Iran Financial News

Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander in an airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday, the Israeli military and two security sources in Lebanon said, sharply escalating the year-long conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed group.

Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah operations commander killed in an Israeli strike on Friday, had a $7 million bounty on his head for two 1983 Beirut truck bombings that killed more than 300 people at the American embassy and a U.S. Marines barracks. Two security sources in Lebanon confirmed the veteran fighter was killed in an airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs during a meeting of the elite Radwan unit of the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group. Aqil, who has also used the aliases Tahsin and Abdelqader, was the second member of Hezbollah's top military body, the Jihad Council, to be killed in two months after an Israeli strike in the same area targeted Fuad Shukr in July.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. TEL AVIV—In a long history of audacious operations, exploding pagers and walkie-talkies across Lebanon was one of Israel’s boldest feats, delivering a stunning tactical success that threw the militant group Hezbollah into disarray and which could help restore the deterrence Israel lost on Oct. 7.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. A second wave of explosions in hand-held devices took place when walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah detonated in Lebanon, killing at least 20 people and injuring hundreds.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. BEIRUT—At 3:25 p.m. Tuesday, two members of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah were eating lunch at a shopping mall in the Lebanese capital when the pager one of the men was carrying exploded, leaving him severely injured and bleeding from the arms and eyes.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. A wave of deadly explosions of pagers and other electronic devices carried by militants in Lebanon has sharply heightened Pentagon concern about a potential ground war erupting in southern Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah. Even before the hundreds of widely dispersed detonations Tuesday and Wednesday, U.S.

Israel’s defense minister has declared the start of a “new phase” of the war as Israel turns its focus toward the northern front against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon

Hezbollah. The blasts — which came after Israeli officials said they were ready to step up attacks against the Iranian-backed militia — have heightened concerns that Israel's long-simmering conflict with the group might escalate into a broader war. Hezbollah and Iran quickly blamed Tuesday's operation on Israel, an assessment confirmed by U.S. and other officials. Israel has not confirmed or denied responsibility. With hospitals in Lebanon struggling to cope with the number of wounded, Israel and Lebanon were tensely awaiting a promised retaliation from Hezbollah and its allies.

FBI announced on Wednesday that Iranian hackers have attempted to intervene in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The hackers sent emails to contacts of President Joe Biden’s campaign, using information allegedly stolen from former President Donald Trump’s campaign. The messages included excerpts from Trump's campaign documents aiming to lure Biden's team. The FBI found no evidence that anyone responded to these emails. Kamala Harris' campaign called the emails “unwelcome and unacceptable malicious activity,” treating them mostly as spam or phishing. Harris's campaign spokesperson, Morgan Finkelstein, stated, “We condemn in the strongest terms any effort by foreign actors to interfere in US elections.” The emails were sent before Trump’s campaign publicly acknowledged the hack on August 10. Iranian hackers reportedly stole and spread confidential Trump campaign documents. News outlets, including Politico, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, received these materials but have not reported the details.

Reuven Azar, on Wednesday strongly condemned Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments on the treatment of minorities in India, calling the remarks «ridiculous» and hypocritical. Azar pointed out that while Khamenei lectures other nations, Iran itself is accused of suppressing freedoms and violating human rights. «It is really ridiculous that this radical leader is trying to lecture others while he is killing his own population oppressing freedoms like freedom of religion, freedom of speech, human rights that is completely outrageous and we hope Iranian people are going to be free one day from such oppression and tyranny coming from Khamenei,» Azar told PTI. The Iranian leader, addressing a gathering of clerics in Tehran on Monday, talked about what he described as «suffering» of Muslims in Gaza, Myanmar and India.

Hezbollah exploded almost simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria Tuesday, killing at least 12 people — including two children — and wounding thousands more. A U.S. official said Israel briefed the U.S. on the operation — in which small amounts of explosive hidden in the pagers were detonated — on Tuesday after it was concluded. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the information publicly. The Iran-backed militant group blamed Israel for the deadly explosions, which targeted an extraordinary breadth of people and showed signs of being a long-planned operation. Details on how the attack was executed are largely uncertain and investigators have not immediately said how the pagers were detonated. The Israeli military has declined to comment.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The Biden administration hasn’t been good for the trans-Atlantic alliance. This might seem a surprising claim, given that Joe Biden’s team and Kamala Harris’s campaign have touted improved U.S.-European ties as their greatest foreign-policy achievement.

Israel's ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, has responded to comments made by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, about the situation of Muslims in India. Azar criticized Khamenei, saying, «You are a killer and oppressor of your own people. Muslims in Israel, India and all democracies enjoy freedom, which is denied in Iran. I wish the people of Iran will be free soon.» Khamenei had earlier compared the plight of Muslims in India with those in Gaza, which drew a sharp reaction from India. Khamenei stated, «The enemies of Islam have always tried to make us indifferent with regard to our shared identity as an Islamic Ummah. We cannot consider ourselves to be Muslims if we are oblivious to the suffering that a Muslim is enduring in #Myanmar, #Gaza, #India, or any other place.» India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a strong response to Khamenei's comments on Monday. The MEA's statement read, «We strongly deplore the comments made regarding minorities in India by the Supreme Leader of Iran. These are misinformed and unacceptable. Countries commenting on minorities are advised to look at their own record before making any observations about others.»

(This story originally appeared in on Sep 18, 2024)

Israel's Mossad spy agency planted a small amount of explosives inside 5,000 Taiwan-made pagers ordered by Lebanese group Hezbollah months before Tuesday's detonations, a senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters. The operation was an unprecedented Hezbollah security breach that saw thousands of pagers detonate across Lebanon, killing nine people and wounding nearly 3,000 others, including the group's fighters and Iran's envoy to Beirut. Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held a telephonic conversation with his Lebanon counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib on Tuesday. During the phone-call, he blamed Israel for a series of pager explosions in Lebanon, labelling it "Israeli terrorism." Araghchi asked about the condition of Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, who was injured in the explosions, and thanked Lebanon for his treatment, CNN reported, citing Press TV. He offered solidarity with victims and expressed willingness to provide aid to victims. In a post to X, Abbas Araghchi stated, «In call with my Lebanese counterpart, strongly condemned Israeli terrorism. Expressed solidarity with victims--including a 10-year-old--and readiness to provide any aid. Also thankful for treatment of our injured Ambassador, emphasizing need for serious follow-up by Lebanese Govt.»

In what appeared to be a sophisticated, remote attack, pagers used by hundreds of members of Hezbollah exploded almost simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria Tuesday — killing at least nine people, including a young girl, and wounding thousands more

Benjamin Netanyahu announced an expansion of the country's war goals on Tuesday to include the return of northern residents who fled cross-border fire traded with Hamas ally Hezbollah. «The political-security cabinet updated the goals of the war this evening, so that they include the following section: the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes,» Netanyahu's office said in a statement. Israeli forces and the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group have exchanged near-daily strikes since Hamas's October 7 attack sparked war in the Gaza Strip.

Iran's new reformist President insisted Monday that Tehran didn't want to enrich uranium at near-weapons grade levels but had been forced to by the US withdrawal from its nuclear deal with world powers. The comments by President Masoud Pezeshkian at his first news conference, underlines a campaign promise he made to try to see international sanctions on the Islamic Republic lifted. However, it remains unclear just how much room for negotiation Pezeshkian will have. «I think, we said many times, we don't want to do this at all. We want to solve our technical and scientific needs, we are not looking for nuclear weapons,» Pezeshkian said. «We adhered to the framework written in the (nuclear deal). We are still looking to maintain those frameworks. They tore them, they forced us to do something.»

Ministry of External Affairs issued a strong condemnation of Khamenei's comments, which had criticized the treatment of minorities in India. “We strongly deplore the comments made regarding minorities in India by the Supreme Leader of Iran. These are misinformed and unacceptable. Countries commenting on minorities are advised to look at their own record before making any observations about others,” the ministry stated.

Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed Monday that they shot down another American-made MQ-9 Reaper drone, with video circulating online showing what appeared to be a surface-to-air missile strike and flaming wreckage strewn across the ground. The US military said it was aware of the Houthis' claimed downing of a drone over the country's southwestern Dhamar province, without elaborating. The Houthis have exaggerated claims in the past in their ongoing campaign targeting shipping in the Red Sea over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. However, the online video bolstered the claim, particularly after two recent claims by the Houthis included no evidence. Other videos showed armed rebels gathered around the flaming wreckage, a propeller similar to those used by the armed drone visible in the flames. One attempted to pick up a piece of the metal before dropping it due to the heat.