Middle East
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Jan- 2020 -10 January
Hezbollah’s missiles of mass destruction
It’s long been surmised that Iran could deploy Hezbollah against Israel as a first-strike force or in response to an attack on its nuclear facilities
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10 January
Syria: Ceasefire established in Idlib province following Turkish delegation visit to Russia
A ceasefire between warring sides in Syria's Idlib province came into effect following the visit of a Turkish delegation to Russia
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8 January
Iran fires ballistic missiles at Iraqi bases housing US troops
Iran fired missiles at Iraqi bases housing the US forces in revenge for the US killing of IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani
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7 January
Counter-ISIS Coalition countries temporarily withdrawing personnel from Iraq
Members of the US-led Coalition against ISIS are pulling troops from Iraq as training of both the Iraqi Security Forces and Kurdistan Region's Peshmerga are paused
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7 January
Iran designates US military ‘terrorists’ over Soleimani killing
Iran has designated the U.S. armed forces a terrorist group over the killing of top commander General Qassem Soleimani. Iran’s lawmakers on Tuesday, January 7 unanimously approved the bill to designate the U.S. Army and Department of Defense as terrorist organizations, Tasnim news reported. The bill designates U.S. forces, Pentagon employees, affiliated organizations, and those who ordered Soleimani’s death, AFP reported. Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force – the IRGC’s external operations arm – was killed last week in a U.S. drone strike outside Baghdad International Airport. Killed with him was Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the head of the Kataib Hezbollah group and de facto commander of Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi militias. In April the Trump administration designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization, the first such designation of a state’s armed forces. The U.S. designated the Quds Force a foreign terrorist organization a decade ago. Also on Tuesday, Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said 13 “revenge” scenarios had been drafted in response to the Soleimani’s killing. Soleimani was to be buried in his hometown of Kerman on Tuesday. The general’s killing has sparked a new crisis in the region, with Iran and its surrogate forces vowing revenge on …
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6 January
‘Draft’ letter saying US forces to leave Iraq was sent by ‘mistake,’ Milley says
Troops from US-led Coalition against ISIS are preparing to leave Iraq in the wake of an airstrike that killed an Iranian general and Iraqi militia commander
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6 January
NATO ambassadors to meet in Brussels over Iran concerns
NATO ambassadors will meet at their Brussels headquarters as Middle East tensions mount after US forces killed a top Iranian general
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5 January
US-led Coalition pauses training of Iraqi forces, ISIS operations over force protection concerns
The US-led Coalition against ISIS paused training of Iraqi forces and operations against the militants due to a barrage of attacks against American bases
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4 January
US designates major Iraqi PMU Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq a terror group
The US designated Iraqi Shiite PMU militia Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq as a terrorist organization, one day after killing a senior Iranian general in Baghdad
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2 January
Iran Quds Force commander Qassam Soleimani killed in US airstrike near Baghdad
Iran Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and Kataib Hezbollah leader Abul Mahdi al-Muhandis were killed in a US airstrike at Baghdad airport in Iraq
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