Al-monitor – The Jan. 8 death of Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani could change the balance at the top of Iran’s political establishment. Rafsanjani, who had a great influence on the Reformists and also on a large part of the conservative camp, had become an independent and moderate politician opposed to the hard-liners in recent years. AUTHOR Saheb Sadeghi Prior to his …

PayvandNews – It was not surprising that Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, national security adviser to President Donald Trump, “officially put…Iran on notice,” following what he cited as “recent Iranian actions, including a provocative ballistic missile launch and an attack against a Saudi naval vessel conducted by Iran-supported Houthi militants.” President Trump himself later confirmed these comments. By Shireen T. Hunter …

RFL/RE – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said he is grateful to U.S. President Donald Trump for showing “the real face of America.” Khamenei’s website quoted him as making the comments in a February 7 meeting with military commanders in Tehran. “What we have said for more than 30 years — that there is political, economic, moral, and …

RFL/RE – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to craft a joint response with Britain and the United States to Iran’s recent missile test. Netanyahu is scheduled to hold talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in London on February 6. He is also expected to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in …

RFL/RE – Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry says Russia, Turkey, and Iran have begun meeting to discuss mechanisms to monitor the cease-fire they brokered in Syria. The ministry said representatives from the United Nations and Jordan are also expected to attend the sessions in Astana. The meeting represents the second round of talks in the Kazakh capital on the war in Syria. …

VOA – A top Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander says Tehran conducted missile and radar exercises Saturday. The drills happened a day after the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on Iran for a ballistic missile test it conducted last week. Iranian state TV reported that the country’s Revolutionary Guard air force conducted air defense exercises Saturday, including missile and radar tests …

Radiozamaneh – A court in Lorestan province of Iran has convicted a man and a woman of adultery and has punished them to execution by stoning. Sadegh Larijani, the Head of Judiciary in Iran Since 2002 Iranian Judiciary has been indecisive about this cruel and inhuman punishment. At one time in 2003 the head of the Judiciary, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, …

RFL/RE – U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has warned Iran “not to test the resolve” of the Donald Trump administration days after the U.S. imposed new sanctions on the Islamic republic over a ballistic-missile test. Pence made the warning in a February 5 interview amid rising tensions between the two countries. “Iran would do well to look at the calendar …

RFL/RE – U.S. President Donald Trump has plunged the United States into a dispute with Australia over the fate of 1,300 refugees primarily from Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. The refugees are among thousands of migrants who, fleeing conflict or poverty, are being held in camps on the Pacific islands of Nairu and Papua New Guinea, where Australia is paying to …

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that Iran has been “formally put on notice” for its ballistic missile launch, and warned that “nothing is off the table” in dealing with Tehran. In a tweet early Friday morning, Trump said Iran “is playing with fire” adding that “they don’t appreciate how ‘kind’ President Obama was to them. Not me!” Follow Donald …