Americans are fervently denying any any link to the raid. They're even denying being in possession of the one commander.
Iraqi forces raid HQ of Iran-backed militia as US coalition denies any involvement
25 Jun, 2020 23:16
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FILE PHOTO: Iraqi federal police and special forces members © Reuters / Zohra Bensemra
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Iraqi security forces have raided the headquarters of Kataib Hezbollah, capturing several leaders of the militia at the heart of US-Iranian conflict early this year. The US coalition rushed to distance itself from the operation.
Special forces from the Counter Terrorism Service carried out the raid in the early hours of Friday local time, at a base south of Baghdad, reportedly arresting nearly two dozen militiamen and several commanders.
Their fate remains unclear, however, as government officials insist they are in the custody of security services, while paramilitary sources claim all those detained have since been handed over to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
Adding more confusion, an Iraqi official initially told Reuters that at least three of the group's detained commanders – including one Iranian national – had been transferred over to the US military. However, a spokesman for the US-led coalition in Iraq later denied this report – as well as any American involvement in the controversial operation.
The raid appears to have been ordered by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, who took office last month over the vocal objections of Kataib Hezbollah and other PMF militias.
Kataib Hezbollah has been at the center of tensions between Washington and Tehran over the ongoing US presence in Iraq. The US has accused the Shia militia of repeated rocket attacks against bases housing US personnel, going so far as to bomb Kataib positions on multiple occasions in reprisal.
Also on rt.com Iran tells US to stop pointing fingers & accept 'consequences of its illegal presence in Iraq'
One such attack, in December 2019, prompted the militants to besiege the US Embassy in Baghdad. In response, US President Donald Trump ordered a drone strike against the PMF leadership on January 2 – killing Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in the process.
Iran responded by launching missiles against several US bases in Iraq, inflicting massive material damage but not killing any US or Iraqi troops. It later emerged that Washington and Baghdad received a warning ahead of the attacks.
Since then, US-Iranian tensions have simmered, but never escalated to the point of open warfare. Friday’s raid could ratchet them up again, however.
Also on rt.com Iran to execute ‘CIA agent’ who helped US target Quds Force General Soleimani – judiciary
There was a massive explosion near Tehran.What really happened seems to be anyones guess. Babak Taghvee is going crazy with conspiracy theories about Israel retaliating because of the cyber attacks against the water desalinization facilities a few months ago. He says "The power stations are exploding one by one". This sounds like an exaggeration. Anyways, sorry not all the tweets embedded for some reason. The last 3 didn't, despite the links being proper. Is there a limit to tweets u can embed ?
https://www.rt.com/news/492967-tehran-explosion-military-base/
MASSIVE EXPLOSION rocks gas storage facility near military & research site outside Tehran (VIDEOS)
25 Jun, 2020 22:17 / Updated 1 hour ago
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A major explosion outside Tehran has triggered speculations of an attack against an army base or a research site, but the Iranian military says it was an incident at a gas storage facility.
The blast did not take place at a military site, a defense ministry spokesman, Davoud Abdi, told state TV late Thursday night, adding that the blaze was quickly taken under control and that there were no casualties.
According to a number of reports in state and semi-official media – citing both Abdi and the public relations manager of Tehran emergency, Mir Shahabuddin Ghavami – no emergency services or ambulances were requested in the area following the blast.
For hours, details of the incident remained a mystery, fueling speculations and conspiracy theories, as Iranian TV reported only that the authorities were
“investigating the bright light and loud sound” near Tehran.
Rumors initially said the explosion took place at a power station in Sarkh Hasar, east of Tehran, and that similar explosions took place in Shiraz, in southern Iran, prompting further speculation of a cyber attack.
Others suggested an explosion at an ammunition depot in Paradis, citing Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) chatter on the messaging app Telegram.
New York Times journalist Farnaz Fassihi cited reports that the explosion happened in Parchin,
“a military base where Iran has conducted nuclear activity."
Another clip shows a fireball briefly turning the night sky red.
A video shared by researcher Babak Taghvaee includes coordinates of a location in Paradis, where the explosion was filmed.
https://twitter.com/BabakTaghvaee/status/1276265648230932481
Others have said the blast took place at Khojir, not Parchin, pointing to a missile production and testing facility there as the possible culprit.
https://twitter.com/fab_hinz/status/1276281445284118529
The explosion happened around 2am local time, just half an hour after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted about new US sanctions against Iran.
https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1276266934485598214
This Iraqi PM is playing with Iranian fire. Apparently Iraqi CTS guys have picked up 3 militia commanders in Baghdad, and handed them over to US military...1 of the guys is an Iranian military commander. Khadimi looks like he will be requesting demo of fake Iranian weapons soon. Khadimi needs to make sure he is holding a strong hand before he starts playing dangerous brinkmanship so early in his tenure.