Iran allegedly attempted dozens of hits, kidnappings in U.S., Europe

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Iran has reportedly been targeting people and places — including a kosher restaurant and a Jewish centre — in the United States and Europe, as ongoing conflict with Israel escalates.

There have been at least 33 assassination or abduction attempts since 2020 in the West that Washington or Israeli authorities have linked to Iran, according to a special report by Reuters. The publication said it looked at court documents and public statements made by government officials.

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Among the documents observed by Reuters was a 2023 WhatsApp conversation between two men discussing an attack in downtown Athens. The two men involved were later arrested, per Reuters. Officials at the Israeli intelligence service Mossad alleged that Iran helped orchestrate the attack, but Iran refuted the claim.

Iranian journalists as well as senior American officials have also allegedly been targeted, Reuters reported. A Pakistani man charged in August in the United States, who according to prosecutors had close ties to Iran, plotted to assassinate an American politician or government official. The attempt was foiled, but it was discovered that former president Donald Trump was a possible target, Reuters reported.

The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency David Barnea said, speaking at a security conference last year, that Israel and its allies had foiled 27 attacks in 2023 in Europe, Africa, southeast Asia and South America.

“The plots being pursued by these teams were orchestrated, masterminded and directed by Iran,” Barnea told the conference.

Israel ‘will not last long,’ says Iranian leader

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Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Friday described Hamas’s October 7 massacre of some 1,200 people in Israel as “logical and legal,” and vowed that the Jewish state “will not last long.”

During a rare Friday sermon, Khamenei also defended the Islamic Republic’s massive ballistic missile assault on Israel on Tuesday, saying it “was the minimum punishment for the crimes of the usurping Zionist regime,” and claiming it accorded with international law, as well as Islamic beliefs.

“The resistance in the region will not back down with these martyrdoms, and will win,” the 85-year-old told a crowd of tens of thousands gathered at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla mosque in central Tehran.

“Israel will never defeat Hamas and Hezbollah,” he said, adding that the Iranian terrorist proxies were waging legitimate wars against Israel.

“No one has the right to criticize them,” said Khamenei, who held a rifle by his side during the address.

Ahead of the speech, the Iranian leader presided over a ceremony for Hezbollah terror master Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut on Sept. 27 alongside Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps deputy commander Brig. Gen. Abbas Nilforoushan.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sept. 29 said Nasrallah was “not just another terrorist, he was the terrorist. He was the axis of the axes, the main engine of Iran’s axis of evil. He and his people were the architects of the plan to destroy Israel.”

The terror chief’s targeted killing was “a necessary condition in achieving the objectives we have set: Returning the residents of the north safely to their homes and changing the balance of power in the region for years,” said Netanyahu.

On Friday, Khamenei described Israel as a “malicious regime” that has “only kept itself standing by the injection of American support.”

The Jewish state “will not last long,” he said.

Israel kills two Hamas terrorists in Lebanon: IDF

In a post on X on Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces said two senior terrorists in Hamas’ military wing were killed in Lebanon in two joint IDF and Israel Security Agency operations.

“Muhammad Hussein Ali al-Mahmoud served as Hamas’ executive authority in Lebanon and directed terrorist activities in Judea and Samaria. He was responsible for Hamas’ entrenchment inside Lebanon, using it to supply weapons for rocket attacks against Israel and in attempts to manufacture advanced weaponry,” the post said.

“Said Alaa Naif Ali carried out terrorist attacks against Israeli targets and worked to recruit Hamas operatives inside Lebanon.”

Also on Saturday, the Israeli military said its air force struck Hezbollah terrorists who were operating within a command centre located inside a mosque adjacent to the Salah Ghandour Hospital in southern Lebanon. The centre was “used to plan and execute terrorist attacks against Israel,” according to the IDF.

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“Before the strike, notices were sent to residents and conversations were held with significant parties in the villages where the IDF identified Hezbollah utilizing hospitals in defiance of the laws of armed conflict — demanding that any military activity carried out from the hospitals should stop immediately,” the post said.

Trudeau calls for peace

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Hamas, Hezbollah and Israel are all responsible for countless civilian deaths in the Middle East as he pleaded for peace this morning.

Trudeau was speaking from Paris where he is attending the final day of the Francophonie summit where the latest escalation of war in Lebanon has been a dominant factor.

His comments also come two days before the one year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel that set off the latest war with Hamas in Gaza and between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Trudeau says Israel has a right to defend itself against attacks including the Iranian missile strikes that hit Israel last week.

But he says everyone must lay down arms and work toward a peaceful two-state solution.

With additional reporting by the Canadian Press, the Jewish News Syndicate and Associated Press

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