Al-Arabia – Israel’s military will set up a special branch in its general staff dedicated to threats from Iran, it said Tuesday. The military said it will appoint a major general to head the command, which is part of a broader restructuring in the general staff. A statement by the military offered few details about the new command, saying the …

Al-Arabia – Iran-backed Houthi militias are making more lethal drones in Yemen from Iranian components, according to an independent research report published on Wednesday. Houthis previously relied on un-weaponized drones to conduct kamikaze attacks against the Arab coalition forces in Yemen, for example by crashing them into radar units, and their drones had limited ranges, restricting their range of targets. …

Iran-HRM – Abolfazl Maghsoudi, a minor is detained in the Greater Tehran Penitentiary among adults because his family does not afford to pay his heavy bail. He was arrested during the protests in November 2019. Abolfazl Maghsoudi was born on February 18, 2002. He used to work in a stone masonry and took night classes. He has lost his father …

RFL/RE – Five soldiers from Pakistan’s Frontier Corps (FC) have been killed in an overnight attack by militants near the Iran-Pakistan border, Pakistani officials told RFE/RL on February 19.Speaking on condition of anonymity, officials told RFE/RL that the attackers used “heavy weapons” late on February 18 to target a security post in the Balangor area west of the city of …

RFL/RE – The black box of a Ukrainian passenger airliner mistakenly shot down over Iran last month is damaged and Iran will not hand it over to another country despite pressure for access, state media quoted top Iranian ministers as saying on February 19.Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week that he had “impressed upon” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad …

RFL/RE – The outcome of Iran’s February 21 parliamentary elections appears to be clear cut even before the ballots are cast: hard-liners and conservatives are likely to take control of the future parliament.Yet the elections are still extremely important.“This vote is significant because it commences the hard-line takeover of Iran’s elected institutions,” says Sanam Vakil, deputy director of the Middle …

RFL/RE – Iranian authorities have confirmed two cases of the new COVID-19 coronavirus, the first in the country, the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported on February 19.ISNA quoted an official in the country’s Health Ministry, Kiyanoush Jahanpour, as saying that “some suspected cases of the new coronavirus were found” over the past two days.Jahanpour said the two confirmed cases were detected in …

VOA – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives in Riyadh on Wednesday at a time of heightened tensions in the Middle East. Some issues on the agenda include tensions with Iran, the Trump administration’s Mideast peace plan, the ongoing war in Yemen and human rights issues. VOA’s Ardita Dunellari reports the meetings take place at a time when both countries …

HRW – An Iranian revolutionary court has upheld the unjust sentences against eight environmental experts already detained for over two years, Human Rights Watch said today. Iranian authorities have failed to produce any evidence to support their charges against members of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation and should free them immediately. On February 18, 2020, Gholamhossein Esmaili, Iran’s judiciary spokesman, confirmed …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – According to information received by IHR, death row juvenile offender Danial Zeinolabedini might be in danger of execution. Sources close to the plaintiff, have told Danial’s family that he will be executed before the Iranian new year (this year on March 20). Danial Zeinolabedini is a juvenile offender whose death sentence has been upheld by …