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Islamabad has given clearance to recently retired chief of army staff Gen. Raheel Sharif to command what is being described as a Muslim NATO based in Saudi Arabia. Sharifs new position is expected to be announced later this month in Riyadh. Though the mission and activities of the coalition (known as the Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism or IMAFT) are unclear, Sharifs involvement in the Saudi-led initiative could disrupt Pakistans delicate balancing act vis--vis- Iran and Saudi Arabia, the two major powerhouses in the Muslim world locked in an ugly cold war. Still, while there are risks associated with the move, they are outweighed by its potential benefits.

Sharifs acceptance of the Saudi offer was first reported in early January, but he was only given clearance, also known as a No Objection Certificate, in late March, after Pakistani civilian and military officials informed their Iranian counterparts of the move. The former army chief reportedly told Saudi leaders that he would accept the position on the condition that the coalition would not be anti-Iran and even requested to play a diplomatic role in easing tensions between Riyadh and Tehran. Nonetheless, this week the Iranian ambassador to Pakistan indicated that his government was not in favor of the move.

In all likelihood, the Saudi-led IMAFT will exclude Iran, but will not be anti-Iran, focusing instead on counterterrorism. Those close to Sharif have said on Pakistani television that the coalition will promote intelligence sharing between Muslim-majority countries, which is critical as foreign fighters from the so-called Islamic State return to their home countries. Neither Sharif nor the coalition itself is likely to engage Iran in proxy wars, such as the disastrous Yemen war.

Mainstream and Shia political parties in Pakistan, including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, led by ex-cricketer Imran Khan, have criticized the government for allowing Sharif to head the Saudi-led group. They argue that Sharifs leadership amounts to Pakistan taking a side in the Iran-Saudi regional war. In 2014, Pakistans parliament passed a resolution calling for their government to adopt neutrality in the Yemen war, after Riyadh has presumptuously announced that Islamabad was part of its coalition to restore the Hadi government.

Pakistans non-participation in Yemen combat operations was the right decision. The Yemen war is a strategic and humanitarian disaster, causing over ten thousand deaths and putting the poor country on the brink of famineall while failing to dislodge the Houthis and restore Hadi to power. Pakistan was able to focus on its war within. Civilian fatalities due to terrorism declined by 80 percent from 2013 into the end of 2016, sectarian violence deaths also dropped by around 75 percent over this period.

Still, Islamabad paid a price for not participating in combat operations in Yemen. Ties with Riyadh reportedly cooled and the United Arab Emirates tightened its embrace of New Delhi, Islamabads arch-rival. Relations with Qatar and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have since reboundedbut Sharifs leadership of the coalition will serve as a much-needed corrective, enabling Pakistani military diplomacy to rebuild and bolster ties with Arab Gulf states and slow the pace of deepening strategic ties between India and the GCC.

Furthermore, Pakistan has done its part by conveying its red lines to Iran. If it backtracks, it will signal that Iran has a veto power over Pakistans national-security policymaking.

Pakistan has already made concessions to Iran with respect to the regional sectarian war. On top of rebuffing pressure from Abu Dhabi and Riyadh to join the Yemen war, Islamabad also backtracked from its initial diplomatic support for the Syrian rebels.

Also, Islamabad has never publicly commented on Irans recruitment of Pakistani Shias to fight in Syria. That Iran may now be sending Afghan Shia fighters from Syria to Yemen should be of concern to Pakistan, as it means that Pakistani Shias could soon follow. Irans use of Afghan and Pakistani Shia militants has grown from the initial pretext of shrine protection in Syria to support for the Bashar al-Assad government. Now, it has expanded beyond the Iraq-Syria theater to buttressing the Houthis. Iranian support for Pakistani Shia militants provides fodder for the Pakistani Taliban and the so-called Islamic State, which are bent on cleansing Pakistan of its Shia population. And it also presents a possible future threat to Pakistan, if and when these fighters return home, especially given Irans historic assistance to Shia militants inside Pakistan, including in the restive Kurram Agency.

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Can Pakistan Remain Neutral in the Saudi-Iran Rivalry? - The National Interest Online

The file photo shows Iran's Lavan logistic warship.

The naval forces of the Islamic Republicand Oman will hold five-day joint rescue and relief drills in Irans southern waters and the northern areasof the Indian Ocean, an Iranian commander says.

An Iranian naval flotilla, comprising Sabalan destroyer, Lavan logistic warship and helicopter carrier, SH3D helicopter and Falakhan missile-equipped warships, left Iran for Oman on Saturday to take part in the drills, the commander of Iran's First Naval Zone, Rear Admiral Hossein Azad, said.

He added that it was imperative to improve security in Irans southern waters and the Indian Ocean given their geographical significance inmaritime economy and busy traffic of ships and oil tankers.

The naval forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the neighboring country of Oman will draw plans and stage joint maneuvers to this effect, Azad said.

Iran and Oman have so far held several naval relief and rescue drills aimed at enhancing readiness for providing relief services, conducting rescue operations, improving the level of regional cooperation and exchanging experience.

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Iran Navy dispatches fleet to Kazakhstan for 1st time

The Iranian Navy also on Saturday dispatched a flotilla to the Kazakh port city of Aktau for the first time, the commander of Iran's fleet of warships in the northern province of Gilan, Admiral Ahmadreza Baqeri, said.

The Peace and Friendship flotilla consists ofDamavand destroyer and Peykan missile-launcher destroyer and plans to stay in Kazakhstan for three days, he added.

He emphasized that the fleet would convey Irans message of peace and friendship.

The Iranian naval personnel and commanders on board the fleet are scheduled to visit Kazakhstans military and historical sites and hold talks with the countrys naval officials.

In recent years, the Iranian Navy has increased its presence in international waters to protect naval routes and provide security for merchant vessels and tankers.

In line with international efforts against piracy, the Iranian Navy has been also conducting patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008 in order to safeguard merchant containers and oil tankers owned or leased by Iran or other countries.

Irans Navy has managed to foil several attacks on both Iranian and foreign tanker ships during its missions in international waters.

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Iran, Oman to hold joint naval drills in Indian Ocean: Commander - Press TV

AFP

Tehran: The army chiefs of Russia and Iran discussed the US strikes in Syria by phone on Saturday, and vowed to continue the fight against "terrorists" and their supporters, Iranian media reported.

The two chiefs of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri and General Valery Gerasimov, "condemned the American operation against a Syrian air base which is an aggression against an independent country", state news agency IRNA said.

The American strikes "aim at slowing the victories of the Syrian army and its allies, and reinforcing terrorist groups", they said in a statement.

The two army leaders vowed to continue their military cooperation in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "until the total defeat of the terrorists and those that support them", according to the Mehr news agency.

Battle damage assessment image of Shayrat Airfield (Syria) is seen in this DigitalGlobe satellite image, released by the Pentagon following US Tomahawk Land Attack Missile strikes from Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, the USS Ross and USS Porter on April 7, 2017. (Photo: DigitalGlobe/Courtesy US Department of Defense/Handout via Reuters)

Iran and Russia are Assad's closest allies and label all opponents of his regime as "terrorists".

Both governments have defended Assad against Western allegations that his regime carried out a suspected chemical weapons attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun on Tuesday, killing dozens of civilians.

President Hassan Rouhani earlier criticised his US counterpart Donald Trump for the missiles fired early on Friday in response to the suspected chemical attack.

"This man who is now in office in America claimed that he wanted to fight terrorism but today all terrorists in Syria are celebrating the US attack," he said. (AFP)

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Russia And Iran Army Chiefs Vow to Continue Syria Fight - News18

Much has been said and written about Irans intended entrenchment in Syria and the way Tehran is investing extraordinary human and financial resources to help President Bashar Assad survive. Still, the story of the assassination of Mustafa Badreddine, the head of Hezbollahs military wing, illustrates with rare clarity the determination on the part of Iran and Hezbollah not to let anyone interfere with Irans plans in Syria.

Badreddine, the successor and brother-in-law of Imad Mughniyeh (who was married to Badreddines sister, Saada), was killed last May, in a mysterious explosion near Damascus International Airport. Surprisingly, Hezbollah and its allies cleared Israel of any blame. Hezbollah officials said at the time that the circumstances of the assassination were being investigated.

This assassination could have caused an enormous commotion throughout the Middle East. Badreddine, after all, was second only to Hassan Nasrallah in the Hezbollah hierarchy, and was the successor of Mughniyeh, who had been wanted all over the world for the murder of Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.

Yet the entire topic disappeared from the Syrian and Lebanese agenda within days. The assassination remained a mystery.

Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, General Qassem Suleimani, looking on as people pay their condolences following the death of his mother in Tehran, September 14, 2013. (AFP/ISNA/Mehdi Ghasemi)

Then, last month, came an expos by Al Arabiya, the Saudi Arabian news channel, claiming that Hezbollah leader Nasrallah and Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, were behind the assassination. Several days later, Israeli Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot confirmed the information that had been reported on Al Arabiya. The main reason for Badreddines assassination, according to Al Arabiya, was his differences of opinion with Soleimani over Hezbollahs involvement in the battles in Syria.

A check with Arab and Western intelligence sources confirms this. Badreddine was known to have strongly opposed the fact that Hezbollah had become Irans cannon fodder in Syria. He would not allow his men to fight on the battlefield without Irans active cooperation in the battles. Badreddine demanded that the Iranians be full partners in the fighting in Syria and not sacrifice the Arab Shiites. Soleimani did not like Badreddines attitude, and neither, it seems, did Nasrallah.

According to Al Arabiyas version of Badreddines death, four men met in a building near Damascus International Airport hours before he died. The first was Badreddine. Eyewitnesses say that the second was Soleimani himself, who left a few minutes after the meeting. The third was Badreddines personal escort, who also left the building, leaving only the fourth man the killer, a member of Hezbollah and a former bodyguard of Nasrallah: Ibrahim Hussein Jezzini, whom Badreddine had trusted completely.

Members and supporters of Lebanons Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah carry the coffin of Mustafa Badreddine, a top Hezbollah commander who was killed in an attack in Syria, during his funeral in the Ghobeiry neighborhood of southern Beirut on May 13, 2016. (AFP/Anwar Amro)

Hezbollahs conclusions from its investigation of the incident sounded unconvincing from the moment they were reported. Hezbollah officials claimed that Badreddine was killed by the explosion of a rocket or mortar shell fired by the opposition at his location near the airport. But according to investigations by Al Arabiya and Syrian human-rights groups, no rocket or mortar shell was fired from the opposition positions, which were approximately 20 kilometers away from the airport, and no incidents of artillery fire of any kind at the area were noted in the 24 hours preceding the assassination.

There would also presumably have been more fatalities if such fire had taken place. We can guess that Badreddine did not arrive at the building near the airport alone, but it was reported that he was the only one who died. Al Arabiya also published satellite images, from both before and after the supposed bombardment, of the building where Badreddine was supposedly killed. The images show that the building was undamaged.

Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah speaking to Iranian state television, in a clip broadcast on February 20, 2017. (screen capture: Twitter)

Even if we assume for a moment that the Syrian opposition was responsible, these are Sunni militias that are all too eager to talk about every Shiite whom they succeed in killing on Syrian soil, and all the more so in the case of Hezbollah members. If the Syrian opposition or someone connected with it had been behind the assassination, the victory celebrations would still be going on.

After IDF chief Eisenkot said that the reports matched the information that Israel had about the circumstances of the assassination, some tried to claim that this was utter nonsense, and said the same regarding Al Arabiyas expos. These elements may have more reliable information; if so, they might wish to share the secret evidence in their possession with the general public.

But after reviewing Al Arabiyas expos, it must be said that its conclusions sound more than logical. Any other possibility that the opposition, Israel, or others were to blame is unlikely. But a commanding officer of Hezbollah who followed a policy line that at odds with Iran, one might reasonably assume, would not find himself merely dismissed from his position. The only way to replace him, it might seem, would be to terminate him with extreme prejudice.

Adnan Badreddine, left, brother of Hezbollah terror chief Mustafa Badreddine, grieves at his brother's picture in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, May 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

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Fatal dissent: When a Hezbollah commander argued with Iran - The Times of Israel

Iran on Saturday condemned as terrorist a truck attack in Stockholm which killed at least four people and injured 17 others on Friday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahran Qasemi sympathized with Swedish people and government on the sad occasion, IRNA news agency reported.

Amid all the jubilation of some Western and Arab countries over US recent missile strike in Khan Shyknun region near Idlib in northern Syria which is by itself an effort to breathe new life to the dead bodies of terrorists, we are witnessing a criminal act conducted by one who has been nurtured by the dogmatic, lunatic and bloody ideologies in Europe, he said.

The unbridled terrorism that some countries do not even hesitate to give their overt and covert support for, tend to have no human, ideological and geographical borders, the spokesman said.

They cause insecurity and instability in the world, he added.

He went on to say that uprooting the evil phenomenon of terrorism has no way but strong will, honest behavior and global consensus.

The Islamic Republic of Iran as one of the victims of terrorism has spared no efforts to tackle terrorism over the past years, the spokesman said.

Iran is quite ready to establish cooperation aimed at creating regional and international mechanisms to annihilate terror and violence across the globe and in the absence of insidious politicization of the issue, he noted.

Source: IRNA

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Iran Condemns Sweden Truck Attack - Al-Manar TV