Radiofarda – While beating on the drums of war for years by Lebanon’s Hezbollah has driven major foreign investors out of Lebanon, the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah has called for turning to China to rescue the country’s failing economy. This comes while Hezbollah has opposed taking loans from the International Monetary Fund to save Lebanon’s economy. In the meantime, U.S. …

VOA – The upcoming expiration of an international arms embargo on Iran has left the United States and its allies in the Middle East uneasy, fearing that the seemingly unavoidable outcome in October could lead to a proliferation of weapons in the hands of Iran and its proxy groups across the region. Even though an economically crippled Iran may not …

Iran-HRM – The state security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters gathered in the southwestern city of Behbahan in the oil-rich Khuzestan Province. People came out to the streets on Thursday following days of social media protests against the impending death penalty for three young men who were arrested during the protests in November 2019. Videos from Behbahan show …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – The unprecedented action of Iranian social media users in protesting the death sentence of three young men arrested at the nationwide November 2019 demonstrations in Iran, attracted support from international political figures and UN human rights experts. As execution rates in Iran continue to rise and the death sentences of three protesters arrested in the …

gatestoneinstitute.org – Announcing Iran’s intention to build a new military base in the Indian Ocean, Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, the commander of the naval attachment of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said that the base would be used to protect fishing and commercial vessels from piracy and “foreign ships”, a reference to the US-led multinational naval task force that is …

Al-Monitor – Iranian armed forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi said July 16 that the Israeli media is exaggerating attacks on Iranians inside Syria, adding that Iran will not remain silent on reported Israeli attacks. Shekarchi said, “We warn the lying Zionists that with continued mischief you will see the upper hand of the resistance and the Islamic Republic of Iran in action.” Israel has …

Reuters – Hospitals in Iran face acute shortages of medical personnel and beds as the country tackles a powerful second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior official of Tehran’s anti-coronavirus task force said on Thursday. Iran, the Middle East country hardest hit by the pandemic, began relaxing its lockdown in mid-April. But a second wave of infections emerged in …

Radiofarda – The Chief of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Wednesday warned Iran of “bad” consequences if access is not granted by the end of July to two sites where undeclared nuclear activities may have taken place in the past. “I keep insisting on the absolute necessity for us to resolve this issue very soon,” Rafael Mariano …

Radiofarda – A revolutionary court in Iran’s capital Tehran has sentenced the brother of an exiled anti-compulsory hijab activist to eight years in jail. The Islamic Republic intelligence agents arrested Masih Alinejad’s brother, Alireza, in Tehran in September last year, in what was labeled by rights groups and activists as a retaliatory measure against his sister who lives in the …

Radiofarda – At least seven vessels caught fire in a massive blaze at a shipyard in Bushehr’s port in southern Iran, the head of the local Crisis Management Organization disclosed on Wednesday, July 15. The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)-linked Tasnim news agency cited Jahangir Dehqani as saying that the fire has not yet been contained, and the cause is …