Archives for December, 2020

A woman stands in front of a makeshift memorial at the Boryspil airport outside Kiev, on January 11, 2020, as she pays tribute for the victims of the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 that crashed near the Iranian capital Teheran. - Ukraine demanded on January 11, 2020 that Iran punishes those guilty for the downing of a Ukrainian airliner and compensate victims while praising Tehran for cooperating with the "objective" investigation. (Photo by Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP) (Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AF

Iran not forthcoming on investigation into downed airliner, Canada’s government says

Iranian officials have accused Canada of exploiting the incident for political purposes.

TOPSHOT - A worker of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA waves an Iranian flag as the Iranian-flagged oil tanker Fortune docks at the El Palito refinery in Puerto Cabello, in the northern state of Carabobo, Venezuela, on May 25, 2020. - The first of five Iranian tankers carrying much-needed gasoline and oil derivatives docked in Venezuela on Monday, Caracas announced amid concern in Washington over the burgeoning relationship between countries it sees as international pariahs. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo

Iran using disguised ship to load Venezuelan oil

The tanker reportedly hid its real name. The United States sanctions the oil industries of both Iran and Venezuela.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani delivers a speech during the inaugural session of the new parliament following February elections, in Tehran on May 27, 2020. - The 11th legislature since the Islamic revolution of 1979 opened as the country's economy, which has been hard hit by the novel coronavirus, gradually returns to normal. Rouhani, who is in the final year of his second and final term, called on MPs, collectively and individually, to place the "national interest above special interests", "party intere

Iran’s Rouhani dismisses outcry over journalist’s execution

Iran hanged journalist and blogger Ruhollah Zam on Saturday after a court found him guilty of "corruption on earth."

Israeli soldiers stand in front of an Iron Dome defence system battery, designed to intercept and destroy incoming short-range rockets and artillery shells, in the Hula Valley in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon, on July 27, 2020. - On either side of the Israeli-Lebanese border, the language is military: The Lebanese Hezbollah movement asserts that anti-Israel action is "irremediable", Israel warns the movement that it "is playing with fire". But according to analysts, from declarations to actu

Israel open to teaming up with Gulf states on missile defense, official says

Shift in tone comes as Israel hails "successful" missile defense exercise in cooperation with Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 06: The U.S. Department of State is seen on January 6, 2020 in Washington, DC. Tensions are high in the middle-east after a U.S. air strike in Iraq killed Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian military leader. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

US designates Bahraini terror group linked to Iran

The outgoing US administration is continuing to pressure Iran and its allies in its final weeks in office.

Men walk while wearing face masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the Iranian capital Tehran, on November 30, 2020. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran hopes to unveil homemade coronavirus vaccine in March

As Iran reports considerable relief from the coronavirus pandemic, hopes are growing that the country’s indigenous vaccine could become available sooner than expected.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - DECEMBER 01: People walk past a branch of Turkish bank HalkBank on December 1, 2017 in Istanbul, Turkey. The trial of Mr. Reza Zarrab, an Iranian-Turk who ran a foreign exchange and gold dealership continues in New York. In recent days testimony Mr. Zarrab implicated a number of Turkish Banks as well as high ranking government officials. Mr. Zarrab is accused of managing a billion-dollar scheme to smuggle gold for Iranian oil and conspiring to violate United States sanctions against Iran.

Turkish lira remains stable after US sanctions

Turkey’s currency remained relatively stable Tuesday after the United States imposed limited sanctions on Ankara for acquiring Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems.

Armed groups target liquor shops in Iraq

Shops selling alcoholic beverages in Baghdad are constantly targeted. Some Iraqis see this as part of the war on their personal freedoms.

A Turkish soldier stands near his armoured vehicle on a highway near the northern Syrian town of Ain Issa in the countryside of the Raqqa region, on November 26, 2019, as Turkey-backed forces deploy reinforcements around the key town. - Ankara and its Syrian proxies launched on October 9 a cross-border attack against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, which allowed Turkey, along with a subsequent Russian-Turkish accord, to control a strip of land on the Syrian side of the border. Ain Issa lies on the south

Syrian Kurds squeezed between Turkish threat, Russian pressure in Ain Issa

Amid growing fears of a fresh Turkish offensive, the Syrian Kurds are under Russian pressure to cede full or partial control of the strategic town of Ain Issa to the Syrian government.

Paradox: Netanyahu now protected by Israeli Arab legislator

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has denigrated Israeli Arab legislators for years, depends now on Knesset member Mansour Abbas for his political survival.

Netanyahu also influencer-in-chief as master of YouTube, Instagram

No other politician in Israel, not even the young ones, masters YouTube, Instagram and other social networks as skillfully as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Activists of human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) take part in a demonstration in Piazza Castello in Turin on January 25, 2020, to mark the fourth anniversary since the disappearance of Italian student Giulio Regeni. - Regeni, a 28-year-old Cambridge University PhD student from Italy, disappeared on January 25, 2016 in central Cairo, as police were out in force in anticipation of protests that day. His body was later found by the side of a road bearing signs of torture. He had been researchi

Egypt, Italy strike major military deal despite Regeni case

Italy and Egypt are set to cut a major military deal, apparently disregarding tensions caused by the murder of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni in Cairo back in 2016.

Egypt seeks diplomatic foothold in Somalia

Egypt is seeking to repair its relations with Somalia amid the ongoing crisis over the Ethiopia dam in the Nile River and Turkey’s growing influence in the African country.

A masked Hamas militant mans a machine gun as he stands with others in the back of a pickup truck during a celebration of the release of Abdel Halim Badawi (unseen), a Palestinian who was held for 18 years in an Israeli prison after he was convicted of being a member of Hamas' armed wing in 2001, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on October 17, 2019. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP) (Photo by SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel-Hamas contacts advance on prisoner exchange

Contradicting reports have emerged about talks for an Israel-Hamas prisoner-exchange deal after an Egyptian delegation visited Gaza last week.

Iran's Rouhani attacks domestic critics over sanctions relief

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani suggested today that he would not allow domestic critics of the nuclear deal to delay Iran’s reentry to the deal.

Turkey arrests 11 over abduction of Iranian dissident

Turkish intelligence believe Habib Chaab was lured to Istanbul and abducted by a group working on behalf of Iran.