The Jim Bakker Show

Iran’s Rouhani accuses West of exploiting Sunni-Shi’ite rift, raps Israel

By Parisa Hafezi

ANKARA (Reuters) – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani accused Western powers of trying to exploit differences between the world’s Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims to divert attention from the Israel-Palestinian conflict, state television reported on Friday.

Rouhani’s comments came as tens of thousands of Iranians joined anti-Israel rallies across the country to express support for the Palestinians. They chanted “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” and burned the Israeli flag.

“The global arrogance (the United States and its allies) wants to create discord among Muslims … Unity is the only way to restore stability in the region,” Rouhani said.

“We stand with the dispossessed Palestinian nation.”

Opposition to Israel, which Tehran refuses to recognize, has been a cornerstone of Iranian policy since its 1979 Islamic revolution. Shi’ite Muslim Iran backs Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups who oppose peace with Israel.

“The Zionist regime (Israel) is a regional base for America and the global arrogance … Disunity and discord among Muslim and terrorist groups in the region … have diverted us from the important issue of Palestine,” Rouhani said.

Shi’ite-led Iran has repeatedly called on its Sunni Muslim rival Saudi Arabia to help improve their strained bilateral relations and work for stability in the Middle East.

Arch-rivals for regional hegemony, the two oil producers are on opposite sides in proxy battles in the region, where they back competing factions in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Bahrain.

Ties have worsened since Riyadh’s execution in January of prominent Shi’ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr prompted attacks on the Saudi embassy in Tehran. Saudi Arabia subsequently cut all ties with Iran.

Riyadh is worried that a landmark nuclear deal reached between Iran, the United States and five other major powers in 2015 will help Tehran gain the upper hand in their regional standoff.

MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said in March that “the occupied Palestinian territories are within the range of most of the Islamic Republic’s missiles”, Iran’s state television Press TV reported.

A senior IRGC commander said Iran’s new Russian-made S-300 missile defense system would be operational by March.

“Its divisions are being delivered to Iran and the system will be operational by the end of this Iranian year,” the semi-official Tasnim quoted Amir Farzad Esmaili as saying.

Russia delivered the first part of the S-300 missile defense system to Iran in April, one of the most advanced systems of its kind that can engage multiple aircraft and ballistic missiles around 150 km (90 miles) away.

“Hezbollah has 100,000 missiles that are ready to hit Israel to liberate the occupied Palestinian territories if the Zionist regime repeats its past mistakes,” Tasnim quoted IRGC deputy head Hossein Salami as saying.

(Editing by Gareth Jones)

Man found wearing fake bomb belt causes security scare in jittery Brussels

By Robert-Jan Bartunek and Ines Kagubare

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A man who said he was wearing a bomb belt rigged to explode by remote control caused a major scare in a Brussels commercial district on Tuesday before police found the device contained only salt and biscuits, officials said.

The Belgian capital of 1.2 million people remains on edge under a high security alert three months after three Islamic State suicide bombers blew themselves up at Brussels Airport and in a metro train, killing 32 people.

On Tuesday, Brussels police detained a man near the bustling City2 shopping center after he announced that he was strapped with explosives that would be set off remotely. The area was sealed off while bomb experts checked the man’s belt.

The man, born in 1990 and identified as J.B., had called police himself to say he had been kidnapped and forced to don an explosives belt. It proved to be a false alarm.

“J.B. is known to police, also because of mental problems,” a Brussels prosecutors spokeswoman said.

The man remained in police custody but had to be freed within 24 hours unless a judge approved a request from prosecutors to place him under formal arrest and to be examined by a psychiatrist.

In 2014 J.B. told police he had been ordered to go to Syria to join Islamist militants fighting in the civil war there, an incident that remains under investigation, prosecutors said.

Police also located a car that J.B. said had brought him to the shopping mall and questioning the owner before releasing him when it transpired that J.B. had only memorized a random number plate.

Belgium’s Crisis Centre, which oversees security measures, convened with Prime Minister Charles Michel and Interior Minister Jan Jambon present to discuss Tuesday’s incident.

(Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek and Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Sweden on alert for possible Islamic State attack in Capital

Sweden's flag is seen near Stockholm Cathedral in Gamla Stan or the Old Town district of Stockholm

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden has received intelligence about a possible attack on the capital by Islamic State militants, local media reported on Tuesday, and security services said they were investigating undisclosed “information”.

Newspapers Aftonbladet and Expressen as well as public broadcaster Swedish Radio, citing unnamed sources, reported the information was related to the threat of an attack, possibly in the capital Stockholm.

Expressen reported Swedish security police (SAPO) had received intelligence from Iraq that seven or eight Islamic State fighters had entered Sweden with the intention of attacking civilian targets.

A security police spokeswoman said she would not comment on any specific details of a threat, but said it was working with regular police as well as national and international partners.

“Security police are working intensively to assess received information, and it is of such a nature that our judgment is that we can not dismiss it,” she said.

Sweden has not been hit by a large-scale militant attack, but a man is currently is awaiting a verdict for allegedly building a suicide bomb with the intent of staging an attack in Sweden. In 2010 a suicide bomber died when his bomb belt went off prematurely in central Stockholm.

The Swedish terror threat level remained unchanged at level three on a five-grade scale, the spokeswoman said.

Norwegian public broadcaster NRK reported Norwegian police were assessing whether or not the Norwegian royal family should proceed with a planned trip to Stockholm this weekend to celebrate the Swedish king’s 70th birthday, given the supposed terror threat.

(Reporting by Helena Soderpalm and Daniel Dickson, additional reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Alistair Scrutton Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)

L.A. Schools Cancel Classes Due To Threat

The Los Angeles Unified School District cancelled all classes and closed all schools on Tuesday after receiving an unspecified threat.

Congressman Adam Schiff (D-California), who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, said that the threat now appears to be a hoax.

“The investigation into LAUSD threat is still ongoing,” Schiff wrote on his verified Twitter profile. “Preliminary assessment is it was a hoax to disrupt school districts in large cities.”

Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday morning, the district’s superintendent, Ramon Cortines, told reporters that the threat was made against “not one school, but many schools in this school district.”

The district’s Twitter account said the schools received a “credible threat,” but did not elaborate.

Cortines told reporters the threat involved “backpacks and other packages,” and he decided to close every school in the district, the second-largest in the nation, as a precautionary measure.

“I think it is important that I take the precaution based on what has happened recently and what has happened in the past,” Cortines said at the news conference.

The announcement came about two weeks after the Dec. 2 mass shooting in nearby San Bernardino in which 14 people were killed. The shooting has been called an act of terrorism.

According to its website, the Los Angeles Unified School District has more than 900 schools and more than 640,000 students.

Cortines said he wanted every school in the district to be searched by the end of the day.

New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton told reporters in New York that the city’s schools received a similar threat Tuesday, but determined it was not credible.

ISIS Threatens New York City in Latest Video; World Report Says Boko Haram Deadlier Than ISIS

The latest propaganda video that ISIS has posted online warns of an impending attack on New York City.

According to CNN, the video mentions Time Square and shows an explosive device being built and a bomber putting on a jacket over a suicide belt. CBS News adds that the video featured clips of French President Francois Hollande speaking after the attacks on Paris while the terrorists make remarks in the video.

Additional members of the NYPD’s newest anti-terrorism squad have been deployed throughout the Big Apple as a precaution.

“While some of the video footage is not new, the video reaffirms the message that New York City remains a top terrorist target,” a statement of the NYPD read. “While there is no current or specific threat to the city at this time, we will remain at a heightened state of vigilance and will continue to work with the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the entire intelligence community to keep the city of New York safe.”

However, Mayor Bill de Blasio urged citizens to continue going about their normal business and not to give into fear.

“The people of New York City will not be intimidated,” he said late Wednesday, according to CNN. “We understand it is the goal of terrorists to intimidate and disrupt our democratic society. We will not submit to their wishes.”

Police officials stated that this video was nothing new as ISIS released a similar video back in April. They realize that New York City continues to be a target for terrorist organizations. However, they assured news agencies that they are taking note of the video.

Along with the latest video, Reuters reports that ISIS also released a photo on Wednesday, showing in their official magazine how they brought down the Russian airliner over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula last month, killing all 224 people on board. The photo shows a Schweppes soft drink along with a detonator and other bomb components.

In other ISIS related news, a world report by the Institute for Economics and Peace stated that Boko Haram is a deadlier terrorist organization than ISIS, according to multiple news agencies including NPR and the Huffington Post. Out of the 32,000 people killed by terrorism in 2014, Boko Haram was responsible for 6,644 of those deaths, more than any other terrorist group. The Islamic State killed around 6,000 people in 2014. Together, the two organizations are responsible for 51% of all claimed terrorist attacks in 2014, and the majority of deaths came from the few nations of Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Syria. Nigeria experienced a 300% increase in terrorist attacks in 2014. In the past, Boko Haram has claimed to be a branch of ISIS.

ISIS Threatens Paris-style Attack on Washington D.C. and Other Countries

The Islamic State recently posted a video on one of their websites, claiming that more attacks like the one carried out in Paris would be executed in other countries contributing to strikes against ISIS in Syria, including the United States.

In fact, the Washington Post reports that ISIS specifically threatened to carry out an attack on Washington D.C. in the 11 minute video after showing new clips of the carnage in Paris.

“We say to the states that take part in the crusader campaign that, by God, you will have a day, God willing, like France’s and by God, as we struck France in the center of its abode in Paris, then we swear that we will strike America at its center in Washington,” the man says, according to a translation from Reuters.

Another member of ISIS also threatened other European nations in the video.

“I say to the European countries that we are coming — coming with booby traps and explosives, coming with explosive belts and [gun] silencers and you will be unable to stop us because today we are much stronger than before,” he said.

Reuters added that it was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the video.

ISIS Branch in Sinai Peninsula Threatens to Attack Israel in Latest Video

One of the Islamic State’s branches located on Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula released a video on Wednesday, threatening to attack Israel.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the 14-minute video was titled “And Then They Will Be Vanquished.” It features one masked member of ISIS, demanding that Egyptian soldiers repent or be killed for attacking the Sinai jihadis.

“Indeed, this apostate army has failed to carry out the mission it was tasked with, and was embarrassed in front of the public and in front of its masters,” the speaker declares.

The terrorist continued by saying that ISIS would raise its flag over a famous Cairo landmark, the Cairo Tower.

Director of Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor of the Middle East Media Research Institute, Rafael Green, told Fox News that the video focuses on the fighting going on in Egypt, but the threat against Israel comes at the end of the video.

The gunman quoted the well-known hadith: “Judgment Day will not come until you fight the Jews and kill them. The Jews will hide behind stones and trees, and the stones and trees will call, ‘O Muslim, o servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him – except for the gharqad tree, which is the tree of the Jews.’”

“The video is focused on the war against the Egyptian military. The threat to Israel comes at the end, where he says that they will reach the Jews,” Green said.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the speaker could be heard delivering his message while footage showed the Egyptian military allegedly killing civilians and blowing up tanks. Then, images of dead Egyptian soldiers were shown.

And while this same branch of ISIS claimed they brought down the Russian plane that crashed in the Sinai Peninsula recently, the new video made no reference to the crash.

ISIS Threatens “Mass Slaughter of Christians” in Israel

Islamic militants claiming connection to ISIS are warning that they will “cleanse” Israel of all Christians and “non-believers” by the end of Ramadan unless they leave the country.

“Those who work with the Zionists also encourage Muslims to leave their religion and become more secular and open, and they spread evil,” Arabic-language leaflets warns, according to The Jerusalem Post. “They take these Muslims away from us. … We know where they are, but we need help to find them all — all those Christian collaborators.”

“ISIS soldiers will work to kill these people so this country is clean of them and … will clean this country and the Muslim Quarter from these Christians during this holy Ramadan.”

The Jerusalem Post said that no Arabic Christians who received the note would talk to them but their neighbors said the messages have rattled the community.

“They’re fearful for their lives and don’t want to go to the police because they feel that the police won’t be responsive,” an Israeli man told the Post, requesting anonymity.

“What’s most problematic is that in this case individuals aren’t being targeted but an entire group, which is pretty darn serious. If leaflets with swastikas and similar threats were sent to Jewish neighborhoods, people would be outraged. I hope and pray it amounts to nothing at all.”

ISIS has called for terror attacks during Ramadan and has taken responsibility for attacks last week in France, Tunisia and Kuwait.

California Airports Increased Security Over ISIS Threat

A number of California airports increased security measures over the weekend after intelligence officials intercepted messages about a possible terror plot against the United States.

The Department of Homeland Security did not release details of the threat other than saying they had intercepted chatter and other information that raised concerns. They also confirmed the chatter was connected to ISIS.

“Over the last few months, we have made a number of security adjustments, including enhanced screening at select overseas airports and increasing random searches of passengers and carry-on luggage on flights inbound to the U.S., reflecting an evolving threat picture,” a spokesman with the department told CNN.

In addition to the airport security upgrades, DHS confirmed they had been increasing security at federal installations since February.

“The department has conducted significant outreach efforts … with state and local law enforcement partners regarding these trends and engaging in a series of meetings and events with local community leaders across the country to counter violent extremism,” the spokesman stated.

The TSA alerted local law enforcement that the airlines might not be the target but rather an individual actor focusing on uniformed personnel at various locations.

The increase in DHS actions and security comes after the head of the FBI admitted they have intelligence of people in all 50 states with sympathy toward the terrorist organization ISIS.

“Those people exist in every state” Comey said at a law enforcement event. “I have homegrown violent extremist investigations in every single state. Until a few weeks ago there was 49 states. Alaska had none, which I couldn’t quite figure out. But Alaska has now joined the group, so we have investigations of people in various stages of radicalizing in all 50 states.”

Sign up for Jim Bakker Show