Iran is again taking tougher action against violations by women of strict Islamic dress codes, with the start on Saturday of a new drive on observance of the regulations in the Gulf state. Controls were tightened nationwide and women disregarding the requirement to wear a headscarf in public remain guilty of a criminal offence, the Iranian news agency Tasnim […]
Continue ReadingThe Trump administration for the first time formally blamed Iran for the presumed death of retired FBI agent Robert Levinson, publicly identifying two Iranian intelligence officers believed responsible for his abduction. Mr Levinson disappeared in Iran under mysterious circumstances more than a decade ago, and though US diplomats and investigators have long said they thought […]
Continue ReadingA senior al Qaida operative was killed in Iran earlier this year by Israeli agents supported by US intelligence. Abu Mohammed al-Masri was killed by assassins in Tehran during a period in which the Trump administration was ramping up pressure on Iran. He was killed on August 7, the anniversary of the 1998 bombings of […]
Continue ReadingIran has continued to increase its stockpile of low-enriched uranium and enrich it to a greater purity, far beyond the limits set in a landmark nuclear deal, the UN’s atomic watchdog agency has said. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported in a confidential document distributed to member countries and seen by The Associated Press, […]
Continue ReadingAmnesty International says they are “very concerned” for the welfare of a British-Australian academic who is being held in detention in one of Iran’s most notorious prisons. Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who was most recently a lecturer in Islamic studies at Melbourne University, had originally been held in Tehran’s Evin prison since she was reportedly given a […]
Continue ReadingLabour’s Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) raised the idea of a possible all-faith delegation, saying: “If we want peace we have got to carry on speaking to the Iranians, and all of us who’ve been campaigning for the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and the other prisoners held, believe that perhaps speaking at a level of faith, an all-faith […]
Continue ReadingTwitter has removed almost 5,000 accounts it believes are linked to the Iranian government with the aim of manipulating conversations about political and social issues. The social network has been cracking down on state-backed information operations as part of an effort to clean up its platform of fake news. In its latest disclosure, Twitter removed […]
Continue ReadingIranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday war was unlikely but called on Iran’s armed forces to boost their defence capacities, according to his official website, as the country faces increased tension with the United States. On Saturday, Iran announced plans to boost its ballistic and cruise missile capacity and acquire modern fighter […]
Continue ReadingFacebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc. collectively removed hundreds of accounts tied to an alleged Iranian propaganda operation on Tuesday, while Facebook took down a second campaign it said was linked to Russia. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the accounts identified on his company’s platform were part of two separate campaigns, the first from […]
Continue ReadingSaudi Arabia has agreed to admit an Iranian diplomat to head an office representing Iranian interests in the kingdom, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported on Sunday, in a rare move after the rivals broke off relations in 2016. “An informed diplomatic source said Sunday that Saudi Arabia had agreed to grant a visa […]
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