Iran simultaneously launched three satellites, the Mahda, the Kayhan-2, and the Hatef-1, into orbit. It was the first successful launch of the Simorgh rocket after multiple previous failures. Earlier in the month, Iran launched the Soraya satellite atop a rocket built by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
News Briefs
January 28, 2024
-- Al Jazeera
January 20, 2024
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) placed the Soraya satellite into orbit using a Qaem-100 rocket. Its orbital altitude of 750 kilometers was the highest yet for any satellite that the country has launched.
-- Associated Press
January 18, 2024
Jalal Hajavi was sentenced to two years in prison and three years of supervised release in the United States. In September 2023, Hajavi was found guilty of participating in a scheme to unlawfully export heavy equipment from the United States to Iran by routing the shipments though the United Arab Emirates. Hajavi used his company JSH Heavy Equipment, LLC to acquire items such as bobcats, wheel loaders, and, in one instance, a blasthole drill for Iran.
-- U.S. Department of Justice
January 18, 2024
Pakistan launched a missile attack against separatist militants inside Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan Province killing at least nine people, two days after Iran carried out a similar operation inside Pakistan. Both countries characterized their strikes as aimed against terrorist groups.
-- Reuters
January 17, 2024
Iran conducted a missile and drone attack against what it claimed were two strongholds of the Jaish al-Adl militant group in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The strike killed two children and injured several others, according to Pakistani authorities. Pakistan responded by recalling its ambassador from Iran, expelling the Iranian ambassador to Pakistan, and warning Iran of "serious consequences."
-- CNN
January 16, 2024
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) carried out cross-border missile strikes in Syria and Iraq. The attacks were aimed against what the IRGC said were Islamic State-linked targets in Idlib, Syria, and Israeli Mossad-linked targets in Erbil, Iraq. The strikes were in retaliation for an Islamic State terrorist attack in Kerman in January and the suspected Israeli killing of IRGC general Seyed Razi Mousavi in Damascus in December. The operation involved the launch of four Kheibar Shekan ballistic missiles from Khuzestan province, four unspecified missiles from Kermanshah province, and seven missiles from West Azerbaijan province.
-- Tasnim News Agency
January 16, 2024
Iraq recalled its ambassador to Iran and summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires in Baghdad following an Iranian missile strike targeting a residence in Erbil. Iraq's prime minister characterized the strike as "aggression" against Iraq.
-- Reuters
January 11, 2024
Iran seized an oil tanker carrying Iraqi crude and destined for Turkey. The Marshall Islands-flagged vessel, named St Nikolas and owned by the Greek company Empire Navigation, was boarded by Iranian forces in the Gulf of Oman. The tanker is the same vessel that the United States seized in a sanctions enforcement operation in 2023, when it was transporting Iranian oil. At that time the ship was named Suez Rajan.
-- Reuters
January 9, 2024
The Dutch newspaper Volkskrant reported that it had identified the individual responsible for planting the Stuxnet computer virus at the Natanz nuclear complex. According to the report, Erik Van Sabben, a Dutch national, was recruited by Dutch intelligence services in 2005 and installed equipment containing the malware at Natanz in 2007. He was working as an engineer in Dubai at the time of the sabotage. The Dutch government was reportedly unaware of Van Sabben's actions at the time.
-- Anadolu Agency
January 4, 2024
The United States carried out an airstrike on a headquarters in Baghdad of the Iran-aligned Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba militia group, killing one of its leaders, Mushtaq Talib al-Saidi, also known as Abu Taqwa. Iraq's military spokesman condemned the strike as a "dangerous escalation" and said that the United States did not have authorization for it.
-- Washington Post