Social and Political

Radiofarda – U.S. officials on Thursday announced it has sanctioned a Lebanese network accused of laundering millions of dollars for “drug kingpins” and helping finance Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shiite movement that Washington labels a terrorist organization. The US Treasury Department said it has added Lebanese national Kassem Chams to its blacklist, along with two related entities: the “Chams Money Laundering …

Radiofarda – With a coup in Sudan, the Islamic republic lost one of its erstwhile allies in the Muslim world on Thursday, April 11. Sudan’s army announced it has seized power after months of protest demonstrations in that country. The army also broke the news of Omar al-Bashir’s arrest on Thursday. The Sudanese army also announced that it will hold …

Radiofarda – As one of the biggest corruption trials in Iran’s history continues, the legal counsel to the prime suspect maintains that his client assisted the Islamic Republic in profiting from exporting petrochemicals, which was banned by UN sanctions. The third court session in a large corruption case in Iran was held on Wednesday, April 10, 2019. The prime suspect …

Al-Monitor – Given that Iran’s alliance with Sudan came to an abrupt end in 2016, Iranian officials have opted for a diplomatic silence when it came to protests in the country over the last four months. However, among Iranian journalists and on social media, there has been a spectrum of reactions to the Sudanese military’s announcement that President Omar al-Bashir, …

Al-Monitor – While rotations and replacements of diplomats and ambassadors are usually routine administrative procedures, they sometimes can signify important policy shifts. The latter may be the case in Iran, where the country’s Foreign Ministry has in the past four months been replacing several heads of mission and representatives abroad. Tensions between Iran and the United States have in particular …

gatestoneinstitute – “The Yemeni revolution will not be confined to Yemen alone. It will extend, following its success, into Saudi territories.” — Iranian Lawmaker Ali Reza Zakani, trusted adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “If the Shia rebels gain control of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Iran can attain a foothold in this sensitive region giving access to the …

Radiofarda – Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio has once again defended eight Iranian environmentalists who have been in detention for more than a year, charged with vague accusations. Last February, DiCaprio called for international support and circulated a petition for the release of the Iranian environmentalists who were arrested by the intelligence organization of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, IRGC. In …

PayvandNews – Recent severe flooding damaged 110,000 houses in provinces of Lorestan, Golestan and Mazandaran, ISNA reported on Wednesday. Following heavy rainfalls in the country particularly in provinces of Golestan, Mazandaran, Lorestan, and Khuzestan as well as other provinces in western, southwestern, and northeastern Iran severe flood struck many cities and villages. Aftermath of floods in Pol-e Dokhtar, Iran’s Lorestan …

Radiofarda – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has threatened the U.S. with unveiling more advanced centrifuges after Washington designated Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a “terrorist organization”. Speaking on April 9 at the ceremony for 13th National Day of Nuclear Technology in Iran, Rouhani addressed Washington, saying, “You were afraid of IR1 centrifuges, today we unveiled IR6, and if …

Radiofarda – Washington has stepped up the rhetoric against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, calling his Russia-backed government a threat to the United States and urging the world to recognize his opponent as the legitimate ruler of the oil-rich South American country. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on April 10 said the increased involvement of Russia, Iran, and Cuba in Venezuela …