-backed militants.
The strikes against Houthi fighters are a response to weeks of fighting in the Red Sea, where the group has attempted to attack or hijack dozens of civilian cargo ships and tankers in what it calls retribution for Israel’s military offensive in Gaza. Washington launched the massive aerial bombardment of the group’s military stores and drone launch sites in partnership with British forces, and with the support of a growing coalition that includes Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, South Korea and Bahrain.
Tensions between Tehran and the West have boiled over in the weeks since its ally, Hamas, launched its October 7 attack on Israel, while Hezbollah, the military group that controls much of southern Lebanon, has stepped up rocket launches across the border. Along with Hamas and Hezbollah, the Houthis form part of the Iranian-led ‘Axis of Resistance’ opposed to both the U.S. and Israel.
Now, the prospect of a full-blown conflict in one of the most politically fragile and strategically important parts of the world is spooking security analysts and energy markets alike.
Escalation fears
Houthi leaders responded to the strikes, which saw American and British forces hit more than 60 targets in 16 locations, with characteristic bravado. They warned the U.S. and U.K. will “have to prepare to pay a heavy price and bear all the dire consequences” for what they called a “blatant aggression.”
“We will confront America, kneel it down, and burn its battleships and all its bases and everyone who cooperates with it, no matter what the cost,” threatened Abdulsalam Jahaf, a member of the group’s security council.
However, following the overnight operation, Camille Lons, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said there may now be “a period of calm because it may take Iran some time to replenish the Houthis stocks” before they are able to resume high-intensity attacks on Red Sea shipping. But, she cautioned, their motivation to continue to target shipping will likely be unaltered.
The Western strikes are “unlikely to immediately halt Houthi aggression,” agreed Jonathan Panikoff, a former U.S. national intelligence officer for the Near East. “That will almost certainly mean having to continue to respond to Houthi strikes, and potentially with increasing aggression.”
“The Houthis view themselves as having little to lose, emboldened militarily by Iranian provisions of support and confident the U.S. will not entertain a ground war,” he said.
Iran also upped the ante earlier this week by boarding and commandeering a Greek-operated oil tanker that was loaded with Iraqi crude destined for Turkey, intercepting it as it transited the Strait of Hormuz. The vessel, the St. Nikolas, was previously apprehended for violating sanctions on Iranian oil and its cargo was confiscated and sold off by the U.S. Treasury Department. Its Greek captain and crew of 18 Filipino nationals are now in Iranian custody, with the incident marking a sharp escalation in the threats facing maritime traffic.
Israeli connection
Washington and London are striving to distinguish their bid to deter the Houthis in the Red Sea from the war in Gaza, fearful that merging the two will hand Tehran a propaganda advantage in the Middle East. The Houthis and Iran are keen to accomplish the reverse.
The Houthi leadership claims its attacks on maritime traffic are aimed at pressuring Israel to halt its bombing of the Gaza Strip and it insists it is only targeting commercial vessels linked to Israel or destined to dock at the Israeli port of Eilat, a point contested by Western powers.
“The Houthis claim that their attacks on military and civilian vessels are somehow tied to the ongoing conflict in Gaza — that is completely baseless and illegitimate. The Houthis also claim to be targeting specifically Israeli-owned ships or ships bound for Israel. That is simply not true, they are firing indiscriminately on vessels with global ties,” a senior U.S. official briefing reporters in Washington said Friday.
Wider Near East crisis
The Red Sea isn’t the only hotspot where American and European forces and their allies are facing off against Iran and its partners.
In November, U.S. F-15 fighter jets hit a weapons storage facility in eastern Syria that the Pentagon says was used by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Shia militants it supports in the war-torn country. The response came after dozens of American troops were reportedly injured in attacks in Iraq and Syria linked back to Tehran.
Israel’s war with Hamas has also risked spreading, after a blast killed one of the militant group’s commanders in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, earlier in January. Hezbollah vowed a swift response and tensions have soared along the border between the two countries, with Israeli civilians evacuated from their homes in towns and villages close to the frontier.
All of that contributes to an increasingly volatile environment that has neighboring countries worried, said Christian Koch, director at the Saudi Arabia-based Gulf Research Center.
“There’s a lot at stake at the moment and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and others are extremely worried about further escalation and then being subject to retaliation,” he said. “Now, the danger of regional escalation has been heightened further, which could mean that Iran will get further involved in the conflict, and this is a dangerous spiral downwards.”
While long-planned efforts to normalize ties between the Saudis and Israel collapsed in the wake of the October 7 attack and the subsequent military response, Riyadh has pushed forward with a policy of de-escalation with the Houthis after a decade of violent conflict, and sought an almost unprecedented rapprochement with Iran.
“Saudi Arabia has had one objective, which is to prevent this from escalating into a wider regional war,” said Tobias Borck, an expert on Middle East security at the Royal United Services Institute. “It has attempted over the last few years to bring its intervention in the war in Yemen to a close, including through negotiations with the Houthis and actually from all we know from the outside, [they] are reasonably close to an agreement.”
The Western coalition is therefore a source of anxiety, rather than relief, for Gulf States.
“Saudi Arabia and UAE are staying out of this coalition because mainly they don’t want to have the Houthis attack them as they had been for years and years with cruise missiles,” said retired U.S. General Mark Kimmitt, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs. However, American or European boots on the ground are unlikely to be necessary, he added, because “our capabilities these days to find, fix and attack even mobile missile launchers is pretty well refined.”
Far-reaching consequences
At the intersection of Europe and Asia, the Red Sea is a vital thoroughfare for energy and international trade. Maritime traffic through the region has already dropped by 20 percent, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Slaars, the joint commander of French forces in the region, told reporters on Thursday.
According to data published this week by the German IfW Kiel institute, global trade fell by 1.3 percent from November to December, with the Houthi attacks likely to have been a contributing factor.
The volume of containers in the Red Sea also plummeted and is currently almost 70 percent below usual, the institute said. In December, that caused freight costs and transportation time to rise and imports and exports from the EU to be “significantly lower” than in November.
In one indication of the impact on industrial supply chains, U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla said Friday it would shut its factory in Germany for two weeks.
Around 12 percent of the world’s oil and 8 percent of its gas normally flow through the waterway, as well as hundreds of cargo ships. Oil prices climbed more than 2.5 percent following the strikes, fueling market concerns of the impact a wider conflict could have on oil supplies from the region, especially those being shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, linking the Persian Gulf with the Indian Ocean and the world’s most important oil chokepoint.
The Houthi attacks on the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest waterways, have already caused major shipping companies, including oil giant BP, to halt shipments through the Red Sea, opting for a lengthy detour around the Cape of Good Hope instead.
According to Borck, the impact on energy prices has been limited so far but will depend on what happens next.
“We need to look for two actors’ actions here. One is the Houthis, how they respond, and the other one is, of course, looking at how Iran responds,” he said. While Tehran has the “nuclear option” of closing the Strait of Hormuz altogether, it’s unlikely to do so at this stage.
“I don’t think the Strait of Hormuz is next. I think there would be quite a few steps on the escalation ladder first,” he added.
But Simone Tagliapietra, an energy expert at Brussels’ Bruegel think tank, warned that a growing confrontation with Iran could lead to tougher enforcement of sanctions on its oil exports. The West has turned a blind eye to Tehran’s increasing sales to China in the wake of the war in Ukraine, which has relieved some pressure on global energy markets.
A crackdown, he believes, “could see global oil prices rising substantially, pushing inflation higher and further complicating the efforts of central banks to bring it under control.”
However, Saudi Arabia and the UAE could help compensate for such a move by ramping up their own production — provided they’re willing to risk the ire of Iran.
Gabriel Gavin reported from Yerevan, Armenia. Antonia Zimmermann from Brussels and Jamie Dettmer from Tel-Aviv.
Laura Kayali contributed reporting from Paris.
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Gabriel Gavin, Antonia Zimmermann and Jamie Dettmer
Turkey carried out airstrikes against Kurdish militants in neighboring Syria and Iraq in response to another attack on Turkish military bases in Iraq.
Turkish jets destroyed 29 bunkers, shelters, caves and oil facilities across the Metina, Hakurk, Gara and Qandil regions in northern Iraq and northern Syria, according to Turkey’s defense ministry. The ministry said the sites belonged to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Syrian-Kurdish group at the forefront of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State (ISIS).
Turkey considers both the PKK and YPG to be terrorist organizations and regularly bombs their enclaves in Syria and Iraq. The latest attack came hours after PKK fighters assaulted a Turkish army base in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region on Friday. The militant group killed nine Turkish soldiers and wounded another four, losing 15 of its men in the process, according to the defense ministry.
“We will fight to the end against the PKK terrorist organization within and outside our borders,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, said on Saturday, offering his condolences to the soldiers’ families.
The Turkish military has been present in northern Iraq since April 2022, as part of Operation Claw-Lock. The mission aims to dismantle the PKK’s foothold there and prevent it from launching cross-border guerrilla raids into Turkey. But Ankara has struggled to protect its bases, with deadly attacks now occurring every few weeks.
The Iraqi government in Baghdad has repeatedly called for Ankara’s withdrawal, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has vowed to stay until the mission is complete.
On October 7, Hamas fighters launched a bloody attack against Israel, using paragliders, speedboats and underground tunnels to carry out an offensive that killed almost 1,200 people and saw hundreds more taken back to the Gaza Strip as prisoners.
Almost three months on, Israel’s massive military retaliation is reverberating around the region, with explosions in Lebanon and rebels from Yemen attacking shipping in the Red Sea. Meanwhile, Western countries are pumping military aid into Israel while deploying fleets to protect commercial shipping — risking confrontation with the Iranian navy.
That’s in line with a grim prediction made last year by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, who said that Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza meant an “expansion of the scope of the war has become inevitable,” and that further escalation across the Middle East should be expected.
What’s happening?
The Israel Defense Forces are still fighting fierce battles for control of the Gaza Strip in what officials say is a mission to destroy Hamas. Troops have already occupied much of the north of the 365-square-kilometer territory, home to around 2.3 million Palestinians, and are now stepping up their assault in the south.
Entire neighborhoods of densely-populated Gaza City have been levelled by intense Israeli shelling, rocket attacks and air strikes, rendering them uninhabitable. Although independent observers have been largely shut out, the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry claims more than 22,300 people have been killed, while the U.N. says 1.9 million people have been displaced.
On a visit to the front lines, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that his country is in the fight for the long haul. “The feeling that we will stop soon is incorrect. Without a clear victory, we will not be able to live in the Middle East,” he said.
As the Gaza ground war intensifies, Hamas and its allies are increasingly looking to take the conflict to a far broader arena in order to put pressure on Israel.
According to Seth Frantzman, a regional analyst with the Jerusalem Post and adjunct fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, “Iran is certainly making a play here in terms of trying to isolate Israel [and] the U.S. and weaken U.S. influence, also showing that Israel doesn’t have the deterrence capabilities that it may have had in the past or at least thought it had.”
Northern front
On Tuesday a blast ripped through an office in Dahieh, a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital, Beirut — 130 kilometers from the border with Israel. Hamas confirmed that one of its most senior leaders, Saleh al-Arouri, was killed in the strike.
Government officials in Jerusalem have refused to confirm Israeli forces were behind the killing, while simultaneously presenting it as a “surgical strike against the Hamas leadership” and insisting it was not an attack against Lebanon itself, despite a warning from Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati that the incident risked dragging his country into a wider regional war.
Tensions between Israel and Lebanon have spiked in recent weeks, with fighters loyal to Hezbollah, the Shia Islamist militant group that controls the south of the country, firing hundreds of rockets across the frontier. Along with Hamas, Hezbollah is part of the Iranian-led “Axis of Resistance” that aims to destroy the state of Israel.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Iran’s foreign ministry said the death of al-Arouri, the most senior Hamas official confirmed to have died since October 7, will only embolden resistance against Israel, not only in the Palestinian territories but also in the wider Middle East.
The Israel Defense Forces are still fighting fierce battles for control of the Gaza Strip in what officials say is a mission to destroy Hamas | Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images
“We’re talking about the death of a senior Hamas leader, not from Hezbollah or the [Iranian] Revolutionary Guards. Is it Iran who’s going to respond? Hezbollah? Hamas with rockets? Or will there be no response, with the various players waiting for the next assassination?” asked Héloïse Fayet, a researcher at the French Institute for International Relations.
In a much-anticipated speech on Wednesday evening, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah condemned the killing but did not announce a military response.
Red Sea boils over
For months now, sailors navigating the narrow Bab-el-Mandeb Strait that links Europe to Asia have faced a growing threat of drone strikes, missile attacks and even hijackings by Iran-backed Houthi militants operating off the coast of Yemen.
The Houthi movement, a Shia militant group supported by Iran in the Yemeni civil war against Saudi Arabia and its local allies, insists it is only targeting shipping with links to Israel in a bid to pressure it to end the war in Gaza. However, the busy trade route from the Suez Canal through the Red Sea has seen dozens of commercial vessels targeted or delayed, forcing Western nations to intervene.
Over the weekend, the U.S. Navy said it had intercepted two anti-ship missiles and sunk three boats carrying Houthi fighters in what it said was a hijacking attempt against the Maersk Hangzhou, a container ship. Danish shipping giant Maersk said Tuesday that it would “pause all transits through the Red Sea until further notice,” following a number of other cargo liners; energy giant BP is also suspending travel through the region.
On Wednesday the Houthis targeted a CMA CGM Tage container ship bound for Israel, according to the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Sarea. “Any U.S. attack will not pass without a response or punishment,” he added.
“The sensible decision is one that the vast majority of shippers I think are now coming to, [which] is to transit through round the Cape of Good Hope,” said Marco Forgione, director general at the Institute of Export & International Trade. “But that in itself is not without heavy impact, it’s up to two weeks additional sailing time, adds over £1 million to the journey, and there are risks, particularly in West Africa, of piracy as well.”
However, John Stawpert, a senior manager at the International Chamber of Shipping, noted that while “there has been disruption” and an “understandable nervousness about transiting these routes … trade is continuing to flow.”
“A major contributory factor to that has been the presence of military assets committed to defending shipping from these attacks,” he said.
The impacts of the disruption, especially price hikes hitting consumers, will be seen “in the next couple of weeks,” according to Forgione. Oil and gas markets also risk taking a hit — the price of benchmark Brent crude rose by 3 percent to $78.22 a barrel on Wednesday. Almost 10 percent of the world’s oil and 7 percent of its gas flows through the Red Sea.
Western response
On Wednesday evening, the U.S., Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom issued an ultimatum calling the Houthi attacks “illegal, unacceptable, and profoundly destabilizing,” but with only vague threats of action.
“We call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews. The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways,” the statement said.
The Houthi movement insists it is only targeting shipping with links to Israel in a bid to pressure it to end the war in Gaza | Houthi Movement via Getty Images
Despite the tepid language, the U.S. has already struck back at militants from Iranian-backed groups such as Kataeb Hezbollah in Iraq and Syria after they carried out drone attacks that injured U.S. personnel.
The assumption in London is that airstrikes against the Houthis — if it came to that — would be U.S.-led with the U.K. as a partner. Other nations might also chip in.
Two French officials said Paris is not considering air strikes. The country’s position is to stick to self-defense, and that hasn’t changed, one of them said. French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu confirmed that assessment, saying on Tuesday that “we’re continuing to act in self-defense.”
“Would France, which is so proud of its third way and its position as a balancing power, be prepared to join an American-British coalition?” asked Fayet, the think tank researcher.
Iran looms large
Iran’s efforts to leverage its proxies in a below-the-radar battle against both Israel and the West appear to be well underway, and the conflict has already scuppered a long-awaited security deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
“Since 1979, Iran has been conducting asymmetrical proxy terrorism where they try to advance their foreign policy objectives while displacing the consequences, the counterpunches, onto someone else — usually Arabs,” said Bradley Bowman, senior director of Washington’s Center on Military and Political Power. “An increasingly effective regional security architecture, of the kind the U.S. and Saudi Arabia are trying to build, is a nightmare for Iran which, like a bully on the playground, wants to keep all the other kids divided and distracted.”
Despite Iran’s fiery rhetoric, it has stopped short of declaring all-out war on its enemies or inflicting massive casualties on Western forces in the region — which experts say reflects the fact it would be outgunned in a conventional conflict.
“Neither Iran nor the U.S. nor Israel is ready for that big war,” said Alex Vatanka, director of the Middle East Institute’s Iran program. “Israel is a nuclear state, Iran is a nuclear threshold state — and the U.S. speaks for itself on this front.”
Israel might be betting on a long fight in Gaza, but Iran is trying to make the conflict a global one, he added. “Nobody wants a war, so both sides have been gambling on the long term, hoping to kill the other guy through a thousand cuts.”
Emilio Casalicchio contributed reporting.
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Gabriel Gavin, Antonia Zimmermann and Laura Kayali
1968 – Joins the Islamic Dawa Party. Al Dawa (formally the Hizb al-Dawa al-Islamiyya or the Islamic Call Party), is a Shia Islamist party with close connections with Iran’s clerical regime.
1980 – Flees Iraq for Iran in order to escape Saddam Hussein’s crack-down on members of the Dawa Party.
1990-2003 – Leader of the London branch of the Dawa Party.
2003 – Returns to Iraq following the fall of Hussein.
August 2003 – Becomes a member of the Iraqi Governing Council and serves as the Council’s first rotating chairman.
2004-2005 – One of two vice presidents in Iraq’s interim government.
The U.S. military launched several airstrikes on sites linked to militants in Iraq following a series of assaults, including a drone attack the U.S. blamed on the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia that wounded three American service members.
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A drone attack by an Iran-affiliated terrorist group on a military base in Iraq early Monday morning left three U.S. service members wounded, the Pentagon said, and prompted retaliatory strikes.
The attack on the Erbil Air Base in northern Iraq was conducted by Kataib Hezbollah militants, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. One of the three service members wounded is in critical condition, Austin disclosed.
In response, President Biden —after being briefed and holding a call with Austin and his national security team and — ordered retaliatory strikes on “three locations utilized by Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups focused specifically on unmanned aerial drone activities,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
According to U.S. Central Command, the retaliatory strikes on three sites, all located in Iraq, were conducted at 8:45 p.m. Eastern time and “likely killed a number of Kataib Hezbollah militants.”
No civilians were believed to have been wounded or killed, CENTCOM said.
There has been dozens of attacks by Iranian-backed militias targeting U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria since the violent Oct. 7 terror assault on Israel by Hamas.
Last month, several U.S. service members were injured in a ballistic missile attack on Al-Asad Airbase in Iraq.
Faris Tanyos is a news editor for CBSNews.com, where he writes and edits stories and tracks breaking news. He previously worked as a digital news producer at several local news stations up and down the West Coast.
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U.S. Army soldiers watch as fellow Coalition soldiers pass by near the entrance to the International Zone on May 30, 2021 in Baghdad, Iraq.
John Moore | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The U.S. military carried out retaliatory air strikes on Monday in Iraq after a one-way drone attack earlier in the day by Iran-aligned militants that left one U.S. service member in critical condition and wounded two other U.S. personnel, officials said.
The back-and-forth clash was the latest demonstration of how the Israel-Hamas war is rippling across the Middle East, creating turmoil that has turned U.S. troops at bases in Iraq and Syria into targets.
Iran-aligned groups in Iraq and Syria oppose Israel’s campaign in Gaza and hold the United States partly responsible.
At President Joe Biden’s direction, the U.S. military carried out the strikes in Iraq at 1:45 GMT, likely killing “a number of Kataib Hezbollah militants” and destroying multiple facilities used by the group, the U.S. military said.
“These strikes are intended to hold accountable those elements directly responsible for attacks on coalition forces in Iraq and Syria and degrade their ability to continue attacks. We will always protect our forces,” said General Michael Erik Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, in a statement.
A U.S. base in Iraq’s Erbil that houses U.S. forces came under attack from a one-way drone earlier on Monday, leading to the latest U.S. casualties.
The base has been repeatedly targeted. Reuters reported on another significant drone attack in October on the barracks at the Erbil base on Oct. 26, which penetrated U.S. air defenses but failed to detonate.
The Pentagon did not disclose details about the identity of the service member who was critically wounded or offer more details on the injuries sustained in the attack. It also did not offer details on how this drone appeared to penetrate the base’s air defenses.
“My prayers are with the brave Americans who were injured,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
The White House National Security Council said Biden was briefed on the attack on Monday and ordered the Pentagon to prepare response options against those responsible.
“The President places no higher priority than the protection of American personnel serving in harm’s way. The United States will act at a time and in a manner of our choosing should these attacks continue,” NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson said.
Still, it is unclear if the latest U.S. retaliation will deter future action against U.S. forces, who are deployed in Iraq and Syria to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State militants.
The U.S. military has already come under attack at least 100 times in Iraq and Syria since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, usually with a mix of rockets and one-way attack drones.
The U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad also came under mortar fire earlier in December, the first time it had been attacked in more than a year, in a major escalation.
That includes setting up a U.S.-led maritime coalition to safeguard Red Sea commerce following a series of drone and missile attacks against commercial vessels by Houthi militants in Yemen.
The Pentagon said on Thursday that more than 20 countries have agreed to participate in the new U.S.-led coalition, known as Operation Prosperity Guardian.
RAF pilots are reportedly carrying out secret spy missions to track down Iran-backed terror groups smuggling weapons to Hamas and Hezbollah.
Brit fighter jets are said to be now focused on the movements of suspected rockets and missiles from Iraq and Syria into the hands of Iran’s proxy forces to be used against Israel.
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RAF Typhoons have a new mission – spying on the movements of weapons by Iran-backed terror groupsCredit: PA
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Hamas has fired thousands of rockets into Israel, raising questions on where there supply comes fromCredit: AFP
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Experts have long said Iran was supplying rockets and missiles to Hamas via tunnels and the seaCredit: Israel Defense Forces
After years of trying to track down remnants of the Islamic State, The Times claims that the Typhoons have a new mission – surveilling Iran’s nefarious activities across the Middle East.
A military source revealed: “We suspect these could be some Iranian-backed militia groups manoeuvring weapons through Iraq and Syria to bolster up Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.”
Since Israel declared war on Hamas following their bloody October 7 massacres, Iran-backed terror groups in Lebanon and Yemen have repeatedly threatened to open up new fronts in the conflict.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels are part of Iran’s self-styled “Axis of Resistance” against Israel and have been striking both Israeli and US targets in “solidarity” with Hamas.
Meanwhile, Hamas has been able to unleash thousands of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel, which has raised questions over where their supply has come from.
Experts have long believed Hamas’s weapons arsenal has been smuggled from Iran into Gaza through their maze of terror tunnels and the sea.
Meanwhile, a military source also told The Times that the RAF pilots are now also responsible for helping to find the Iran-backed terror groups responsible for firing at US bases.
Washington has complained that Tehran is stepping up its attacks on American targets using its regional proxies in revenge for Israel’s relentless bombardment and offensive inside Gaza.
White House spokesman John Kirby has accused Iran of “actively facilitating” the assaults and “spurring on others who may want to exploit the conflict”.
In recent weeks, the US revealed 78 drone and rocket attacks have been carried out against US facilities, of which 37 were in Iraq and 41 in Syria.
On Friday morning, a multi-rocket attack targeted the US Embassy in Baghdad causing minor damage and no casualties.
It was the first confirmed attack on the embassy in Iraq’s capital since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.
It comes as official sources revealed that US President Joe Biden will allow Israel until the end of the year to wrap up its war on Hamas.
Israel is currently ramping up its air and ground offensive in Gaza – which has so far wiped out about half of the terror group’s mid-level commanders.
Lt Col Lerner said: “He is the person that financed it [the October 7 attack], organised it, planned it, and gave the green light to go and kill and butcher, massacre, abduct, rape and behead Israelis.
“He’s at the top of our list. We intend on catching up with him and killing him in action.”
The UN estimates 1.9 million people have been displaced by the fighting so far and Israel’s new military evacuation orders are squeezing people into ever-smaller areas.
Most are lacking access to food, water and medicine after months of Israel’s bombardment and siege, which has made much-needed aid deliveries inside the Strip almost impossible.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said the death toll in the territory has surpassed 17,100 – 70 per cent of which are women and children, with another 46,000 wounded.
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Biden told Israel they have until the end of the year to finish its offensive in GazaCredit: AFP
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70 per cent of those killed in Gaza are said to be women and childrenCredit: Rex
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The IDF is advancing deep into Khan Younis in southern Gaza
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Hamas has taunted Israel with a picture of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar
Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna has some funny ideas about the national debt.
Like, for starters, that “tax cuts” and just two wars out of a dozen are to blame. In other words, It’s all Republicans’ fault!
The Democrat said that “Reagan’s tax cuts,” “Bush’s tax cuts,” “Trump’s tax cuts,” and “Bush’s overseas wars” were the primary causes of the national debt.
“We don’t need a fiscal commission to study it. Everyone knows Johnson’s fiscal commission will recommend cuts in Social Security & Medicare. Instead, we need to end the tax breaks for the ultra-rich and make a moonshot investment in American industry,” Khanna claimed.
The U.S. national debt is currently over $33 trillion dollars. Members of Congress in both parties have voted for massive spending for decades under numerous presidents. And as Americans have had to learn all over again, the War Party is bipartisan.
Entitlements are also a big contributor to America’s debt.
Or as Republican Victoria Spartz replied to Khanna:
Rep. @RoKhanna is not correct: the national debt was caused by reckless spending, cronyism and spinelessness of politicians in Washington D.C.
We must save promised programs for seniors and middle class from destruction by looming disastrous tax increase leading to socialism. https://t.co/kMxBoashsv
Obviously, tax cuts aren’t to blame for debt. First, because the federal government has continued to take in even more revenue after tax cuts, but more importantly, because spending causes debt. This is self-evident to most people, but not Democrats.
Even if it were the case that tax cuts ended up bringing in less revenue, that’s not what causes debt. Spending more than the revenue you do bring in causes debt. And that’s a choice.
Of course, Khanna is partially correct about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They cost astronomical amounts of money, of which the United States did not have. But why did he leave out all the Democrat wars?
Congress’ top priority this fall will be passing legislation funding the government and avoiding a “shutdown.” As of this writing, it appears unlikely that the Republican-controlled House will be able to make a deal with President Biden and the Senate Democrats on a long-term spending bill. Instead, they will likely pass a short-term funding bill to give themselves more time to reach agreement on a longer-term bill.
Any bipartisan agreement is unlikely to reduce government spending or begin to pay down, or stop the growth of, the over $32 trillion national debt, which the Congressional Budget Office projects will grow by at least $115 trillion over the next thirty years. Instead, Congress and the administration will continue to pretend they are addressing the spending problem by “reducing in the projected rate of spending growth,” and other gimmicks.
The sad fact is both parties, along with a majority of the American people, are addicted to welfare-warfare spending.
The Democrats are the party who have no problem with endless spending.
The Republicans are the party who pretend they are opposed to endless spending, yet still participate in endless spending even if they give us a tiny tax cut here and there.
Democrat Ro Khanna trying to blame the national debt primarily on tax cuts and just two out of a dozen wars is laughable.
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Several U.S. service members were injured in a ballistic missile attack by Iranian-backed militias on Al-Asad Airbase in Iraq, Pentagon officials said Monday.
The attack Sunday night on U.S. and coalition forces involved a close-range ballistic missile and resulted in eight injuries and minor infrastructural damage, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson, said in a statement.
U.S. military responded with a retaliatory strike, which was not pre-planned, killing several Iranian-backed militia personnel, CBS News learned.
“Immediately following the attack, a U.S. military AC-130 aircraft in the area conducted a self-defense strike against an Iranian-backed militia vehicle and a number of Iranian-backed militia personnel involved in this attack,” Ryder said in his statement.
In a tweet, U.S. Central Command said the U.S. gunship “maintained visual confirmation of the individuals from the time of the launch to the time of engagement.”
The U.S. conducted further “precision strikes” against two facilities in Iraq early Wednesday morning local time, CENTCOM said in a statement.
“The strikes were in direct response to the attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces by Iran and Iran-backed groups, including the one in Iraq on November 21, which involved use of close-range ballistic missiles,” the statement read.
The U.S. service members wounded in the attack are still being evaluated, a Pentagon official told CBS News, adding that this was the 66th attack against American-affiliated military bases in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 17.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken exchanges challenge coins with the U.S. Marine Corps embassy security guard detachment in Baghdad, Iraq, on Nov. 5, 2023.
While Iranian-backed groups have targeted U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria with a mix of drones and rockets, this was the first time a short-range missile was used to attack American troops since Oct. 17, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Of the 66 attacks in the last month, 32 were in Iraq and 34 in Syria, Singh said. The attacks have resulted in approximately 62 U.S. personnel injuries, Singh added — they do not include the injuries from Sunday’s attack.
“These groups in Iraq and Syria, that are attacking U.S. interests, have made their own decisions,” Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian told CBS News last week when pushed on whether Iran backs militant groups in the Middle East.
“We have not taken anything off the table or ruled anything out,” Singh said when asked if the U.S. will launch preemptive strikes to avoid further attacks. “We feel that we have taken appropriate action to decimate some of their facilities and some of their weapons, but again, we always reserve the right to respond at the time and place of our choosing.”
Last month, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that “the United States does not seek conflict and has no intention nor desire to engage in further hostilities, but these Iranian-backed attacks against U.S. forces are unacceptable and must stop.”
— Eleanor Watson and Mary Walsh contributed reporting.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced stop to Iraq on Sunday. It comes after U.S. forces have been targeted by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria. Christina Ruffini reports from Washington, D.C.
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Pastor Julie Green, a self-proclaimed prophet and a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump and his MAGA movement, claimed in a recent video that she received a prophecy from God about “dark connections” to President Joe Biden.
In the message posted on Monday, Green said God indicated he would “expose” these connections to the White House, which she said involves “the Red Dragon” [seemingly China], Iran, Iraq, Ukraine and Canada.
Green frequently posts videos on streaming channels for her Julie Green Ministries International in which she shares messages that she claims God sends to her. Last month, she said in a video “prophecy” that the U.S. would soon suffer a major “attack” following the “persecution” of Trump.
Green has been a featured speaker at right-wing ReAwaken America events, which have also featured guests such as former Trump adviser Michael Flynn and Eric Trump, one of the former president’s sons. The younger Trump appeared on Green’s show in September, where she told him that messages from God to her indicated the Trump family is receiving God’s protection.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. A self-described prophet claimed she recently received a prophecy about “dark connections” related to Biden being revealed. Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
During her Monday message, Green spoke of a “greater weakness” in the “house you call white” and with “the one who’s sitting in a seat that doesn’t belong to him,” seemingly referring to Biden.
“I’ve told you I’ve cut the string from the puppet master and the puppet, so soon you’re about to see the puppet fall in greater ways,” she said.
The pastor then spoke of “great confusion … in the enemy’s camp” and said “he’s about to say again who’s really in charge and it’s not him.”
“For I will expose, oh yes, I will expose the tentacles that have been controlling the Biden. I will expose all the deep swamp are trying to do to you in this hour,” Green said.
Newsweek reached out for comment to the White House and Green via email on Thursday.
She continued by speaking of “foreign governments in foreign nations” being allowed to “infiltrate” the U.S. government. Green then further relayed the message she said was from God about exposing “every foreign entity in Washington, D.C.”
After running down the list of foreign governments such as Iran and Ukraine, Green emphasized America’s neighbor to the north.
“You will see connections to Canada. Evil dark connections with this deep state … The swamp runs far and wide,” Green said. “The roots of these nations connect in DC. I will show you each country. I will show you each government. I will show you each person. I will show you all the money.”
The message that Green said came from God then turned to the entertainment industry.
“I will show you what Hollywood has done. How they’ve had a major part in what you see in this great, evil movie that you have seen played before you like it’s real when it’s actually not.”
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
ISRAEL made use of its Arrow 3 “missile-killer” for the first time as it downed a rocket allegedly launched by Iran-backed rebels in Yemen.
The lethal long-range air defence system is able to intercept ballistic missiles from thousands of miles away and blast them out of the sky.
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The Arrow 3 ‘missile killer’ was launched by Israel for the first timeCredit: IAI
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The long-range air defence system can target incoming missiles from thousands of miles awayCredit: Newsflash
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IDF said its troops are in ‘fierce battles’ with Hamas in GazaCredit: IDF
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The giant machine can down ballistic missiles in just three steps
Israel’s military said its forces “successfully intercepted” a “surface-to-surface missile” fired towards Israel from the area of the Red Sea using its Arrow 3 system.
It is thought to be the world’s first operational and stand-alone defence system that can be used against tactical ballistic missiles.
The powerful state-of-the-art piece of kit detects, tracks and then fires a hit-to-kill warhead to intercept the incoming missile.
It can cleanly blast the incoming warheads out of the sky, therefore preventing damage to buildings and civilians.
read more on israel-hamas
The fearsome anti-missile launcher can be used to defend Israel in conjunction with the “Iron Dome” – dubbed the “guardian of the skies” as well as the “Iron Sting” and “Iron Beam” weapons systems.
Today, the IDF said that Arrow intercepted the missile – believed to have been sent from Yemen – “at the most appropriate operational time and location.”
Footage showed a large trail of smoke after the Arrow was launched and residents reported hearing a large blast, The Times of Israel reports.
The IDF also claimed this morning to have used fighter jets to intercept “hostile targets” flying in from the Red Sea this morning.
“All the threats were intercepted outside the territory of the State of Israel. No intrusion into Israeli territory was detected,” the IDF added.
After Israel’s announcement, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels took responsibility for the aerial assault and claimed to have fired “a large number” of ballistic missiles and drones at Israel today.
In a video statement, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed it was the third attack they had launched at Israel and vowed there would be more to come.
He warned the attacks would continue until “Israeli aggression” stopped, referring to Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
The Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, are part of the so-called “Axis of Resistance” which encompasses Iranian-backed militants in Iraq and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.
Last week, Israel accused the Houthi movement of sending drones that caused explosions in two Egyptian towns on the Red Sea, arguing they were intended to strike Israel.
And on October 19, a US warship was forced to fire its first shots in the defence of Israel when it downed a missile believed to have been launched by the Houthis.
An official said the USS Carney shot down15 drones and four cruise missiles fired by the militia group in a nine-hour onslaught.
The IDF claimed to have made “significant progress” in their ground offensive as they continued advancing deeper into the besieged enclave.
It said that ground and air forces hit Hamas positions and anti-tank guided missile squads, and footage revealed Israeli troops marching through Gaza after reportedly hitting 300 targets overnight.
It comes as:
IDF soldier Ori Megidish was rescued after she was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists
Israeli PM Netanyahu rejected all calls for a ceasefire saying “this is a time for war”
Gaza’s humanitarian crisis continues to worsen as aid trucks struggle to enter and Palestinian authorities claim thousands have been killed
Israel said today that troops attacked Hamas gunmen inside Gaza’s vast tunnel network – where the terror group is believed to be hiding hostages.
The tunnels are a key objective for Tel Aviv as it enters its ” “second stage of war,” inside Gaza to wipe out Hamas following the terrorist’s bloody October 7 attacks that saw 1,400 Israelis slaughtered.
Speaking to The Sun, the former British military commander Colonel Richard Kemp said that Israel has made “significant progress”.
He told The Sun: “I think the IDF moved into the Gaza strip in significant military strength, with tanks, infantry engineers supported by artillery attack, helicopters and UAVs.
“And they’re making quite significant progress, there have been reports today that they have destroyed a great deal of the Hamas infrastructure inside Gaza, killed around four senior Hamas leaders.
“As far as I’m aware, there have been either none or very limited Israeli casualties, but that hasn’t yet been confirmed. So I think it’s so far progressing pretty well.”
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Rows of Israeli tanks lined up as they are deployed into Gaza
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Israeli troops were pictured pushing deeper into Gaza after striking 300 targetsCredit: IDF
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USS Carney fired its first shot in defence of Israel as it downed a suspected missile launched by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen on October 19Credit: AFP
The Middle East abounds in tales of spirits and their antics. Today, Al Jazeera brings some of these tales to life.
Myths and legends, whispered under the veil of night from elder to child, offer glimpses into a culture’s most profound fears, dreams, and values.
In Iraq, the enigmatic Marshes resonate with tales of the Tantal, an elusive creature that can shape-shift – from man to beast to inanimate object.
It is the essence of mischief, a trickster that delights in its trickery.
Imagine encountering a stranger in the Marshes, adorned in flashy, seemingly tasteless attire. This stranger, possibly a Tantal in disguise, might pose a peculiar question: “Do you think these clothes would suit you?”
Your answer holds weight. Admire his choice, and he may not only befriend you but also shower wealth upon you. Disapprove, and you risk the creature’s wrath, which could spiral you into madness.
Marsh dwellers will tell you the Tantal is a creature of the night, a guardian of hidden marshland treasures and a malevolent spirit quick to ensnare the unwary, especially children.
Visually, the unadorned Tantal is unsettling – with eyes oriented vertically like a cat’s and strikingly long, sharp canine teeth in an ambiguous “face” that hovers over a giant’s body that shuffles along, loose-limbed and terrifying.
Of course, it often appears disguised as another creature – a man, woman, child, cat, or dog – when it is out and about to ensnare the unwary.
Tales of the Tantal were also cautionary tales as grown-ups told children of the Tantal’s wrath, of how it could pull the defiant deep into watery graves.
Tantals take their names from the names of the Marshes – among the most famous names known in Iraqi folklore are Tantal Abu Ghraib, Tantal Umm al-Ubaid, Tantal Abu Asmej, Tantal Dawar, Tantal Salin, and Tantal Hafiz, who is considered the ruler of many Tantals in the Marshes.
The Tantal goes back to the legend of Hafiz himself, which was passed down from generation to generation among the clans of southern Iraq.
The legend says that in ancient times there were two great kingdoms in southern Mesopotamia, ruled over by two kings, Al-Akr and Abu Shadhar, who had a brother named Hafiz.
Life flourished in the two kingdoms, and the kings built ornate cities and temples with arched arcades and splendid balconies that looked over lush palm and fruit orchards the kings had ordered the planting of.
And they had huge fences built around their kingdoms to protect them from flooding from the Marshes. They felt they had done everything they needed to ensure a safe kingdom and a happy populace.
But the life of plenty and luxury meant they eventually strayed from the right path – they forgot God, forgot to dedicate their life to obeying the divine, and faltered in their worship.
God’s anger was swift, and he sent an earthquake that largely destroyed the kingdoms, including the fences, and a flood that drowned what was left, till all that remained was ruins.
Then God sent down Tantals and Jinn to guard the remains of these one-mighty kingdoms, which had been buried whole, with their treasures and delights.
And that is what the Tantals have done. Through the centuries, they have used fear and trickery to keep people away from whatever buried treasure the Marshes hold.
But if you were ever to get close to a Tantal, you would find that they have a gift: the power of foresight. Befriend it, and you may receive prophecies of the future.
Yassir Kareem, an Iraqi filmmaker, once interviewed an elderly man from the Marshes.
The man firmly believed the Tantal had visited him in a dream, predicting a future where the land would parch, and outsiders would claim it, forcing the native inhabitants away. This was a prophecy, he said, given the climate change that dried out the Marshes and the foreign oil companies that flooded into the oil-rich regions of Iraq.
The leader of the Hezbollah militant group has thrown his backing behind Palestinian militants and praised the attacks that killed more than a thousand Israeli civilians, in his first public appearance since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas last month.
In a televised speech broadcast on Friday from an unknown location, Hassan Nasrallah praised the “martyrs” who have died fighting Israeli troops, denied the Hamas attacks had been coordinated by Iran, and said fighters loyal to him were “prepared to make unlimited sacrifices” in supporting their cause.
“This operation is great; this sacred operation was 100 percent Palestinian, and was implemented by Palestinians,” he said.
However, he stopped short of explicitly declaring war on Israel and opening a second front in the conflict, despite predictions that he could seek to escalate tensions dramatically.
Nasrallah has led Hezbollah since 1992, when his predecessor was killed by Israeli forces. While the group maintains it is comprised of both a political party and a separate military wing, Hezbollah has been designated as a terrorist organization in its entirety by Israel, the U.S., the U.K., the Arab League and a number of EU member states. It has close ties to Iran, which also backs Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as well as the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and paramilitaries in Iraq and Yemen — all of which are vehemently opposed to Israel and its Western partners.
Hezbollah maintains a tight hold over southern Lebanon, effectively ruling the region independently from the Middle Eastern nation’s elected government. Its fighters have carried out attacks and drone strikes on Israeli positions across the line of contact in recent days amid a sharp spike in violence across the region, with Israeli officials ordering the evacuation of citizens from 42 communities in the surrounding area.
Ahead of Nasrallah’s speech, schools and government buildings throughout Lebanon closed and crowds gathered in the capital of Beirut as well as in other Middle Eastern countries to watch the address. While many in the tiny nation — home to just five and a half million people — fear a renewed conflict with Israel, Hezbollah is effectively able to operate entirely independently from the state and retains high levels of support from the Shia Muslim community.
The Israel Defense Forces earlier Friday said it was on “very, very high alert” along its northern border with Lebanon.
Southern Lebanon was effectively occupied by Israeli forces from 1985 until 2000, fighting a series of military offensives and running battles with militant groups during and after the country’s 15-year civil war. Hezbollah and Israel also fought a brief but bloody war in 2006, with hundreds killed on both sides and no decisive result.
French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu was in Beirut Friday afternoon, declaring that his country “will continue to provide support to the Lebanese Armed Forces … because the stability of Lebanon is key for the country and for the region.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Israel amid growing calls for a “humanitarian pause” in the fighting to allow Palestinian civilians to flee as Israel steps up its offensive in the Gaza Strip. Blinken reiterated Israel’s right to defend itself and said “no country would, or should, tolerate the slaughter of innocents.” However, he did call for greater protection for Palestinians amid the worsening military confrontation.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Israel amid growing calls for a “humanitarian pause” | Jonathan Ernst/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza claims that 9,000 people have been killed since the start of the conflict last month, while Israeli troops have taken control of key strategic points in and around Gaza City, telling non-combatants to leave their homes and seek safety in southern Gaza — which has also been targeted by air strikes.
More than 1,400 people have been killed on the Israeli side of the border since Hamas launched its major offensive, with fighters infiltrating the country by land, air and sea.
