aljazeera – An ambitious Israeli cabinet minister, a thrusting Saudi crown prince, a son-in-law of a US president and a long-abandoned railway. Could this be the start of an anti-Iran axis that in a further twist of an extraordinary tale pulls a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians like a rabbit out of a hat?

Al-Monitor – Just a week after Hamas agreed to reconcile with rival Palestinian faction Fatah and curb its relationship with Hezbollah — an agreement seen by many as a first step necessary to negotiate peace with Israel — Hamas’ No. 2 leader traveled to Tehran to reinforce his group’s solidarity with Iran and the anti-Israel “axis of resistance.” The Oct. …

snopes – On 22 December 2017, news outlet Politico reported on the existence of a former covert Drug Enforcement Agency operation named Project Cassandra aimed at disrupting a Hezbollah-run cocaine and weapon smuggling operation: The campaign, dubbed Project Cassandra, was launched in 2008 after the Drug Enforcement Administration amassed evidence that Hezbollah had transformed itself from a Middle East-focused military …

A senior Iranian judiciary official has dismissed reports that a detained British-Iranian aid worker sentenced to five years in jail for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government could be released soon. Charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 38, who has denied the charges, has been in prison since she was arrested in April 2016 while visiting her family in Iran with her …

Iran Human Rights –  Mohammad Kalhor, who murdered his physics teacher in class at age 15, is sentenced to death. The sentence has recently been approved by the Supreme Court. According to the Iranian state-run media, on Tuesday December 19, the death sentence of the pupil who murdered his teacher in Boroujerd was approved by the Supreme Court. On November …

CHRI – Anti-vice police arrested more than 230 young men and women at two private parties in Tehran during the Iranian festival of Yalda on December 21, 2017. Yalda is a winter solstice celebration observed on the longest night of the year. Traditionally families gather and celebrate at home but people living in large cities also host private parties where …

CHRI – With only two opposing votes, Iran’s Parliament has overwhelmingly passed the outlines of a bill designed to better protect the rights of people living with disabilities in the country. The lawmakers voted in favor of the Bill for the Protection of the Rights of People with Disabilities in principle on December 19, 2017, and will soon begin deliberating …

CHRI – Six days after Iran’s Parliament passed an amendment reaffirming the right of minorities to run in local council elections, the Guardian Council’s Spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodaei announced the council had rejected it. The Guardian Council is a body of six clerics and six jurists that vets laws and elections for conformity with Islamic principles. In its December 18, 2017, …

CHRI – Former Iranian Vice President Hamid Baghaei has denounced his 63-year prison sentence, alleging it was issued in retaliation for his criticisms of Iran’s judiciary. “I inform the dear nation of Iran that as a continuation of Judiciary Chief Mr. Sadegh Larijani’s blatant political and personal attacks, he has completed his wonderful work and sentenced me to 63 years …

CHRI – Political prisoner Ali Shariati is being denied specialist medical treatment by Evin Prison’s medical chief Abbas Khani despite exhibiting symptoms of severe dental issues. “Ali has a lot of pain in his teeth and he has severely inflamed gums,” a source close to the Shariati family told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on December 20, …