Shabtabnews In this dark night, I have lost my way – Arise from a corner, oh you the star of guidance.

VOA – Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a veteran Iraqi militant who was closely allied with Iran and rose to be a senior militia commander during the war against the Islamic State group, was killed Friday in a U.S. strike that also felled Iran’s top general. Al-Muhandis was the deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group of mostly Shiite …

VOA – The United States struck a significant and potentially risky blow against Iran, killing the leader of the nation’s elite Quds Force in an airstrike in Iraq. The Pentagon confirmed the death of Quds Force Commander General Qassem Soleimani in a statement late Thursday, saying the strike was launched, “at the direction” of U.S. President Donald Trump. It further …

gatestoneinstitute.org – The President’s robust response to the recent upsurge in Iranian-sponsored violence in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East certainly appears at odds with the perception that he has no interest in conducting military operations in the Middle East, and that his main objective is to reduce Washington’s military presence in the region ahead of this year’s presidential …

Al-Monitor – Iranian officials have reiterated comments by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that they will not start the war but will fight back against an invasion. REUTERS/Omar SanadikiIranian Vice President Eshag Jahanghiri leaves the plane upon his arrival at Damascus international airport in Damascus, Syria, Jan. 28, 2019. After the United States struck a number of Iraqi bases of an Iran-backed …

Radiofarda – The U.S. Special Representative for Iran on January 2 told the BBC Radio 4’s Today Program that in “an act of desperation” Iran organized the demonstration in front of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad this week. “The Iranian regime organized these protesters, I think, in an act of desperation to try to drive a wedge between the United …