Iran's Reformists Call For Delaying Parliamentary Elections

The ongoing military talks between the two countries have caused concern among US government officials as Iran’s possible delivery of missiles to Russia can further improve Moscow’s capabilities in its war against Ukraine.

“The United States is concerned that Russian negotiations to acquire close-range ballistic missiles from Iran are actively advancing,” The Wall Street Journal quoted a US official as saying.

The deal between Tehran and Moscow has not been sealed yet, the report added, noting that in case of its finalization, the Iranian missiles might be delivered to Russia in the coming months.

The revelations come while it came to light that North Korea supplied Russia with dozens of ballistic missiles and several ballistic missile launchers.

The Islamic Republic has been one of the staunch allies of Russia in its war against Ukraine. Since mid-2022, Iran has supplied a substantial number of kamikaze Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to Russia, which have been extensively deployed to target civilian infrastructure and cities in Ukraine.

Despite Iran’s denials regarding its involvement in supplying drones and other weaponry to Russia, the United States and its NATO allies have imposed a series of sanctions on individuals and entities implicated in the drone shipments.

In December, US National Security spokesman John Kirby emphasized that Washington will continue to hold Tehran and Moscow accountable for their growing military ties.

Referring to Iran’s military assistance to Russia and extremist militant groups in the Middle East, Kirby warned that the burgeoning relationship between Tehran and Moscow “is not only not good for the Ukrainian people but it’s certainly not good for the region.”

While both Israel and the US have carried out targeted assassinations and attacks on Iran's military and nuclear facilities, the two have never committed such an attack in built-up populations and with potential civilians, unlike Islamist groups such as the Islamic State group and Al Qaeda, which have.

But Iranians, who have been victims of violent suppression since the 2022 uprising and long before, have begun to look closer to home. In the wake of the Women, Life, Freedom protests, over 550 Iranians were brutally murdered, with no implications from the regime to rein in its security forces.

Thousands of Iranians on social media have claimed the attack was organized by the Islamic Republic itself in an attempt to further its domestic and foreign policies.

They cite the absence of Soleimani’s family members and high-ranking political and military officials in Kerman at Qasem Soleimani's tomb during the incident marking the fourth anniversary of the proxy leader's death, suggesting an indication of the regime’s complicity.

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On Wednesday, prominent Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad wrote on X: “Why were Qasem Soleimani’s children absent from their father’s funeral? … As the regime blames Israel and America, Iranians hold the Islamic regime leaders accountable for this deadly attack, recalling the regime’s history of crimes against their people.”

In the usual regime rhetoric, Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, Iran’s Attorney General, held responsible “the global arrogance led by the US and Israel” for the attacks which have so far claimed the lives of 84 people.

Esmail Qaani, the head of IRGC Qods Force, vowed revenge against the “bloodthirsty criminals” who launched the attack, adding that they were “fed by the US and Zionists.”

Reiterating a similar stance, Gholamreza Soleimani, the commander of Basij militias, said CIA and Mossad are “behind the scene” of the blasts.

But history tells a different story. There have been numerous reports about the Islamic Republic’s involvement in “terrorist attacks” carried out previously in Iran. Five years ago, Mostafa Tajzadeh, a former government official, admitted that the Iranian regime had a role to play in the explosions in Imam Reza’s shrine in Mashhad in 1994.

Iranians have accused the regime of planning the attacks on Shahcheragh shrine, another religious site, in Shiraz last year, following the national uprising in 2022, claiming it was a desperate attempt on the part of the Islamic Republic to frighten the protesters and mobilize its supporters via appropriating religious sentiments.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller strongly rejected the allegation regarding Washington’s involvement in the attack: “The United States was not involved in any way, and any suggestion to the contrary is ridiculous.”

“We have no reason to believe that Israel was involved in this explosion,” he went on to say.

The attack had the hallmarks of one of the region's Islamist groups such as Islamic State or Al Qaeda though none has yet claimed responsibility.

It is familiar rhetoric for Iranians who are well versed in the propaganda churned out by Tehran, using the US and Israel as easy fall guys for actions perpetrated if not by their own security apparatus, then by other militias.

Reuters received information from police and security sources, but no further details were provided regarding the party responsible for the attack.

Field sources have indicated that a high-ranking commander of the Iran-backed armed group Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba (HHN), along with his assistant, was killed in the attack.

However, social media reports suggest that the targeted facility was Hashd al-Shaabi's logistics base in Baghdad and that US drones carried out the strike.

If so, it would be a rare retaliation for over 100 attacks since the Gaza war broke out in October, Iran's proxies targeting US facilities in Iraq and Syria, and now the Red Sea shipping route, in retaliation for US support of Israel's right to defend itself.

While Iran has not directly engaged in the conflict, it has utilized its network of armed groups to target both Israel and US forces in the region. Iran, a staunch supporter of Hamas, has issued threats to the United States, warning that if the attacks on Gaza persist, they may impact US interests.

He stressed that there is no credible reason to believe Israel played a role in the incident and conveyed condolences to the victims, cautioning against further escalation.

“We have no reason to believe that Israel was involved in this explosion,” he said.

In the aftermath of Iran's leaders vowing revenge, a senior administration official, in a subsequent briefing with reporters, noted that the attack exhibited similarities to previous actions by ISIS. No group has as yet claimed responsibility.

Iran is amidst a complex situation, facing potential adversaries that include exile groups, militant organizations, and state actors.

The blast unfolded in southern Iranian city of Kerman at the gravesite of former IRGC Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani on Wednesday, claiming the lives of at least 95 people and injuring more on the fourth anniversary of his US drone strike killing. The event occurred following a suspected Israeli attack in Lebanon, resulting in the death of Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy political leader of the Palestinian designated terror group Hamas. 

While Israel has undertaken operations in Iran related to its nuclear program, they have typically involved targeted assassinations and targeted military and nuclear infrastructure. Large-scale attacks resulting in civilian casualties in Shiite-majority Iran have been historically attributed to Sunni extremist groups, such as the Islamic State group, although not specifically in relatively peaceful regions like Kerman.

Last month, the State Department informed Congress that the threats against Pompeo, former secretary of state, and Hook, former special envoy for Iran, are still “serious and credible,” which justify the renewal of their protection programs.

According to the Associated Press, the notifications to Congress regarding the extension were signed by Deputy Secretary of State for Management Richard Verma.

This is the 13th and 16th time that the State Department has extended protection to Pompeo and Hook, respectively, since they left office. The 24-hour security measures to protect the former officials cost the US government more than $2 million per month.

Pompeo and Hook were among the staunch supporters of President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign against Tehran.

The Islamic Republic has time and again threatened revenge against former US officials for the killing of Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian regime’s top military and intelligence operator in the Middle East who died in a US drone strike in January 2020 in Iraq.

In February 2023, Amirali Hajizadeh, the head of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace force, repeated the threat to avenge the US killing of Soleimani.

“God willing, we are looking to kill Trump. Pompeo ... and military commanders who issued the order (to kill Soleimani) should be killed,” Hajizadeh said.

Another former official with government protection is John Bolton, UN ambassador during President George Bush and National Security Advisor during Trump. The Justice Department revealed in August 2022 that an operative of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard tried to hire a hitman in the US to kill Bolton.