Wednesday , 4 December 2024

Monthly Archives: March 2017

U.S. Defense Secretary Mattis says Iran continues to sponsor terrorism

Reuters – Iran is continuing to behave as an exporter of terrorism and still sponsors militant activity, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said in London on Friday. Asked about comments Mattis made in 2012 that the three primary threats the United States faced were “Iran, Iran, Iran,” Mattis told reporters that Iran’s behaviour had not changed in the years since. …

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Iran Morality Police Tell Women to Wear Islamic Veil in Christian Church

heatst – Members of Iran’s morality police are pressuring women into wearing the veil inside Christian places of worship. Female officers were pictured outside the medieval Holy Savior Cathedral in Isfahan, enforcing the Islamic theocracy’s repressive “modesty laws”. Visitors reported being lectured on whether or not their hijab was “appropriate” as they entered the Christian sanctuary, part of the Armenian …

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Iranian women players snookered for ‘un-Islamic’ acts

timesofindia – Iran has banned some of its women players from billiard sports competitions for a year for violating the Islamic codes of conduct at a tournament in China, sporting authorities announced. The Disciplinary Committee of Bowling, Billiard and Boxing Federation did not reveal the nature of the alleged offences, saying it would name the transgressors later. “Women sent to China Open (billiard) competitions …

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Trump administration appeals latest ruling blocking travel ban

Al-Arabia – The Donald Trump administration on Thursday appealed the ruling of a US federal judge who had a day prior maintained his freeze on the president’s revised travel ban. The Justice Department’s filing means the case will land back at the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld a halt of Trump’s first travel ban before the US …

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Iranians, Engines of US University Research, Wait in Limbo

VOA – Hundreds of Iranian students already accepted into U.S. graduate programs may not be able to come next fall because of the uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s proposed travel ban, potentially derailing research projects and leaving some science programs scrambling to find new students. The ban, which would suspend immigration from Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Syria and Yemen, has …

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Rouhani Orders Investigation Into “Suspicious” Pre-Election Arrests After MPs Ask Him for Explanation

Iranhumanrights.org – A little over a week after reformist members of Parliament asked Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to attend to a spate of arrests ahead of the country’s upcoming elections, the president asked for the same thing from his interior minister. In his first cabinet meeting after the Iranian New Year on March 21, 2017, Rouhani publicly asked for an explanation from Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani …

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Ahmadinejad retakes spot on Iran’s political stage, despite ‘advice’

Al-monitor – Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is one of the most unique players on Iran’s political stage — an unpredictable figure who is no stranger to political U-turns. On Feb. 11, he officially announced that he would not back any candidate in the May 19 presidential elections. Yet, Ahmadinejad, who was president from 2005 until 2013, has become one of …

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The surprising rise of the head of Iran’s most influential charity

Al-monitor – When Ebrahim Raisi was appointed a year ago to lead Astan-e Quds Razavi, Iran’s wealthiest and most influential charitable organization, few would have predicted that it could have ramifications for the country’s next presidential election, scheduled for 14 months later. AUTHOR Arash Karami Before Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei selected Raisi to succeed Ayatollah Abbas Vaez Tabasi as …

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What role will Iran-linked militias play once IS leaves Iraq?

Al-monitor – Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said recently that any group taking up arms in Iraq outside the state’s official framework will be considered outlaws. However, it seems at least some of the factions fighting under the banner of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) in Iraq would not obey Abadi’s order. AUTHOR Hamdi Malik On March 22, Abadi spoke at a meeting of the Global Coalition to Counter …

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Iran poses greatest threat to peace in Middle East, says US Central Command chief

IBTimes -Iran is the greatest threat to peace in the Middle East, the commander of the US Central Command, Army General Joseph Votel, told the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday (29 March) while discussing the ongoing campaign against Islamic State (Isis) in Iraq and Syria. He saw security threats to the US from militant organisations and external forces like …

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