Al-Arabia – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday the United States was not involved in the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, and reiterated the importance of a ceasefire in Gaza. “This is something we were not aware of or involved in. It’s very hard to speculate,” Blinken said in an interview with Channel News Asia during a …

iranintl – Since at least 2010, Israel has allegedly conducted dozens of attacks inside Iran, targeting sensitive nuclear and military installations and carrying out assassinations of individuals deemed a threat. These attacks became more frequent after July 2020, when a massive explosion occurred at the Natanz uranium enrichment site in central Iran, destroying one of the buildings. In November of …

iranintl – Iranian officials condemned the Wednesday assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, blaming Israel and vowing “retribution,” while downplaying security lapses. Following the Palestinian leader’s death, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stated, “The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime, with this action, has paved the way for severe punishment for itself. We consider it our duty to seek …

iranintl – The European Union’s decision to send a representative to the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s new President, Masoud Pezeshkian, has sparked outrage among several members of the European Parliament and human rights activists. In a letter to Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, Polish MEP Adam Bielan from the European Conservatives and Reformists group, lambasted the decision as …

VOA – A former Israeli national security adviser tells VOA that Iranian proxy groups Hamas and Hezbollah face dilemmas in considering retaliations against Israel for the assassinations of two of their senior members in strikes on Beirut and Tehran over several hours beginning Tuesday. Israeli reserves Brig. Gen. Jacob Nagel, a former national security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, …

Iranwire – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has vowed punishment for Israel after Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, was killed in Tehran.  In response to the killing of Haniyeh, Khamenei declared that Israel had “prepared the ground for severe punishment.” “With this action, the criminal and terrorist Zionist regime has paved the way for its own severe punishment,” …

Iranwire – Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, was killed in Tehran on Wednesday along with one of his bodyguards. Haniyeh, the most senior Hamas official outside of Gaza and a key figure in hostage negotiations, was struck by an “airborne projectile” at 2 am local time.  The incident occurred when he was staying in a …

Iranwire – The sun beat down mercilessly on the parched Baluch landscape, its heat shimmering off the dusty ground. Twelve-year-old Shahrbano wiped the sweat from her brow, her small hands calloused beyond her years. The empty bucket swung at her side as she approached the Hotag, it’s still waters a deceptive oasis in the arid terrain. As she leaned over …

RFL/RE – An Iranian court has ordered Grammy Award winner Shervin Hajipour to begin his prison sentence for making the viral song Baraye, according to a July 30 Instagram post. The song became the anthem of the Women, Life, Freedom protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody. Hajipour said on Instagram that his almost …

CHRI – Multiple women political prisoners are at risk of execution based on sham charges, as the number of executions across Iran continues to surge, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). The four women have been accused of manufactured charges such as “armed rebellion,” a charge often used by authorities against political prisoners and dissidents, which …