ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

At least two Sunni Muslim mosques have been attacked in Iraq and two people killed in apparent retaliation for the execution of a senior Shi'ite cleric in Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, officials and police said on Monday. Iraqi Shi'ites protesting the Jan. 2 execution of Saudi Shi'ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr separately marched in Baghdad and southern cities, while a powerful Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia group pressured the government to sever ties with Riyadh. Iraq's Interior Ministry confirmed the attacks on Sunni mosques late Sunday in Hilla, around 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi blamed them on "Daesh (Islamic State) and those who are similar to them," without further explanation. He ordered provincial authorities "to chase the criminal gangs" who attacked the mosques. Iraq has faced sectarian bloodletting for years, mainly between minority Sunnis and a Shi'ite majority empowered after the U.S.-led invasion in

By Trita Parsi There should be little doubt that Saudi Arabia wanted to escalate regional tensions into a crisis by executing Shi’ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. On the same day, Riyadh also unilaterally withdrew from the ceasefire agreement in Yemen . By allowing protestors to torch the Saudi embassy in Tehran in response, Iran seems to have walked right into the Saudi trap. If Saudi Arabia succeeds in forcing the United States into the conflict by siding with the kingdom, then its objectives will have been met. It is difficult to see that Saudi Arabia did not know that its decision to execute Nimr would not cause uproar in the region and wouldn’t put additional strains on its already tense relations with Iran. The inexcusable torching of the Saudi embassy in Iran — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani condemned it and called it “ totally unjustifiable ,” though footage shows that Iranian security forces did little to prevent the attack — in turn provided Riyadh with the perfect pretext to cut d

North Korea has announced that it has successfully tested a miniaturized hydrogen bomb following an “artificial seismic event” that has likely become the country’s fourth known nuclear test. In a “special and important” announcement at noon, North Korean TV claimed that the country has successfully conducted a hydrogen bomb test at 10:00am local time. “Through the test conducted with indigenous wisdom, technology and efforts the DPRK fully proved that the technological specifications of the newly developed H-bomb for the purpose of [the] test were accurate and scientifically verified the power of [the] smaller H-bomb," the statement said. "It was confirmed that the H-bomb test conducted in a safe and perfect manner had no adverse impact on the ecological environment," it added. The announcement followed the USGS detection of a 5.1 magnitude earthquake in the vicinity of a known Pyongyang nuclear site. The epicenter of the jolt was located 19 kilometers (12 miles) eas

Several hundred people have rallied in Cologne in protest against heightened trouble stemming from the migrant community, and the authorities’ failure to intervene and prevent the dozens of sexual assaults which took place during wild New Year celebrations. Organized via social networks, hundreds of men and women demonstrated against the intolerable levels of abuse witnessed by women at the hands of the male refugee community at Cologne’s main train station on New Year’s night. So far some 90 women have reported being sexually molested, threatened and robbed outside Cologne Cathedral by men of “Arab or North African” origin, police said on Tuesday. Addressing a crowd of up to 500 citizen activists, speakers took turns raising their concerns to the public, urging authorities to defend female integrity. Again and again the question was raised of what was law enforcement had been doing on that night to allow such large scale attacks to happen. Those gathered at the scene of the crimes s

Protesters chant slogans during a demonstration against the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia, at Imam Hussein square in Tehran January 4, 2016. © Raheb Homavandi / Reuters What we are seeing now are Saudi efforts to build a regional bloc, a Wahhabi Muslim Brotherhood bloc, says Ali Rizk, a MidEast affairs expert. Given Saudi Arabia’s irrational policies, it’s likely that Riyadh’s current row with Iran will only escalate, he adds. Bahrain and Sudan have followed the lead of Saudi Arabia, in cutting diplomatic relations with Iran. On top of that, the United Arab Emirates has downgraded ties with Tehran. It's the latest escalation of a sectarian row over the Saudi execution of a prominent Shia cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. RT: Iran has called the Saudi-led diplomatic breakoff a dangerous move that would only lead to further escalation of tensions. What are your thoughts on that? Are the Saudis being shortsighted here? Ali Rizk: I wouldn’t only use the term ‘shortsig

(Image: SWAT team , tea bags via Shutterstock; Edited: JR / TO) If you've shopped at a gardening supply store in the last year, and if you happen to live with someone who drinks tea, guess what? Your local sheriff could just send a SWAT team into your house. It's not a far-fetched scenario, in fact it actually happened, here in the US, just three short years ago. Back in 2012, a Kansas SWAT team raided the home of Robert and Addie Harte and tore their house apart looking for evidence of a major marijuana growing operation. The investigation began when a state trooper stationed at a gardening supply store (yes, they had the gardening store staked out!) spotted Robert Harte and his son purchasing supplies to grow hydroponic tomatoes. According to the Washington Post, having seen the Hartes buying hydroponic growing accessories, the Johnson County Sheriff's Department started investigating the Harte family. They searched the family's trash and found "saturated plant

By Gareth Porter Peace talks between the Saudi-supported government of Yemen and the Houthi rebels ended in late December without any agreement to end the bombing campaign started by Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies with US support last March. The rationale for the Saudi-led war on Houthis in Yemen has been that the Houthis are merely proxies of Iran, and the main alleged evidence for that conclusion is that Iran has been arming the Houthis for years. The allegation of Iranian arms shipments to the Houthis - an allegation that has often been mentioned in press coverage of the conflict but never proven - was reinforced by a report released last June by a panel of experts created by the UN Security Council: The report concluded that Iran had been shipping arms to the Houthi rebels in Yemen by sea since at least 2009. But an investigation of the two main allegations of such arms shipments made by the Yemeni government and cited by the expert panel shows that they were both crudely

By Moon Of Alabama The Saudi government executed 47 longtime prisoners who had be sentenced to death over terrorism and general revolting against the government. From its viewpoint it was a smart political move. The Saudis are in trouble over their war on Yemen. After nine month of bombing the hell out of the country there is no chance that the aim of their war, reinstalling their proxy government in Sanaa, will be reached anytime soon. Meanwhile Yemeni forces raid (vid) one Saudi town after another. The Saudi regime change projects via Salafi jihadists in Iraq and Syria are also faltering. The low oil price make it necessary for the Saudi government to introduce taxes on its people. New taxes are hardly ever popular. To divert from these problems the Saudis decided to get rid of a bunch of prisoners and to use the event to regain some legitimacy. Many of the 47 killed were truly al-Qaida types who a decade ago had killed and blown up buildings in Saudi Arabia and wanted to violently