Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
Israel’s air strike on Monday in Damascus, which killed five Iranian commanders including two generals and the head of Iran’s operations in Syria and Lebanon, struck at the heart of Tehran’s foreign operations.
Hitting the Iranian consulate was also unprecedented, breaching the Vienna Convention, designed to protect diplomats and their facilities. Iran and Israel are both signatories, but Israel has not ratified the convention.
Brig Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the most senior victim of the strike, is described by Iranian media as “the defender of the holy shrine” – a likely reference to the Shiite religious site the Sayyidah Zaynab Shrine in Damascus.
In that country’s civil war, in which the role of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was pivotal, Shiite recruits were given encouragement that their involvement in the Syrian civil war was, in part, defending holy sites.
In Lebanon, he worked alongside Hezbollah commander Imad Mugniyeh, who was assassinated by Israel in Syria in 2008, advising and assisting the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in some of their most dangerous operations, including a jailbreak and cross-border raids.
But he was most vital for Iranian operations in Syria. He took command of IRGC operations in 2008 and helped co-ordinate relations between Damascus and Tehran at a time when Syria explored improved ties with the US.
When Washington-Damascus talks collapsed during the uprising against Bashar Al Assad in 2011, Brig Gen Zahedi helped build networks of Iran-backed paramilitary groups, known for brutality against civilians, helping suppress the rebellion in a decade of bloodshed.
That intervention, alongside the work of the late head of the IRGC’s Quds Force Qassem Suleimani – a man considered a legend by his supporters – is credited with saving the Assad regime. The Quds Force is an expeditionary unit tasked with training allied militias such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Domestically, he was a key regime enforcer, heading the Thar Allah security force in Tehran between 2005 and 2008, a force tasked with cracking down on dissent.
Born in 1960, he joined the new Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in 1980, one year after the ascendance of a Shiite theocracy in Tehran, which ousted the pro-West Shah.
His rise through the ranks was rapid. At just 20, he was leading a battalion of soldiers in the eight-year-long Iran-Iraq war which claimed about one million lives. In Syria, he helped establish a number of local armed groups, as well as co-ordinated Iraqi, Afghan and Lebanese Shiite recruits and units.
One unit his force founded, the Qamr Bani Hashim Division – named in reference to Shiite theology – shares its name with his unit during the Iran-Iraq war.
His experience as a young commander fighting Iraq would prove key to rising through the IRGC. Maj Gen Suleimani said the conflict was his most formative experience.
“The youths who were more deeply involved in the war have in today's society become the more successful administrators – because they administered [affairs] during the most difficult of times,” Maj Gen Suleimani said, describing the conflict as a pilgrimage on which soldiers “sacrificed their lives with absolute loyalty” to make Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini “smile”.
Al Mayadeen, a pro-Hezbollah news outlet in Lebanon, described him as “one of the most prominent leaders of the Quds Force … Martyr Zahedi was the deputy chief of IRGC operations. He also took positions as the leader of both the IRGC's Air Force from 2005 to 2006 and the Ground Force from 2006 to 2008”, saying he also had a role to “deliver weapons to Gaza”.
That role may date back as far as the late 1990s and early 2000s, when Hezbollah and Iran co-ordinated supplies to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to an analysis by Matthew Levitt, an analyst focused on Iranian militancy.
During his command in Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah launched a spring offensive against occupying Israeli forces, defeating the group’s proxy ally, the Christian-dominated South Lebanese Army at the battle of Khiam, an operation to free prisoners in a prison complex in a town of the same name, which contributed to the rout of the SLA and Israel’s eventual withdrawal from southern Lebanon, which it had occupied since its invasion in the early 1980s.
It is this co-ordination of different groups that has become more critical for Iran over the years, and something Brig Gen Zahedi was obviously adept at, as Tehran’s allies have grown in reach from groups opposing the US occupation in Iraq to the Houthis in Yemen, who have closed down a key international waterway in the Red Sea.
The biog
Birthday: February 22, 1956
Born: Madahha near Chittagong, Bangladesh
Arrived in UAE: 1978
Exercise: At least one hour a day on the Corniche, from 5.30-6am and 7pm to 8pm.
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi? “Everywhere. Wherever you go, you can relax.”
If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
Sanju
Produced: Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal, Anushka Sharma, Manish’s Koirala, Dia Mirza, Sonam Kapoor, Jim Sarbh, Boman Irani
Rating: 3.5 stars
UAE SQUAD FOR ASIAN JIU-JITSU CHAMPIONSHIP
Men’s squad: Faisal Al Ketbi, Omar Al Fadhli, Zayed Al Kathiri, Thiab Al Nuaimi, Khaled Al Shehhi, Mohamed Ali Al Suwaidi, Farraj Khaled Al Awlaqi, Muhammad Al Ameri, Mahdi Al Awlaqi, Saeed Al Qubaisi, Abdullah Al Qubaisi and Hazaa Farhan
Women's squad: Hamda Al Shekheili, Shouq Al Dhanhani, Balqis Abdullah, Sharifa Al Namani, Asma Al Hosani, Maitha Sultan, Bashayer Al Matrooshi, Maha Al Hanaei, Shamma Al Kalbani, Haya Al Jahuri, Mahra Mahfouz, Marwa Al Hosani, Tasneem Al Jahoori and Maryam Al Amri
WHAT%20MACRO%20FACTORS%20ARE%20IMPACTING%20META%20TECH%20MARKETS%3F
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The specs: 2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross
Price, base / as tested: Dh101,140 / Dh113,800
Engine: Turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder
Power: 148hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 250Nm @ 2,000rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed CVT
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20WATCH%20SERIES%209
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Off-roading in the UAE: How to checklist
First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
'Midnights'
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EArtist%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Taylor%20Swift%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ELabel%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Republic%20Records%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
Building boom turning to bust as Turkey's economy slows
Deep in a provincial region of northwestern Turkey, it looks like a mirage - hundreds of luxury houses built in neat rows, their pointed towers somewhere between French chateau and Disney castle.
Meant to provide luxurious accommodations for foreign buyers, the houses are however standing empty in what is anything but a fairytale for their investors.
The ambitious development has been hit by regional turmoil as well as the slump in the Turkish construction industry - a key sector - as the country's economy heads towards what could be a hard landing in an intensifying downturn.
After a long period of solid growth, Turkey's economy contracted 1.1 per cent in the third quarter, and many economists expect it will enter into recession this year.
The country has been hit by high inflation and a currency crisis in August. The lira lost 28 per cent of its value against the dollar in 2018 and markets are still unconvinced by the readiness of the government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tackle underlying economic issues.
The villas close to the town centre of Mudurnu in the Bolu region are intended to resemble European architecture and are part of the Sarot Group's Burj Al Babas project.
But the development of 732 villas and a shopping centre - which began in 2014 - is now in limbo as Sarot Group has sought bankruptcy protection.
It is one of hundreds of Turkish companies that have done so as they seek cover from creditors and to restructure their debts.
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Start times
5.55am: Wheelchair Marathon Elites
6am: Marathon Elites
7am: Marathon Masses
9am: 10Km Road Race
11am: 4Km Fun Run
Fixtures and results:
Wed, Aug 29:
- Malaysia bt Hong Kong by 3 wickets
- Oman bt Nepal by 7 wickets
- UAE bt Singapore by 215 runs
Thu, Aug 30: UAE v Nepal; Hong Kong v Singapore; Malaysia v Oman
Sat, Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong; Oman v Singapore; Malaysia v Nepal
Sun, Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman; Malaysia v UAE; Nepal v Singapore
Tue, Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore; UAE v Oman; Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu, Sep 6: Final
