Democratic nominee Kamala Harris has opened up her biggest polling lead yet over former President Donald Trump, according to a top polling tracker.
FiveThirtyEight's poll tracker, which complies the results of national and statewide polls and weights them according to reliability, shows that nationally Harris is on average ahead of Trump by 3.3 points, with 47 percent to the Republican's 43.7 percent.
Since she became the official candidate, the Democrat's position in the polls has steadily improved, with polls moving in her direction after previously showing Trump leading Biden.
[Newsweek on August 22]
Republican candidate Donald Trump and the philosophy of Elon Musk,
Trump's propaganda aide and alleged future member of cabinet, in
case an alliance between big money and fake news should prevail.
Latest Update on 'Regional Terrorism'
included further down on August 21:
Rare interview with Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi:
مقابلة نادرة جدا للسيد عبدالملك الحوثي مع قناة المنار وهو يقول ان الكيان الصـhـيوني هو عدو للإسلام والمسلمين، وداعيًا الأمة إلى استشعار المسؤولية لمواجهته.
وقال أيضاً أن زعماء العرب العملاء يحاولون إقناع شعوبهم بأن العـ.ـدو الإسـ.ـرائيليّي صديق ويمكن التعايش معه
وقال أن الكيان قائم على الفساد الاجرام ولا يمكن التعايش معه على الإطلاق ولن نقبل به أن يكون بيننا
A very rare interview with Mr. Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi on Al-Manar TV [i.e. Lebanese Hezbollah TV], in which he says that the Zionist entity [i.e. the State of Israel] is an enemy of Islam and Muslims, and calls on the [Arab] nation to feel responsible to confront it.
He also said that the Arab client leaders [i.e. essentially the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the Emirates] are trying to convince their people that the Israeli enemy is a friend and can be coexisted with.
He said that the entity is based on corruption and crime and cannot be coexisted with at all and we will not accept it among us.
Abdul-Malik Badruldeen al-Houthi [عبد الملك بدر الدين الحوثي], also known as Abu Jibril, is a Yemeni politician and religious leader who serves as the leader of the Houthi movement, a revolutionary movement principally made up of Zaidi Muslims, a Muslimic minority in Yemen. His five brothers are or were also leaders of the group.
Born in 1979, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi is the leading figure in the Yemeni Civil War which started with the Houthi takeover in Yemen in the Saada Governorate in northern Yemen in January 2015.
US secretary of state Antony J. Blinken revoked the designation of Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
Political Analysis published by
Israel's liberal paper 'Haaretz'
Some days ago, on August 15, an official Iranian X-account announced that Iran is going to launch their brandnew SAMAN rocket system, intended to transport space payloads between Earth orbits.
Saman is capable of transporting light satellites from an orbit of 300 km to an orbit of 5,000 km. Iran is said having successfully conducted its first launching test of that system on October 3, 2020.
The rocket system 'Saman' [سامان] seems to have been named after
an ancient Iranian nomadic people in the Central Asian region of
Khorasan and Bukhara and who had founded the Samanid dynasty
[الدولة السامانية], such getting independent from the Abassid kingdom.
The Samanids are seen today as the founders of Persian identity,
speech and culture after 900 AC. During the rule of the Samanides,
the 'Holy Quran' was expanded to Central Asia.
An earlier Chinese evaluation from January 30 this year, already discussed the test launch of another system when Iran's carrier rocket PHOENIX successfully positioned three satellites in orbit, a system the Chinese named 'One Arrow and Three Stars' in their own pictorial language.
By the way, the Chinese source appeared to be unusually well informed on this matter, giving a comprising overview on Iran's satellite program, however, without mentioning neither name nor location of the launching site.
Iran's first successful launch of "One Arrow and Three Stars"
can it enhance military space capabilities?
Iran has made a major breakthrough in the development of space technology, and successfully launched "one arrow and three stars" for the first time.
According to a report by Xinhua News Agency on January 28, Iran successfully launched three satellites for the first time using the "Phoenix" carrier rocket on January 28.According to the report, on the same day, the "Phoenix" carrier rocket launched three satellites, "Maheda," "Payam," and "Khatif," into orbits about 1,110 kilometers above the earth's surface.
Some Western countries claim that Iran's satellite program could be used to develop ballistic missiles.A recent United States intelligence assessment suggests that the launch of the satellite "shortened" Iran's time to develop an ICBM.But Iran has repeatedly denied such speculation, saying that the satellite project falls under the category of scientific research.
[澎湃新闻, 'Upcoming News' on January 30, 2024]
.....................................
في صفقة محتملة
إيران تبحث عن مساعدة الصين لزيادة دقة مراقبتها للأهداف العسكرية في الشرق الأوسط
ذكرت صحيفة "واشنطن بوست" نقلا عن مسؤولين أمنيين غربيين، أن إيران طلبت من الصين دعمها في مجال الأقمار الصناعية بهدف تعزيز قدراتها في المراقبة عن بعد وجمع المعلومات الاستخباراتية، بما في ذلك إمكانية الحصول على صور عالية الدقة لأهداف عسكرية في إسرائيل ومناطق أخرى في الشرق الأوسط.
In a possible deal:
Iran looking for China's help to increase the accuracy
of surveillance of military targets in the Middle East.
The Washington Post, citing Western security officials, reported that Iran asked China for its satellite support to enhance its remote surveillance and intelligence-gathering capabilities, including access to high-resolution imagery of military targets in Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East.
وقد شهدت الفترة الأخيرة بحسب مسؤولين غربيين وشرق أوسطيين، تبادل الوفود بين الحرس الثوري الإيراني والشركات الصينية المعنية، والتي تختص في تصنيع وتشغيل أقمار صناعية مزودة بكاميرات متطورة.
وقال المسؤولون، الذين طلبوا عدم الكشف عن هويتهم لمناقشة معلومات استخباراتية حساسة، إن "سعي إيران للتعاون مع الشركتين يتم مراقبته عن كثب بسبب المخاوف من أن أي اتفاق قد يعزز بشكل كبير قدرة إيران على التجسس على المنشآت العسكرية الأميركية والإسرائيلية، بالإضافة إلى المنشآت العسكرية للدول العربية المنافسة في الخليج الفارسي".
وتقدم الشركات الصينية المعنية أقمارا صناعية مزودة بأجهزة بصرية حساسة تفوق في دقتها أقمار إيران الحالية.
وتأتي هذه الزيارات في سياق العلاقات الوثيقة بين بكين وطهران، والتي تعززت بعد توقيع اتفاقية التعاون السياسي والاقتصادي الممتدة لـ 25 عاما بين وزيري خارجية البلدين قبل ثلاث سنوات.
وسعت إيران سابقا للحصول على مساعدة من روسيا لتطوير شبكة من أقمار المراقبة التي تسيطر عليها طهران، وقد توسعت هذه المساعدة مع اعتماد روسيا على إيران كمورد للطائرات المسيرة الهجومية المستخدمة في حربها ضد أوكرانيا.
According to Western and Middle Eastern officials, delegations exchanged delegations between the IRGC and relevant Chinese companies, which specialize in manufacturing and operating satellites equipped with advanced cameras.
The officials, who asked not to be identified to discuss sensitive intelligence, said Iran's quest to cooperate with the two companies is being closely monitored because of concerns that any agreement could significantly enhance the Iran's ability to spy on U.S. and Israeli military facilities, as well as military facilities of rival Arabic countries in the Persian Gulf.
The Chinese companies involved offer satellites with sensitive optical equipment that are more accurate than those of the current Iran.
The visits come in the context of the close relations between Beijing and Tehran, which were strengthened after the signing of the 25-year political and economic cooperation agreement between the foreign ministers of the two countries three years ago.
Iran has previously sought help from Russia to develop a network of Tehran-controlled surveillance satellites, and this assistance has expanded as the Russia relied on Iran as a supplier of attack drones used in its war against the Ukraine.
Added on August 16:
Evaluation of the military situation in
Northern Israel / Galilee according to
Hezbollah near sources => further down
While many Lebanese live in a state of anticipation and concern about the possibility of the expansion of the war with Israel, especially after Hezbollah confirmed that its response to the killing of its senior leader, Fouad Shukr, late last month (July 30) is inevitable, it seems that some Israeli military voices are rising in order to carry out a quick attack south of Lebanon.
The IDF's Northern Command has begun pushing for a more aggressive approach against Hezbollah, current and former Israeli officials have confirmed.
A senior Israeli security official said that "any disproportionate response by Hezbollah could lead to an Israeli attack that creates a new reality on Israel's northern border," according to the New York Times.
"Necessary justification"
Amos Yadlin, a former intelligence official and head of 'Mind Israel', a national security consultancy, said Israel should wait even after Hezbollah attack and its response to Shukr's killing to have the necessary justification for a quick and vigorous campaign that could cripple the Iranian-backed party in a matter of days or weeks with U.S. support.
"With the destruction of the bulk of Hamas's capabilities, it is time to move to the Lebanese-Israeli border," he claimed.
Invasion of southern Lebanon
This analysis is in line with some voices within the Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu.
The far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has repeatedly called in the past to strike Allah and invade southern Lebanon, as have some members of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party.
Yoav Kisch, Israel's education minister and a member of Netanyahu's coalition, said in a radio interview Sunday that he saw "no way to return residents to northern Israel without a strong war against Hezbollah within Lebanon."
Even a number of centrist Israeli politicians, such as National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz, have called for hitting Lebanon's infrastructure, an offensive move likely to trigger a wider war.
War between Israel and Hezbollah has long been considered inevitable, and its outbreak is only a matter of timing, according to many security analysts.
But some argued that Hezbollah's response for now could give Tel Aviv the justification it needed to strike hard enough to prevent attacks for many years to come.
The analysis comes as Netanyahu's government is under immense pressure to repatriate more than 60,000 Israelis displaced from northern Israel to escape the Allah's near-daily attacks since Oct. 7.
It also coincides with leaks from officials of Iranian-backed factions and militias who reported that Tehran told them that it does not want to expand the war and confrontation with Israel, fearing that the latter will target nuclear sites inside the Iran.
The region has been witnessing an unprecedented escalation since the assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh Israel on July 31 in Tehran, hours after Shukr's killing in the stronghold of the Allah Party in the Genovese suburb of Beirut, and both Iran and Hezbollah vowed to respond to these assassinations.
[العربية on August 15]
US envoy Hochstein says he thinks Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah can avoid war
..........
Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, landed in Beirut on Wednesday to deter an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, after the latter killed a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut's southern suburbs last month.
"We continue to believe that a diplomatic resolution is achievable because we continue to believe that no one truly wants a full-scale war between Lebanon and Israel," Hochstein said after talks with parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a strong Hezbollah ally.
Hochstein's visit coincided with an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon's Tyre district on Wednesday around noon that left 10 people injured, including three in critical condition, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The U.S. envoy said he talked with Berri about the framework agreement on the table for a Gaza ceasefire, adding that a deal would also help enable a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon that would prevent an outbreak of a wider war.
[Reuters on August 14]
In depth translation of an X-Post
provided by 'Al-Menassa' [Tribune],
pro-Hezbollah news center in Lebanon
"Report broadcast by Channel #المنار [Al-Manar] detailing with numbers and information the importance of the northern region, industrially and economically, for Israel, especially for the advanced technology industry, which Secretary General of #حزب_الله [Hezbollah] Mr. #حسن_نصر_الله [Hassan Nasrallah] indicated could be destroyed within an hour or half an hour."
Editor's Note:
Al-Manar is a Hezbollah related TV station in Lebanon and
source of the reconnaissance video below. As to Hezbollah's
armory, Israel's liberal paper 'Haaretz' is estimating their
inventory to comprise 150,000 rockets.
Official propaganda video transmitted via Arabic news channels
is showing an extended underground missile armory containing
precision and non-precision rockets for every occasion:
Latest News of the Day:
دبي / بيروت (رويترز) - قال ثلاثة من كبارمسؤولون إيرانيون: وقف إطلاق النار في غزة هو فقط ما قد يؤجل الرد على إسرائيل
Dubai / Beirut (Reuters) - Only a ceasefire in Gaza could delay a response to Israel three senior Iranian officials said.
Here a related article published the next day (August 14):
اعتبر الرئيس الأميركي جو بايدن الثلاثاء، أن التوصل إلى اتفاق لوقف إطلاق النار في غزة قد يدفع إيران الى الامتناع عن شن هجوم على إسرائيل، رداً على اغتيال رئيس المكتب السياسي لحركة حماس إسماعيل هنية في طهران، الذي أجج التوترات الإقليمية.
رفض إيراني
جاءت تعليقات بايدن إثر رفض إيران الثلاثاء، دعوات غربية للتراجع عن تهديدها بالردّ على إسرائيل بعد اغتيال هنية، في وقت تسود المخاوف من توسّع الحرب في قطاع غزة إلى المنطقة. وتعهّدت الانتقام لاستشهاد هنية، الذي جاء بعد ساعات من ضربة إسرائيلية في الضاحية الجنوبية لبيروت قتلت القائد العسكري في حزب الله فؤاد شكر. وتوعّد حزب الله بالردّ.
ولدى سؤاله الثلاثاء عما إذا كانت هدنة بين إسرائيل وحماس قد تحول دون وقوع هجوم إيراني، قال بايدن للصحافيين "هذا ما أتوقعه"، وأضاف في نيو أورلينز إنه على الرغم من أن المفاوضات "أصبحت صعبة"، إلا أنه "لن يستسلم".
إلا أن وكالة "رويترز" نقلت عن ثلاثة مصادر إيرانية في وقت سابق، تأكيدهم أن اتفاق وقف إطلاق النار في غزة هو وحده الذي سيمنع رداً مباشراً إيرانياً على إسرائيل.
US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza could prompt Iran to refrain from launching an attack on Israel, in response to the assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which has inflamed regional tensions.
Iranian refusal
Biden's comments came after Iran on Tuesday rejected Western calls to back down from its threat to retaliate against Israel after Haniyeh's assassination, at a time of fears that the war in the Gaza Strip could expand to the region. It vowed revenge for Haniyeh's death, which came hours after an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs killed Hezbollah's military commander Fouad Shukr. Hezbollah vowed to respond.
Asked Tuesday whether a truce between Israel and Hamas might prevent an Iranian attack, Biden told reporters that "that's what I expect," adding in New Orleans that although negotiations were "becoming difficult," he "won't give up."
However, Reuters quoted three Iranian sources earlier as confirming that only the ceasefire agreement in Gaza would prevent a direct Iranian response to Israel.
[المدن, Lebanese online news on August 14]
.........................
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke on Monday with the Iranian president as part of international efforts to calm tensions in the Middle East.
The 30-minute phone conversation with Massoud Bizeshkian followed a joint statement issued Monday with France, the United States and Germany calling on Iran and its allies not to "jeopardize the chance of agreeing on a ceasefire and the release of hostages" in Gaza.
There are growing fears that Iran will retaliate against Israel over the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, prompting the United States to order the deployment of a guided missile submarine to the Middle East.
[إيلاف, independent Arabic news center, London, on August 12]
عاجل| أمريكا: إيران ستشن هجوما كبيرا على إسرائيل ومستعدون لها
تتصاعد التوترات بين إيران وإسرائيل بشكل ملحوظ، حيث تشير تقارير عديدة إلى احتمالية وقوع هجمات كبيرة من الجانب الإيراني ضد إسرائيل في الأيام المقبلة، يأتي هذا التصعيد في ظل تبادل التحذيرات بين الأطراف المعنية وتزايد المخاوف الدولية من اندلاع صراع واسع النطاق في الشرق الأوسط.
تحذيرات البيت الأبيض واستعدادات دولية
أعلن البيت الأبيض أن هناك ضرورة للاستعداد لما قد يكون "هجمات كبيرة" من إيران. هذا التحذير يأتي بعد تقارير استخباراتية مشتركة بين الولايات المتحدة وإسرائيل تشير إلى أن الهجوم الإيراني قد يكون وشيكًا، على الرغم من التقييم الحالي الذي يفيد بأن الهجوم لن يحدث الليلة. فيما أكد مصدر أميركي أن إيران عازمة على تنفيذ هجوم أكبر من الذي نفذته في أبريل الماضي.
Urgent | America: Iran will launch a major attack on Israel and we are ready for it.
Tensions between Iran and Israel are escalating significantly, with numerous reports indicating the possibility of major attacks by the Iranian side against Israel in the coming days, this escalation comes in light of the exchange of warnings between the parties concerned and growing international fears of a large-scale conflict in the Middle East.
White House warnings and international preparations
The White House has said it is necessary to prepare for what may be "major attacks" from Iran. The warning follows joint U.S.-Israeli intelligence reports suggesting an Iranian attack may be imminent, despite the current assessment that the attack will not happen tonight. A U.S. source confirmed that Iran was determined to carry out a larger attack than the one it carried out in April.
With ballistic missiles and swooping drones. Israel prepares for 'unprecedented' Iranian response
Amid a major state of alert in the Israel and assurances that a response is inevitable, Hebrew media reported that there are several scenarios about the nature of that response, the latest of which was reported by the newspaper "Israel Hayom", which said that estimates go to the likelihood of Tehran launching an "unprecedented" attack through "huge" missile barrages.
The Hebrew Broadcasting Corporation reported that the state of alert is at its highest, especially with expectations that the Iranian response will not exclude camps or strategic sites amid Israel.
[إرم on August 3, 04:49 AM]
Iranian official sends message to Israel residents
Iranian Foreign Ministry adviser Mohamed Marandi said in a tweet on the X website:
"They left for Israel, they (the missiles) are coming."
قال مستشار وزارة الخارجية الإيرانية محمد مرندي، في تغريدة عبر موقع إكس: غادروا إسرائيل إنها (الصواريخ) قادمة
The US Navy announced the arrival of the aircraft carrier "Roosevelt" to the Strait of Hormuz off Iran today.
Earlier, Israel's Channel 12 reported that the website of Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport was disrupted due to heavy pressure from travelers, in light of security tensions, airlines canceling flights to Israel and Israelis seeking to travel.
Israeli media reported that the official website of the Airports Authority was disrupted on Israel on Friday and a cyber attack was suspected.
This comes at a time of high alert in Israel in preparation for possible attacks by Iran and its proxies in the region.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed to inflict "the most severe punishment" on Israel in response to the assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh.
[خبرني on August 3, 06:14 AM]
Israel asks for "friends and allies" help to counter multi-front offensive
Along with the Iran's threat of a harsh response to any "disproportionate attack," political sources in Tel Aviv revealed that the Israeli government is in contact with friendly and allied countries to rally cooperation in the face of a multi-front offensive.
In this context, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the White House, where he held a call with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on ways to jointly respond to a ballistic missile and drone attack, and Biden told him that US forces in the region have made new equipment for their forces to abort any attack that threatens Israel, but asked him to cooperate with US efforts to reduce tension in the region and refrain from sliding into a regional war.
Netanyahu asked to increase the quantities of weapons and ammunition, and to release smart bombs, which Biden promised him without expressing reservations about the smart bombs that he [Biden] had decided to delay sending to Israel.
[المركزية,Lebanon, on August 3, 06:20 AM]
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Rare visitors from
Iran and Lebanon
August 1-4, 2024
