Al-Monitor – President Hassan Rouhani declared that an agreement in principle has been reached with the United States under which Washington will remove a series of crippling sanctions against Tehran. At a televised Cabinet meeting May 20, Rouhani said the relief will cover oil and petrochemical industries, shipping, insurance and banking sectors. The Iranian president noted there are only some details that need …

newsweek – The Biden administration’s outreach to Iran is in full swing. A third of a year into its tenure, the new White House appears to be pulling out all the stops in its efforts to reengage with Tehran, and to demolish the “maximum pressure” policy of its predecessor in the process. That policy reversal has already entailed major political …

foxnews EXCLUSIVE: Former President George W. Bush told Fox News on Wednesday that Iran is “dangerous” for stability in the Middle East and the world, while warning that a two-state solution amid the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be “very difficult at this stage.” In an exclusive interview with Fox News about his new book, “Out of Many, One: Portraits of America’s Immigrants,” Bush highlighted the story of Mariam Memarsadeghi …

washingtontimes – Iran’s rulers fund, arm and instruct Hamas, which rules Gaza, and has fired more than 3,000 rockets at Israeli cities and villages over recent days. Iran’s rulers fund, arm and instruct Hezbollah, which dominates Lebanon, a state now sinking into abject poverty. Iran’s rulers fund, arm and instruct Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian dictator who has killed hundreds of thousands of …

RFL/RE – Senior diplomats from multiple countries have reported progress in talks to revive the 2015 accord on Iran’s nuclear weapons and persuade the United States to rejoin the landmark agreement.Negotiators held a new round of discussions on May 19 in Vienna to try and find common ground between Tehran and Washington and renew the deal, which was put on …

Iranwire – IranWire has received reports from inside Iran that on Tuesday, May 18, a number of reporters and information activists were contacted and warned against publishing any negative coverage of presidential candidate Ebrahim Raeesi. A former political correspondent told IranWire they had received a call from a man who introduced himself as a member of the judiciary, which is …

Iranwire – Chief justice Ebrahim Raeesi’s is standing for election as president on a “fighting corruption” ticket. For months now, powerful media outlets close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the office of the Supreme Leader have been portraying Raeesi as a trailblazer against nepotism and embezzlement within the rank and file. The reality, though, is a little different. …

Iranwire – Mohammad Ali Zahmatkesh is a teachers’ unionist from Fars province, currently being held in Adelabad Prison in Shiraz after a Revolutionary Court found him guilty of “propaganda against the regime” and “insulting the authorities” and gave him an eight-month prison sentence. He is also a fellow inmate of Habib Afkari, one of three brothers arrested for allegedly taking part in protests in 2018. Habib’s …

Iranwire – The Tehran Journalists’ Association has condemned the violent attack on a journalist in Tehran as she was reporting on a vaccination roll-out, citing it as evidence of how the “insecurity of the journalism profession in Iran” had intensified. Faezeh Momeni, a reporter for Sobh-e newspaper and the Rouydad 24 website, suffered broken fingers on May 18 after she was …

VOA – In recent months, Iraqi mediators have been working patiently behind the scenes to try to bring about a diplomatic rapprochement between long-time adversaries Iran and Saudi Arabia. No immediate breakthrough appears on the horizon, though. Iraqi President Barham Salih has told Arab media that improved ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia would be beneficial for Baghdad and the …