Latest news with #USCentralCommand
Rudaw Net
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Rudaw Net
PM Sudani welcomes new commander of anti-ISIS coalition
Also in Iraq Iraq cannot control militias attacking Kurdistan Region, says MP Iraq records 16 new cases of Crimean-Congo fever Iraqi parliament to convene on Kurdistan Region drone attacks Iraq arrests 40 over alleged baathist plots, sectarian incitement A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani on Monday received Kevin Lambert, the new commander of the US-led global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS). They discussed the future of the coalition forces in the country. Lambert was part of a delegation which included the outgoing commander of the coalition, Kevin Leahy, and Commander of US Central Command, Michael Kurilla. During the meeting, they discussed the cooperation between Iraq and the coalition, its development over time, and preparations to transition to bilateral security partnerships with individual coalition member states, according to a statement from Sudani's office. Sudani 'stressed the importance of maintaining stability, avoiding triggers that could escalate conflicts, and upholding the sovereignty of states in accordance with UN charters, international resolutions, dialogue, and mutual understanding. He emphasized the need to activate diplomatic efforts and cooperation to reinforce security and stability in the region,' the statement added. The US-led coalition was formed in 2014 after Iraq formally requested international assistance to counter ISIS's rapid territorial gains in Iraq and Syria. In September 2024, Iraq and the United States announced a joint agreement to end the coalition's mission in Iraq by September 2025. Baghdad has repeatedly stressed that Iraq's current security environment is vastly improved and that Iraqi forces are capable of maintaining internal stability.
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Iran attempts to rearm Houthis and Hezbollah
Iran appears to be rearming Yemen's Houthi rebels and Hezbollah, despite being significantly weakened by its recent war with Israel. A major shipment of Iranian-made missiles, drone components, and other military equipment destined for the Houthis was intercepted this week by Yemen's internationally recognised government. The seizure, described by US officials as one of the largest ever, has raised fresh concerns that Tehran is pushing ahead with efforts to reinforce its militant allies and destabilise the region despite its diminished position. US Central Command said the Houthi-bound shipment contained 750 tonnes of weaponry, including cruise missiles, anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles, warheads and drone engines, The Wall Street Journal reported. The weapons were hidden aboard a traditional sailing vessel, or dhow, concealed beneath a cargo of air conditioners. Mohammed al-Basha, founder of the Middle East security advisory Basha Report, said: 'The timing and scale of this shipment strongly suggest Iran is moving quickly to replenish Houthi stockpiles depleted by US airstrikes.' The Houthis have resumed attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea since last month's brief war between Israel and Iran ended, despite a previously agreed ceasefire with the United States. In the past week, the group claimed responsibility for sinking the Eternity C, a commercial vessel hit repeatedly over three days by drone boats and both cruise and ballistic missiles. Four crew members died in the assault, while around a dozen were taken hostage. One sailor lost a leg, according to the European Union's naval operation in the Red Sea. Before the ceasefire, the United States had launched a large number of airstrikes against Houthi positions, significantly degrading their capabilities. Analysts now say Iran's new arms shipments are an effort to replenish those stocks and keep the Red Sea campaign alive. The Lebanese army meanwhile has intercepted a string of weapons shipments crossing from Syria that included Russian-made Kornet anti-tank missiles, which have long been used by Hezbollah. Some of the arms were reportedly discovered hidden in trucks transporting cucumbers. Hezbollah, like the Houthis, has suffered significant setbacks in the past year. Its cross-border conflict with Israel ended in a ceasefire last autumn, and its arms supply lines from Iran were disrupted by the fall of Syria's Bashar al-Assad in December. The jihadist overthrow of Assad, once a key Iranian ally, forced Hezbollah to cut back the volume and scale of weapons transfers. Where once truckloads of arms crossed into Lebanon, smugglers now rely on small stashes buried among food supplies. Syria's new administration has cracked down on Iranian arms trafficking. Security forces reportedly seized several deliveries, including Grad rockets, along Syria's eastern borders with Iraq and Lebanon. In May, Iranian-made air-defence missiles were seized near the Lebanese border, according to Syrian state television. Despite the pressure, Hezbollah is working to rebuild. According to a source who spoke to the WSJ, the group has had success manufacturing its own drones and missiles and has restructured its smuggling networks to avoid detection. Iran last month launched hundreds of rockets at Israel during a 12-day aerial war that saw its own air defences destroyed and top military figures assassinated. The regime is thought to have depleted around half of its missile stockpile in the conflict, with many of its air defences destroyed by Israeli attacks. Israel also killed multiple top Iranian commanders, and many of their replacements. Iran's foreign ministry denied that it had sent weapons to its allies across the Middle East, describing the accusations as 'baseless'.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Devastating Intel Leak Obliterates Trump's Iran Bombing Claims
Two of the three Iranian nuclear enrichment sites that the United States bombed in June could be operational again within a few months. Despite President Donald Trump's repeated insistence that the strikes had 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear program, the facilities in Natanz and Isfahan could resume nuclear enrichment in the next several months, sources told NBC News. Only the nuclear facility in Fordow was mostly destroyed, setting back work by as much as two years, according to NBC. Officials knew even before the strikes that the structures at Natanz and Isfahan were buried so deeply they were probably beyond the reach of even the massive 'bunker buster' bomb capable of penetrating Fordow's underground facilities, NBC reported. The U.S. dropped the 30,000-pound GBU-57 bunker busters at Fordow and Natanz, but not at Isfahan, where officials relied on Tomahawk missiles to destroy surface targets. In order to 'truly decimate' Iran's nuclear capabilities, Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, who heads U.S. Central Command, came up with an alternative plan that would have involved repeatedly hitting six sites, sources told NBC. Trump decided not to greenlight the more extensive campaign, which would have lasted for several weeks and could have resulted in more deaths on both sides. The 'all-in' plan would have required targeting more of Iran's air defense and ballistic missile systems, killing more Iranians and opening up Americans in Iraq and Syria to a greater threat of retaliation from Iran, according to NBC. After being briefed on the plan, Trump—who campaigned on a promise to end foreign wars, not start them—decided to go with the more limited option in part because he was wary of involving the U.S. in a protracted military campaign overseas, sources said. He has since claimed that Operation Midnight Hammer, as the strikes were called, accomplished in a single night what U.S. Central Command predicted would take weeks to achieve. 'We destroyed the nuclear,' Trump insisted in June. 'Iran will not have nuclear. We blew it up. It's blown up to kingdom come.' His comments came a day after a leaked preliminary intelligence assessment from the Pentagon found that the bombings had sealed off the entrances to two of the enrichment facilities but had not collapsed the underground buildings. The report also suggested that much of Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium was moved before the strikes—a concern the United Nations' nuclear watchdog also expressed. The latest intelligence assessment found more damage than the original report, according to NBC, but not the total annihilation that the Trump administration has been claiming. The intelligence-gathering process is expected to continue for months, with assessments likely to change over time. 'As the president has said and experts have verified, Operation Midnight Hammer totally obliterated Iran's nuclear capabilities,' White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told NBC in a statement. 'America and the world are safer thanks to his decisive action.' Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell also told NBC that all three of the bombed nuclear sites were 'completely and totally obliterated' and called reports to the contrary 'fake news.' The Daily Beast has also reached out for comment. Iran has said its nuclear program is purely for peaceful, civilian purposes, but it was enriching uranium at levels far above those required for domestic power generation. Still, investigators have not found evidence that the country was on the verge of creating a nuclear bomb when Trump authorized the strikes. Late last month, Trump said he would 'absolutely' and 'without question' consider bombing Iran if reports suggested it could enrich uranium again.
Mint
5 days ago
- Politics
- Mint
US strikes severely damaged just one Iranian nuclear site, new assessment finds: Report
One of the three Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities targeted by US airstrikes last month — the Fordo site — was "mostly destroyed," significantly delaying Iran's enrichment capabilities at that facility by up to two years, according to a recent US intelligence assessment, NBC News reported. The report, based on interviews with five current and former US officials familiar with the matter, also noted that two other sites — Natanz and Isfahan — suffered less damage and could be operational again within several months if Iran chooses to resume activity. 'Iran's key enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,' President Donald Trump said in a post-strike comments, calling the operation a military success. While Fordo was heavily hit, the same assessment reveals that the Natanz and Isfahan facilities were only partially degraded. US officials said these two sites could resume uranium enrichment operations within months. The news outlet citing one current and two former US officials also stated it has learned that US Central Command had crafted a far more extensive strike plan against Iran, which included targeting three additional sites over a multi-week campaign, rather than the single-night operation that was ultimately carried out. 'We were willing to go all the way in our options, but the president did not want to,' one source familiar with internal planning told NBC News. The news outlet citing one of the current officials and one of the former officials said, Trump opted for a more limited strike due to concerns over potential casualties and a desire to avoid deeper US entanglement in foreign conflicts. Officials cautioned that the current assessment is only a snapshot and could change as intelligence collection continues.
Yemen Online
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yemen Online
Yemen's Houthis fire ballistic missile at Israel main airport
The Militia targeted Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv with a "Zulfiqar ballistic missile" and drone, military spokesman Yehya Saree said late Wednesday. In the video statement, he also announced drone attacks on military targets and the southern Israeli port of Eilat. The Houthis have launched repeated missile and drone attacks against Israel since the Gaza war began in October 2023, in solidarity with Palestinians. Israel has carried out several air strikes on Yemen, including on the port city of Hodeida earlier this month. The Israeli military had said that "following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, one missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted". Early on Wednesday, pro-government forces in Yemen said they seized "750 tonnes of weapons" en route from Iran to the Houthis. US Central Command hailed the operation, calling it "the largest seizure of Iranian advanced conventional weapons in their history". Tarek Saleh, who heads the Yemeni National Resistance Forces, said in a post on X that the seizure included "naval and air missile systems, an air defence system, modern radars, drones, monitoring devices, anti-tank missiles, B-10 artillery, tracking lenses, sniper rifles, ammunition, and military equipment". Earlier this month, the Houthis resumed attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, targeting ships having links to Israel, to force Israel to end the Gaza war.
