Iran
Iran
Lebanese state’s permission not sought for Iranian fuel, minister says
September 1st, 20210 BEIRUT — The Lebanese government has received no request for fuel to be imported from Iran, the caretaker energy minister said on Wednesday, appearing to confirm that the Shi'a group Hezbollah has bypassed the state with a move to import Iranian fuel. Hezbollah, a heavily armed group founded by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982,...
Israeli defense minister threatens Iran with military action, airstrikes launched into Lebanon
August 5th, 20210 Israel’s defense minister warned Thursday that his country is prepared to strike Iran, issuing the threat against the Islamic Republic after a fatal drone strike on a oil tanker at sea that his nation blamed on Tehran. The comments by Benny Gantz come as Israel lobbies countries for action at the U.N. over last week’s attack on...
Iran accuses U.S. of meddling for criticising election
June 22nd, 20210 TEHRAN — Iran accused the U.S. on Tuesday of interference for saying its election was neither free nor fair as political factions traded blame for the record low turnout and high number of invalid ballots. Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline judge who is under U.S. sanctions, secured victory as expected on Saturday in an election marked by...
Biden ready to return to Iran nuclear deal; lifts Trump-era sanctions
February 19th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden administration, through Secretary of State Antony Blinken, affirmed on Thursday it is willing to come to the negotiation table with Iran over a return to a nuclear accord, if Tehran came into full compliance with the deal. The Iran Nuclear Deal, first struck in 2015, is aimed at preventing the country...
Iraq issues arrest warrant for President Trump
January 7th, 20210 BAGHDAD — A judge in Baghdad has issued an arrest warrant for President Trump for the killing of an Iranian general and Iraqi militia leader last year. The Washington-directed drone strike had killed Gen. Qassim Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis outside of the capital’s airport last January. Al-Muhandis was the deputy...
Iran says “smart satellite-controlled machine gun” killed top nuclear scientist
December 8th, 20200 TEHRAN — The killing of Iran’s top nuclear scientist last month was carried out remotely with artificial intelligence and a machine gun equipped with a “satellite-controlled smart system”, Tasnim news agency quoted a senior commander as saying. Iran has blamed Israel for the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was seen...
Iran likely to hold off on retaliation over scientist’s killing, U.S. envoy says
December 4th, 20200 TEHRAN — Iran is unlikely to retaliate over the assassination of a prominent nuclear scientist before the inauguration of Joe Biden in case it jeopardizes any future sanctions relief, the top U.S. envoy on Iran told Reuters on Thursday. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who had little public profile in Iran, but had been named by Israel as a prime...
Suspected Iranian nuclear scientist Fakhrizadeh assassinated near Tehran
November 27th, 20200 TEHRAN — An Iranian scientist long suspected by the West of masterminding a secret nuclear bomb program was killed in an ambush near Tehran on Friday that could provoke confrontation between Iran and its foes in the last weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency. The military adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei...
No normalization, but Saudi Arabia and Israel ready to gang up on Iran
November 26th, 20200 RIYADH — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman earlier this week, despite a denial of the meeting by Israeli officials. On the discussion table was a country that has played the role of boogeyman for both Israel and its allies in the U.S. government: Iran. The two leaders talked...
Trump asked for options for attacking Iran last week, but held off
November 16th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump, with two months left in office, asked for options on attacking Iran’s main nuclear site last week, but ultimately decided against taking the dramatic step, a U.S. official said on Monday. Trump made the request during an Oval Office meeting on Thursday with his top national security aides,...
Iran’s coronavirus death toll exceeds 12,000 as lockdown curbs ease
July 8th, 20200 TEHRAN (REUTERS) — Iran’s coronavirus death toll exceeded 12,000 on Wednesday, the health ministry said, with 153 deaths in the past 24 hours, amid a sharp rise in the number of daily infections and deaths in the past week as lockdown measures have eased. The total number of infections has reached 248,379, with 209,463 people...
Senate rebukes Trump, votes to limit Iran war making ability
February 20th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate passed legislation on Thursday to limit President Trump’s ability to wage war against Iran, rebuking him weeks after a strike against an Iranian military commander and Tehran’s retaliation raised fears of broader regional conflict. Eight of Trump’s fellow Republicans joined Democrats to pass...
Washington rebuffs Iraqi request to pull out troops
January 10th, 20200 BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has rebuffed an Iraqi request on Friday to prepare to pull out its troops, amid heightened U.S.-Iranian tensions following the U.S. killing of an Iranian commander in Baghdad. Iraq looks set to bear the brunt of any further violence between its neighbor Iran and the United States, its...
Ukraine says Iran cooperating in plane crash probe, cautious on blaming missile
January 10th, 20200 KIEV — Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said on Friday that Iran was cooperating with an investigation into the crash of a Ukrainian passenger plane, and that Kiev was not ruling out any version yet of what might have happened. Canada and others have said the plane was brought down by an Iranian missile, probably by...
Zarif: Military strike against Iran by Saudi Arabia or U.S. will result in “all-out war”
September 20th, 20190 TEHRAN/RIYADH — Any U.S. or Saudi military strike against Iran would bring “all-out war”, Tehran said on Thursday, keeping up a drumbeat of warnings to its adversaries after they accused the Islamic Republic of a strike on Saudi oil facilities. The United States has been discussing with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies’......
