Al-Monitor An international conventional arms embargo on Iran has expired after 13 years on Sunday, despite a push by the US government to keep Tehran as a pariah in the international weapons trade. The embargo’s termination came in line with provisions under the 2015 nuclear agreement called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Tehran, despite the US administration’s efforts in …

Al-monitor – Iranian officials and analysts say that with the expiration of the arms embargo, they are now ready to sell weapons to other countries. Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami gave an interview to Iranian television outlining the country’s plan now that the UN arms embargo — which was part of the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — has expired. …

latimes.com – My first taste of American greatness was peanut butter. It was in 1965 or so, in Urmia, my hometown in northwest Iran. I was around 3 years old. The peanut butter was a gift from Penny and Richard, two of a handful of Peace Corps volunteers who worked in Urmia in the 1960s. Since President Trump was elected, …

Radiofarda – Speaking at an online event with the Aspen Security Forum on Friday, White House National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien outlined how U.S.-Iranian relations would move forward if Donald Trump won a second term in office. Responding to a question raised by Stephen Hadley, the National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush who was moderating the discussion, O’Brien said that …

Radiofarda – The Chairman of the Iranian parliament’s influential Commission for National Security and Foreign Policy, Mojtaba Zonnour, said that President Hassan Rouhani deserves to be executed a thousand times a day, and that the Iranian people would agree with his views. In a tweet on Friday, Zonnour wrote, “The Rt. Hon. Rouhani; if you are justifying negotiations with the …

Radiofarda – The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) of Greater Tehran, Mohammad Reza Yazdi, announced the formation of a special coronavirus-related unit called “Enjoining the Good and Forbidding the Evil.” The unit will deal with people who are inattentive to observing health protocols in public places, said Brigadier General Yazdi, who commands the Tehran province’s IRGC forces. …

RFL/RE – The United States has threatened to sanction any individual or entity selling conventional weapons to Iran, hours after Tehran claimed that a UN embargo on such sales had been lifted. According to a 2015 landmark nuclear deal, world powers had agreed to lift the UN embargo on Iran effective October 18, 2020, if Tehran abided by its terms. …

RFL/RE – Afghanistan’s top peace negotiator has arrived in neighboring Iran as intra-Afghan peace negotiations are under way in the Gulf state of Qatar. Negotiators from the Afghan government and the Taliban have been locked in talks since September 12 but have been unable to agree on a framework for the negotiations aimed at ending the 19-year war. Abdullah Abdullah, …

Al-Arabia – A ballistic missile that was launched by the Iran-backed Houthi militia on Sunday from Yemen’s Sanaa fell in the Saada governorate, the Arab Coalition’s spokesman Turki al-Maliki said, according to Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The Houthi militia continues to violate international humanitarian law by launching ballistic missiles that land on civilians and their properties, threatening the lives of …

gatestoneinstitute.org – If Azerbaijan wins, a coalition of Turkey, Israel and the United States would end up in the winning camp while the Islamic Republic will be seen as indifferent to the aspirations of Azerbaijan, which is supposed to be the third largest Shiite nation after Iran and Iraq. If Armenia wins, the likely co-winners would include Russia and Israel, …