Israel Releases Names of Iran Officials Working against Tel Aviv in Syria

 Funeral of two Iranian Revolutionary Guards killed by Israeli missiles in Syria last March held in Tehran on April 4 (AFP).
Funeral of two Iranian Revolutionary Guards killed by Israeli missiles in Syria last March held in Tehran on April 4 (AFP).
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Israel Releases Names of Iran Officials Working against Tel Aviv in Syria

 Funeral of two Iranian Revolutionary Guards killed by Israeli missiles in Syria last March held in Tehran on April 4 (AFP).
Funeral of two Iranian Revolutionary Guards killed by Israeli missiles in Syria last March held in Tehran on April 4 (AFP).

Top military officials in Tel Aviv revealed on Monday details of an upcoming Israeli battle against Iran in Syria, where there are attempts to build an advanced Iran-made missile defense system that relies on Russia’s expertise in advanced missiles such as the S-300 and S-400.

Those who will activate the system include several generals and senior officers from the Revolutionary Guards.

Even though Israel has attacked and thwarted Iran’s primary attempts to anchor its forces in Syria, the Revolutionary Guards have yet to abandon their agenda for strengthening their presence in the Levantine nation, senior military officials told Hebrew media under the conditions of anonymity.

In recent years, the Revolutionary Guards has been trying to surround Israel with a belt of missile batteries that can withstand airstrikes and shoot down aircraft, which poses a strategic security threat to the Jewish state.

According to the Israeli officials, which included research and intelligence figures, ten senior Revolutionary Guards officials have been killed in Israeli operations so far.

The Israelis also disclosed the names of several Iranian and Hezbollah officials who are conducting operations on Syrian soil to alter the balance of power with Israel.

It was evident that the Israelis publishing these names and linking them to the names of killed leaders was a hint of a threat to their lives.

Ali Hassan Mahdavi, the head of the Syria and Lebanon division in the Quds Force, the Revolutionary Guards’ foreign operations arm, was among the names listed by the officials and published by the Haaretz newspaper.

Mahdavi had replaced Javad Ravari, who was dismissed earlier over condescending and violent behavior against Syrian army officials.

Israeli officers claimed that Iran is planning to establish air defense networks not only in Syria, but also in Yemen, Iraq, and Lebanon, aimed at other armies in Gulf countries and other countries in the region.



Thousands Protest the Rise of German Far Right Ahead of Feb. 23 General Election

Participants hold lights during a rally against the far right at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, 25 January 2025. (EPA)
Participants hold lights during a rally against the far right at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, 25 January 2025. (EPA)
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Thousands Protest the Rise of German Far Right Ahead of Feb. 23 General Election

Participants hold lights during a rally against the far right at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, 25 January 2025. (EPA)
Participants hold lights during a rally against the far right at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, 25 January 2025. (EPA)

Thousands of Germans on Saturday protested in Berlin and other cities against the rise of the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party ahead of a Feb. 23 general election.

At Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, participants lit up their phones, blew whistles and sang anti-fascist songs, and in Cologne, protesters carried banners denouncing AfD.

An opposition bloc of Germany’s center-right parties, the Union, led by Friedrich Merz, is leading pre-election polls with AfD in second place.

Merz said Friday that his party will bring motions to toughen migration policy — one of the main election issues — to parliament next week, a move seen risky in case the motions go to a vote and pass with the help of AfD.

Merz had earlier vowed to bar people from entering the country without proper papers and to step up deportations if he is elected chancellor. Those comments came after a knife attack in Aschaffenburg by a rejected asylum-seeker left a man and a 2-year-old boy dead and spilled over into the election campaign.

Activists including the group calling itself Fridays for Future dubbed the Berlin rally the “sea of light against the right turn.” They hope it will draw attention to the actions by the new administration of US President Donald Trump and to the political lineup ahead of Germany’s election.

A protester in Cologne, Thomas Schneemann, said it was most important for him to “stay united against the far right.”

“Especially after yesterday and what we heard from Friedrich Merz we have to stand together to fight the far right,” Schneemann said.

The protests took place while AfD was opening its election campaign in the central city of Halle on Saturday. Party leaders Alice Weidel, AfD's candidate for chancellor, and Tino Chrupalla were expected to speak to an audience of some 4,500 people.

Weidel again received the backing of Elon Musk, who addressed the rally remotely, but she has no realistic chance of becoming Germany’s leader as other parties refuse to work with AfD.