barrons – Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi and US envoy Brett McGurk discussed Thursday the withdrawal of troops, his office said, one day after top Iraqi and Iranian security officials met. “Discussions took place about mechanisms for (US) combat troops’ withdrawal from Iraq, and moving forward to a new stage in strategic cooperation,” the Iraqi prime minister’s office said in …
Read More »Monthly Archives: July 2021
Grand ayatollah warns against Iran’s Taliban approach
Al-Monitor – Grand Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani, one of Iran’s most senior clerics, lashed out at the Islamic Republic’s softened policy at a moment of rapid Taliban advances and widespread atrocities in Afghanistan. Such an approach, the ayatollah warned, “is a grave and irreparable mistake.” He cautioned the Iranian government not to trust a “terrorist” group “whose evil and murderous nature is no secret to the world.” Golpaygani called on both Iran and the international community to “act with …
Read More »Facebook says Iranian hackers spied on US military personnel using fake accounts
Al-Monitor – A group of Iranian hackers used fake Facebook accounts to target US military personnel, as well as defense and aerospace workers, the social media company said Thursday. The hacking group, known as Tortoiseshell, used Facebook and other social media platforms to engage with targets before infecting their devices with malware for espionage purposes. According to Facebook, a fake account would …
Read More »Iran not ready for nuclear talks until President-elect Raisi takes over
Al-Arabia – Iran is not prepared to resume negotiations on coming back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal until Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raisi’s administration has begun, a diplomatic source said on Wednesday. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Iran had conveyed this to European officials acting as interlocutors in the indirect US-Iranian negotiations and that the …
Read More »#StopHatePropaganda Twitter Campaign Launches to Confront Hate Speech Against Iranian Baha’is
Iranwire – Twitter storm today, under the hashtag of #StopHatePropaganda and running from 5pm to 7pm GMT, 930pm to 1130pm Tehran time, will draw global attention to a 40-year campaign of hate speech conducted by the Iranian government against the Baha’i community in Iran, the country’s largest non-Muslim religious minority. A statement by the Baha’i International Community (BIC) in Geneva, which represents the Baha’is at the …
Read More »The Rafsanjani Diaries: Khatami’s Tantrums to the Supreme Leader
Iranwire – In Search of Expediency, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s recently-published diaries covering the events of 1998, examines one of Iran’s most volatile periods of political crisis. Rafsanjani’s son and the grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini both attended the launch of the 840-page publication, the 18th volume of the former president’s memoirs. As with previous editions, it has sparked debate and speculation, as well as confirmed details of some key …
Read More »Biden Admin Waives Sanctions on Iranian Oil Trade As DOJ Announces Charges On Spy Network
freebeacon.com – The State Department informed Congress late Tuesday that it would waive sanctions on Iran’s illicit oil trade so that the country can access frozen funds from South Korea and Japan, the same day the Department of Justice announced charges on an Iranian spy network that sought to kidnap an American. The waiver, signed by Secretary of State Antony …
Read More »Iran insists it can enrich uranium to 90% purity – weapons grade – if needed
(Reuters) – Iran said on Wednesday it could enrich uranium up to 90% purity — weapons grade — if its nuclear reactors needed it, but added it still sought the revival of a 2015 deal that would limit its atomic programme in return for a lifting of sanctions. President Hassan Rouhani’s remark is his second such public comment this year …
Read More »VOA Persian TV Host Says Iran Kidnap Plot Sought to Stop Her Social Media Activism
VOA – A VOA Persian TV host and outspoken Iranian government critic who says she was the target of a U.S.-exposed Iranian plot to kidnap her has shared new details of the scheme, including its alleged aims of eliminating her and her popular social media accounts. In a video message recorded Tuesday, Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad said Federal Bureau of …
Read More »Foiled Kidnapping of Dissident Part of Iran’s Ramped-Up Campaign to Crush Dissent
CHRI – The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) today condemned in the strongest terms a foiled attempt by Iranian state agents to kidnap Iranian-American activist Masih Alinejad from U.S. soil, and urged the American and European governments to urgently pursue policies that address Iran’s kidnappings and increasingly unlawful and violent behavior. “This shameful kidnapping attempt was not an isolated incident; it stems …
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