January 30, 2020.  Iran (and Turkey) now find themselves in the minority in the Middle East when it comes to their support of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.  In fact, amid impeachment, a major trade agreement with China, and a major trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, we shouldn’t lose sight that an amazing thing just happened—a plan for peace between Israel and a new Palestinian state, and supported by the countries of the Middle East (not counting Iran and Turkey).  These past two weeks have been so surprising and important, and may harbor a turn from the last ten years of growing world authoritarianism.  For the point about the other Middle East states not reacting loudly or violently to the announcement two days ago, see stories such as, “Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, UAE welcome Trump peace plan,” Omri Nahmias, Jerusalem Post, January 29, 2020.  Finally, we’ll see how Iran responds.  Based on the past 40 years, they won’t turn, and won’t release their support of terrorism.  Or at least cut back, yet.

“U.S. renews waivers on Iran nuclear work, but sanctions top Iran nuclear official,” Humeyra Pamuk and John Irish, Reuters, January 30, 2020.

January 30, 2020.  Iran abused the rule and role of INTERPOL and put out a red notice to arrest one of Iran’s most popular rappers, who was in Turkey, after he began criticizing the Iran government.  See “Iranian Rapper Detained in Turkey Faces Deportation,” Carlotta Gall, New York Times, January 30, 2020.

January 30, 2020.  For all those persons out there who didn’t know much about the Quds Force or its real activities (malign), including ordinary Iran people, here is a great story about how the Regime is finally lifting the veil on Quds and Soleimani. “Iranian Media Confirm Quds Force Involvement In Foreign Conflicts,” Golnaz Esfandiari, Radio Farda, January 30, 2020.  Here is part of the story:  “Concerning also are the images being released by the Supreme Leader’s office, including one in this story, about the slain Soleimani being embraced after death by Hussein, grandson of Muhammad, in essence thanking him for his murderous acts and embracing him in the Islamic heaven.  Here is part of the story:  “Iran’s hard-line establishment is trying to ensure through a state propaganda campaign that the foreign operations branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its assassinated commander are not forgotten.  Major General Qasem Soleimani -- the late commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force -- was targeted and killed by a U.S. air strike in Baghdad on January 3.  Since then, Tehran’s conservative clerics and hard-line media have been paying tribute to the memory of “Martyr Soleimani,” as he’s now referred to in Iran.  One apparent part of the campaign is a recent report published by the hard-line, semiofficial Fars News Agency -- which is affiliated with the IRGC.  It details some of the origins and operations of the once highly secretive Quds Force that Soleimani had commanded from 1998 until his death.  The two-part report focuses on the so-called “fighters without borders,” a term used by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to refer to the elite Quds Force and its work as the IRGC’s foreign-operations branch.  Significantly, the report outlines the secret involvement of the Quds Force in a series of foreign conflicts that Tehran previously has been discreet about.  Those conflicts include the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, described by Fars as the “first serious battlefield” of the Quds Force.  These also include conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, and Syria.  Fars reported that the Quds Force has had “an impact” upon what it called “the axis of resistance” against Israel in countries that include Yemen.  successes,” said Afshon Ostovar, an assistant professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.  “In order to make Soleimani’s legacy meaningful, they have to expose some of what he was involved in,” Ostovar told RFE/RL.  Ostovar concludes that the Fars report marks “an interesting turn for Iran and the IRGC because, just five years ago, some of this stuff was not acknowledged at all.”  It says the Quds Force countered the Taliban in Afghanistan during the 1990s and then worked against U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan after the collapse of the Taliban regime in late 2001.  It also claims that in 2008 during a three-week conflict between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the Quds Force provided militants from groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad with “rocket parts” that were smuggled through Sudan and Egypt.  The report also includes a rare admission that the Quds Force, widely credited in Iran with fighting Islamic State  extremists, helped Syrian President Bashar al-Assad suppress street protests against his government.  “With the coordination of Quds Force officials, experts from the [Iranian] police became involved in teaching and educating Syrian police in how to deal with street riots,” the report said.  “Some equipment” also was given to Syrian police to help control crowds of anti-Assad demonstrators, it says.  An online information campaign that boosted Soleimani’s profile during his life and contributed to his image as an Iranian national hero has continued since his death.”

“U.S. says first shipments of medicine to Iran delivered via Swiss humanitarian channel,” Michael Shields and Humeyra Pamuk, Reuters, January 30, 2020.

“UPDATE 3-U.S. lifts Iran sanctions on one unit of Chinese shipping giant COSCO,” Humeyra Pamuk and Timothy Gardner, Reuters, January 30, 2020.

“U.S. says first shipments of medicine to Iran delivered via Swiss humanitarian channel,” Michael Shields, Humeyra Pamuk, Reuters, January 30, 2020.

“The Reformist push for Rouhani's resignation,” Rohollah Faghihi, Al Monitor, January 30, 2020.