ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

TEHRAN (FNA)- The families of three schoolgirls who ran away from their homes in London to Syria voiced anger at police, saying they did not warn them the teenagers risked being radicalized. School friends Kadiza Sultana, 16, and 15-year-olds Shamima Begum and Amira Abase left their homes and flew to Istanbul, from where they are believed to have joined the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group in Syria, AFP reported. All three were spoken to in December by police investigating the disappearance of another friend who went to Syria. But their families say they were in the dark about this after the girls hid a courtesy letter that police had given them to pass on to their parents, in which they asked for permission to speak to the teenagers. The relatives say police should have given the letter directly to the families and that, had they been aware of the situation, they could have taken action. Amira's father Abase Hussein told ITV television Friday that h

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian army gained the upper-hand in Eastern Homs province, and gained control over five gas and oil fields after inflicting heavy casualties on militants. The army units regained control over Jazal town in Homs countryside and took back control of five gas and oil fields from the ISIL terrorists in heavy clashes. On Tuesday, the Syrian army backed by popular forces established full control over Gas Well No /101/ at Palmyra countryside in Homs province. Also in the past 24 hours, Syrian warplanes pounded ISIL positions in the city of Hama, killing large groups of terrorists, including a senior commander. The ISIL commander, identified as Abi Ammar al-Jazrawi, was killed in an air strike near the town of Hamadi Omar, some 50 km (30 miles) Southwest of the city of Hama. Syrian state media said the airstrikes had also destroyed a convoy of military vehicles. Elsewhere, the Syrian army made more headway in in its fight against the armed groups in the countryside of Qu

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraqi Special Forces said they have arrested several ISIL's foreign military advisors, including American, Israeli and Arab nationals in an operation in Mosul in the Northern parts of the country. The Iraqi forces said they have retrieved four foreign passports, including those that belonged to American and Israeli nationals and one that belonged to the national of a Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) member-state, from ISIL's military advisors. The foreign advisors were arrested in a military operation in Tal Abta desert near Mosul city. Last year, a senior aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Mossad of training ISIL terrorists operating in Iraq and Syria. Alexander Prokhanov said that Mossad is also likely to have transferred some of its spying experiences to the ISIL leadership, adding that Israel’s military advisors could be assisting the Takfiri terrorists. Prokhanov said ISIL is a byproduct of US policies in the Middle East. ISIL is a to

N-backed talks start in Rabat, hours after airplanes bomb airport in Tripoli amid continuing conflict. United Nations-brokered peace talks aimed at resolving the political turmoil in Libya have started in Morocco, hours after the airport in the Libyan capital Tripoli was bombed. Warplanes from Libya's UN-recognised parliament in Tobruk carried out the air strikes on the airport in Tripolii, which is currently governed by a rival administration. The jets hit an open area near the runway at Maitiga airport on Thursday morning but caused no major damage and the airport was operating normally, a security source at the airport told the Reuters news agency. Libya's legislators are split between the UN-recognised government in the eastern city of Tobruk and the General National Congress, a rival legally-installed government in the capital, Tripoli. The political turmoil fuelled rival militias and allowed fighters claiming association with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL

– Bank accounts at majority of banks in Britain and Ireland are vulnerable to hacking says Financial Times - Two-step authentication process used by most banks is inadequate - Vulnerabilities identified similar to those that were used by hackers to steal up to $1 billion across Eastern Europe - UK regulator says bank customers must be reimbursed, banks are responsible for security - Highlights risks to deposits and systemic risk should such vulnerabilities be exploited in cyber-warfare or indeed for monetary gain The vulnerability of banks and the global banking system – reliant as it has become on computer systems, information technology and the internet – was highlighted yet again in an important article in the Financial Times on Tuesday which was largely ignored elsewhere. The FT reports that it has come into possession of documents and correspondence between the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and a cyber security firm, Bronzeye that identify “serious security issues” at

Soldiers of the U.S. Army's 2nd Cavalry Regiment, deployed in Latvia as part of NATO's Operation Atlantic Resolve, ride in armored vehicles named "Stryker" during a joint military exercise in Adazi February 26, 2015.(Reuters / Ints Kalnins) 1512906 NATO is using the situation in Ukraine to push closer to Russia's border, according to the Russian deputy defense minister. He says the Alliance's activities have expanded considerably over the past years. In their push, Anatoly Antonov says Allied forces are ignoring diplomacy. "We've noticed that NATO member states are using the situation in southeastern Ukraine as a pretext to discard all diplomatic conventions, tricks and slogans and push forward, closer to the Russian border." According to the minister, what NATO is doing is completely out of proportion with what NATO commanders call the build-up of Russian forces on its side of the border in Ukraine. "NATO's activities are many times

By Finian Cunningham The announcement this week that the Kiev regime struck a major deal with the United Arab Emirates for military weapons raises strong suspicions that the US-led NATO alliance has found a new backdoor into Ukraine. We say «new» because it is believed that the US and its NATO allies, Poland and Lithuania, are already covertly supplying weapons to the Kiev regime. Kiev President Petro Poroshenko hailed the new strategic partnership with the Persian Gulf kingdom while attending the International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi. Poroshenko, who was royally received by UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nayhan, declared himself a «president of peace» but that Ukraine, or rather the rump state that his regime commands, needed strong defence because of its «Russian enemy». A giveaway to the real significance of the surprise development is that Poroshenko and his Arab hosts also reportedly held discreet meetings with Pentagon officials and US weap

Reuters//Beck Diefenbach Terror groups are using encrypted messages on eBay, Reddit, and pornographic websites. When decoded by Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency has discovered information concerning specific attacks – including when they may happen, a book claims. Gordon Thomas made the revelations in the new edition of a book entitled ‘Gideon’s Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad,' the New York Post reported. It explains how Israel’s secret service tracks terrorist threats – including trawling through X-rated online publications. This is because terror groups like Al-Qaeda have learned to use a technique called steganography, which allows them to conceal secret information within a digital file. The militant organization uses this method by encrypting messages in goods that are for sale on eBay. They also use social networks and news aggregator site Reddit – and have even uploaded images on pornographic websites. “X-rated pornographic pictures...conceal documents and o