gatestoneinstitute.org – The first defect of the Macron plan, as we understand it, is that it treats what Lebanon faces as a humanitarian disaster, something like a major earthquake or tsunami, rather than a man-made tragedy plotted outside and executed by elements in the Lebanese political system. In other words, Lebanon’s crisis is caused by geopolitical factors with internal manifestations. …

eaworldview-The health of political prisoner and human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh (pictured), who is on hunger strike in Iran’s Evin Prison, is deteriorating. Today in response at 18:30 CET there is a twitter storm campaign under #FreeNasrin to free Naserin Sotoudeh by putting pressure on the Iranian Regime. Sotoudeh’s husband Reza Khandan wrote on social media on Thursday that her blood …

Radiofarda – Friday August 28 marked the 32nd anniversary of the mass execution of political prisoners in Iran. Family members of some of those killed in the 1988 massacre got together at a derelict graveyard in Tehran to pay tribute to their lost loved ones. None of them knew where their loved ones were buried or whether they were buried …

(AP) — The ruler of the United Arab Emirates issued a decree Saturday formally ending the country’s boycott of Israel amid a U.S.-brokered deal to normalize relations between the two countries. The announcement now allows trade and commerce between the UAE, home to oil-rich Abu Dhabi and skyscraper-studded Dubai, and Israel, home to a thriving diamond trade, pharmaceutical companies and …

Radiofarda – In a series of tweets, the Islamic Republic foreign ministry officials have dismissed the U.S. Secretary of State’s Mike Pompeo’s remarks about returning the international sanctions on Iran. Accusing Secretary Pompeo of “living in an imaginary parallel world,” the spokesman for the Islamic Republic Foreign Ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, argued that since Washington is not a party to the …

Radiofarda – The Association of the Families of the Victims of Flight P752 issued a video message on Friday urging anyone who has information or evidence about the downing of the plane to come forward. In a video message published on social media, Alireza Ghandchi, who lost his wife and two children in the crash, said that victims’ families want …

RFL/RE – An Iranian man has been sentenced to nine years in prison for beheading his 14-year-old daughter with an ax in a so-called “honor” killing that prompted widespread outrage in the country.The ruling was announced on August 28 in the northern province of Gilan, the ILNA news agency reported, adding that the girl’s mother called for the verdict to …

VOA – Activists of Iran’s Gonabadi Dervish religious minority who have been forced to live far from home after release from prison have rejected an Iranian official’s contention that Tehran has no policy of exiling freed convicts to impoverished and remote parts of the country. Iranian judiciary spokesperson Gholamhossein Esmaili made the assertion in a Tuesday press briefing, saying the judiciary …

Iran-HRM – Years after sending political prisoner Arzhang Davoudi to exile in the prisons of Zabol and Zahedan, in Sistan and Baluchestan Province (SE Iran), the Intelligence Ministry is trying through various means to remove or conceal every trace of him, so that no one can disseminate any information about this long-time political prisoner. In the latest news obtained on …

gatestoneinstitute.org – Tehran used that influx of revenues to expand its influence throughout the region and beyond, including in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, Venezuela and the tri-border area of Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. The expansion campaign proved to be immensely successful. A recent statement issued by William Evanina, director of the US National Counterintelligence and Security Center …