Social and Political

Al-Arabia – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the government was considering several possible causes of a plane crash in Iran, which killed 176 citizens of seven countries.The Ukraine International Airline jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran on Wednesday. Among the victims were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, three Germans and three Britons.In a television statement Zelenskiy …

Al-Arabia – The Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen did not launch an attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities in September, according to a confidential report by UN sanctions monitors seen by Reuters on Wednesday, bolstering a US accusation that Iran was responsible.The United States, European powers and Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for the September 14 attack on the Saudi Aramco oil plants in Abqaiq …

RFL/RE — U.S. President Donald Trump has signaled a de-escalation in his conflict with Tehran that has the world on edge about an impending war by hinting he would not use military force to retaliate against Iran for its nonfatal missile attack against bases hosting American troops in Iraq. Trump mixed words of disgust for Iran’s policies of sponsoring terrorism …

RFL/RE – The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has scheduled a vote on limiting President Donald Trump’s ability to take military action against Iran after many lawmakers said they were not satisfied by a White House explanation for the targeted killing of a top Iranian general.Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the vote on a war powers resolution would take place on …

RFL/RE – Within hours of the U.S. air strike that killed Qasem Soleimani on January 3, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei announced the appointment of a successor to head the Revolutionary Guards’ secretive Quds Force.The speed of the announcement appeared to be aimed at sending a message of continuity.“The force’s mission is exactly the same as it was under the …

VOA – Iran’s attacks on Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops as Tehran announced it will no longer comply with restrictions on uranium enrichment may encourage North Korea to perfect its nuclear and missile technologies, experts said. “With Iran also challenging the United States, North Korea may feel that terroristlike activities will be less likely to cause U.S. retaliation because the …

VOA – The top U.S. general says Iran was intending “to kill” when it fired missiles at Iraq bases used by U.S. forces, contradicting the administration’s general belief that Iran deliberately avoided casualties. “In my professional assessment, at al-Asad [Airbase] … the points of impact were close enough to personnel and equipment,” Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley said Wednesday. “Based …

“They [surviving ISIS fighters] have better techniques, better tactics and a lot more money at their disposal. They are able to buy vehicles, weapons, food supplies and equipment. Technologically they’re more savvy. It’s more difficult to flush them out. So, they are like al-Qaeda on steroids.” — Lahur Talabany, a top Kurdish counter-terrorism official, in an interview with the BBC. …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed that its barrage of surface-to-surface missiles against two US bases in neighboring Iraq early Jan. 8 killed over 80 US military personnel, leaving some 200 others injured. IRGC commanders announced that “tens of missiles” were launched, all precisely hitting the targets, with none being intercepted. Yet hours later, in a televised address from the …

Radiofarda – Iran’s parliament speaker told lawmakers on January 7 that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei last night authorized the allocation of 200 million euros of additional budget to the Qods Force in the next two months, to counter U.S. threats. Ali Larijani made the remarks before a triple-urgency bill called “Counter-Measures Against U.S.” was put to vote. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards …