IRGC Conducts Maneuvers Simulating an Attack on Israel

An image from the IRGC video of a missile test in the Gulf of Oman (IRGC Media)
An image from the IRGC video of a missile test in the Gulf of Oman (IRGC Media)
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IRGC Conducts Maneuvers Simulating an Attack on Israel

An image from the IRGC video of a missile test in the Gulf of Oman (IRGC Media)
An image from the IRGC video of a missile test in the Gulf of Oman (IRGC Media)

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) conducted naval drills, including missile maneuvers simulating an attack on an air base in Israel.

IRGC Commander Hossein Salami warned against attacking Iranian ships, threatening double attacks in response to any attack.

Iranian media quoted Salami as saying that the IRGC would win any war it enters, whether military or electronic.

He assured that the force stands prepared for potential conflict, underscoring the IRGC's cyberspace prowess and ability to counter enemy actions in this domain.

Salami said, "In the event of a naval conflict and our ships being targeted, we will respond with equal or greater force."

The Commander's warning comes amid escalating maritime tensions as a result of attacks launched by the Houthi group against commercial ships in the Red Sea since last November.

On Tuesday, the IRGC announced it had conducted a maneuver simulating a surface-to-surface ballistic missile attack on Israel's Palmachim airbase south of Tel Aviv.

According to Iranian television, Palmachim was the "main base for F-35 fighter jets" in Israel.

Meanwhile, the Commander of Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, Major General Gholam Ali Rashid, warned that any error in the enemies' calculations would cost more than its achievements.

Rashid said the enemies are aware they are being monitored, asserting that Iranian forces are ready to make them pay the price if they make the mistake of attacking Iran.

Any of the enemy's tactical actions will become a strategic failure, said Rashid.

On Monday, the IRGC commander announced the successful firing of a long-range ballistic missile from the warship for the first time, in a move that may increase concerns about the security of navigation in the region.

Iranian television broadcast pictures of the operation, saying that an IRGC vessel launched ballistic missiles "for the first time" while it was in the Gulf of Oman in the Indian Ocean, according to Agence France-Presse.

Iranian media quoted Salami as saying that the operation to launch the long-range ballistic missile from a ship "was completed successfully."

He added: "Our ships can be anywhere in the oceans."

"There is no safe place for forces that want to threaten our security."

Iranian television explained that the two missiles launched from the ship ranged from at least 1,700 kilometers and landed in a desert in central Iran.



32 Killed in New Sectarian Violence in Pakistan

Police officers stand guard near their vehicles during a protest by Pakistani Shiite Muslims against an attack on passenger vehicles in Kurram, in Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, 22 November 2024. EPA/SAOOD REHMAN
Police officers stand guard near their vehicles during a protest by Pakistani Shiite Muslims against an attack on passenger vehicles in Kurram, in Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, 22 November 2024. EPA/SAOOD REHMAN
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32 Killed in New Sectarian Violence in Pakistan

Police officers stand guard near their vehicles during a protest by Pakistani Shiite Muslims against an attack on passenger vehicles in Kurram, in Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, 22 November 2024. EPA/SAOOD REHMAN
Police officers stand guard near their vehicles during a protest by Pakistani Shiite Muslims against an attack on passenger vehicles in Kurram, in Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, 22 November 2024. EPA/SAOOD REHMAN

At least 32 people were killed and 47 wounded in sectarian clashes in northwest Pakistan, an official told AFP on Saturday, two days after attacks on Shiite passenger convoys killed 43.

Sporadic fighting between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan has killed around 150 over the past months.

"Fighting between Shiite and Sunni communities continues at multiple locations. According to the latest reports, 32 people have been killed which include 14 Sunnis and 18 Shiites," a senior administrative official told AFP on condition of anonymity on Saturday.

On Thursday, gunmen opened fire on two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims travelling with police escort in Kurram, killing 43 while 11 wounded are still in "critical condition", officials told AFP.

In retaliation Shiite Muslims on Friday evening attacked several Sunni locations in the Kurram district, once a semi-autonomous region, where sectarian violence has resulted in the deaths of hundreds over the years.

"Around 7 pm (1400 GMT), a group of enraged Shiite individuals attacked the Sunni-dominated Bagan Bazaar," a senior police officer stationed in Kurram told AFP.

"After firing, they set the entire market ablaze and entered nearby homes, pouring petrol and setting them on fire. Initial reports suggest over 300 shops and more than 100 houses have been burned," he said.

Local Sunnis "also fired back at the attackers", he added.

Javedullah Mehsud, a senior official in Kurram said there were "efforts to restore peace ... (through) the deployment of security forces" and with the help of "local elders".

After Thursday's attacks that killed 43, including seven women and three children, thousands of Shiite Muslims took to the streets in various cities of Pakistan on Friday.

Several hundred people demonstrated in Lahore, Pakistan's second city and Karachi, the country's commercial hub.

In Parachinar, the main town of Kurram district, thousands participated in a sit-in, while hundreds attended the funerals of the victims, mainly Shiite civilians.