Persian Gulf & Middle East Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Over 100 Yazidis Flee Iraq Daily Fleeing From Islamic State
Yazidis, a Kurdish religious community, are leaving Iraq in an attempt to save themselves from the advancing troops of the Islamic State, according to an official within an organization which aids the Yazidi community.

MOSCOW, August 4 (Sputnik) — At least 100 members of the Iraqi Yazidi minority flee the country every day to protect themselves and their families from Islamic State (ISIL) militants, an official in an organization that helps abducted Yazidis has estimated, as quoted by the local IraqiNews portal on Tuesday.

"More than 100 Yazidis are heading outside the country every day," Hussein Qaiada said.

He added that at the moment there were at least 300 Yazidis, mostly women and children, still being held by ISIL militants, who "expose them to various types of abuse and torture."

The Yazidis are a Kurdish religious community living primary in northern Iraq's Nineveh Governorate.

In late April, lawmakers in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called the ISIL actions against the Yazidi population, as well as against Shiite and Christian minorities, genocide.

Islamic State controls large parts of Iraq and Syria, and is notorious for committing numerous human rights atrocities and killings.

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Times of Oman said:

Riyadh: A "terrorist" bomb targeting a mosque used by Saudi police killed at least 17 people Thursday in the southern city of Abha, state television El-Ikhbariya reported.

The explosion took place as worshippers were praying at a mosque used by Saudi special forces in Abha, the broadcaster said, describing it as a "terrorist" attack. It gave no further details. An interior ministry spokesman confirmed the attack but gave a slightly lower toll of "more than 13" dead.

The victims were members of a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit, the spokesman told AFP. "It's confirmed there's an explosion and there's more than 13 (killed)... in a mosque," the spokesman said.

The explosion happened at the headquarters of the SWAT team, which is tasked with domestic security, he added. It was too early to say who may have carried out the attack, he added.

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Also from the International Business Times:

Internaltional Business Times said:

A suicide bomb attack on a mosque in the Saudi Arabian city of Abha has left at least 17 people dead, according to state broadcaster El-Ikhbariya.

The bomber detonated an explosive as security forces in the Tawari neighbourhood performed noon prayers. More than 30 people were injured in the blast, according to reports from the scene

A security spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of the Interior confirmed the deaths of at least 10 special emergency forces members to news source Alhakea.

The spokesman later told the AFP that "more than 13" security forces members died. Those targeted were members of a SWAT unit, the spokesman said.

It was too early to say who may have carried out the attack, he added. The remains of a suicide belt were reportedly found at the scene.

Islamic State (Isis) jihadists have kept Saudi Arabia on alert recently as a series of attacks that killed police and members of the Shiite minority in the country have been attributed to them.

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gCaptain said:

Egypt unveiled its $8.5 billion expansion to the Suez Canal on Thursday, the first of a series of mega projects the government has promised to undertake to transform the country after years of turmoil.

The expansion of the canal was overseen by the military under order from President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

Officials have played up the canal expansion’s potential to redraw the “map of the world” just as the 146-year-old original did, even as the shipping industry has doubted its necessity.

“Egypt is a great civilization with very few modern achievements,” said Samuel Tadros, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Hudson Institute. “El-Sisi understands this hunger among the Egyptian people for success in the world, and he’s giving it to them.”

The president, dressed in full military regalia, arrived at a lavish ceremony on board a yacht used by the last king to rule Egypt. Fighter jets buzzed the canal and the yacht was accompanied by a naval vessel.

“The new canal is just the first step of a thousand steps we have to take,” El-Sisi said in a televised speech as French President Francois Hollande and other dignitaries including Jordan’s King Abdullah looked on.

Gift to World

The expansion of Suez, a 193-kilometer (120-mile) link between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, includes a new 35- kilometer channel and 37 kilometers of widening and deepening of the original. It allows two-way traffic and reduces transit time to 11 hours from 18, according to the operator. New ports and other facilities are also planned.

Cairo’s streets were adorned with billboards and flags praising El-Sisi and celebrating “Egypt’s gift to the world.” The state-run Al-Akhbar’s front page featured a picture of a prostrate El-Sisi with the headline: “Praise be to God.”

The new canal is a way “to show the world that while Egypt may have faced problems over the past few years, it is moving forward,” Shaimaa Ahmed, a 26-year-old mother of two, said in Cairo. “It’s something we can all take pride in — that it was built in a year and by Egyptians, and that it’s something the world can share.”

Locally Funded

Egyptian officials have pointed with pride to the project as one funded completely with local money. Egyptians snapped up 64 billion Egyptian pounds ($8.2 billion) of 5-year investment certificates issued to fund the project within days. Newspapers pointed out similarities with the 1956 nationalization of Suez, used by the government to finance the Aswan Dam after failing to secure foreign funding.

“Every few months the regime needs these sorts of celebrations to renew its bond with the people,” Tadros said. “In El-Sisi’s eyes, his legitimacy comes from these massive outbursts of Egyptians supporting him.”

Future projects promised include a new administrative capital east of Cairo, the reclamation of swaths of Egypt’s desert and the building of new urban centers.

The construction projects have boosted the economy, which grew above 4 percent in the nine months to March for the first time since 2010. That recovery may be short-lived, with security concerns and a shortage of foreign currency weighing on growth, a survey of business activity showed on Tuesday.

El-Sisi is building public support around the mega projects as an alternative to real political participation, according to Ziad Akl, a senior researcher at the Cairo-based Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.

“The government is using the project as a tool for consolidating its legitimacy,” he said. “They’re sending a message that achievements are taking place.”

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Russia-Iran Arms Sales Could Reach $11-13Bln if UN Lifts Embargo – Expert
Full-scale military-technical cooperation between Moscow and Tehran would be resumed if the UN arms embargo is lifted, a Russian military expert opined.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — When the UN sanctions are lifted, the potential market for deals between Russia and Iran for military hardware could be estimated to reach $11-13 billion, Igor Korotchenko, the head of a Russian think tank specializing in weapons sales, said on Friday.

In accordance with Thursday’s nuclear energy deal reached during Iran-P5+1 talks, US and EU sanctions imposed on Iran will be suspended after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verifies that Tehran is following through with the agreements. Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov added that the UN arms embargo against Iran should also be lifted.

“Our countries have great potential for development of military-technical cooperation, the full scale of possible Russian arms deliveries to Iran could reach 11-13 billion dollars," Korotchenko told RIA Novosti.

Much to the dismay, no doubt, of at least 47 US Republican Senators, a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was reached concerning Iran's nuclear program Thursday, after 8 straight days of final-round negotiations, in Lausanne, Switzerland.

He stressed that full-scale military-technical cooperation between Moscow and Tehran would be resumed if the UN arms embargo is lifted.

According to Korotchenko, Russia could become a major supplier of military equipment to the Islamic Republic, as Tehran, planning an ambitious program of rearmament for the country's army and navy, is politically unlikely to buy weapons from Western countries.

On June 9, 2010, the UN Security Council passed a resolution implementing sanctions against Iran over its controversial nuclear program. Many of the sanction were military, including a ban on the sale of modern weapons to the country.

On September 22, 2010, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed an executive order enforcing the UN Security Council resolution. The document banned all military sales from Russia to Iran and included the transfer of weapons to Iran from outside the borders of Russia by aircraft or vessels operating under the .

In October 2011, Russia delivered a ground-based 1L222 Avtobaza radar-jamming station to Iran. This was the first officially recorded sale following the introduction of sanctions.

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Potential measurement of the Russian-Iranian military dialogue / cooperation

According to some Western analysts, referring to Iranian sources, the practical result of the visit of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to Tehran and his talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Dehghani (HosseinDehghan) can be delivery to Iran of two anti-aircraft missile systems (batteries) C-300PMU- 2, as well as repair and upgrade the facilities of the local repair enterprises consisting of Iran and Su-24 bombers with bringing them to the level of the MiG-29 SMT modifications and Su-24M2, respectively.

Iranian sources say that on the agenda of talks between the military departments of Russia and Iran could be the following issues:

- Russian technical assistance in the modernization of the Iranian military transport aircraft Il-76;

- Purchase of current production 48 engines for the needs of the Air Force of Iran;

- Purchase of Iran Air Force 24 Su-30MK fighters;

- Purchase 100 BTR-80

- Purchase of two combat-capable Su-25UBK and completion of delivery of , became subject to the embargo imposed by the Security Council earlier

- Delivery through the RAC "MiG" Russian engines and ejection seats for completing training aircraft (TCB) Kowsar 88 Iranian development, as well as the possible purchase from the IRGC Air Force of Russian to replace the Sino-Pakistani K-8.


Commenting on the agenda, foreign experts note the following:

1. Supply at any given point in time is more than strange. If any, will take place, it will demonstrate the course of Russia to further aggravation of relations with the United States in connection with the Ukrainian crisis, or even more so - that the red line in the relations of the two countries have already crossed.

2. Iranian transporters IL-76 were and are "workhorses" in the question of supply-led Iran coalition group of forces opposed to LIH and al-Qaeda in the region. And as such, they certainly are the subject of cooperation between the parties concerned, which is likely to have practical results.

3. Iran Air Force really need to upgrade their MiG-29 and , as well as the replacement of a number of systems of these types of aircraft. Introduced last year at the initiative of the US sanctions by Western countries against Russia in connection with the events in Ukraine are an additional economic incentive for Russia, as a supplier to supply Iran with the specified special equipment and the provision of related services.

4. Supply of , if held, it is clear that in the long run. Again, in the case of Russia, it may be an element of the game on the worsening of relations with the West. However, in the case of Iran, the economic situation of the country can eliminate the possibility of such purchases, though obviously the needed a new multifunctional combat aircraft.

5. Purchase of party BTR-80 is logical from Iran, in particular, to enhancing the protection of national borders, as they write about Iranian sources. For Russia, this is again an additional economic incentive to overcome the effects of Western sanctions.

6. Supply of Su-25 at the current time may reflect compensation for losses incurred by the Iranians in the war with LIH.

7. Purchase of Iranians Russian engines and ejection seats for the acquisition of its TCB Kowsar 88, as well as the purchase of Russian CF (they can be viewed as a light combat aircraft) will depend on the current economic situation in the country, which it is not yet conducive. However, as in the case of the , study this issue now can give the bottom line in the future, under more favorable conditions.

Very interesting analysis




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FREMM Tahya Misr took part in the celebration of the inauguration of the Suez Canal expansion



On the occasion of the inauguration ceremony of the new Suez Canal on August 6th, the

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Tahya Misr,

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, has joined a large part of the naval fleet around Marechal Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt. Benefiting from the latest developed technologies, the multimission frigate, now operational, contributes to the modernization of the Egyptian forces’ defence mechanisms.

Egyptians gather in Cairo's Tahrir Cquare to celebrate the opening of the New Suez Canal
Picture: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany



Egyptian Air Force planes trace a heart in the sky during the inauguration ceremony of the new Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt
Picture: REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh


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Rafale fighter, flying First Egyptian Rafale fly over Cairo the first delivery capital over to Egypt


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Iran's military mastermind just gave the US the bird


(Reuters) Iranian Revolutionary Guard Commander Qassem Soleimani, left, stands at the frontline during offensive operations against Islamic State militants in the town of Tal Ksaiba in Salahuddin province, March 8, 2015.

Iran's military mastermind is getting defiant.

Gen. Qassem Soleimani ignored a travel ban and sanctions and flew to Russia to meet with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and President Vladimir Putin, .

It's not clear what the leaders discussed at the July 24 meeting.

Soleimani is a US-designated terrorist. US Secretary of State John Kerry, as he , has assured American officials that Soleimani and his Quds Force would continue to face sanctions from the US Treasury even after UN sanctions are lifted under the deal, Fox reports.

Kerry told Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) on July 29 that US sanctions against Soleimani would never be lifted, according to Fox.

Soleimani reportedly traveled to Russia on a commercial Air Iran flight. He arrived on July 24, a Friday, and left on Sunday.

Fox notes the significance of his visit: "UN sanctions have not yet been lifted against Iran, and Soleimani, as head of the Iranian Quds Force is sanctioned as part of Security Council Resolution 1747. He is prohibited to travel, and any country that lets him transit or travel is defying the sanctions. (Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council and would have been aware of this restriction when meeting with him.)"

As US officials have assured Americans that money from Iran sanctions relief wouldn't significantly affect the country's regional activities, critics have pointed to Soleimani's ambitions and reluctance to bow to the nuclear deal.


(REUTERS/RIA Novosti/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin) Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, right, take part in celebrations for Navy Day in Baltiysk in the Kaliningrad region of Russia, July 26, 2015.

The Quds Force, the special forces wing of the Iran Revolutionary Guard, has been expanding its influence across the Middle East and getting involved in regional conflicts in Iraq and Syria.

Soleimani , where he has in commanding Shia militias that have been fighting alongside Iraqi security forces to drive the Islamic State (also known as ISIS, ISIL, and Daesh) out of the country.

The Shia militias have emerged as the most effective fighting force against ISIS in Iraq, but some say the Shia fighters aren't much better than the ISIS terrorists they're trying to expunge. (Others, however, as the best option for helping Sunni tribal fighters drive ISIS out of Iraq.)


(Reuters)
The militias

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that have been liberated from ISIS, a Sunni terror group.

And this isn't the first time Iranian proxies have gotten involved in Iraq — Shia militias commanded by Soleimani killed hundreds of Americans in Iraq during the US invasion.

Russia has also been involved in conflicts in the Middle East by supporting Iran and Syria, which are allies with each other and with Russia.



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One killed, three injured in attack on Iranian bus in east Turkey


At least one person has been killed and three others wounded in an attack by unidentified gunmen on an Iranian bus travelling in eastern Turkey.

Iran’s official news agency IRNA quoted Hossein Qassemi, the Iranian consul general in the city of Erzurum, as saying that one person died after succumbing to the wounds he had received to his head. Qassemi said the identity and nationality of the victim “is not known yet,” adding that all other passengers are in good condition.

The report said Iran's Consulate in Erzurum is investigating the issue, adding that no group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

However, Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency attributed the assault to Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants, saying an Iranian national and a Turkish sergeant had died following a shooting at an Iranian bus travelling in the highway linking Dogubayazit in Agri Province to Caldiran in Van Province.

The attack was carried out at about 11:30 a.m. local time (0830 GMT) in the Somkaya area near the village of Cetenli, Anadolu said, adding that PKK militants blocked the highway by setting fire to three 18-wheelers and two trucks. That was followed by a shooting attack on a passing Iranian bus, according to the Turkish news agency's account, where one person was killed and three others were injured.




They did the same thing last week , these pkk savages deserve more punishment...