The IRGC and Iran’s “Water Mafia”
February 5, 2021 Share
Several weeks ago, Saeed Mohammad s name made the rounds as a possible candidate for Iran’s upcoming presidential election in June. Observers started looking into the past of the relatively unknown general, who was the former head of dam building firm Sepasad and now serves as the chief of Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters. The rather young general, who likes to be called Dr. Mohammad, has connections to reformists and conservatives with deep pockets and powerful allies. With some reformists calling for a new military leader to run after the term of the current president, Hassan Rouhani, comes to an end, some might say he should consider himself lucky to be in the right place at the right time.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps reality that Biden must recognize Print this article
Seeking to restore the Iran nuclear accord, President Biden cannot afford to replicate one of President Barack Obama s biggest mistakes. Biden must not ignore the role of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or the IRGC, in the Iranian economy.
I note this because Secretary of State Antony Blinken will appoint Rob Malley, an Obama administration veteran and head of the International Crisis Group, to be his Iran envoy. Malley’s appointment suggests that while Biden may talk like a centrist, his team is set to take a more radical tack in its policy pursuits. Liberals might celebrate, but Blinken makes a mistake in not seeking a more solid foundation to tackle a very difficult problem set. Let s be clear about something else. To construct Malley’s choice as an endorsement of diplomacy and castigate his critics as anti-diplomacy is a dangerous straw man: The issue is not that conservativ
Refinery News Roundup: New Refineries To Increase Middle East Product Sales
Middle East oil product sales could reach 8 million-9 million b/d by 2023 as new refineries open up in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Oman, Glander International Bunkering senior sourcer Sean Burgin said.
“This additional volume could boost business in Fujairah, complementing bunker demand plus storage and trade activities,” Burgin told the Petrospot Middle East Bunkering Convention held online Jan. 26. Refining capacity in the Middle East is continuing to grow at pace, with a number of new, export-oriented plants and capacity upgrades due to come onstream in the coming years. S&P Global Platts Analytics expects total refining capacity in the Middle East to rise to average 12 million b/d in 2023, up from 9.9 million b/d in 2019.
The US Treasury Department building in Washington, DC. (Photo: Associated Press)
WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) – The US announced on Wednesday that it was imposing new sanctions on the Deputy Head of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), Abdul Aziz al-Muhammadawi, also known as Abu Fadak.
Muhammadawi replaced Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis as head of Kata’ib Hizbollah (KH), following Muhandis’ death last January in a US drone strike, targeting Gen. Qasim Soleimani, head of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC-QF.)
As explained in the State Department press release announcing the new sanctions, KH was established in 2006. US-led forces were then still fighting in Iraq, after toppling Saddam Hussein and his regime three years before.
U.S. sanctions Iran foundations controlled by Khamenei
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Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Wednesday also designated bd al-Aziz Malluh Mirjirash al-Muhammadawi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/UPI | License Photo
Jan. 13 (UPI) In an effort to tighten its financial vises on Iran in its final days in office, the Trump administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions targeting two organizations it accuses of being controlled by Iran s spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and designated a former leader of an Iran-backed terrorist organization.
The Treasury Department announced sanctions against the Execution of Imam Khomeini s Order and Astan Quds Razavi, as well as its leaders and subsidiaries, saying the two purported charitable organizations expropriate assets from political dissidents and religious minorities for the benefit Khamenei and senior Iranian officials.