Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on April 17 denied the veracity of remarks by one of its former generals who has claimed to have worn Iran’s Red Crescent Society’s (IRCS) uniform for “military purposes” during the civil war in Bosnia. Saeed Qassemi (Ghasemi), retired IRGC General, is an outspoken ultraconservative, renowned for his vitriolic attacks on reformist former President …

Radiofarda – The Iranian parliament (Majles) has approved new regulations that will impose further restrictions on Iran’s strictly controlled media ahead of parliamentary elections slated to be held on February 21, 2020. The regulations, which are part of the bill to amend the election law, defines new punishments for those who might ignore or undermine them. The punishments particularly target …

Radiofarda – The representative of the Lebanese Hezbollah in Iran says a significant number of young Lebanese are currently in Iran, helping relief operations for the flood-stricken people. A Hezbollah fighter holds an Iranian-made anti-aircraft missile on the border with Israel, in Naqoura, April 20, 2017 Speaking to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)-run Tasnin news agency, Sheik Mo’ein Daqiq …

Al-Arabia – Between 2010 and 2013, businessman Babak Zanjani carried out one of the biggest money laundering operations in Iran’s history to help the Iranian government bypass US oil sanctions. Al Arabiya English recently revealed how Rostam Ghasemi, one of Iran’s top generals and its former oil minister, acted as Zanjani’s sponsor. Little is publicly known about the full extent …

RFL/RE – Instagram has blocked the accounts of several commanders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), with the photo-sharing website saying it was complying with U.S. sanctions. U.S. President Donald Trump on April 8 announced the designation of the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization, calling it the Iranian government’s “primary means of directing and implementing its global terrorist …

RFL/RE – Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has visited Damascus ahead of a new round of talks next week in Kazakhstan toward ending Syria’s eight-year war.Zarif and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on April 16 discussed “the next round of Astana talks and the importance of lasting communication between Damascus and Tehran for continued cooperation”, the Syrian presidency said in …

RFL/RE – A Bahraini court has convicted 139 people on terrorism-related charges in a mass trial involving 169 defendants, and sentenced them to prison terms of between three years and life in prison.The public prosecutor’s office said on April 16 that 138 of those convicted were stripped of their citizenship and a further 30 were acquitted.The defendants, of which 109 …

VOA — The U.S. decision to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization is a dangerous development that could lead to chaos, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday. Speaking at a joint news conference with Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Turkish minister also said that U.S. sanctions were harming the people of Iran.The United States re-imposed …

VOA – Iran’s crude oil exports have dropped in April to their lowest daily level this year, tanker data showed and industry sources said, suggesting buyers are curbing purchases before Washington clamps down further on Iranian shipments as expected next month. The United States reimposed sanctions on Iran in November after pulling out of a 2015 nuclear accord between Tehran …

VOA — Iran’s lawmakers on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill labeling U.S. forces in the Middle East as terrorist, a day after the U.S. terrorism designation for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard formally took effect, state TV reported. Defense Minister Gen. Amir Hatami introduced the bill authorizing the government to act firmly in response to “terrorist actions” by U.S. forces. It demands …