Saturday, July 19, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Israel drops “earthquake bomb” on Syria

The escalation in the Middle East

Published 16 December 2024
– By Editorial Staff
Images of the explosion that measured 3.0 on the Richter scale.
3 minute read

On Sunday night, the Syrian sky was lit up by burning fireballs as Israel dropped heavy bombs on the Syrian coastal region of Tartus.

One of the explosions was so devastating that it measured 3.0 on the Richter scale and was recorded by earthquake sensors in other countries.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other groups monitoring war and conflict in the region, the attacks targeted military facilities in Tartus and were reportedly carried out by Israeli warplanes.

The bombings reportedly targeted a range of sites, including air defense units and weapons depots in the region and are described as “the heaviest strikes in Syria’s coastal region since the start of strikes in 2012″.

Tartus is also the site of one of Russia’s two military bases in Syria and has been used mainly as a naval base and ammunition depot. The huge explosion, as well as secondary explosions, may indicate that large quantities of stored ammunition were detonated in the attack, according to analysts.

Researcher Richard Cordaro, formerly at the University of Arizona, confirms that the blasts generated tremors comparable to a minor earthquake, detected by a Turkish monitoring station over 800 kilometers away.

Israel obliterates Syria’s defense capabilities

A number of dramatic video clips have been posted on social media showing a large flash of lightning followed by a number of explosions that sent a large mushroom cloud of smoke into the air. However, at the time of writing, it is unclear how much damage the bombings caused or whether Russian assets were actually targeted by the Israelis.

Shortly after Assad’s fall, Israel’s military (IDF) carried out hundreds of attacks and airstrikes on Syria, targeting “strategic targets“, which included the destruction of large parts of Syria’s air defenses, navy, weapon stockpiles, and military installations.

According to Tel Aviv itself, between 70% and 80% of Syria’s former strategic military capability has been wiped out – and it believes it has the right to do so on the grounds that the weapons should not fall into the hands of “terrorists” or other armed groups that allegedly threaten Israel’s security and interests.

A selection of images from the night’s “earthquake bomb” can be viewed here:

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Israel launches new attack on Syria

The escalation in the Middle East

Published 17 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Israel bombs Syrian military government buildings to support the Druze minority in the country, officials explain.
1 minute read

Less than a week after the attack on neighboring Lebanon, Israel is now also launching a new attack on neighboring Syria, according to Times of Israel among many other media outlets. During the afternoon, they bombed the government’s military headquarters in the capital Damascus, and there are also reports that bombs struck near the presidential palace.

According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, several people are reported to have died and been injured in the attacks.

The Israeli military justifies the attacks by claiming they are supporting the Druze religious minority in Syria, which in recent days has been engaged in armed conflict with state forces in southern Syria.

Islamist rule

Syria is currently ruled by Salafists from the group HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham), a breakaway faction from the terrorist movement Al-Qaeda. They were also officially designated as such by the US, which nonetheless worked for many years to help them overthrow the secular socialist president Bashar Al-Assad, who fell around Christmas last year after more than 13 years of civil war.

Both Israel and the US initially positioned themselves as officially positive toward the change of power in Syria.

Read more about the Salafists who rule Syria

Nya Dagbladet (Swedish news outlet) has previously highlighted the new Syrian government in an analysis article that you can read here.

Israel’s latest attack: Ground troops in Lebanon

The escalation in the Middle East

Published 10 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
2 minute read

Israel has conducted almost daily attacks against targets in southern Lebanon and also against the capital Beirut since the ceasefire was concluded in November 2024 between Israel and Hezbollah. During the night, they have also deployed ground troops in the neighboring country.

As recently as Tuesday, Israel fired on a vehicle in the Lebanese city of Tripoli in an attack that killed three people and injured 13 according to Lebanon’s health ministry. According to Israel, a Hamas officer was killed in the attack.

During last night, Israel also deployed ground troops in the neighboring country in what is described as a “special operation”. The Israeli military IDF communicates this in a press release and a statement on Telegram as reported by, among others, the Qatari channel Al-Jazeera. They also show a video of soldiers in the operation.

 

 

Despite the agreed ceasefire, Israel has justified continued attacks in Lebanon by claiming that the paramilitary Shia Muslim political party Hezbollah, which is part of the country’s complex coalition government together with Christian, Druze and socialist politicians, continues to pose a threat and that the Lebanese state has not fulfilled its commitments under the agreement.

Lebanon has for its part condemned the attacks as flagrant violations of the ceasefire and has also requested help from the UN Security Council to get Israel to cease the attacks. Lebanese President Nawaf Salam has repeatedly also addressed the US and Israel directly to get the Netanyahu government to refrain from further attacks.

Iran’s president: “We have never wanted nuclear weapons”

The escalation in the Middle East

Published 7 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
4 minute read

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian denies that the country is developing nuclear weapons and claims that Israel has tried to kill him, in a new interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson. The 70-year-old heart surgeon who leads the country says he is ready to resume diplomacy with the US, but accuses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of having destroyed the peace process.

The interview, which was published on Tucker Carlson’s X channel, was conducted through an interpreter following recent weeks of escalation between the US and Iran. Carlson explains the reason for the interview by saying that American citizens have the right to all information that affects them, especially when their country is involved in conflicts.

We did this interview because we were at war with Iran 10 days ago and maybe will be again, Carlson explains in his introduction. He emphasizes that the goal is not to reach “absolute truth” but to — contribute to the knowledge base from which Americans can form their own opinion.

Denies nuclear weapons ambitions

President Pezeshkian categorically denies that Iran is developing nuclear weapons and refers to religious prescriptions that prohibit this.

The truth is that we have never sought to develop a nuclear bomb, not before, not now, or in the future, because this is wrong and goes against the religious decree or fatwa that has been issued by his excellency, the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, says Pezeshkian.

He accuses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of having created “this false mentality that Iran is seeking a nuclear bomb” since 1984 and of having instilled this perception in every American president since then.

Criticizes IAEA after bombings

Regarding the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Pezeshkian explains that Iran was “somewhat pessimistically inclined” because they realized that Israel could obtain information from IAEA inspections. Despite this, Iran allowed full access for monitoring.

As a result of the US’s illegal attacks on our nuclear centers and installations, much of the equipment and facilities there have been seriously damaged. Therefore, we have no access to them. We cannot see, and if this access does not come back again, we must wait, says the president.

Claims Israel tried to kill him

When asked if Israel has tried to kill him, Pezeshkian responds affirmatively:

They tried, yes. And they acted accordingly, but they failed. As a true believer, I believe that it is in God the Almighty’s hands to decide when a person should die or not die.

He describes how he was at a meeting when Israel tried to bomb the area, but explains that he is not afraid to sacrifice his life for his country:

I am willing to give my life, to bleed for it. No one here, I mean, none of the government officials are afraid to lose their lives in the line of defense.

“Death to America” – explains the meaning

Regarding the expression “death to America” heard from Iranians, Pezeshkian explains that this is misunderstood:

When they say death to the US, it doesn’t mean death to – they don’t mean death to the people of the US or even to the officials of the US – they mean death to crime, death to killing and bloodshed, death to supporting the killing of others, death to insecurity and instability, he says.

The president emphasizes that Iran has never invaded another country in 200 years and asks rhetorically:

Have you ever heard of an Iranian killing an American? Have you ever heard that? Or a terrorist who was Iranian and he carried out a terrorist attack against Americans?

Ready for new negotiations – with conditions

Pezeshkian expresses that Iran is open to resuming negotiations with the US, but sets conditions following recent attacks:

We see no problems with resuming negotiations. But before that, I must remind you that due to the atrocities committed by the Zionist regime, by Israel, not only against my country but throughout the region, we now face a crisis.

He describes how Iranian commanders were killed when they were off duty at home with their families, which he claims are war crimes under international law. The president also poses the question of how Iran can trust the US again:

How can we trust the US again? We resume negotiations. How can we then know for sure that right in the middle of the talks, the Israeli regime won’t get permission again to attack us?

Economic cooperation possible

Despite tensions, Pezeshkian says there are no restrictions on American investments in Iran from Iran’s side:

His excellency emphasized that there is no limitation and there is nothing preventing American investors from coming to Iran and making investments in Iran even currently, he says, referring to the country’s supreme leader.

He adds that any restrictions are caused by American sanctions, not by Iran.

Sees Trump as key figure

Pezeshkian expresses hope that President Donald Trump can lead the region toward peace:

I believe that the US president can very well lead the region and the world to peace and calm or, on the other hand, lead it to eternal wars, he says.

He urges Trump not to let himself be drawn into “Netanyahu’s war” and describes the Israeli prime minister as someone with “an inhuman agenda” who wants “eternal wars, wars that continue and continue and continue”.

The interview concludes with Pezeshkian’s emphasis that Iran relies on itself:

We have always put our trust in God and on God we rely. And we are capable of defending ourselves and standing on our own feet to defend our country, our territorial integrity to the last drop of our blood.

Trump’s top diplomat compares Syria’s jihadist leader to George Washington

The escalation in the Middle East

Published 2 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Ahmed al-Sharaa and America's first president George Washington (1732-1799).
3 minute read

The US government is considering removing Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa – a former jihadist leader within the terrorist group al-Qaeda – from its global terrorist list. Meanwhile, American top diplomats are comparing him to America’s first president George Washington.

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order dismantling major parts of the comprehensive sanctions program against Syria. Simultaneously, he has ordered a review of the terrorist classification of Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani, the Islamist terrorist leader who now governs the country after Bashar al-Assad’s secular government was overthrown by Islamist groups.

According to the order, which was made public on Monday, broad financial restrictions against Syria are lifted, while targeted sanctions against Assad and his former government remain. HTS – Hayat Tahrir al-Sham – and other militant groups involved in Assad’s fall are not directly affected, but the order opens the door for changes.

Trump instructs Secretary of State Marco Rubio to review both HTS’s status as a foreign terrorist organization and al-Sharaa’s designation as a “specially designated global terrorist”. Syria’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, implemented in 1979, will also be reconsidered.

Historical parallels

The decision comes in the wake of Trump’s notable meeting with Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh in May. The focus then was on Syria’s reconstruction and a possible normalization of relations with Israel. Trump described the new leadership in Damascus as deserving “a chance at greatness”.

To lead contacts with Damascus, Trump has appointed Thomas Barrack as Special Envoy for Syria. Barrack is a former ambassador to Turkey and longtime confidant of the president.

On Monday, Barrack commented to reporters about the “controversy here, of somebody who had been al-Nusrah and had been considered a bad guy who all of a sudden becomes the leader” – and drew a historical parallel between Syria’s political transformation and the early years of U.S. independence.

“And in thinking through it, if you remember, we had a revolutionary war that lasted 14 months.  And we had brutality.  We had the Battles of Concord, the Battle of Lexington.  And from 1776 when we declared independence, it was 12 years until we got a president.  And who was the president?  The president was a general.  Who was the general?  It was George Washington”.

The American Revolutionary War actually lasted over eight years, between 1775 and 1783.

“And in those 12 years, we were defining everything.  We were defining a constitution, we were defining the framework, we were defining a judiciary – trying to figure out where we’re going before we ever had the election”, Barrack continued.

Trump: “Young attractive guy”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has previously warned that Syria has become “a playground for jihadist groups, including ISIS and others”. He also admitted that the new leadership in Damascus “didn’t pass their background check with the FBI”, but emphasized that the US must still support the development to counter greater regional instability.

“The US is taking further actions to support a Syria that is stable, unified, and at peace with itself and its neighbors”, Rubio wrote in a post on X on Monday.

Donald Trump has previously caused some controversy when he described the Syrian Islamist leader and terrorist as a “young, attractive guy, very strong past” and a “fighter”.

The Nordic Times has in several previous articles highlighted al-Sharaa’s/al-Julani’s background as an Islamist terrorist and how, after Assad’s overthrow, he was suddenly being promoted by Western powers as a legitimate political leader.

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