IAEA chief Grossi: Iran holds Atomic Energy Agency as “Hostage”
05.34 AM: The Iran has restricted its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) “in an unprecedented way,” according to IAEA Director Rafael Grossi. Speaking to AFP news agency on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos, he said, “The UN organization has been taken hostage.” “This is a very frustrating situation. We are continuing our activities there, but at a minimum,” Grossi said.
In particular, some of the best IAEA inspectors “have been excluded from the teams based on their nationality,” Grossi said, punishing the organization when it does not like what countries such as France, Britain, or the US say. The Iran is thus “holding the IAEA hostage for its political disputes with other countries.” This is an unacceptable situation, Grossi criticized. The Iranians “must grant the IAEA the access it needs.”
The UN organization, based in Vienna, seeks to control the Iranian nuclear program, deploying international atomic inspectors on site.
Netanyahu rejects Palestinian state
04.33 AM: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made it clear at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week that a permanent solution for the region must include the vision of a Palestinian state. Otherwise, Israel will not have real security. Many Arab and Muslim countries have recently changed their stance toward Israel and now have an interest in stable relations. Israel must decide in which direction it wants to develop.
However, Israel’s right-wing Prime Minister Netanyahu rejects the vision of a Palestinian state. “From any area from which we withdraw, we get terrorism, terrible terrorism,” Netanyahu said at a press conference on Thursday. This has happened in southern Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, and parts of the West Bank. Therefore, Israel must retain “security control” over the entire area west of the Jordan River – including Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip – in any future agreement or even in the absence of an agreement.
Pentagon spokeswoman: We are not at war with Huthi militia
02.25 AM: The US, despite repeated attacks on positions of the Huthi militia in Yemen supported by Iran, is not at war, according to a spokeswoman for the US Department of Defense. “We do not want war. We do not believe that we are at war,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh on Thursday (local time) in Washington. The Huthis are the ones firing cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles at innocent sailors and merchant ships in the Red Sea. “What we are doing, along with our partners, is self-defense.”
UN Special Rapporteur accuses Israel of violations of international law
01.55 AM: The UN Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, has accused Israel of violating international law in its military operations against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “Israel has done a number of things that are highly illegal, highly unlawful,” said the Italian jurist at a press conference in Madrid on Thursday.
While Israel has the right to self-defense, it must comply with the humanitarian conventions.Völkerrecht einzuhalten, “um Menschen zu schütz, die nicht aktiv an Kämpfen beteiligt sind”. Diese umfassen “Zivilisten, Kriegsgefangene und die Verwundeten und Kranken.”
Albanese betonte, dass es eine Unterscheidung zwischen Kämpfern und der Zivilbevölkerung geben müsse, und sagte weiter, dass es stattdessen mehr als 100 Tage ununterbrochener Bombardierungen gegeben habe. In den ersten beiden Kriegswochen seien 6000 Bomben wöchentlich in dicht besiedelten Gebieten eingesetzt worden.
Sie fügte hinzu, dass zahlreiche Krankenhäuser in dem palästinensischen Gebiet “geschlossen, bombardiert oder von der Armee eingenommen” wurden. Ein Mangel an angemessener medizinischer Versorgung führe zum Tod von Menschen.
Albanese drückte Bestürzung darüber aus, dass eine große Anzahl von Kindern Gliedmaßen amputiert werden musste. In den ersten beiden Kriegsmonaten wurden an tausend Kindern Amputationen ohne Betäubung durchgeführt. “Das ist eine abscheuliche Tat.”
Sie betonte, dass sie die Gewalt von Seiten der islamistischen Palästinenserorganisation Hamas “strikt” verurteile und sprach von Kriegsverbrechen und möglichen Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit. Sie betonte jedoch: “Nichts rechtfertigt, was Israel getan hat.”
Huthi-Aufständische im Jemen behaupten, ein US-Schiff angegriffen zu haben
Freitag, 19. Januar, 00.19 Uhr: Die Huthi-Aufständischen im Jemen haben gemeldet, dass sie erneut ein US-Handelsschiff angegriffen haben. Die vom Iran unterstützte Miliz erklärte, sie habe das Schiff “Chem Ranger” im Golf von Aden bei einer “gezielten Operation” mit Raketen angegriffen. Mehrere Raketen trafen ihr Ziel.
Laut der spezialisierten Website Marine Traffic handelt es sich bei der “Chem Ranger” um einen Öltanker, der unter der Flagge der Marshallinseln fährt. Der Tanker hielt sich in den vergangenen Tagen vor der Küste des Jemen auf.
Erneuter Beschuss an der israelisch-libanesischen Grenze
21.10 Uhr: An der Grenze zwischen dem Libanon und Israel kam es erneut zu gegenseitigen Beschüssen. Am Donnerstag gab es Raketenabschüsse auf israelische Orte und Gemeinden an der Grenze zum Nachbarland im Norden. Israels Militär teilte mit, dass Kampfflugzeuge der Armee daraufhin Terrorinfrastruktur und Posten der Hisbollah-Miliz im Südlibanon angegriffen haben.
Seit Beginn des Gaza-Kriegs nach dem Massaker der islamistischen Hamas in Israel am 7. Oktober mit 1200 Toten kommt es an der Grenze zwischen Israel und dem Libanon immer wieder zu Konfrontationen zwischen der israelischen Armee und der mit dem Iran verbündeten Hisbollah-Miliz. Auf beiden Seiten gab es bereits Tote. Es ist die schwerste Eskalation seit dem zweiten Libanon-Krieg im Jahre 2006.
Pakistan führt Angriffe im Iran aus, sagt pakistanischer Geheimdienstvertreter
05.08 Uhr: Nach einem Luftangriff des Iran auf pakistanisches Territorium hat Pakistan nach Angaben eines Geheimdienstvertreters Ziele im Iran angegriffen. Der Vertreter des pakistanischen Geheimdienstes berichtete gegenüber der Nachrichtenagentur AFP, dass Angriffe gegen “anti-pakistanische militante Gruppen” in dem Nachbarland stattfanden. Iranische Staatsmedien berichteten derweil von Explosionen rund um die Stadt Saravan im Südosten des Landes, in der Nähe der Grenze zu Pakistan.
Pakistan beschuldigte den Iran am Mittwoch, bei einem Luftangriff auf sein Territorium zwei Kinder getötet zu haben. Als Reaktion auf den Angriff rief die Regierung in Islamabad ihren Botschafter in Teheran zurück. Der Iran bestritt, dass der Angriff gegen Pakistaner gerichtet gewesen sei und sprach von einem Angriff gegen die sunnitische Dschihadistengruppe Dschaisch al-Adl.
Berichte: USA greifen erneut Huthi-Aufständische im Jemen an
Donnerstag, 18. Januar, 02.33 Uhr: Den Medienberichten zufolge haben die US-Streitkräfte erneut Stellungen der Huthi-Aufständischen bombardiert.I’m Jemen attacked. The US broadcasters CNN and CBS reported on Wednesday unanimously on the renewed assault – the fourth by the US military in less than a week. CBA reported, citing a US government official, that the attacks targeted positions where the Huthi militia had prepared new attacks.
Meanwhile, the Huthi-rebel operated television channel Al-Masirah spoke of a renewed “American-British aggression”. Targets included the port city of Hodeida and the city of Tais.
Medication for Hamas hostages arrived in the Gaza Strip
11:55 PM: The medication for the care of Hamas hostages in the Gaza Strip has arrived in the Palestinian territory. At the same time, humanitarian aid for the Palestinian civil population was also brought into the Gaza Strip, as announced by the Foreign Ministry of Qatar on Wednesday. “In the past few hours, medicine and aid have been brought into the Gaza Strip, in implementation of the agreement announced yesterday for the benefit of civilians in the Gaza Strip, including hostages,” wrote a ministry spokesman on the X short message service.
The medication and aid deliveries had been negotiated for weeks under the mediation of Qatar and France. An agreement was announced on Tuesday.
USA reverts to designating Huthi militia as a terrorist organization
4:34 PM: The government of US President Joe Biden is designating the Huthi militia in Yemen as a globally operating terrorist organization again. The White House announced on Wednesday that the reason for this is the ongoing attacks by the group supported by Iran in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The classification means that more extensive sanctions will be imposed on the Shiite militia, which has also repeatedly fired rockets at the South of Israel.
“These attacks are a clear example of terrorism, a violation of international law, a major threat to human life and world trade – and they jeopardize the provision of humanitarian aid,” said a senior US government official in Washington, justifying the decision. The US distinguishes between specially designated global terrorists (SDGT) and foreign terrorist organizations (FTO) when making terrorism designations. The distinction plays a role in the sanctions associated with the designation.
USA to re-designate Huthi militia as a terrorist organization
Wednesday, January 17, 2023, 07:21 AM: According to media reports, the US government wants to officially re-designate the Huthi rebels in Yemen as a terrorist organization. The militia supported by Iran, which has carried out numerous drone and missile attacks on ships in the Red Sea in recent weeks, is to be placed back on a US list of terrorist organizations on Wednesday, several US media outlets reported unanimously.
The US government had reversed the designation of the Huthi rebels as a terrorist organization in early 2021 shortly after President Joe Biden took office. The State Department in Washington then explained that the designation could hinder international crisis aid for the war-torn country of Yemen. The previous administration of President Donald Trump had declared the militia a terrorist organization on one of its final days in office.
Since the beginning of the war between Israel and the radical-Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas on October 7, the Huthi rebels have attacked numerous ships in the Red Sea. The Shiite militia sees itself as part of the self-proclaimed “Axis of Resistance” against Israel, alongside Hamas.the Lebanese Schiiten-Miliz Hisbollah. According to their own statements, the Huthi primarily target ships with connections to Israel.
Due to the attacks in the important shipping route, many shipping companies are now diverting their merchant ships. Most recently, the Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen announced on Wednesday that it would temporarily not send ships through the Red Sea. The company stated to the news agency AFP that this was to “ensure the safety of the crews.”
In response to the Huthi attacks, the USA and Great Britain for the first time bombed positions of the militia in Yemen at the end of last week. Subsequently, the USA carried out further attacks.
War in Gaza: German government to supply Israel with tank ammunition
7:19 PM: The German government plans to deliver around 10,000 rounds of tank ammunition to Israel. This was reported by “Spiegel.” According to the report, there is an agreement within the government. There is no official confirmation for this request from Israel.
Rockets from Iran fuel fear of conflagration
Tuesday, January 16, 7:43 AM: Following rocket attacks by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards on targets in Iraq and Syria, there is growing international concern about an escalation of the Gaza war to the entire region. Faced with repeated confrontations between the Israeli army and the Iran-backed Hezbollah on the border between Lebanon and Israel, UN Secretary-General António Guterres had previously warned of a conflagration on Monday.
The attacks by the Huthi rebels from Yemen on shipping in the Red Sea also have the potential to draw further parties into the conflict. Like the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah, the Huthi belong to the so-called “Axis of Resistance,” a network in the fight against Israel.
According to the IRGC’s web portal, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) fired several ballistic missiles at targets in Iraq and Syria. The attacks were said to be in retaliation for the devastating attack in the southern Iranian city of Kerman in early January and the killing of a senior IRGC officer in late December, among others. The attack in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil was aimed at a spying center of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, according to the IRGC. Several rockets hit near a new US consulate under construction, eyewitnesses reported. According to security sources, four civilians were killed. The US government condemned the Iranian missile strike on Erbil. According to Iranian reports, the attack in Syria targeted the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization.
According to the state news agency Irna, the attack was the country’s most extensive rocket operation with a range of more than 1200 kilometers. This is also likely a clear signal to the archenemy Israel. It would be roughly the same distance that rockets from the western part of the country would need to reach Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.
You can read all updates on the attack in Israel on the following pages.
