Iran’s Velayati Incites Syrian Tribes against US Forces

Top foreign policy adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Ali Akbar Velayati. (AP file photo)
Top foreign policy adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Ali Akbar Velayati. (AP file photo)
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Iran’s Velayati Incites Syrian Tribes against US Forces

Top foreign policy adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Ali Akbar Velayati. (AP file photo)
Top foreign policy adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Ali Akbar Velayati. (AP file photo)

Top foreign policy adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Ali Akbar Velayati, received in Tehran on Saturday the leaders of several Syrian tribes from east of the Euphrates River where US troops are deployed.

Addressing his guests, he said that Iran opposes the establishment of a buffer zone in Syria and rejects any foreign meddling there or in any other country in the region.

He condemned US President Donald Trump’s remarks that American forces were in Syria to protect its oil fields, saying instead that Washington was seeking to rob this oil wealth in violation of international law, reported Russia Today.

On the drafting of a new Syrian constitution, he stressed that any change must be introduced by the Syrians themselves, not foreign countries.

Iran will confront “enemy” plots to divide the region, vowed Velayati.

Tehran has sought in recent months to recruit Syrians to its groups in the Deir Ezzour region, close to where American forces are deployed.

Meanwhile, Israel had reportedly carried out a strike against an Iranian military base in Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said earlier this week that highly explosive rockets had struck Brigade 47 that is affiliated with pro-Iran militias in Alboukamal in eastern Deir Ezzour. The source of fire remains unknown.

The group speculated that the rockets may have been dropped by drones.



Ukrainian Forces Knock out North Korean Self-Propelled Howitzer, Military Says 

A handout picture made available 09 February 2025 by the press service of the 24th Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces, shows servicemen of the 24th Mechanized Brigade named after King Danylo, preparing to fire 2S1 self-propelled 122mm howitzer towards Russian positions, near Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, 07 February 2025 amid the Russian invasion. (EPA/Press service of the 24 Mechanized Brigade Handout) 
A handout picture made available 09 February 2025 by the press service of the 24th Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces, shows servicemen of the 24th Mechanized Brigade named after King Danylo, preparing to fire 2S1 self-propelled 122mm howitzer towards Russian positions, near Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, 07 February 2025 amid the Russian invasion. (EPA/Press service of the 24 Mechanized Brigade Handout) 
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Ukrainian Forces Knock out North Korean Self-Propelled Howitzer, Military Says 

A handout picture made available 09 February 2025 by the press service of the 24th Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces, shows servicemen of the 24th Mechanized Brigade named after King Danylo, preparing to fire 2S1 self-propelled 122mm howitzer towards Russian positions, near Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, 07 February 2025 amid the Russian invasion. (EPA/Press service of the 24 Mechanized Brigade Handout) 
A handout picture made available 09 February 2025 by the press service of the 24th Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces, shows servicemen of the 24th Mechanized Brigade named after King Danylo, preparing to fire 2S1 self-propelled 122mm howitzer towards Russian positions, near Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, 07 February 2025 amid the Russian invasion. (EPA/Press service of the 24 Mechanized Brigade Handout) 

Ukrainian forces have struck and knocked out a North Korean self-propelled howitzer on the eastern front of the nearly three-year-old war with Russia, Ukraine's military said on Tuesday.

A statement by the Khortytsia, or East, group of forces said it was the first time since the start of the conflict that a North Korean М-1978 Koksan howitzer had been hit by a Ukrainian drone.

"In Luhansk region, fighters of the 412th separate regiment of Nemesis drones struck a very rare M-1978 North Korean self-propelled artillery vehicle with a gun caliber of 170 mm," the statement posted on Telegram said.

The post was accompanied by a video showing a military target being blown up, and said the Koksan had first been observed in the war in October 2024. Reuters could not independently confirm the report.

North Korea's military aid to Russia has included about 200 long-range artillery pieces and a significant amount of ammunition, South Korea's defense ministry told a parliament committee last week.

Luhansk region, mostly occupied by Russian forces, is one of four that Russia formally annexed in 2022, moves that Ukraine and its allies have not recognized.

Ukraine and Western military experts say up to 12,000 North Korean troops were deployed in southern Russia's Kursk region alongside Russian forces and have also reported military equipment from Pyongyang being used.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said last week that Russia could send up to 3,000 more North Korean troops to Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces hold a chunk of territory more than six months after launching a cross-border incursion.

North Korean security agents are monitoring and controlling their country's troops in Kursk, telling them that the South Korean military are flying the drones attacking them, according to an interview with two North Korean prisoners of war captured in Ukraine reported by South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilboon on Wednesday.