RFL/RE – Attacks on two commercial oil tankers in the Gulf Of Oman have escalated tensions in the Middle East and raised the prospect of a military confrontation between Iran and the United States. Washington and its allies in the region have blamed Tehran for the blasts on board the Norwegian-owned Front Altair and Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous. The cause of …

VOA – U.S. Secretary of Defense Pat Shanahan said the United States is trying to build “international consensus” in the Middle East after a dawn attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. “We obviously need to make contingency plans should the situation deteriorate, but we also need to broaden our support for this international situation,” Shanahan said …

VOA – The U.S. Central Command released a video allegedly showing an Iranian boat at the side of one of the tankers that was struck in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday. What are the key indicators that this is really an Iranian boat? The type of boat shown in the video has similar features to a boat that ­­­was …

Radiozamaneh – The tenth Iranian presidential election in 2009 was different from previous elections. Four candidates were competing: incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, conservative Mohsen Rezaei, reformist Mir Hussein Mousavi and reformist Mehdi Karrubi. The outcome was announced in favor of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but many Iranians including the unsuccessful candidates and their supporters refused to accept the result. Widespread allegations of …

gatestoneinstitute.org – Iran recently produced a program on its state television channel demonstrating that the government is currently practicing missile attacks, with the purpose of carrying out actual attacks on Israel…. The video excerpt included in the television broadcast showed how the operations the Iranians are striving to put into action will bombard Tel Aviv. From the perspective of the …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A man hanged at Gorgan prison for murder charges last Sunday. According to HRANA, on the early morning of June 9, Hashem Amiri, 47, was executed at the northern Iranian city of Gorgan’s prison. He was a father of three kids. “Hashem Amiri was a worker at a shopping centre four years ago. At that …

Al-Monitor – It is becoming increasingly vital in Iran, with its economy squeezed by US sanctions, to strike a semblance of financial stability. With that in mind, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has in recent months started implementing a series of measures in the country’s payment systems to better manage the monetary and foreign currency markets. The new measures, …

Al-Monitor – The June 13 attack on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman has pushed tensions between Iran and the United States to new heights, raising concerns that the region risks a repeat of the infamous tanker war.  Hours after the incident, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo f for the attacks on the Norwegian and Japanese tankers. “This assessment is …

worldview –Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran’s banking sector has languished as Tehran has politicized its central bank and monetary policy far more than almost any other country in the world. U.S. sanctions are putting tremendous pressure on Iran’s extremely fragile financial system by sending Iran into a period of stagnant economic growth accompanied by high inflation. President Hassan Rouhani …

Radiofarda – Two “flying objects” damaged a Japanese tanker in a suspected attack on Thursday in the Gulf of Oman, but there was no damage to the cargo of methanol, the president of the shipping company said on Friday. The Kokuka Courageous was sailing toward the port of Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates after the crew, which had …