Social and Political

Radiofarda – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has called on the regular army and the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) March 26 to help clear flood waters from cities, inundated by days of heavy rains. He asked the armed forces to deploy their engineering know-how and resources and help other agencies in getting rid of exisiting flood waters in cities. While …

Radiofarda – Iran’s Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri has announced that heavy rains are expected in the capital and “tonight we must protect Tehran with all our existence”. At a meeting of Emergency Management Staff in the evening of March 25, Jahangiri said that weather forecast services have predicted strong rain in Tehran and he added it is better to prepare …

Radiofarda – The U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo has once again sent a message greeting the new Iranian Year (beginning March 21) to all the people who celebrate Nowruz (literally the New Day) across the world. In the message published by the State Department’s official website, Pompeo says, “I would like to wish a Happy Nowruz to the people …

Radiofarda – U.S. President Donald Trump has recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights — the rocky plateau that Israeli forces seized from Syria in the closing stages of the 1967 Six-Day War. Syria also tried to retake the Golan Heights from Israeli forces during the 1973 Middle East war, but the surprise assault was repelled. Signing a formal …

Radiofarda – In his first new year speech on March 21, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described U.S. leaders as “top idiots”, called Western diplomats “savages,” labelled Europeans as “traitors” and “back-stabbers”. He also denounced Saudi Arabia as “the worst state” in the world. He also called on the Iranian people to bear the cost of sanctions, adding that …

Iran-HRM – Flash floods across much of Iran have killed at least 17 people and injured 74, Iranian state TV reported on Monday. National Emergency Service chief Pirhossein Koolivand said the casualty toll in the southern city of Shiraz was 17 dead and 74 injured, while another person was killed in Sarpol-e Zahab in the western province of Kermanshah, the …

VOA – Benny Gantz, who is posing a stiff challenge to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in upcoming elections, said Monday he would not hesitate to use force on Iran to contain the regional rival. Israel’s Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz speaks at AIPAC in Washington, U.S., March 25, 2019. Share In a speech to the US pro-Israel …

VOA – Iranian state media say flash floods killed 20 people in several regions on Monday, as Iranian social media users criticized the nation’s president and local authorities for their handling of the disaster. A spokesman for Iran’s Crisis Management Organization told state news channel IRINN that 25 of the nation’s 31 provinces were hit by Monday’s floods. Iran’s semi-official …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s Meteorological Organization has warned of more floods to come in Iran as a number of provinces have been hit by heavy rain and flooding. The massive scale of the flooding and the number of those impacted has prompted the government to call in the military for disaster response. Fars and Lorestan are the latest provinces hit by floods. In …

Al-Monitor – The cultural adviser to the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) recently raised the idea of a significant reform in the executive structure of the Islamic Republic: the abolition of the presidency and the reinstatement of a prime minister position. Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi said that under such a change, the Iranian parliament would then exercise the authority …