Israeli special operations forces conducted a highly unusual raid into Syria on September 8 to destroy a major Iranian-backed precision missile factory and recover intelligence from the site.[1] The mission targeted the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) site in Masyaf in northwestern Syria, which has been long involved in the production of advanced weapons, including precision munitions.[2] The Israeli raid began with several airstrikes targeting nearby roads in order to isolate the facility and prevent Iranian-backed or Syrian reinforcements from arriving. Israeli SOF entered the facility, some of which was underground, and engaged Syrian guards. The Israeli SOF then planted explosives before leaving the facility and detonating them.[3] The explosives were needed to destroy the facility because it was underground and thus protected from airstrikes.[4] Israeli SOF sustained no reports casualties during the raid. Iran built the targeted site in 2018, and Lebanese Hezbollah has used it since then to produce weapons.[5] The raid was part of a concerted Israeli effort to disrupt Iranian weapons supply networks in the Levant. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have conducted numerous airstrikes across Syria to this end in recent months, including the strike that killed several senior IRGC officers in Damascus in April 2024.
Iran and Russia are downplaying their disagreement over the Zangezur Corridor project in the Caucasus. Tension has erupted between Moscow and Tehran since Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov announced on August 19 that Russia supports the Zangezur Corridor, which would connect Azerbaijan proper to its Nakhchivan Automonous Region through southern Armenia.[47] Iran has long opposed the development of the Zangezur corridor, arguing that it would sever Iranian land access to Europe and Russia.[48] Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Akbar Ahmadian met Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in St. Petersburg, Russia, on September 10, during which Shoigu insisted that the Russian position vis-a-vis the Zangezur Corridor has not recently changed.[49] Ahmadian similarly said that nothing has changed in the Iran-Russia relationship during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 12.[50] Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova likewise said on September 11 that Russia ”provided all the necessary clarifications,” which Tehran has accepted.[51] Neither Iran nor Russia likely seeks to antagonize the other, despite their differing positions, especially as they implemented their agreement to provide Iranian missiles to support the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[52]
Russia is continuing to balance its relationships with Iran and the Gulf states. Ahmadian and Shoigu also discussed the dispute between Iran and the United Arab Emirates over ownership of three islands in the Persian Gulf.[53] Tehran has claimed the three islands as Iranian territory since 1971.[54] Iranian state media reported that Shoigu confirmed expressed Russian support for Iranian sovereignty over the three islands, though this report should be treated with skepticism.[55] Russia has historically indicated support for the Emirati claim to the islands, which has been a consistent point of tension between Moscow and Tehran.[56]
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-september-12-2024
One particular case involved Pouria Zeraati, an exiled Iranian journalist working for Iran International, a London-based satellite news channel that broadcasts to millions in Iran, wrote the Washington Post. In March 2023, Zeraati was ambushed and stabbed outside his home in Wimbledon by attackers who were not Iranian nationals and had no apparent ties to Iran's intelligence services. Instead, British investigators revealed that the assailants were Eastern European criminals hired by Tehran, underscoring how Iran has started outsourcing its plots to foreign criminals in order to avoid Western scrutiny.
The use of criminal syndicates has allowed Iran to carry out operations with relative ease. Zeraati’s attackers, for example, passed through security at Heathrow Airport, tracked him for days, and fled the country hours after the attack. Tehran’s outsourcing model has included groups such as the Russian mob network “Thieves in Law,” and the Hells Angels,
In some cases, these hired hands have been instructed to carry out grotesque acts of violence, such as a failed plot in Maryland where Hells Angels members were contracted to assassinate a former Iranian military officer living in the United States. In 2021, US officials uncovered a plot involving two Hells Angels members hired to kill an Iranian defector and his wife in Maryland. Their orders, originating from an Iranian heroin kingpin named Naji Sharifi Zindashti,
Zindashti, a central figure in Iran's outsourcing of assassinations, has been described as a “Pablo Escobar-type” drug trafficker. His operations span continents, and his criminal empire has become deeply intertwined with Iran's Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS). He is believed to have orchestrated multiple killings and kidnappings on behalf of Tehran, including the 2020 abduction and execution of Habib Chaab, an Iranian-Swedish political activist.
Iran Update, September 13, 2024
The US Embassy in Baghdad assessed that Iranian-backed Iraqi militias likely conducted the attack on a US diplomatic compound near Baghdad International Airport on September 10.[1] CTP-ISW also assessed on September 11 that Iranian-backed Iraqi militias conducted the September 10 attack. The US Embassy in Baghdad said on September 11 that an attack targeted the Baghdad Diplomatic Services Compound, a US diplomatic facility.[2] An unspecified military official told AFP on September 11 that militants fired two Katyusha-type rockets in the attack. One rocket struck the wall of an Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service building and the other rocked landed inside an international coalition base, presumably a reference to the Baghdad Diplomatic Services Compound.[3] CTP–ISW previously noted that Iranian-backed Iraqi militants seem to have conducted the attack against the wishes of Iranian-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which is a coalition of Iranian-backed Iraqi militias.[4] The US Embassy called on the Iraqi government to protect US and coalition personnel and facilities.[5] The US government has often emphasized to the Iraqi government, especially Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani, the importance of ensuring the safety of US forces following Iranian-backed Iraqi militia attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria.[6]
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-september-13-2024