Social and Political

RFL/RE – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has warned U.S. commercial airliners flying over the waters of the Persian Gulf that they risk being misidentified amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran. An advisory, issued by the FAA on May 16, said the warning came amid “heightened military activities and increased political tensions in the region which present an …

VOA – An international writers association says three Iranian authors apparently sentenced to long prison terms this week in Iran remain free, pending possible appeals in their trial for alleged security offenses. In a statement to VOA Persian on Friday, London-based PEN International said it understands that writers Baktash Abtin, Keyvan Bajan and Reza Khandan-Mahabadi have not yet been arrested. …

VOA — In the event of war with the United States, Iran “will not be alone.” That message was delivered by the leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group to a mass rally in Beirut in February marking the 40th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic Revolution. “If America launches war on Iran, it will not be alone in the confrontation, because the …

VOA – A senior member of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps said Friday Iranian short-range missiles can “easily” reach warships in the Persian Gulf, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. Revolutionary Guard deputy chief Mohammad Saleh Jokar’s comments came amid rising tensions with the United States. The U.S. has increased its military presence in the region by deploying additional …

Al-Monitor – President Hassan Rouhani announced earlier this month that Iran would suspend implementation of some of its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), one year after the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal. Rouhani also signaled that unless the remaining JCPOA signatories stepped up to fulfill the promised economic dividends of the accord, then there would …

Al-Monitor – As the showdown between Washington and Tehran escalates elsewhere in the Gulf, Iran is giving high priority to an effort to secure, control and reopen the al-Bukamal border crossing at Qaim, the only Syrian-Iraqi border crossing under Iranian control, to solidify its influence in the Levant and mitigate the impact of US sanctions. It remains to be seen, however, whether …

PayvandNews – It didn’t require a crystal ball to predict that some false-flag incident might escalate tensions in the current display of hostilities between Iran and the United States or its regional allies. That was why in the final paragraph in my previous article I cautioned Iran to “…create closer dialog with the Arab counterparts to watch out for deliberate accidents that might …

PayvandNews – The current crisis atmosphere in U.S.-Iranian relations, in which the risk of open warfare appears greater than it has been in years, is solely and unequivocally due to the policies and actions of the Trump administration. To point this out does not mean that actions of the Iranian regime have not come to be part of the crisis …

Radiofarda – The commander of Iran’s extraterritorial military operations recently met with different Iraqi Shiite militias, telling them to “prepare for proxy war”, according to a report by The Guardian. Qassem Soleimani, Qods force met with all leaders of militias controlled by Iran three weeks ago, two senior unnamed intelligence officials are quoted as saying, and this heightened concern among U.S. …

Radiofarda – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says there is “no possibility” of talks with the United States to reduce spiraling tensions.Zarif’s remarks on May 16 came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was confident that Tehran will “soon” seek to negotiate with Washington.Trump’s remarks follow comments he made on May 9 when he said he …