Highlights
This past week was marked by the deaths of Iranian President Raisi, Foreign Minister Abdollahian, and other senior Iranian officials in a helicopter crash in northwestern Iran on May 19, 2024.
The Shiite pro-Iranian militias in Iraq and Yemen expressed deep sorrow over the deaths of the senior Iranian officials. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani was appointed as acting foreign minister following the death of Abdollahian, who played a central role in leading Iran’s political campaign in the region, especially since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
Senior Iranian officials continued to express confidence concerning Israel’s situation, especially following the Iranian attack on Israel last month. The representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader in the IRGC claimed that Western powers could not prevent the Iranian attack because of the pro-Palestinian stance of world public opinion and that the slogan “Death to Israel” had become global. The IRGC commander claimed that the attack on Israel was a limited operation designed to punish Israel, implying that Iran had more significant capabilities to harm Israel.
The IRGC has reportedly begun transferring new shipments of weapons to an underground warehouse set up in eastern Syria, near the border with Iraq.
There was a decline in the number of attacks carried out by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq against targets in Israeli territory. They claimed responsibility for five attacks compared to 13 the week before. The IDF confirmed that it had intercepted three UAVs east of Israel.
The Houthis did not claim responsibility for attacks against vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The US Central Command reported that an oil tanker had been damaged by a Houthi ballistic missile, with no casualties, and that another ballistic missile had been fired. The Houthis claimed responsibility for downing two American drones over Yemen. The Houthi Movement leader claimed they had carried out two actions against Israel in the Mediterranean. However, that has not been verified.
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