Name? Hossein Salami
Westphalian identity? Iranian
Age? 61
Why is he in the news? This weekend the IRGC claimed ballistic missile attacks in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region. Commander of the unit, Hossein Salami, said the attacks targeted an Israeli “strategic centre” and that this was a response to the Israeli killing of two Iranian members of the IRGC last week in Syria.
Why do we care? Similarly to Venezuela’s Maduro, General Salami feels emboldened by the West’s search for alternatives to Russian resources. Recently, advances on the JCPOA negotiations seemed likely; however last week, negotiations were called off indefinitely after last-minute demands by Russia. Apparently, Putin demanded U.S. sanctions relief in future commercial dealings with Iran as a condition for participating in a revived deal. Meanwhile, Salami used this break to exercise an attack against Israel, a country excluded from the negotiations but closely allied to the US and the EU.
Why should you care? Weeks ago Putin claimed Russia’s nuclear arsenal was on higher alert and the world worried. In theory nuclear weapons prevent bigger conflicts from breaking out (thus NATO countries and Russia not openly clashing yet), but theories can fail if actors behave irrationally enough. If the world prevents Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, that would at least not add to global nuclear worries. You should care 6/10.
Who else cares? Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett protested that a renewed, “weaker” nuclear deal would give Iran $7bn in released frozen assets, and sanctions relief on oil exports which would further support Iran-backed activities and Salami-controlled Shia militias spread over the Middle East. These militias are north, east and south of Israel and perceived as a serious security threat by Bennett.
Any further comments? When the Iran nuclear talks were revived, Iran and Saudi Arabia began talks as well. Over the weekend Iran unilaterally ended the talks. Iran cited Saudi Arabia’s execution of 81 men of which 41 were Shia Muslims.
