After three years, Iran’s intelligence forces reveal how meticulously they have been following up the operation of rescuing Iranian sailors from the captivity of pirates in Somalia, and how important it was, for their operation, to be kept secret until sailors’ arrival to Tehran.
Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi said on Thursday that his ministry’s agents secured the fishermen’s release through a long process and despite tight security controls by the pirates.

The sailors Masoud Balouchi, Ahmad Balouchi, Adam Balouchi and Shir-Mohammad Tabezar, kidnapped three years ago in international waters near Somalia were welcomed by Alavi in Tehran on Thursday.

An Iranian intelligence expert who spoke to Iran’s View on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation, brought light to some details of Iranian intelligence efforts during the past three years. Since Iran’s Intelligence officials rarely, if ever, promote and publicize their successful operations, interviews as such showcase Iran’s capabilities and strengths, especially in a region predominantly under control of United States’ and Israel’s intelligence forces, who for long have bragged about their successes in fight against terrorism.

Oversea Counterintelligence Operations Against US 

In fact, Iran has shown deeper roots and further expanded network in fight against terrorism in Africa, according to the fore mentioned intelligence official, who stated Iran’s intelligence forces have previously secured Iranian citizens’ safety in different occasions. 

The Iranian intelligence expert told Iran’s View–under conditions of anonymity–they have been able to secure the release of the country’s nationals captured in different parts of the world. However, these operations are usually shrouded in secrecy not publicized in mainstream media. In some cases, the forces could also secure the release of Iranians captured by the US over alleged sanction-busting attempts.

In an interview with Jam e Jam news paper, four recently-rescued sailors’ have shared the sorrow of losing eight other friends and relatives during hunger and torture and have shown their tortured bodies, burnt skins, marks of broken bones, and pulled out teeth to the camera, and amidst all this sorrow, they have also shared their deep and tremendous thankfulness to their rescuers, as their freedom has seemed out of the horizon to them, for a very long time. Being so not aware of news, politics, and current world, the sailors even thanked the deceased Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani for their freedom, and wished him health, upon their arrival in the airport, according to Jam-e-Jam’s interview.

Diplomatic Bids Failed

“The fishermen’s boat got captivated by Somalian pirates in March 2015, 460 kilometers away from Somalian shore. We started our efforts to set the captivated sailors free since then.” Iranian intelligence official expert on the case said.

The Intelligence expert said the ministry started its overseas operation after attempts through diplomatic channels were not making any progress.

The intelligence operation for the release of the sailors was highly challenging as the sailors were not held by a government or an official organization, he said.

Unsuccessful Prisoner Swap

The expert added that the Intelligence Ministry arranged a prisoner swap with one of the pirates’ leaders to free the four fishermen but that plan hit the wall when the pirates did not show up at the arranged rendezvous.

The Iranian Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden where Somali pirates frequently attacked ships since November 2008 to safeguard maritime traffic, especially for the country’s ships and oil tankers.

During their safeguard operations, the Iranian navy thwarted several hijacking attempts by the pirates and captured some them.

In 2017 we arranged a prisoner swap with one of the pirates’ leaders to give back four imprisoned pirates and set the sailors free but that plan was aborted as the captors did not show up.
The operation was conducted by the Intelligence Ministry in close collaboration with the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)–the commando arm of forces which is in charge of overseas operations, he told the daily.

Tanzania Operation

The official continued: “In the second stage we sent a team from Tanzania to the region to rescue the sailors by sea. A fishing boat was chosen to conduct the mission off the coast of to Kismayo peninsula in southeastern Somalia.
But the ship movements were restricted after it became clear that US drone are conducting reconnaissance operation in the area over suspected Al-Qaeda activities.

The mission was finally called off after the ship’s manouvering ability in the area were heavily restricted by the US drones’ presence, the intelligence official said, highlighting the fact that the operation could be severely damaged if the US became aware of it.

Finally, we operated on the ground and sat our captivated sailors free from the hands of the pirates. Due to the complexity of the return process we didn’t let sailors contact their families during the operation and until they landed in Iran we didn’t announce the news.”

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A US Navy ship fired warning shots at an armed Iranian patrol boat Friday in the Persian Gulf after being intercepted by Iranian navy, According to a statement issued by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The statement says at 4 pm on Friday USS Nimitz aircraft carrier approached the Resalat oil-gas block in the Persian Gulf, intercepted by missile boats of IRGC’s Fourth Marine Corps District.
According to the statement, US navy ship fired warning shots at Iranian boats and a US navy helicopter approached them in a provocative action.

The statement says that the Americans, taking a provocative and unprofessional action, fired warning shots at the Zulfiqar navy boats, with the Islamic warriors pursuing their mission in the region regardless of the unusual behavior of the Americans and the accompanying aircraft carrier and battle-cruiser leaving the region.

In a similar incident, The USS Thunderbolt fired warning shots at Iranian navy boats operating in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday. IRGC Third Naval District describe US navy action as “provocative move that was neutralized by IRGC forces”.

“This morning, a US military ship in the north of the Persian Gulf sailed toward an IRGC Navy’s patrol ship, which was patrolling in international waters, and fired two shots into the air for provocation and intimidation,” reads the IRGC  statement on Tuesday.

It is not first encounter of Iranian and American navy in the Persian Gulf. In April Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a sarcastic message questioned the US Navy’s presence in the Persian Gulf, 7,500 miles away from the US territory.

“Breaking: Our Navy operates in – yes, correct – the Persian Gulf, not the Gulf of Mexico,” Iran’s top diplomat said in a tweet.

Breaking: Our Navy operates in —yes, correct— the Persian Gulf, not the Gulf of Mexico. Question is what US Navy doing 7,500 miles from home pic.twitter.com/XfDicbWr5s

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) April 26, 2017

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Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps condemned Tehran terrorist attacks on Wednesday in a statement and pledged retaliation for the attack.

Hinting Saudi was behind the event in which at least 12 people were killed, the IRGC statement says Tehran attacks, only a week after US U.S. president’s visit of Saudi Arabia is “meaningful”.

“This terrorist attack happened only a week after the meeting between the U.S. president (Donald Trump) and the (Saudi) backward leaders who support terrorists. The fact that Islamic State has claimed responsibility proves that they were involved in the brutal attack,” said the statement.

Brigadier General Hossein Salami, IRGC deputy commander also promised retaliation for the attack. “Let there be no doubt that we will take revenge for today’s attacks in Tehran, on terrorists, their affiliates and their supporters,” he said, as cited by the news agency Mehr.

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As Iran’s View previously reported, Iran’s Leader paid a visit to Army of the Guardians Aerospace Force achievements show on May 11, 2014 to reiterate Iran’s determination to development of its military power.

In the show, Iran’s IRGC displayed its latest aerospace achievements which include modern designation of ballistic missile systems and production of advanced drones.

“[The West] expect to limit Iran’s missile program while they are threatening Iran with military action. Such expectations are foolish and idiotic,” Ayatollah Khamenei said during the visit.

During his two-hour visit from the IRGC exhibition, Ayatollah Khamenei also watched a recorded video of Iranian drones filming USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. he then went to visited a captured American RQ-170 sentinel drone and its Iranian version that was manufactured by IRGC Aerospace Force through reverse engineering.

The post JUST IN:: Video: How Iran Will Confront US Military Threat in the Persian Gulf? first appeared on .

While Iran and the five members of the UN Security Council plus Germany are to start drafting the text of a comprehensive nuclear agreement on May 13, Ayatollah Khamenei said that the West’s expectation of limiting Iran’s missile program is foolish.

While the P5+1, led by the United States, has insisted that Iran’s ballistic missile program will be on the table in any comprehensive agreement, Iran repeatedly rejected any issue other than the nuclear program should be part of the negotiations.

“I always supported creativity in the foreign policy and the negotiations and always advise officials to apply utmost creativity in the international interactions. But the country’s needs and issues like sanctions should not be tied to the negotiations. The authorities should resolve the sanctions in a different way,” Iran’s Leader said today.

Iran and the P5+1 reached a landmark nuclear interim deal in Geneva on November 24, 2013 in which Iran agreed to dilute some of its 20% enriched uranium stockpile to a lower concentration and convert some into oxide.

Although the agreement came into force on January 20 but Iranian officials believes US failed to meet its commitments to easing of sanctions.

“[The West] expect to limit Iran’s missile program while they are threatening Iran with military action. Such expectations are foolish and idiotic.”
Iran’s IRGC displayed its latest aerospace achievements which include modern designation of ballistic missile systems and production of advanced drones.

During his two-hour visit from the IRGC exhibition, Ayatollah Khamenei also watched a recorded video of Iranian drones filming USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. he then went to visited a captured American RQ-170 sentinel drone and its Iranian version that was manufactured by IRGC Aerospace Force through reverse engineering.

On 4 December 2011, an American Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was captured by Iranian forces near the city of Kashmar in northeastern Iran.

The Iranian government announced that the UAV was brought down by its cyberwarfare unit which commandeered the aircraft and safely landed it, after initial reports from Western news sources inaccurately claimed that it had been “shot down”. The United States government initially denied the claims but later President Obama acknowledged that the downed aircraft was a US drone and requested Iran to return it.

But Obama’s request rejected one day later by Iranian officials which urged US to apologize to the Iranian nation because of violating the country’s aerospace.

Below are Photos of Iran’s Leader visiting Aerospace Force of the IRGC exhibition:

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According to the informed sources talked to Iran’sView, the new Iranian President, Hassan Rowhani, perceived to have won the June-14 elections by his moderation promises, is said to have requested the Leader to give him a modest free hand in the country’s foreign policy affairs, including the prolonged nuclear standoff, so that he will be able to tackle the Islamic Republic’s economic problems to some extent.

It is years now that Tehran is at odds with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) over its nuclear case due to irreconcilable views of the negotiating sides.

According to a Rouhani aide who has spoke to Iran’sView on condition of anonymity, he has promised the Supreme Leader he will be able to scrape a large part of the stifling sanctions imposed on Iran without damaging the nature of its nuclear program provided that the Leader permits the president to act more flexibly in the talks with the P5+1.

“I would agree with what I once called ‘heroic flexibility’, as it is a proper move at times,” said the Leader during his address to the Sepah commanders on Tuesday, seems to be an explicitly agreeing to the administration’s request. However, he cautioned the president to be wary of the “other side and the chief objective” in the talks while being more flexible.

Though this was not the first time the Supreme Leader spoke of “heroic flexibility”.

“Artistic and heroic flexibility, softness and maneuver are accepted and welcome in all political grounds,” said the Leader in another meeting a fortnight ago with members of the Assembly of Experts. “But maneuvers should not be interpreted as a leave to cross the red lines or step back of fundamental strategies or neglecting the ideals.”

The Leader of Iran is still suspicious about the flexibility in international dealings of the new administration as it might be induced to cross some red lines (like direct and comprehensive talks with the US) or retreat from fundamental strategies of the Islamic Republic (like supporting Palestinian cause and the Syrian government as part of the resistance front).

The Leader once again reminded the administration in his Tuesday speech that it is not allowed to neglect the “objectives and ideals” of the Islamic Revolution with excuses like “The world or the trends has changed.”

According to political observers in Tehran, the Supreme Leader has allowed the administration to expand ties with European countries, engage in direct talks with the US over the Syrian conflict, and show more flexibility in nuclear talks. The Leader has decided to let Rouhani have his try in various fields, even though he (the Leader) is not optimistic about the West’s reaction to Iran’s flexible tone; which is why the Leader stressed in his Tuesday speech that the US and the West are seeking much greatest goals in Iran’s nuclear case and that it should be taken in and well analyzed by “challenging the hegemonic system by the Islamic Revolution”.

“We do not approve of nuclear weapons not because of the US or others, but because of our beliefs; when we say no one can have nuclear weapons, we would never seek such weapons ourselves; the dissenters of Iran are after something else. These countries would never let their nuclear energy monopoly be broken,” Ayatollah Khamenei said on Tuesday.

“Diplomacy is the field of smile and calls for talks and negotiations; however, all these should be defined in the framework of our major challenge.”

Ayatollah Khamenei has repeatedly cautioned the new administration against the Islamic Republic’s red lines and fundamentals while exhibiting flexibility in its foreign dealings. In his earlier speech addressing members of the Assembly of Experts, the Leader certified that every “administration or person has their own methods and innovations, and are allowed to practice them in their work.”

As a key player in Iran’s power struggle during the past 34 years, the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, or Sepah, has aligned itself well with the Supreme Leader’s directions, and stood up to administrations which fail to follow the Leader’s directions. Besides, the construction projects as well as economic activities run by the Sepah are a powerful lever that can help every administration to materialize their domestic policies; which may be why the President Rowhani addressed Sepah commanders a day before the Leader to ask them to support the administration economically.

With regard to Rowhani’s concerns about acceptance of his “flexible” policies by Sepah commanders, the Supreme Leader called on Sepah top brass to temporarily step out of politics and view the developments from outside.

“Sepah is not required to meddle in political grounds, but guardianship of the Revolution needs precise understanding of realities,” the Leader said on Tuesday.

“The organization that is deemed as the Revolution’s guardian arm cannot be expected to be alien to derivative political currents,” said the Leader, stressing that under the current circumstances Sepah must, of course, identify and counter all adversaries of the Islamic Republic.

The Leader is evidently giving the administration a free hand to remedy the country’s economic and political headache by putting into effect its innovations. Likewise the Leader would be happy see that his strategic decision has helped the administration manage to fulfill its promises and receive a palatable feedback from foreigners. However, if the government fails to get the desired response from the West by being more flexible, just like the Reformist administration of Mohammad Khatami, the Leader’s warnings and pessimism against the US and enemies will be well substantiated. 

“The revolution’s future is glorious for sure, but the time of its happening depends of the performance of the nation and officials. If we are united, integrated and decisive, such a future is soon realized, but if we are infested with indolence, arrogance and other such stuff, that future will be late to come.” Ayatollah Khamenei said to the top commanders of Sepah.

The post Why Iran’s Leader Gives Rowhani Nuclear Free Hand? first appeared on .

“If we annually express our outrage over the US killing 290 of our dear countrymen including 60 children, we should not think America’s crime is only limited to this. America is not just responsible for the killing of 290 passengers of Airbus [flight 655]. The ruthless regime is responsible for killing over 220 thousands of our martyrs.”

Naghdi said the killings of tens of thousands of Iranians by Shah’s regime were ordered by the US. He blamed the US for ordering the crimes and terrors carried by anti-Iran terrorist groups like MEK who killed 17 thousands of the oppressed and defenseless people of Iran; including men, women, children, the youth, and the elderly.

He also referred to the assassination of top Iranian officials like Ayatollah Beheshti .America trained, prepared and organized these groups, putting them against their own nation.

“Everybody knows Saddam Hossein attacked Iran with the support order of the US,” the Commander added.

Even worse than the killing of 290 innocent passengers of Airbus is the atrocity of the American government than president who instead of apologizing and being ashamed gave medals of honor to the criminal who did it [Captain William Rogers], which shows it was an intentional, organized planned and ruthless crime and contrary to what the American officials say it was not a mistake so the US must expect a big and hard vengeance from the Muslim Nation.

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Almost 40 days have passed since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s close companion, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, was disqualified for candidacy in presidential election and the president’s silence so far has surprised many.

His controversial and exaggerating support for Mashaei, especially in the last six months prior to the election was to an extent which made many expect an eruptive reaction from him.

Mashaei is Ahmadinejad’s longtime close friend whose actions, as many critics say, decreased the president’s popularity. He has had overstatements and exorbitant talks about sacred principals of Islam and Shiism and is also charged with political and economical corruption, but Ahmadinejad has insisted many times that “I am Mashaei, and Mashaei is me”. Upon his disqualification, the president said he would pursuit the case to the last minute via the leader and hoped the issue would be solved.

“The president met the leader tree times and requested for his special order [on the issue] but the leader did not accept his requests,” said Haj Sadeghi, the deputy of the representative of the Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

It is not clear if Ahmadinejad did other things too but in a gathering held on June 24, when he spoke to his supporters he said sarcastically, “They omitted a number of the pure and the believer and many were sad and contacted me regularly,” He did not mention any names but political observers say he was referring to disqualification of Mashaei.        

The president’s supporters and even many of his critics expected the president to attack the main organizations of the system, especially the Guardian Council, but unbelievably he did nothing and pretended to obey the law.

Ahmadinejad’s “mere” silence was so strange that led political observers make two analyses.

A small group of observers who believe in the first analysis still are waiting for Ahmadinejad’s political attack. They believe the president is adding to his indirect protest with suspending his provincial trips and doing nothing for the economy. These analysts say the president is angry about the big defeat of his men in the presidential and city council elections and the cases against him in the judiciary and has a special plan to punish his critics even if only one day remains from his administration.

But the second group of analysts rejects the first analysis and makes a totally different argument in response to it. They say during recent years, Dr. Ahmadinejad and his friends have reached to this conclusion that standing against original and principal organizations of the Islamic Republic and creating tensions in the country would lead to a decline in their popular votes and omission from the country’s political system. According to them, for several reasons it is not expected from Ahmadinejad to make any upheaval in the remaining days of his presidency:

1. Considering the two orders by the leader, one regarding the vice presidency of Mashaei and the other regarding the ministry of information, Ahmadinejad thought he could make the system back off but his prediction turned wrong. He also has seen that even during the 2009 protests and riots the system did not back off from its position and did not nullify the votes so he would not make the same mistake over Mashaei’s disqualification.
2. Inability to control economic problems that led to increased financial pressure against the people, paying little attention to the sacred, and disagreeing with some rules and leader’s advices weaken his social standing. The president cannot make tension in the society when he does not have popular support.
3. The president does not want to make himself a center of hatred forever with making a not very useful tension in the country
4. He wants to remain as a peaceful and oppressed figure in the mind of the people, leaving good memories behind himself and giving himself the chance of returning to top positions again.
5. He does not want to compensate the chance of getting away from the charges against him and his friends in several economic and political suits for a political upheaval which does not have a clear result.
6. A political attack might destroy the president’s critics but its costs would be more than its benefits and it would be more like a suicidal action and not a contemplated action.
7. If Ahmadinejad wanted to create tension he would do it before the election but his silence then showed he was not willing to do so.

Based on these reasons the second analysis seems to be closer to reality and thus we should not expect more tensions and upheavals from the president.

The post Ahmadinejad’s Mysterious Silence On The Rejectection Of His Preferred Candidate first appeared on .

While some of prominent Iranian politicians couldn’t get qualification, the list of qualified candidates include an unknown name: Mohammad Gharazi.

Born in 1941, Gharazi has a master of Electronics Engineering from Tehran University.

He was a member of Mojahedin-E Khalgh (MEK) before the 1979 revolution and was a comrade of Imam Khomeini during his exile in France.

Although the MEK was an Iranian revolutionary organization that participated in the 1979 Revolution that overthrew the Pahlavi Shah, but it entered an armed conflict with the Islamic government since June 28, 1981 when bombs were detonated at the headquarters of the Islamic Republic Party and Around 70 high-ranking officials were killed.

Mohmmad Gharazi apparently left the MEK before members of the organization left Iran for Iraq to fight against the regime along with Saddam Hoseing, then dictator of Iraq during 8 years of Iran-Iraq war.

Gharazi served as the minister of Oil in Mir Hossein Mousavi’s cabinet during 1981-85 and was the minister of Post, Telegraph and Telephone in Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s administration since 1985 to 1997.

Being a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and a Member of Parliament are other notable facts in Gharazi’s political record.

His approval for presidential candidacy was a big surprise as he was away from Iran’s political arena for years.

He announced his campaign motto as “Anti-Inflation Administration” when he registered for the presidential election. 

The post Everything About Mohammad Gharazi, Unknown Qualified Presidential Candidate first appeared on .

“Forming Hezbollah was a result of enemy’s invasion to Lebanon and now, hezbollah has a [surprising] weapon that they [enemies] don’t expect,” Naghdi said during an speech to a demonstration after Tehran’s Friday prayers against recent Israeli air strikes to Syria.

“Hamas also formed in reaction to Israeli occupation of Palestine. And with god’s will, a powerful force will be established in Syria and will wipe out Israel,” he said.

Criticizing some Arab countries diplomacy with Israel, he said: “Leaders of Arab countries should know that the Muslim nations are aware and [any kind of] support from Israel will have a miserable fate for them.”

The head of Hezbollah, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, in an address televised to an audience in Beirut on Thursday said he is ready to receive “game changing” weapons from Syria.

Syria is believed to be a conduit for Iranian weapons bound for Hezbullah and Palestinian resistance groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

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