Iran

by Seyed Hossein Mousavian   In an interview with the daily Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas announced a German-led initiative on global disarmament, warning that technologically advanced weapons can soon transform science fiction into “deadly reality.” This announcement came a few weeks after President Trump declared that the United States plans …

Iran has detained an Australian-based academic on charges of trying to “infiltrate” Iranian institutions, according to official media. Meimanat Hosseini-Chavoshi was detained as she was leaving Iran, the state news agency IRNA said. Hosseini-Chavoshi, a population expert, is affiliated with the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, according to …

At least three people died and 48 others were injured in a suicide car bomb attack on a police headquarters in Iran’s southeast on Thursday, state media reported. Television also reported shooting in the area, located in the region of Sistan-Baluchestan, which is home to a Sunni Muslim minority in …

India will import crude oil from Iran using a rupee-based payment mechanism, an industry source involved in discussions told Reuters on Thursday, adding that 50 percent of those payments will be used for exporting items to Tehran. India’s state-owned UCO Bank is expected to announce the payment mechanism in the …

Iran said on Sunday its missile program is defensive and not in breach of U.N. resolutions, the state news agency IRNA said, following a U.S. allegation that Tehran had carried out a new missile test. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday condemned what he described as Iran’s testing …

Iran and South Korea are working to set up a mechanism to barter South Korean goods for Iranian oil exports, an Iranian trade official was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA on Saturday, as Tehran seeks ways to sidestep U.S. sanctions. “According to the plan, goods will …

China’s state-owned CNPC has replaced France’s Total in Iran’s multibillion-dollar South Pars gas project, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said, according to the semi-official news agency ICANA on Sunday. “China’s CNPC has officially replaced Total in phase 11 of South Pars but it has not started work practically. Talks need …

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on Muslims worldwide on Saturday to unite against the United States, instead of “rolling out red carpets for criminals”. Washington in May reimposed sanctions on Tehran, after President Donald Trump pulled out of a 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran under which they had been …

Iran denied on Friday it had violated an international convention by not fully declaring its chemical weapons capabilities to the U.N., describing a U.S. allegation to that effect as groundless, state TV reported. In a meeting of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague on Thursday, …

By Sajad Abedi*   Some of the major changes have run in the light of the follow-up and continuity of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Country Security considerations are separated into three discourses: Development discourse, Focused discourse and Growing discourse. In any discourse there are four …

Iran on Wednesday praised European efforts to maintain business with Tehran despite U.S. sanctions, citing “constructive meetings” with British and French officials in Tehran this week on setting up a way to conduct non-dollar trade. Iranian Foreign Ministry officials voiced more hope for the move a day after Foreign Minister …

The United States has moved to disrupt an Iranian-Russian network that sent millions of barrels of oil to Syria and hundreds of millions of dollars to indirectly fund militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. The complicated arrangement, described by the U.S. Treasury in a statement on Tuesday, involved a Syrian citizen allegedly using his Russia-based …

Iran and Iraq could raise their annual bilateral trade to $20 billion from the current level of $12 billion, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday, despite concerns over the economic impact of renewed U.S. sanctions. Rouhani’s remarks, made after a meeting with visiting Iraqi President Barham Salih, came about two …

The United States will step up enforcement of sanctions on Iran, national security adviser John Bolton said on Tuesday, as Tehran tries to find ways to evade the restrictions in oil trade and in banking. “The objective has been from the beginning to get oil exports from Iran down to zero,” Bolton said. “It is our …

Saudi Arabia is discussing a proposal that could see OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers cut output by up to 1 million barrels per day, two sources told Reuters on Sunday, as the world’s top oil exporter grapples with a drop in crude prices. The sources said any such deal would …

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that U.S. sanctions on Iran were not legitimate, in Moscow’s first official comment since Washington restored sanctions on Tehran. Lavrov said Moscow, itself a target of separate U.S. sanctions, expected there would be ways to pursue economic cooperation with Iran despite the …

Iraq’s Oil Minister Thamer Ghadhban said on Tuesday that the shortfall in oil supply caused by new U.S. sanctions on Iran had yet to be gauged ahead of an OPEC meeting next month. Ghadhban said Iraq wanted to see the “actual decrease” before Baghdad and other members of the Organization …

China said on Monday its lawful trade cooperation with Iran should be respected and expressed regret that the United States re-imposed sanctions on the Middle Eastern country. Speaking at a daily news briefing in Beijing, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying did not directly comment on whether China had been granted …

Iranians chanting “Death to America” rallied on Sunday to mark both the anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. Embassy during the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the imminent reimposition of U.S. sanctions on Iran’s key oil sector. Thousands of students in the government-organized rally in the capital Tehran, broadcast live …

Iran’s top leader said on Saturday U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies face opposition across the world as Washington prepared to reimpose sanctions on Iran’s vital oil-exporting and financial sectors, state television reported. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also said Iran’s arch-adversary the United States had failed to reassert its domination …

Oil prices slipped further on Friday, heading for a weekly loss of more than 6 percent, after a report that Washington has granted several countries sanctions waivers allowing them to continue to import Iranian crude. Brent crude oil LCOc1 was down 10 cents a barrel at $72.79 by 1400 GMT. …

Norway summoned the Iranian ambassador on Thursday over a suspected assassination plot against an Iranian Arab opposition figure in Denmark involving a Norwegian citizen of Iranian background. Denmark said on Tuesday it suspected the Iranian government intelligence service had tried to carry out an assassination on its soil. It is …

by Seyed Hossein Mousavian The next round of economic sanctions on Iran, which will start going into effect on Nov.4, will mainly target the country’s oil and gas industries. These sanctions were eased after the 2015 signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, …

Armed forces and observers from eight Arab countries are converging on Egypt for exercises starting on Saturday, the Egyptian military said on Wednesday, in a move that could evolve into a regional pact to counter Iran’s influence. President Donald Trump’s administration has been quietly pushing for Gulf Arab countries, together …

Shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump announced in May he would reimpose sanctions on Iran, the State Department began telling countries around the world the clock was ticking for them to cut oil purchases from the Islamic Republic to zero. The strategy is meant to cripple Iran’s oil-dependent economy and …

It could be difficult for Saudi Arabia and its allies to fully replace lost Iranian barrels once oil-related US sanctions on the latter come into effect from November, analysts tell Gulf News. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman told Bloomberg in an interview during the weekend that the kingdom …

India will buy 9 million barrels of Iranian oil in November, two industry sources said, indicating that the world’s third-biggest oil importer is to continue purchasing crude from the Islamic republic despite US sanctions coming into force on November 4. “Refiners have placed November nominations to lift 1.25 million tonnes …

Former US secretary of defense Chuck Hagel says the limited number of American troops in northeastern Syria can do nothing to drive Iranian forces out of the Arab country. “The US doesn’t even control half of Syria. You’ve got 2,000 [US] troops up in the northeast corner. I mean, come on, you’re …

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they have fired missiles at eastern Syria targeting the ringleaders of the deadly attack on a military parade in Ahvaz. A statement said “many terrorists” were killed or injured in the strikes. Iranian state television suggested that the missiles hit an area close to the border …

Clandestine nuclear dumping. Concealing atomic material near a rug-cleaning plant. Lying to international partners. Accusing Iran of all of the above, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu fired a new salvo Thursday in his campaign to prove that Tehran can’t be trusted and poses a massive threat to international security. In response, …

Iran’s president said on Thursday that the U.N. Security Council meeting chaired by President Donald Trump the previous day reflected America’s increasing isolation among the international community. “Nobody backed the United States, putting America into a unique historical and political isolation,” said Hassan Rouhani, speaking to reporters at Tehran’s airport …

The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has said Israel will be sorry if it continues to attack Syria’s army and its allies. Iran and Russia have both backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a seven-year war against rebels. But Israel, increasingly concerned that its enemy Iran may establish …

The deputy head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned U.S. and Israeli leaders on Monday to expect a “devastating” response from Iran, accusing them of involvement in Saturday’s attack on a military parade in the city of Ahvaz that killed 25 people. “You have seen our revenge before … You will …

Injured soldiers lie on the ground at the scene of an attack on a military parade that was marking the anniversary of the outbreak of its devastating 1980-1988 war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, Ahvaz, Khuzestan, September 22. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday that an unnamed U.S.-allied country in the …

Iran has written to fellow Opec members to complain that some countries are conducting oil production policy unilaterally, laying bare fissures in the group as officials prepare to meet in Algiers. While Iran avoids naming names, the letter is clearly aimed at Saudi Arabia, the largest producer in the Opec+ …

Gunmen have opened fire on an Iranian military parade in the south-western city of Ahvaz, killing at least 24 people, including civilians, and injuring more than 50, state media say. The attackers shot from a park near the parade and were wearing military uniforms, reports say. An anti-government Arab group, …

Iran said it will veto any Opec decision that harms the Islamic Republic and warned that some oil producers are trying to create an alternative suppliers’ forum that supports US policies hostile to the government in Tehran. Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said the agreement that the Organisation of Petroleum …

Israel attacked Damascus International Airport with missiles Saturday night, Syrian state media said, adding that air defenses shot down some of them. A war monitoring group said the attack targeted an arms depot for Iranian forces or Lebanon’s Hezbollah group. Explosions during the attack were heard across Damascus. The state …

By Sajad Abedi*   After the intensification of violence and unrest in Basra, the Joint Operations Command in Iraq, while calling this “turbulence,” instructed the country’s security forces to deal with the rigors of demonstrations in Basra decisively. Meanwhile, some security forces are said to have been deployed to Basra …

Iran is starting to store oil on its fleet of supertankers again as impending US sanctions force the Arabian Gulf country to revive a strategy it deployed under previous curbs. The build-up of crude in floating storage offshore Iran signals the effectiveness of the new sanctions imposed by US President …

Hassan Rouhani of Iran, Vladimir Putin of Russia, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of TurkeyHassan Rouhani of Iran, Vladimir Putin of Russia, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey by Seyed Hossein Mousavian* — As the military phase of the Syrian conflict reaches its final stages, the leaders of Russia, Iran, and …

Oil is expected to remain volatile this quarter, and the next, as different factors pull prices in opposite directions, analysts say. On the supply side, sanctions on Iranian crude exports, and deeper production losses in Venezuela, are expected to push prices upwards but increased output from Organisation of the Petroleum …

Giza Criminal Court sentenced four people to 14 years in prison over charges including deliberately murdering prominent Shia Muslim leader Hassan Shahata, and three other Shias in 2013. The case is known in media as the “Shia strife.” The defendants carried Molotov cocktails, sticks and bladed weapons, and headed to …

US President Donald Trump’s top two envoys were expected Thursday to press India not to buy Russian military equipment or Iranian oil, while seeking to bolster ties as China grows more assertive in the region. The “2+2” meeting in New Delhi of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense …