Al-Monitor – Iran’s new law for combating drugs will be implemented beginning Nov. 14. The law — passed by the Reformist majority parliament and approved by the conservative Guardian Council — is set to decrease the number of people executed in Iran, which leads the world in executions on a per capita basis. Agencies in Iran responsible for combating drug smuggling, however, have warned that the …

BBC – A 7.3-magnitude earthquake has shaken the northern border region between Iran and Iraq, killing at least 396 people and injuring thousands more. More than 7,000 people are also said to have been injured in the quake, the world’s deadliest this year. Most of those who died were in Iran’s western Kermanshah province, where a search for survivors has …

RFL/RE – Saad Hariri, who resigned as Lebanon’s prime minister last week, says his country faces the risk of sanctions being imposed by Gulf Arab nations because of the Iran-backed Hizballah movement’s activities in Lebanon. Hariri made the comments in a television interview from Saudi Arabia on November 12, a week after he announced from the Gulf country that he …

BBC – Offering a British-Iranian mother imprisoned in Iran UK diplomatic protection is “one of the options” in the case, Downing Street has said. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested during a visit to Iran in April 2016 and accused of trying to overthrow the regime – a charge she denies. Her husband Richard Ratcliffe has criticised the UK’s response and said …

VOA – An earthquake that struck Sunday along the Iraq-Iran border has killed more than 300 people and injured 2,500 others. Iranian state media reported Monday that 328 people were killed there, with the majority of the victims in the town of Sarpol-e-Zahab in Kermanshah province. Rescuers and relief groups worked overnight into Monday to try to help those affected. …

CHRI – The head of Iran’s Information and Communications Technology Ministry has promised to try to lift the state ban on Twitter, which state officials have been using for years while denying access by ordinary citizens in Iran. “Removing the ban on Twitter is being looked into,” Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, himself an avid Twitter user, told the semi-official …

RFL/RE – An estimated 14 million Shi’ite pilgrims thronged Iraq’s holy city of Karbala on November 10 to mark the annual Arbaeen commemoration.

Al-Arabia – The Iraqi Minister of Interior, Qasim al-Araji, said that local authorities have arrested 41 interiors who illegally crossed the country’s borders, reported Anadolu Agency on Saturday.

Al-Arabia -New satellite images emerged on Friday showcasing what appears to be an Iranian military hub under construction in Syria.

VOA – The missile fired at an airport in Saudi Arabia last Saturday by Houthi rebels came from Iran and showed “Iranian markings,” according to the top U.S. Air Force commander in the Middle East.