Radiofarda – The Assyrian Christian community in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz has been left in a state of shock after intelligence agents forced a Presbyterian church to close earlier this month, Assyrian International News Agency (Aina) reports. Assyrian Presbyterian church in Tabriz Iran was raided by intelligence agents on May 9, 2019 and closed down. The photo shows …

Radiofarda – A former aide to Iran’s Supreme Leader has called Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a “despot” after being issued a new subpoena while already facing a three-year jail sentence. Abolfazl Qadiani (Ghadiani) must attend court within 10 days but, writing for foreign-based opposition website Kalameh, he said he will refuse to do so. The 73-year-old slammed the subpoena as an …

Radiofarda – Iranian State TV’s Chief Ali Askari has dismissed the manager and controller of the TV’s Channel 5 following a controversy surrounding a religious program that has insulted Sunni saints and Islamic sanctities. The firing of two managers of the state TV, reflects the importance Tehran attaches to the controversy as a potential threat to the country’s stability, as …

RFL/RE – U.S. President Donald Trump, who is on a state visit to Japan, has said that the United States is not seeking regime change in Iran, amid heightened tensions between the two countries.“We’re not looking for regime change, we’re looking for no nuclear weapons,” Trump said after talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, adding that he …

RFL/RE – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has reiterated that his country wanted to build balanced relations with its Arab neighbors in the Persian Gulf. Zarif made the comments on May 26 at a joint press conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Muhammad Ali Alhakim in Baghdad, amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington. Alhakim said that Baghdad wants to mediate …

gatestoneinstitute.org – To start with, we must realize that the crisis in question isn’t caused by any of the traditional causes of conflict between nation-states…. In other words, the conflict isn’t a classical international one. The reason is that Iran no longer behaves as a nation-state but as a vehicle for an ideology. The madness that is Khomeinism has always …

AP — Iraq offered to mediate in the crisis between its two key allies, the United States and Iran, amid escalating Middle East tensions and as Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers steadily unravels. Iraqi foreign minister, Mohammed al-Hakim, made the offer Sunday during a joint news conference in Baghdad with visiting Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif. “We are trying …

Radiofarda – An adviser to the commander of Iranian Revolutionary Guard says Iran has two new “top secret weapons” and may use them to sink U.S. warships “with everything and everyone on board.” “In case of the smallest foolish act by the enemy in the Persian Gulf waters, the enemies will find out what we will do to them,” Morteza …

Radiofarda – A comment in favor of federalism by Iran’s former reformist president Mohammad Khatami has stirred controversy among political activists in Iran and abroad. Speaking during a meeting with Tehran City councillors on May 11, Khatami suggested that “the most desirable democratic form of government for Iran could be a federative government, although Iran cannot be a federal state …

Radiofarda – A spokesman for the Iranian Mission to the UN in New York has confirmed that the Islamic Republic Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has met with Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif). FILE PHOTO “The meeting took place as our routine meetings with members of Congress,” Alireza Mir Yousefi told the government official news agency IRNA. …