According to media reports, Iran launched several missiles and drones at locations in the Alana Valley in Erbil province on Wednesday, targeting fighters affiliated with the Komala Party and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran. The attacks were confirmed by Peshmerga commander.
Iran is shifting from a defensive military doctrine towards an offensive one, Mohammad Reza Naghdi, an adviser to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, said on Tuesday. Speaking on national television, Naghdi said Iran should be capable of conducting military operations beyond its borders whenever required and ordered. He described the recent war with the United States and Israel as a “real exercise” that allowed Iranian forces to assess their opponents in actual combat.
Naghdi also said Iran was preparing for hybrid warfare involving military, diplomatic, economic, social and media capabilities. He claimed Iran’s ballistic missile and drone production capacity exceeded its current rate of use, suggesting Tehran intends to maintain its ability to sustain a prolonged conflict.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militants claimed attacks on Saudi vessel carrying military equipment in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. No official confirmation from Saudi Arabia came, however reports informed four deaths.
Three Pakistani nationals and one Indonesian were killed aboard the Egyptian-owned Tihamah, the ministry said. The vessel was reportedly struck by an unidentified projectile while anchored northeast of Yemen’s Perim Island. The incident adds to growing concerns over the security of one of the world’s key maritime routes, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the wider Indian Ocean.
At the diplomatic front, Pakistan stepped up efforts to ease tensions holding a dialogue. Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi travelled to Tehran for talks with Iranian officials. Two officials said Naqvi’s visit was aimed at encouraging Tehran to resume negotiations with Washington under an interim peace agreement brokered by Pakistan in June. Naqvi met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian as well as Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni and Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad The visit was Naqvi’s sixth trip to Iran as part of Pakistan’s efforts to mediate between the two sides.
Subsequently, the US sponsored Israel-Lebanon war negotiations are due September in Rome, according to an official in the know.
The seventh round of US-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon was held in Rome last week, with the primary objective of establishing new “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon from which Israeli forces will begin withdrawing and the Lebanese army will assume control.