ICT's Commentaries provide short analyses and relevant insights on current terrorism and counter-terrorism events worldwide.
The views expressed in this publication are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT).
The major questions regarding the causes, and responsibilities, of the catastrophic explosion relate to the origin and destination of the ammonium nitrate cargo and the reasons that led to its storage in the Beirut port for six years.
[1] “Iranian, Saudi clerics believe coronavirus outbreak signals the 'near end of time',” The New Arab, March 17, 2020.
On January 27, 2020, ISIS released a new audio speech by its spokesman Abu Hamzah Al-Qurashi, produced by its media arm Al-Furqan and distributed on social media. Al-Qurashi delivers a defiant message: ISIS is not only surviving, despite the declarations by consecutive U.S. presidents that it was finished, but it is also expanding its war against its enemies and that war now spans the globe. Notable in the speech was Al-Qurashi's declaration of war on Israel, calling on ISIS factions in the Sinai and Syria to attack it and urging Muslims to thwart the U.S. peace plan referred to as the "Deal of the Century." Urging ISIS fighters to step up their attacks, he called on Muslims everywhere to "emigrate" and join the ISIS branch nearest them.[1]
[1] https://www.memri.org/reports/isis-spokesman-dismisses-trumps-declarations-annihilating-isis-declares-war-israel-oh
The killing of Qassem Soleimani, the most powerful Iranian military commander, the long-serving head of Iran’s Quds (“Jerusalem”) Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), will have a major impact on the conflict between Iran and the United States and the situation in the Middle East.
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