Al-monitor – A recent military agreement between Washington and Muscat allowing US forces to use the strategic Omani ports of Duqm and Salalah has been widely interpreted in the context of American pressure on its archenemy Iran. Yet many are wondering why Iran has not reacted to the deal. Access to the two ports, especially the port of Duqm, has been a goal …
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Iran’s Parliament Votes To Designate U.S. Military As ‘Terrorist’
Radiofarda – Responding to the U.S. move to add the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) to the list of foreign terrorist organizations, the Iranian parliament passed a “double-urgency motion” on Tuesday, April 9, to “strengthen the military force.” Iranian lawmakers in the April 9 parliament session wearing IRGC uniforms to show support for the military after it was listed the …
Read More »Iranians Travel Less As U.S. Dollar Rose Fourfold In One Year
Radiofarda – The representative of a travel trade association in Iran says that because of the fall in the value of the Iranian currency, travel abroad declined 45 percent during Nowruz holidays last month. The official government IRNA news agency quoted Hormatollah Rafiei as saying that both ground and air travel declined as the U.S. dollar rose against the Iranian …
Read More »Hook: IRGC terror label ‘reduces risk of American lives at Soleimani’s hands’
Al-Arabia – US State Department officials said that the recent designation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was designed to reduce the risk to lives of American soldiers or citizens by Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani in the future. “General Soleimani has the blood of Americans on his hands, as does the force that he leads, and this designation that …
Read More »Macron urges Iran’s Rouhani to avoid ‘escalation’ of tensions
Al-Arabia – French leader Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday urged his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani to avoid an escalation of tensions after Washington blacklisted Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization. In a telephone conversation, Macron urged Rouhani to “avoid any escalation or destabilization of the region,” the French presidency said in a statement. President Donald Trump called the unit — …
Read More »Trump Discusses Iran, Human Rights In Phone Call With Saudi Crown Prince
RFL/RE – U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a telephone call that the White House says focused on Riyadh’s role in Middle East stability, maintaining pressure on Iran, and the importance of human rights issues. The White House said Trump and the crown prince discussed ways of “maintaining maximum pressure against …
Read More »Amnesty International: Global Executions Fell By One-Third In 2018 With Declines In Pakistan, Iran
RFL/RE – The number of known judicial executions around the world declined by nearly one-third in 2018 compared to 2017, reaching the lowest level in at least a decade, Amnesty International says in its annual report on death sentences and executions.Belarus was among a handful of countries that defied the trend, the human rights group said in the report released …
Read More »World Bank And IMF More Pessimistic About Iran’s Economy
Radiofarda – The World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released new reports, saying Iran’s GDP growth is worse than what they had predicted in their last forecasts. The World Bank says Iran’s GDP would shrink 3.8% in 2019 and IMF predicts even a worse forecast; 6% contraction. World Bank’s new forecast is 0.2% less than its latest …
Read More »Khamenei Calls U.S. Move Against Guards, ‘Trickery And Deceit’
One day after the United States designated the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei described the measure as “trickery, deceit and maliciousness”. In a meeting with a group of IRGC personnel Khamenei said, “Americans imagine they are doing trickery against the IRGC, the revolution and Iran, but these deceits will not …
Read More »Trump’s Signal To Tehran
Radiofarda – The Trump administration is turning up the heat on the ayatollahs. On Monday, April 8th, the White House formally announced that it was adding the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to the State Department’s Foreign Terrorist Organization list – putting Iran’s clerical army on a par with global terrorist groups like the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. The move, which formally …
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