The State Department says Wagner Group is threatening religious freedom in Africa
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday designated the Russian private military company Wagner Group in the same category as Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), Al-Qaeda branches, and the Taliban.
Blinken declared Wagner an “entity of particular concern,” putting it on the same list as IS affiliates in western and northern Africa, the Nusrat al-Islam militants in Mali, Nigeria’s Boko Haram, Somalia’s al-Shabab, the Houthis of Yemen, as well as the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham – the rebranded Al-Qaeda anti-government militants in Syria – and the Taliban of Afghanistan. He claimed the company threatens religious freedom in the Central African Republic.
“Our announcement of these designations is in keeping with our values and interests to protect national security and to advance human rights around the globe,” said Blinken. “Countries that effectively safeguard this and other human rights are more peaceful, stable, prosperous and more reliable partners of the US than those that do not.”
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The designation is based on the International Religious Freedom Act, a US law passed in 1998 that created a special office at the State Department. It follows media rumors that the US might designate Wagner a terrorist organization, a measure suggested as a form of ‘lawfare’ against Moscow in the conflict over Ukraine.
In addition to these groups, Blinken listed Myanmar, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as “countries of particular concern” for religious freedom, while Algeria, CAR, Comoros, and Vietnam were placed on a “special watch list.”
Notably absent from the State Department list was Ukraine, even after the government in Kiev raided the most prominent Orthodox monastery, charged several clergymen with sympathies for Russia, and moved to ban the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church – linked to the Moscow Patriarchate – in favor of the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
https://www.rt.com/news/567578-state-department-wagner-isis/
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Intelligence Unit says Iran will consider the Israeli regime’s shelters “legitimate targets” if residential areas in the country come under attack.
In a post published on social media platform X on Tuesday, the IRGC said that any strikes on residential areas in Iran would give Iran’s armed forces the right to attack Israeli shelters in the occupied lands.
The IRGC stated that it has intelligence on the blueprints and the exact locations of these shelters.
Iran began its Operation True Promise 4 after the US and Israel launched their joint military aggression against the Islamic Republic in late February by assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, and several senior Iranian officials.
In its latest wave of attacks, the IRGC said it rained down missiles on the Israeli regime’s “secure” intelligence facilities in Tel Aviv.
Iranian armed forces have also pounded American military bases and ...
In a fresh wave of retaliatory strikes, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) targeted the Israeli regime’s “secure” intelligence facilities in Tel Aviv.
The IRGC’s Public Relations Department said in a statement on Tuesday that it had carried out the 79th wave of its ongoing retaliatory Operation True Promise 4 against the Israeli and American targets.
Deploying powerful Kheybar Shekan, Emad, and Sejjil missiles alongside IRGC Aerospace Force kamikaze drones, the operation successfully breached the regime's multi-layered air defense systems, the statement said.
The missiles, it stated, targeted Israel’s intelligence facilities in northern and central Tel Aviv, as well as military commercial and support centers in Ramat Gan and the Negev.
The missiles also hit Israel’s southern military logistics and command headquarters in Beersheba.
The missile strikes triggered widespread panic across Israel and forced the suspension of a Knesset (parliament) session on Tuesday.
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The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announces staging the 78th wave of its underway retaliatory Operation True Promise 4, targeting such highly sensitive Israeli targets as Dimona, Tel Aviv, and Eilat as well as several US military bases in the region.
In a statement on Tuesday, the IRGC described the latest phase of the operation as a significant development featuring missiles raining down on enemy targets as the nation was leveling momentous support behind the Islamic Republic by attending millions-strong rallies with "clenched fists."
'A distinct record'
The latest phase, it noted, "has set a distinct record in the timeline of the war."
According to the statement, targets in the occupied port of Eilat, Dimona, a heavily fortified city that hosts the Israeli regime's notorious nuclear reactor in its vicinity, and northern Tel Aviv were struck using Emad and multi-warhead Qadr missile systems along with attack drones.
This was the second time the Corps was hitting Dimona, ...
