Iran

Anti-Western hardliners are set to sweep Iran’s parliamentary elections and appear favorites to clinch the presidency next year, but an economic crisis could force them to engage with the United States despite their tightening grip on power. Tehran has ruled out any talks with Washington unless it lifts crippling sanctions …

In the wee hours of Jan. 8, Tehran retaliated over the U.S. killing of Iran’s most powerful general by bombarding the al-Asad air base in Iraq. Among the 2,000 troops stationed there was U.S. Army Specialist Kimo Keltz, who recalls hearing a missile whistling through the sky as he lay …

Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab, who is getting the cold shoulder from Gulf Arab states, on Monday met Iran’s parliament speaker, the first senior foreign official to visit since Diab’s government took office. Gulf states had long channeled funds to Beirut but have grown alarmed by the rising clout of …

U.S. prosecutors on Thursday accused Huawei of stealing trade secrets and helping Iran track protesters in its latest indictment against the Chinese company, escalating the U.S. battle with the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker. In the indictment, which supersedes one unsealed last year in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, …

A U.S. Navy warship seized weapons believed to be of Iranian “design and manufacture,” including 150 anti-tank guided missiles and three Iranian surface-to-air missiles, the American military said on Thursday. In a statement, the military said the guided-missile cruiser Normandy boarded a dhow, a traditional sailing vessel, in the Arabian …

Iran’s week-long parliamentary election campaign started on Thursday, state TV reported, a vote seen as a popularity test for the clerical establishment at a time when relations with Washington are at their worst since the 1979 Islamic revolution. The Guardian Council, which must approve candidates, has rejected around 6,850 moderate …

Iran will respond forcefully to any Israeli action against its interests in the region, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, according to the Mehr news agency. “The Islamic Republic of Iran will give a crushing response that will cause regret to any kind of aggression or stupid action from this …

United Arab Emirate’s minister of state for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash said on Tuesday his country supports calls for de-escalation with Iran and to reach a political solution, Al Arabiya TV reported. He added that preventing Iran from having nuclear weapons under the Vienna accord as the sole restriction is …

The U.S. military is preparing to report a more than 50% jump in cases of traumatic brain injury stemming from Iran’s missile attack on a base in Iraq last month, U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an announcement, said there …

The United States has agreed to extend a waiver for Iraq to import Iranian energy supplies, including gas, two Iraqi government officials said on Monday. Washington has repeatedly extended the exemption for Baghdad to use crucial Iranian energy supplies for its power grid, for periods of 90 or 120 days. …

Iran is ready to help Ankara and Damascus resolve their disputes, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. In a meeting between the visiting United Nations’ special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, and Iranian officials, Tehran underlined the importance of resolving issues in Syria through diplomacy, it said on its …

Iran supports deeper crude oil cuts by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) if a majority of members agreed with it, Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh was quoted as saying by the Iranian energy news website Shana. A technical panel, known as the JTC, that advises OPEC and its …

Iran has a very strong Air Force despite limitations imposed on the country by the United States since the country’s 1979 Islamic revolution, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a gathering of Air Force commanders and staff on Saturday. “Since the revolution their aim was to stop us from having …

Iran will soon disclose new information about the missile attack it carried out against a U.S. base in Iraq last month, the ISNA news agency on Friday reported Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Guards’ aerospace division, as saying. Tensions have spiked between Iran and the United States after top Iranian …

The European Union will extend indefinitely the time limit to resolve disputes in the Iran 2015 nuclear accord to avoid having to go to the U.N. Security Council or triggering new sanctions, the EU’s top diplomat said during a visit to Tehran. Britain, France and Germany formally accused Iran on …

Iran will launch a satellite by the end of this week, a government minister said on Monday, as part of a fledging program that the United States says is a cover for ballistic missile development. “We are not afraid of failure and we will not lose hope. With your prayers …

Iran will not have bilateral talks with America, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday. “Iran does not have and will not have any kind of bilateral negotiation with American and this is our policy,” ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in a press conference broadcast live on state TV. “What (Iranian …

Saudi Arabia has barred an Iranian delegation from an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting in Jeddah on Monday where U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan will be discussed, the Iranian foreign ministry said. Saudi authorities have not issued visas for the Iranian participants, ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi …

Iran on Sunday offered its full support for new Iraqi prime minister Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi and reiterated its backing for the government’s demand for U.S. forces to leave the country. Iran has deep ties with many Shi’ite political parties and militias in Iraq as well as Kurdish parties from the …

The head of the European Union’s foreign service, Josep Borrell, will travel to Iran next week to meet the country’s leaders in a bid to reduce tensions in the Middle East, the EU said in a statement on Sunday. During in his trip on Monday and Tuesday, Borrell will meet …

The Trump administration on Thursday said it will allow Russian, Chinese and European companies to continue their work at Iranian nuclear sites, arguing that their presence makes it harder for Tehran to develop nuclear weapons. But the United States also imposed sanctions on Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI) and its …

Service members suffering from traumatic brain injury following missile strikes by Iran on a base in Iraq earlier this month have all so far been diagnosed with mild cases, Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Thursday. “The diagnosis we have so far …

Business is booming at Iran’s largest flag factory which makes U.S., British and Israeli flags for Iranian protesters to burn. At the factory in the town of Khomein, southwest of the capital Tehran, young men and women print the flags by hand then hang them up to dry. The factory …

The Pentagon has said the number of troops suffering from traumatic brain injuries (TBI) after an Iranian attack on a US base in Iraq on 8 January has risen to 50. The new total is 16 more than previously announced. President Donald Trump initially said no Americans were injured and …

Iranian rapper Amir Tataloo has been detained by Turkish authorities in Istanbul after he was flagged as a wanted person by Interpol, police say. Turkish police said Interpol issued a “red notice” for Tataloo, real name Amirhossein Maghsoudloo. The notice, which is not an arrest warrant, was for a drug-related …

A Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives committee said on Tuesday it had reached an agreement with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to testify at a public hearing on Iran and Iraq policy, after threatening a subpoena over previous refusals to appear. Representative Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs …

Iran is preparing a site for launching a satellite, a government minister said on Monday, highlighting a program the United States says is a cover for ballistic missile development. “Yes, a site is being prepared for placing the Zafar satellite into orbit,” Iranian Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad …

Iran’s foreign minister called U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan for the Middle East “delusional” in a tweet on Monday. “Instead of a delusional ‘Deal of the Century’ — which will be D.O.A.— self-described ‘champions of democracy’ would do better to accept Iran’s democratic solution proposed by Ayatollah @khamenei_ir: A …

A U.S. war veteran group is “expecting” an apology from U.S. President Donald Trump for his comments that downplayed traumatic brain injuries, an official said on Friday. Speaking in Davos on Wednesday, Trump said he did not consider the brain injuries suffered by U.S. service members in Iran’s recent attack …

The heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, would like to make an official visit to Iran, he said in an interview with the Sunday Times newspaper. Charles however declined to address the tensions relating to the crisis in the British monarchy sparked by his son Prince Harry, who is …

The Pentagon said on Friday that 34 service members had been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury following missile strikes by Iran on a base in Iraq earlier this month, a number higher than the military had previously announced. President Donald Trump and other top officials initially said Iran’s attack had …

President Emmanuel Macron said France was determined Iran would never gain a nuclear weapon but it wanted to avoid any military escalation in the Middle East, after he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday. Macron’s two-day trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories is timed to coincide …

Iran would be protected from threats if it had nuclear weapons, Iranian lawmaker told parliament on Tuesday, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency, adding that Iran should build missiles with “unconventional” warheads. “If we had nuclear weapons today, we would be protected from threats … We should put the …

An Iranian lawmaker announced a 3 million dollar award to “whoever kills Trump”, Iranian semi-official News agency reported. “On behalf of people of Kerman province, we will pay 3 million dollar award in cash to whoever kills Trump,” Ahmad Hamzeh told parliamentarians, according to ISNA. He did not elaborate whether …

South Korea’s military said on Tuesday it plans to expand the deployment of an anti-piracy unit now operating off the coast of Africa to the area around the Strait of Hormuz, after the United States pressed for help to guard oil tankers. Attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of …

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will not attend the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos this week because its organizers had “abruptly changed its agenda”, its foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday. “He was scheduled to attend … but they abruptly changed the schedule and it was not …

France has deployed a radar system on the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia to beef up its ally’s defenses after missile attacks on the kingdom’s oil infrastructure in September, French officials said. Paris has blamed Iran for carrying out the drone and missile attack, which crippled the world’s biggest oil …

With tweets of solidarity in Farsi and technological tools to circumvent internet shutdowns, U.S. President Donald Trump might be close to exhausting his options to support Iranian protesters rising up against their rulers. U.S. officials say the administration needs to avoid any overtures that could draw accusations of foreign meddling …

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed on Wednesday a proposal for a new “Trump deal” aimed at resolving a nuclear row, saying it was a “strange” offer and criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump for always breaking promises. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has praised Trump as a great dealmaker, called …

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday Moscow has been urging Gulf countries to consider a common security mechanism for the region. “We have been suggesting to the Gulf countries to think about collective security mechanisms … starting with confidence building measures and inviting each other to military exercises,” …

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday that the victims of the Ukrainian airliner shot down in Iran would still be alive if the recent escalation of tensions in the region had not happened, according to a transcript of an interview with Global News TV. The U.S. killing of …

President Donald Trump on Monday defended his decision to kill Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, contending Soleimani posed an impending threat to the United States but also saying the threat “doesn’t really matter” given the military leader’s history. “The Fake News Media and their Democrat Partners are working hard to determine …

Japan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates should work together to de-escalate the tense situation in the Gulf, a Japanese foreign ministry official said on Monday, relaying comments by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The official said Japan’s strong relationship with both the United States and Iran enabled it …

Maple Leaf Foods Inc Chief Executive Officer Michael McCain criticized the U.S. government for escalating tensions in the Middle East, after an Iranian missile accidentally shot down a Ukrainian airliner killing 176 people onboard, including an employee’s family. “A MLF colleague of mine lost his wife and family this week …