Social and Political

RFL/RE – Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hizballah movement, says the United States has been attempting to open communications with his group despite imposing new sanctions against its leaders.The administration of President Donald Trump “is seeking to open channels of communication to Hizballah in Lebanon through mediators…. These are the American pragmatists,” Nasrallah told Hizballah’s Al-Manar TV on …

RFL/RE – The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a proposal that would limit President Donald Trump’s ability to take military action against Iran.The measure, which would require Trump to first receive Congressional approval before launching strikes against Iran, passed on July 12 in the Democratic-controlled lower house by a vote of 251-170.More than two dozen Republicans joined Democrats in …

Radiofarda – A weekly published under the auspices of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has urged President Hassan Rouhani to take firmer steps to confront Europe and the U.S. The weekly, “Hezbollah’s Line,” has also accused Rouhani of disregarding the strategies set by “the Leader” for Tehran-Europe negotiations in May 2018, after Washington withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement. …

Radiofarda – Global rights defender Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has expressed concern over three imprisoned Iranian journalists who have been on hunger strike for weeks. The Paris-based international organization says, photojournalist and blogger, Soheil Arabi has been on hunger strike for more than twenty days, while two reporters working for a student magazine, Ms. Sanaz Allahyari and Amir Hossein Mohammadifar, …

Al-Arabia – Iran’s culture of “Sacred Defense” can be exported to all of Iran’s proxies in the region according to a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) strategist, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Friday. “Today, what can be given to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq and Ansar Allah in Yemen is the Sacred Defense …

Al-Arabia – Britain will soon be “slapped in the face” for the capture of an Iranian supertanker last week, Iranian state TV quoted a cleric as saying on Friday, amid heightened tension between Iran and the West in the Gulf. “Iran’s strong establishment will soon slap Britain in the face for daring to seize the Iranian oil tanker,” cleric Kazem …

RFL/RE – Iran has again called on Britain to immediately release an oil tanker that the British Royal Navy seized last week. “This is a dangerous game and has consequences…the legal pretexts for the capture are not valid…the release of the tanker is in all countries’ interest,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Musavi said on July 12, according to state news …

RFL/RE – The United States has decided not to slap sanctions on Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for now, an indication that Washington may not be closing the door to diplomacy in the countries’ tense dispute, Reuters reports.Reuters on July 11 cited two sources familiar with the matter in reporting the decision, although they did not give specific reasons …

RFL/RE – The Pentagon says it is moving closer to establishing military escorts for ships in the Persian Gulf, hours after Britain said armed Iranian boats “attempted to impede” a British oil tanker.General Mark Milley, who has been nominated to become chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, on July 11 said Washington was working to put together a …

VOA – At a trendy restaurant in Iran’s capital, customers sip Coca-Cola through bending straws as waiters bring caddies to their tables full of Heinz ketchup and two types of Tabasco sauce. Welcome to dining in the Islamic Republic, brought to you by America. Whether at upscale restaurants or corner stores, American brands like Coca-Cola and Pepsi can be seen …