Forewarned Is Forearmed -- Or Is It?

"[Threats to such facilities mark a] major shift [in] Iranian ambitions to come at harder targets like military sites."

"[The suspected plot against the Royal Air Force Fairford base, on September 27 was] not unique. [There have] been other examples [of similar threats to installations] not just in the U.K. but around the world -- most particularly in Iran's own region." 

"[Iran has been forced to rely on] hiring criminals to do their bidding [in Britain and Europe]." 

"Given what we've seen in practise, [Iran has not demonstrated] anywhere near the level of capability [to launch a sophisticated attack on British military bases or other installations]."

"Since I started in this role in 2020, there has been another generational shift. We have again entered a new era of national security – requiring a new response."  

MI-5 Director-General Ken McCallum 

 

"[We will] keep threatening U.S. and Israeli interests worldwide until we've avenged every child in Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, and the resistance nations." 

"[People should] stay away from Zionist and American interests." 

Iran proxy group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia — or The Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Righteous (IMCR)

Director General of MI5 Ken McCallum speaks at Thames House, the headquarters of the U.K.'s Security Service in London, Tuesday Oct. 13, 2026. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP, Pool)

 

In its yearly update to dangers facing the United Kingdom and its allies, MI-5's director-general laid out his agency's most pressing concerns among which was the plot uncovered a month earlier as an example, against a British airbase, as forming a scheme plotted by the Islamic Republic of Iran to mount unattributed attacks by in situ groups infiltrating the U.K. and acting as agents for Iran. The attacks have struck high-security targets such as military sites and intelligence facilities. 

 

"The intensity and scale and shape" of the threat emanating from Iran is "shifting at the moment". The linkage reflects fallout from the U.S.-Israel war on Iran seven months earlier, motivating Iran and its Republican Islamic Guard Corps to focus on threatening and attacking American allies. The annual address on security threats included Mr. McCallum's security assessment that Russia "remains aggressor No. 1" against Britain and its allies which links to European support for Ukraine during Russia's now-five-year 'special military operation'. 

 

In recognition of the prevalence of the threats and the nature of the attacks, MI-5 saw the necessity of forming a dedicated new intelligence group linked to the agency meant to focus on potential threats that may in time become a more dire threat not only to the region, but beyond. Advances in artificial intelligence that take into account the possibility of chemical or biological weapons manufacturing guided by AI, and their potential use as instruments of warfare. 

 

Police patrol the perimeter of RAF Fairford as a U.S. Air Force Rockwell B-1 Lancer bomber lands Sept. 28.  Ben Birchall / Press Association via Getty

 

"[Iran has demonstrated that it is] keen on subcontracting its U.K. violence … using criminal proxies to try to intimidate oppositionists, Iranian media organizations, and Israeli sites."

"Sadly, much of this aggression has been aimed at British Jewish communities, with whom I want to express solidarity." 

The interrupted plot against the Fairford airbase is still under investigation by British counterterrorism police. Its occurrence saw the United States evacuate the dozen B-1 bombers it had stationed at the airbase. Recent weeks saw some seven suspects arrested, including five British citizens who were detained soon after midnight on September 27 and subsequently released on bail. The five were in three vans travelling toward the base perimeter, used by U.S. bombers in their strikes on Iran. A nearby farmer was alerted to their suspicious presence and informed police.

 

This was an apprehended incident marking a departure from more recent years' pattern where Iran has been linked to lower-level proxy attacks recruited online to engage in sabotage, arson or stabbings, many of which targeted Jewish communities. Over 50 arrests have been made in the past year in "Iran-linked operations", stated Mr. McCallum. These activities are known to have taken place as well in Canada where Iranian-linked criminals were hired to disrupt life and target Jewish institutions.   

"Many terrorists would dearly love to have some kind of capability with bio, chem or radiological weaponry."

"[If guardrails meant to safeguard the spread of AI fail to gain complete control, a risk presents that] AI could generate novel pathogens not previously seen."

"[A new MI-5] threat centre [was created this year with an aim to focus on such dangers]."

MI-5 Director-General Ken McCallum  

It seems clear enough that what cannot be predicted and what has become a publicly-aired dilemma over increasingly alarming news being released from among the Artificial Intelligence community that bots are striking out on their own -- deliberately taking steps to shield their activities from the notice of their human trainers to plot among themselves and act in swarms disrupting communications while managing to escape the guardrails meant to confine them -- is becoming an entirely new threat on its own. 

 

According to Mr. McCallum, the technology is "supercharging the cybersecurity contest between attackers and defenders". His concern and that of his agency is that AI could enable terrorist networks or state adversaries in the acquisition of  unconventional and extremely toxic and potent weapons that the world must now contemplate contending with. Much, much simpler to deal with challenges posed by state actors in their supercharged yet hard-to-pin-down efforts at world domination.

 

The world is faced with the trifecta of China's and Russia's ambitions on the world stage to prove themselves contenders for the position of superpowers, and the theist-motivated fundamentalism of Islamist conquest exemplified by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxy terrorist groups to fundamentally alter the world's religious, cultural, social, judicial, academic and human rights normalcy from the contemporary struggling against the worldwide threat of infiltration and Muslim population density power of institutional alteration of Western democracy.  

"[Russian military and intelligence services] are once again escalating their attempts at hybrid warfare, [while being careful not to trigger NATO’s Article 5 threshold, in which other countries would be expected to defend their allies]."

"We see them scrambling to pay criminals to do their bidding. The whole aim of hybrid tactics is to try to intimidate us."

"[Within the U.K.’s] multifaceted relationship with China [— Beijing is a major trading partner to London — MI5 has been focused on efforts by the Chinese government] to conduct espionage, coercion or democratic interference."

MI-5 Director-General Ken McCallum  

Police officers at Leipzig Airport in Saxony, Germany, search for a drone Aug. 7. Sebastian Willnow / dpa via AP

 

Canada, Infiltrated by Foreign Agents

"Unlike some of its allies, Canada lacks a transparent mechanism to ensure the public is informed about attempts by foreign entities to influence Canadian political and governmental processes. As a result, foreign principals and their proxies can secretly seek to shape Canadian decisions and public opinion."

"Some activities by foreign entities are carried out secretly or in a non-transparent manner, often using proxies and tactics such as spreading misinformation."

"Non-transparent foreign influence activities that aim to affect political and governmental processes for the undisclosed benefit of a foreign power undermines Canada's sovereignty and democracy."

Federal government document on a Foreign Agent Registry

 

"If that's accurate, it means a scale of influence that's already significant."

"A registry of that size only matters if it leads to enforcement, and it raises real capacity concerns." 

"I worry about managed compliance rather than deterrence of a counter-intelligence threat."

Dennis Molinaro, intelligence analyst, author: Under Assault: Interference and Espionage in China's Secret War Against Canada 

The Peace Tower is seen on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

 

According to the federal government's own estimates close to 2,500 businesses or people are in Canada surreptitiously acting on behalf of foreign states for the purpose of directly influencing local politics and governments. They would all be required to register publicly under regulations linked to a long-awaited foreign agent registry. A tool that was expected to be fully operational a year ago, still awaiting the appointment of a Foreign Influence Transparency Commissioner who would be tasked with overseeing the registry.

 

Business and individuals would have to provide data describing the work they perform on behalf of and at the behest of a foreign government, meant to influence Canadian politics and governments. Penalties have been proposed ranging from $50 to $1 million imposed on foreign agents failing to respect registration rules. The document itself estimates that 1,550 businesses and 872 individuals will be required to declare foreign influence activities targeting Canada. 

 

Democratic allies such as the U.S., U.K., France and Australia set the standard in public registries for foreign agents; Canada has not yet recognized the absolute necessity to follow suit, the Liberal government taking its time to join them in this critical exercise. It is well known and has been proven that foreign agents abound in Canada representing the interests of China, Iran, Russia, and India. Members of Iran's IRGC are known to be resident in Canada, harassing Iranian-Canadians. Mainland Chinese agents in Canada track and threaten Chinese-Canadians hostile to the CCP. Russian agents are known to spread false and misleading new stories, among other issues.

 

Canada's Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree  

 

Canada is also known as a conduit for money-laundering benefiting countries and groups hostile to Canada and its democratic values. In sum total, countries from everywhere on the globe, many falling under a non-hostile category, conduct foreign influence sorties in Canada. It is those countries who secretly seek influence among Canadians and the country's democratic institutions with the use of illegitimate means such as disinformation and misinformation that the registry will track. 

 

A year and a half ago Parliament passed a bill that promised the creation of a public registry of agents working for a foreign government. It is only in this new year that a 30-day consultation period will proceed to finalize a registry. And even then until a Foreign Influence Transparency Commissioner has been appointed, the registry cannot be implemented. An appointed commissioner would be responsible for hiring staff and implementing a secure IT protocol for the public registry. 

 

The truth of the matter is that Canada under the Liberal government fails to take the matter of foreign influence in the country seriously. The most challenging and threatening foreign predator in Canada is the Chinese Communist Party. Its influence within the Chinese community, manipulating the voting patterns of those loyal to Beijing is a direct interference in the sovereignty of the country. Yet the Liberal government itself is well infiltrated by Chinese influencers at every level. 

 

Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to travel to Beijing next week, accompanied by Liberal Member of Parliament Michael Ma, to meet with China's President Xi Jinping on outstanding trade issues. The issue of interference in Canadian affairs will certainly not be raised, nor would the harassment of Chinese-Canadians become an issue between the two premiers.

 

Prime Minister Mark Carney embraces Michael Ma, Member of Parliament for Markham-Unionville, who crossed the floor from the Conservatives to the Liberals hours earlier, at the Liberal caucus holiday party in Ottawa, on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025.

 

Venezuela's Military Alliances

"The things they said were plausible and they were consistent with more than 15 years of engagement with China, Russia and Iran. [But] not everything that they claimed by showing a satellite image was necessarily proven by that image... It's not nothing, but I don't regard it as a significant 'Ah-hah!"

"Venezuela now for literally more than two decades has been one of the biggest strategic challenges to the U.S. To me the drugs the U.S. is currently going after are only the tip of the iceberg of a broader, longtime, multi-dimensional threat."

Dr. Even Ellis, research professor, U.S. Army War College 

 

"There were several times when I was confounded by what he [Lee Wheelbarger, former U.S. army technology developer] presented to me, and then it  blew my mind when I validated it was accurate: 'Holy crap, OK, cool'."

"One thing I've learned is he's not going to put his word on the line unless he feels he can back it up. He will substantiate everything he has."

Michael Torres, retired U.S. air force colonel

Satellite show images of Trump's strike on Venezuelan neighbourhoods, The Independent 

 

According to Dr. Ellis of the Army War College, military ties that Venezuela has with Russia, China and Iran are of long standing. Venezuela purchased $12 billion in defence materiel from Russia starting in 2006 that was inclusive of a fleet of Sukhoi-30 fighter jets, helicopters, numerous S-300 anti-aircraft missiles and armed vehicles. A Russian fleet of war-vessels visited both Cuba and Venezuela last year. At least 27 of its K-8 fighters have been supplied to Venezuela by China, along with radars and associated equipment, while the Republic of Iran sourced Venezuela with a number of fast-attack boats, trained Venezuelan special forces members and collaborated on the production of drones. 

 

Intelligence experts are mulling over a report arguing that satellite images reveal a launch site in Venezuela that has the potential to aim ballistic missiles at Washington, D.C., produced by a group of amateur intelligence analysts. The report was released just prior to the dead-of-night surprise American military raid that captured Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, taking them back to the United States to stand trial in New York for drugs and weapons charges deemed to be criminal offences in the United States, but not necessarily in Venezuela.

 

Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are seen in handcuffs after landing at a Manhattan helipad, escorted by heavily armed Federal agents as they make their way into an armored car en route to a Federal courthouse in Manhattan on Jan. 5, 2026, in New York City. Photo by XNY/Star Max /GC Images

 

According to the group's report, it was in fact, not drugs but military developments in Venezuela alongside Russian, Chinese and Iranian troops stationed nearby that persuaded the Trump administration to make their strike, despite that the U.S. military dismissed that contention as "speculative". "I don't think it [scooping up the Venezuelan president and his wife] has a damn thing to do with the drug boats. I think the drug boats are completely irrelevant. That's an excuse", stated Lee Wheelbarger, who led the group investigation whose findings, including a video compilation of satellite picture were presented to a defence-oriented think tank meeting, the Mackenzie Institute, in Toronto.

 

A spokesman for the U.S. Southern Command covering South America contended that the organization makes no comments on "speculative reporting or unverified premises. Our mission remains focused on supporting regional stability, combating illicit activities, and working with our partners to address shared security challenges". Yet according to a Russian lawmaker, Russia considered supplying its new Oreshnik ballistic missiles to Venezuela, requested by Nicolas Maduro along with other equipment from Russia, China and Iran.

 

It has been confirmed that Venezuela has close military ties with the three countries, as well as with Hezbollah out of Lebanon, the Iranian proxy militia. The images collected by Wheelbarger's group and the analyses produced led to conclusions explaining the sudden midnight action by the U.S. against Venezuela. Action culminated from the threatening appearance of American warships, including an aircraft carrier patrolling the region, even as the U.S. destroyed dozens of boats claiming they were carrying drugs to end up in the United States. Deadly incidents decried as extrajudicial executions by those purportedly involved in drug trafficking who would normally face arrest and trial.

 

Wheelbarger, for several years a senior technologist with the U.S. army -- was a contractor developing night-vision equipment, communications gear and an advanced technological protocol enabling battlefield medics to transmit images to military hospitals, and then receive instructions on a video display -- was lauded  with claims that "Wheelbarger's electronic creations have extended the eyes and ears of America's intelligence network", by the History Channel's Modern Marvels program, in 1999. 

 

According to the man himself, he engages in the collection of publicly available images from 28 satellites operated by Maxar Technologies, Planet Labs, Airbus Defence and Space, BlackSky, Capella Space,     ICEYE, SkyFi, European Space Imaging, Apollo Mapping, Satellite Imaging Corp., and L3 Harris Geospatial; also accessing images from ground cameras, along with another video method that remained unexplained, to glean information from global human sources. He possesses three-dimensional  renderings of military hardware that can be placed over satellite images to match shape and size aiding in identifying specific equipment. 

 

A clearing on a mountain near Caracas, Venezuela that a group of private intelligence analysts says shows three rows of missile "tubes" that could be the launch sites for intermediate-range ballistic missiles. Photo by Lee Wheelbarger

 

In his Toronto presentation video he identifies images close to Caracas including a Russian base complete with 94 T-72 and T-74 tanks. Impressively, he points to a mountain hollowed out in the creation of a subterranean military complex with openings cut into the hill surrounded by rebar suggesting creation of a massive concrete facade with "millions of cubic yards" of excavated dirt piled nearby. The mountainside features an area with three parallel, straight lines of holes which Wheelbarger and  his colleagues identify as tubes to fire intermediate-range ballistic missiles from, basing their theory on matching underground launch sites located in Iran.

 

Jeff Nyquist, writer and geopolitics blogger who collaborates with Wheelbarger, notes that intermediate-range missiles could reach north to the U.S. capital. The Cuban airfield images cigar-shaped objects at a runway's end, identified by the analysts as Kitchen missiles. Russian weapons travelling at almost five times the speed of sound that can destroy naval ships, usually fired from aircraft, generally the Tu-22 bomber, not seen in the images, but readily disassembled and smuggled into Cuba on larger cargo planes, according to Wheelbarger. 

 

A stun­ning U.S. raid to cap­ture Venezuela’s pres­id­ent came after a group of ama­teur intel­li­gence ana­lysts argued that satel­lite images reveal a Venezuelan launch site that could send bal­listic mis­siles as far north as Wash­ing­ton, D.C.  National Post

 

China Welcoming Friends Old and New

"This parade showcases the ascendancy of China propelled by Trump's inept diplomacy and President Xi's astute statecraft."

"The Washington consensus has unravelled, and Xi is rallying support for an alternative."

Jeff Kingston, professor of Asian studies, Temple University, Japan 

 

"Though the Russia-North Korea tie has resumed to a military alliance, China refuses to return to the year of 1950 [when Beijing sent soldiers to support North Korea's invasion of the South and the USSR provided critical military aid]."

"It is wrong to believe that China, Russia and North Korea are reinforcing bloc-building."

Zhu Feng, dean, School of International Relations, Nanjing University 

 

"I want to say that no one has been plotting anything, no one was weaving any conspiracies."

"None of the three leaders had even thought about such a thing."

Yuri Ushakov, Putin foreign affairs adviser

 

"Kim can also claim a diplomatic victory as North Korea has gone from unanimously sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council for its illegal nuclear and missile programs to being embraced by the UNSC permanent members Russia and China."

Leif-Eric Easley, professor of International Studies, Ewha Womans University, Seoul

China put its military might on display Wednesday with a large parade. Also on display was China’s Xi Jinping flanked by Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, a group of leaders united in a desire to challenge the dominance of the United States.  Still from video/CBC

 

Standing shoulder to shoulder, leaders of China, North Korea and Russia watched high-tech military hardware moving impressively along with thousands of soldiers marching the streets of Beijing in an massive show of strength and power. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with private confidence, smiling, clasping hands at a meeting several days before the military parade, at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

 

The meetings represented living proof of a message being sent to the United States of America and its allies through a shift from the U.S.-dominated world order led by the West with American President Donald Trump withdrawing from his nation's historic alliances, while imposing trade tariffs on friend and foe alike, shaking the world economy, puzzling allies and placing them on the defensive, looking elsewhere for validation of their right to aspire to economic and political stability, left adrift by the one guiding-light nation that has turned inward.

 

"Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin and (North Korean leader) Kim Jong Jun, as you conspire against The United States of America" was President Trump's message to his Chinese counterpart, while congratulating China on its celebration of emergence from the Second World War, free from Japanese occupation. A freedom from occupation not due to China's own defences, but owing to the offensive offered by the United States in humbling and defeating Japan through the persuasive power of its then-emerging nuclear capabilities.

The latest drones, missiles and other weapons were on display during a military parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, in front of Tiananmen Gate in Beijing on Wednesday. Chinese President Xi Jinping invited dozens of leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to his nation's largest-ever military parade. (Liu Xu/Xinhua/The Associated Press)

 

The 80th anniversary in Beijing commemorating the end of the Second World War was the annual showcasing of Beijing's dedication to its own burgeoning nuclear arsenals on land, in the air and at sea. China's assertiveness, its expansionist imperatives and economic/manufacturing/infrastructure/trade and foreign investment through its ambitious Belt and Road initiative signal it as the emerging counterpart of the powerful United States of America.

 

The leaders invited to share China's celebratory commemoration, from Russia to North Korea, India to Turkey, Iran and to Cuba, share one issue in common between them, isolation and sanctions from the United States and its Western bloc of allies. Beyond that shared connection is the fact that each of those nations is fully focused on their own aspirational futures, some in direct contradiction to China's. Even while isolation drives their friendship, it is a facade, since they all aspire to achieve their goals, while gravitating around China's lead.

 

YJ-21 hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missiles are seen during a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of World War II, in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on September 3, 2025.   Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images

 

China remains concerned with North Korea's nuclear power which has softened its support for Kim. Making common cause with Putin, both deeply isolated from the West, belies the reality that though both have signed a military pact strengthening their overt ties, they still and will always have territorial disagreements in a silent infiltration of Chinese in Russia's far east, scantly populated by Russians and increasingly taken possession of by Chinese settlers.

 

The free trade agreement that India and Washington were negotiating fell apart when Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff across the board as punishment for the Russian oil New Delhi has signed on to; with combined tariffs at 50 percent taking Modi aback at a time when relations with the U.S. were on rocky ground of late, forcing India to look elsewhere for support and for the time being, moving closer to China and Russia.  

"India is carefully walking this tightrope between the West and the rest, especially when it comes to the U.S., Russia and China."

"[Modi did not participate in Beijing's military parade since] distrust with China still exists."

"Because India does not believe in formal alliances, its approach has been to strengthen its relationship with the United States, maintain it with Russia, and manage it with China."

Praveen Donthi, senior analyst, International Crisis Group 

Military personnel take part in a military parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Japan’s World War II surrender held in front of Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

The Islamic Republican Guard Corps Amateur Handling of Explosives

"Two conservative [Iranian] newspapers have suggested a possible link between the port explosion and the nuclear talks."

"Jomhuri-ye Eslami daily on April 28, 2025, wrote, “The coincidence of the explosion at Shahid Rajaei Port with one of the most sensitive periods of negotiations between Iran and the United States in Oman cannot be unrelated to the positive developments that have emerged in our country’s foreign policy”."

"Established and supported by the office of Supreme Leader, the paper accused Israel of seeking to derail the negotiations but also questioned who would take responsibility for the incident, warning that blame likely would be evaded, as usual."

"In an editorial, the Sobh-e No daily also noted that although the cause of the blast remains officially undetermined, its timing—alongside nuclear talks and heightened Israeli threats—raises the possibility of targeted sabotage."

Mardo Soghom, Middle East Forum

The explosion at the Bandar Abbas port happened during U.S.-Iran nuclear talks. Shutterstock

"The fire was reportedly the result of improper handing of a shipment of solid fuel intended for use in Iranian ballistic missiles."

"[The port took in a shipment of] sodium perchlorate rocket fuel."

Private security firm Ambrey 

"Our security forces are on high alert given past instances of attempted sabotage and assassination operations designed to provoke a legitimate response."

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi

Heavy smoke rises at the scene of an explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port dock, southwest of Bandar Abbas.  Meysam Mirsadeh/Tasnim News/AFP via Getty Images

The massive explosion and fire Saturday in southern Iran that has destroyed a major part of Iranian shipping has been linked to a shipment of a chemical that is used in in the manufacture of missile propellant. The blast killed 70 people, while more than ten times that number were injured. The Shahid Rajaci port will be out of business for a very long time. While reaction to the blast and fire has been restrained in the sense that there have been no official statements suggesting this was the result of an attack, the thought is there, albeit for the present, submerged.

 

The expression of the country's foreign minister was as close a warning in its reminder of previous Israeli attacks on Iranian weapons facilities and the assassinations of some of the country's top nuclear scientists  as it's likely to be, at this stage. Few details have emerged on what caused the blaze close to Bandar Abbas, a conflagration that burned into Saturday night, when other containers began exploding, adding fuel to the fire.

 

The fuel in question formed part of a shipment from China shipped in two vessels to Iran back in January. The chemicals were meant to be used to replenish Iran's missile stocks, depleted through its direct attacks on Israel during its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. One of the vessels is believed to have carried the chemical in the area back in March, according to ship-tracking data. Iran has held back from acknowledging taking possession of the shipment. 

What is puzzling, given the obvious danger of storing and stocking such flammable explosives is why the chemicals would not have been moved out of the port. The situation resembles the Beirut port blast that took place in 2020 when that explosion, the result of  the ignition of hundreds of tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate, killed over 200 people, injuring more than 6,000. Suspicion would, of course, naturally fall on Israel which has targeted Iranian missile sites where industrial mixers to create solid fuel are used by Tehran.

 

Thick black smoke was still towering above the port on Sunday   Getty Images

"Get back, get back! Tell the gas [truck] to go!"

"Tell him to go, it's going to blow up!"

"Oh God, this is blowing up!"

Everybody evacuate!

"Get back! Get back!" 

Reddish-black smoke was seen rising at Shahid Rajaei on social media footage Saturday from the fire, immediately prior to the explosion. The state-run IRNA news agency stated that the Customs Administration of Iran cast blame on a "stockpile of hazardous goods and chemical material stored in the port area", which caused the blast. A surveillance video distributed by the Fars news agency is that of a small fire appearing among containers, and alerted workers moving away from the area in a panic, before a huge explosion erupted. 

"[Prior to the blast there had been a] failure to observe safety principles [according to state-affiliated outlet Mehr News]."

"Determining the definitive cause of this incident requires a complete and comprehensive investigation of its various aspects, which, due to expert requirements, requires technical and laboratory processes."

"[There were] discrepancies [in a statement given to the committee which did not elaborate on what these might be or their source]."

Iranian Investigating Committee

Charred merchandise and containers lie at the site of the deadly port explosion.

Meysam Mirsadeh/Tasnim News/AFP via Getty Images

Syrian Surprise Assault --Turkish Game of Regime Change

"Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, part of an alliance of terrorist groups active in Syria and with links to the Islamic State (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda, was formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, and served as Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria. The organization is a jihadist group that upholds Sharia law, occupies Syria's Idlib area and cooperates with the Turkish military and Turkish-backed groups in Syria. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, was also involved in HTS's formation."

"Turkey is unleashing another gruesome jihad in Syria. The city of Aleppo is now effectively under the control of Turkish-backed jihadist groups. Tens of thousands of Christians, Kurds and other minorities are in danger of extermination. Videos of jihadists abducting Kurdish women have also surfaced on social media."

Uzay Bulut, Gatestone

"MISSING FROM MEDIA REPORTS ON ALEPPO: 'Rebels' taking city are NOT Freedom Fighters but Turkish-backed Islamists with same ideology as ISIS that target Yazidis, Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities.

"The USCIRF reports they 'target religious minorities, especially Yazidis, for rape, assassination, kidnapping for ransom, confiscation of property, and desecration of cemeteries and places of worship.'

USCIRF Factsheet says Hay's Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) 'remains a potent source of a Salafi-jihadism that restricts the religious freedom of non-conforming Sunni Muslims and threatens the property, safety, and existence of religious minority groups such as Alawites, Christians, and Druze.' They also report 'torture, forced disappearance, rape and other sexual violence, and killing in detention.'

"Expect the same horrific crimes from these Turkish-backed Islamist militias (including HTS) that we have seen from them in other parts of Syria. They learned from the international response to ISIS to not make an immediate public display of this violence.

".... [A]reas under government control are also horrible as they endure 'egregious human rights abuses such as arbitrary detention and torture, enforced disappearance.'                Nadine Maenza, the Former Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)

 Pictured: Turkish-backed jihadists patrol in central Aleppo on November 30, 2024. (Photo by Muhammad Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images)

 

Syria's 13-year-old uncivil war that witnessed an estimated half-million deaths assigned to the country's regime under President Bashar al-Assad spurred by Sunni Syrians demanding equal treatment to the minority Alawite Shiites represented by Assad, ignited a destructive response from the Syrian military that turned a protest into a civil war. It did not take long for the country to be flooded with the presence of Sunni terrorist groups eager to contest the Syrian military in an exchange of tribal/secular conflict.

Now, a complex patchwork of terrorist fighters whose focus is on opposing a number of various enemies have converged to challenge the regime once again. A lightning assault last week against government forces in the northwest of the country is in the process of altering the front lines in the conflict. The Hayat Tahir al-Sham (HTS) Islamist salafist group poses a formidable challenge to the Assad regime. It is predicted by Middle East experts that this current and growing conflict has the potential to go beyond the country itself.

 

Syrian opposition fighters ride on a truck in Khan Sheikhoun, south-west of Aleppo. Photograph: Ghaith Alsayed/AP

The United States has distanced itself from the offensive, while Russia and Iran, both involved in giving dedicated support over the years of conflict to Syria, both distracted at present by their own disparate conflicts -- as well as Hezbollah in Lebanon -- may yet be drawn more into the Syria defensive. The HTS group, over a period of a decade was involved in disabling the Syrian government in its bid to establish Islamic rule in Syria as the successor to al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, now on the  ascendancy.

It has in the last few years, attempted to soften its harsh image of Islamist intolerance, claiming recently it will protect Aleppo's cultural and religious sites, including churches. Troops loyal to Assad have to this point managed to fend off efforts to topple his regime, since 2011. Assad's forces back then with its violent crackdowns on protests moved the situation from protest to full volume rebellion. Opposition rebels had until recently been contained within part of north-western Syria with the help of Iran, Russia and Hezbollah.

Suddenly, government forces seem to have abandoned their upper hand in the face of growing resistance from opposition rebels, wresting control of Aleppo, although the military claimed it was redeploying troops from areas controlled in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, aided by joint Syrian-Russian air force bombardments. Jake Sullivan, U.S. national security adviser, spoke of the rebels' advance in connection with Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, weakened through conflicts elsewhere.

According to Turkey's state-operated Anadolu Agency, the Syrian National Army -- a loose coalition of Turkish-backed forces -- took part in the recent rebel offensive. The SNA in joining the latest fighting did so primarily against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria who have in the past fought Assad's government, as well as HTS and Islamic State Islamists. Turkey's goal is its fight against Syrian Kurdish fighters considered by Turkey to be terrorists for their links to the  Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which launches attacks against Turkey for Kurdish independence.

Aleppo, Economist Intelligence

 

Violating Syria's Sovereignty -- Allies? What Allies?

 

"Of course, this is a violation of Syria's sovereignty in this region."

"We urge Syria's authorities to reassert control and restore constitutional order as soon as possible."

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman 

 

"[Syria] will continue to defend its stability and territorial integrity."

"[Damascus is capable of beating back the advance] with the help of its allies."

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

"No one expected Aleppo to be taken, which means there were no real defensive lines within the city." "Once they got there it seems like it was all open."

"I think the regime didn’t expect such a quick move, the operation started just a few days ago." 

Jerome Drevon, International Crisis Group

 

"[The overwhelming number of fighters] and the multiplicity of battlefronts prompted our armed forces to carry out a redeployment operation aimed at strengthening the defence lines in order to absorb the attack, preserve the lives of civilians and soldiers, and prepare for a counterattack."

Syrian Military statement

HTS had shown little sign of attempting to reignite the Syrian conflict until this week  Getty Images

 

"Certainly some areas in the Aleppo countryside could be difficult for HTS and their allies to hold on to if they come under really withering air strikes or artillery fire. [Insurgent rule inside Aleppo itself could prove far more difficult for Assad and his allies to repel in the long term]."

"It’s not clear what kind of capabilities Damascus is now able to bring to bear and mobilize from elsewhere in Syria, also critically how much capacity Russia now has in Syria, given its current involvement in Ukraine which has diverted some of their forces to that front."

Sam Heller, analyst, Century Foundation

Aleppo, considered Syria's second-largest city, has been breached by Islamist insurgents. Two car bombs were blown up on Friday and insurgents were fighting with government forces on the western edge of the city, according to war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in London, who stated that the insurgents had seized control of Saraqeb, south of Aleppo, strategically located at the intersection of highways that link Aleppo with the Syrian capital Damascus and the coast.

As a result of missiles and gunfire, residents fled neighbourhoods on the city's edge. A shock offensive launched on Wednesday led the advance on Aleppo with thousands of fighters sweeping through towns and villages in the northwestern countryside. A region already reeling from the wars in Gaza and Lebanon with Israel, led uncertainty to the surprise attacks, atop the unresolved Syrian civil war that commenced in 2011.

Getty Images

 

 Thjere was no evidence of a significant pushback from either government forces or their allies; reports of government forces shedding their responsibilities in the face of advances, was reminiscent of the sweep of the Islamic State advances in Iraq and Syria when it was establishing its Caliphate, absorbing a third of each country, when its offensive campaign and its reputation for vicious ruthlessness entirely cowed the militaries in both countries who failed to directly counter those advances, leaving the way clear for the Islamists to take control of great swaths of government territory.

The offensive seemed planned to take advantage of the Israeli attacks on Hezbollah and Iran, which backed the Syrian regime forces since 2015, now distracted in the need to defend themselves from Israeli Forces who were responding to the violent cross-border provocations by Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Which leaves only Russia to continue its backing of the Alawite Shiite Bashar regime against the Sunni insurgents. And Russia is fully occupied in Ukraine.

The very day the Syrian opposition factions made public an announcement of their offensive, a ceasefire in the two-month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. Additionally, Israel escalated its attacks against both Hezbollah and Iran-linked targets in Syria within the past few months. Syrian government attacks on opposition held areas presaged the attack on Aleppo. According to Turkish security officials, Syrian opposition groups (that Turkey supports) launched a long-planned "limited" offensive on Aleppo. When Syrian government forces began their retreat, the offensive expanded.

The Kremlin made it clear that the attack is considered by them to represent an encroachment on Syria's sovereignty. A Friday statement by Syria's Armed Forces claimed they had been clashing in the countryside around Aleppo and Idlib with the insurgents, destroying drones and heavy weaponry, vowing to repel the attack, accusing the insurgents of spreading false information regarding their advances. 

Opposition factions led by Salafist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham are engaging in the most intense fighting in northwestern Syria since 2020, when government forces seized areas occupied and controlled by opposition forces. Dozens of fighters from both sides were killed in the battles that began on Wednesday. Hezbollah, "the main force" in the government's control of Aleppo, is unfortunately for Bashar al-Assad, out of commission.

 

A Syrian opposition fighter takes a picture of a fellow rebel stepping on a portrait of Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo. Photograph: Ghaith Alsayed/AP

 

 

 

Funding Terrorism Support, the Role of Iran/Qatar

"The project revealed, for the first time, the existence of substantial Middle Eastern funding [primarily from Qatar to U.S. universities that had not been reported to the Department of Education, as required by law."

"Foreign donations from Qatar, especially, have had a substantial impact on fomenting growing levels of antisemitic discourse and campus politics at U.S. universities, as well as growing support for anti-democratic values within these institutions of higher education."

Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP)

 

It has been a stormy, disheartening, and frightening eight months for the Canadian Jewish community in the wake of the notoriously ghastly terrorist flood that rushed into southern Israel to enact a crime scene of unbelievable proportions when thousands of Hamas, PLFP and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists followed by ordinary Palestinian civilians set out to slaughter 1,200 Israelis of all ages, from babies to the elderly in a bloodbath of grotesque proportions. That the Hamas operatives took tender care to video their sadistic savagery is testament to the pride they took in tormenting, raping, torturing their defenceless victims.

Yet these psychotic acts of inhuman depravity are celebrated in the streets of Canada by Israel-and-Jew haters who characterize the murder of babies, music festival celebrants, terrified men and women, as 'just due' by the courageous Palestinians who 'confronted' their oppressors vindicating their pledge to destroy Israel and Jews wherever they are. In Canada, immigrants from Middle East nations who arrived in Canada to find a better life for themselves, find it evidently in destroying life for Jews in Canada. And there they assemble in keffiyeh-clad, masked mobs to slander Israel and threaten Canadian Jews.

 

Toronto's Walk with Israel, June 9,2024 (Credit: Michael Weisdorf)

 

The blockades and university encampments where demonstrators celebrate their uninhibited antisemitism while uttering alarming threats to the safety and security of Jews loyal to Canada and to Israel have been a fixture for far too long in Canada. Destabilizing society, committing ongoing threats to Jewish communities, and under the cover of night, committing violent criminal acts, fire-bombing and shooting at Jewish parochial schools, synagogues, community centres and Jewish-owned businesses, screaming boycott and Intifadeh.

On Sunday, Toronto was witness to an estimated 50,000 Jews, Christians, Iranians, and First Nations supporters marching in solidarity with the State of Israel, celebrating its existence and demonstrating on behalf of Canadian Jewry, whose presence as generations of Canadian citizens was affirmed and supported. Most Canadians, the 'silent majority' despise Hamas and what it stands for; death-dealing. A Leger poll conducted in May sought the opinion of Canadians on the university encampments demonizing Israel; 19% of those polled supported them, while 48% condemned them.

Sunday's March for Israel saw some counter-demonstrators present, praising Hamas, amidst a massive police presence to ensure security. From time to time questions arise respecting the organization and funding of the ongoing pro-Hamas demonstrations and the installation of university campus encampments that authorities barely know how to respond to, for fear of offending a much larger Muslim than Jewish population in Canada. 

 

Politico conducted an investigation, discovering that organizations with associations to major donors of progressive political causes, such as George Soros and David Rockefeller along with others, including the Tides Foundation have been sources of financial support. It has long been recognized that Iran and Qatar have been funding sources for these exhibitions of foetid Jew-hate and Israel-bashing. The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy launched its "Follow the Money" project in 2012, discovering that Qatar and Iran are principal patrons of Hamas.

ISAP revealed that Columbia University, which has proven itself an epicentre for campus activism supportive of Hamas, received close to $3.5 million from Qatar but neglected to report the money, thus breaking U.S. law in the process. The plagues of pro-Hamas demonstrations that have dominated the streets in Canada since October 7 have been organized by Palestinian students and non-students savvy in the ways of Marxist theory and the foibles of Western progressive-left antipathy to Israel.

"President Joe Biden has been dogged for months by pro-Palestinian protesters calling him “Genocide Joe” — but some of the groups behind the demonstrations receive financial backing from philanthropists pushing hard for his reelection."

"The donors include some of the biggest names in Democratic circles: Soros, Rockefeller and Pritzker, according to a POLITICO analysis."

"Two of the organizers supporting the protests at Columbia University and on other campuses are Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow. Both are supported by the Tides Foundation, which is seeded by Democratic megadonor George Soros and was previously supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It in turn supports numerous small nonprofits that work for social change. "

Politico

Students at Washburn University stage a protest expressing support for Palestinians in Gaza and calling for a cease-fire on May 3, 2024, in Topeka, Kansas. | John Hanna/AP