Al-Arabia – US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will hold talks with Indian leaders in New Delhi on Friday, Indian official said, as part of a tour to build support against Iran over its nuclear program and its ties to militant networks. On Wednesday, the United States and six Gulf countries agreed to jointly impose sanctions on 25 corporations, banks and individuals linked …

Al-Arabia – Iraq’s top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani warned foreign actors on Friday against interfering in anti-government protests that erupted early last month and urged political factions to avoid “infighting.” “No person or group, no side with a particular view, no regional or international actor may seize the will of the Iraqi people and impose its will on …

Iran-HRM – The month of October was marked by Iran’s crackdown on freedom of expression. Security forces in the southwestern town of Lordegan made widespread arrests following large protests over the HIV infection of villagers by a local health clinic. According to locals, security forces used videos of the protests to identify and arrest protesters.  Protests erupted in Charmahal Bakhtiari province after …

RFL/RE – Brian Hook, the U.S. special envoy for Iran, says Tehran has spent some $16 billion to fund Shi’ite-led militias in Syria and Iraq.Hook made the comments in an interview broadcast on October 31 by Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya but did not specify what period of time he was citing.Shi’ite Iran has wielded influence in Iraq since dictator Saddam …

VOA – The U.S. Embassy in Tehran remains frozen in 1979 as the 40th anniversary of the Iran hostage crisis approaches, a time capsule of revolutionary graffiti, Underwood typewriters and rotary telephones.  The diplomatic compound was overrun by students angered when Washington allowed ousted Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi into the U.S. for medical treatment. What initially began as a sit-in …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A Pakistani citizen who was arrested in Iran around 20 months ago with a murder charge, has been sentenced to death. He denies the accusations. According to IHR sources, a court in the Iranian city of Mashhad issued the death sentence for a Pakistani citizen on September 24, 2019. His name is revealed by the …

gatestoneinstitute.org – President Donald Trump’s constant refrain about withdrawing US forces from the Middle East is… an enormous source of concern for Gulf leaders, who historically have relied heavily on the US to protect their interests. It is a measure of their disquiet that Russian President Vladimir Putin received a warm reception during his recent visits to Riyadh and Abu …

Radiofarda – An attack on Saudi Arabia’s  Aramco oil facilities Sept. 14 and the subsequent brief slide in Saudi crude output quickly grabbed world headlines and sent Saudi-Iran tensions soaring once again. Yemeni Houthi fighters claimed responsibility for the strike, which was perhaps the largest-scale operation by the Shiite group during Yemen’s 4½-year-old civil war. During that time, the Houthis have targeted …

PayvandNews – 2018 Cadet World champion and 2019 Junior World silver medalist Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) followed Nickal’s lead, shutting down 2016 U23 European bronze medalist Vitali Goloev from Russia in the finals match at 125 kg, 10-0. At 86 kg, Kamran Ghasempour won his second-consecutive U23 World championship with a decisive 9-3 win over Gadzhimurad Magomedsaaidov from Azerbaijan.Mojtaba Goleij, …

PayvanNews – More than three weeks after the enraged people of a village in southwest Iran poured into streets accusing medical authorities of infecting dozens with the HIV virus, the head of the Islamic Republic center for strategic medical sciences research has confirmed that the village and its nearby town are indeed a center of HIV infections. “Who is the …