Social and Political

alarabiya – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the killing of Tehran’s national security chief Ali Larijani was part of efforts to give Iranians a chance to remove their rulers. “This morning we eliminated Ali Larijani, the boss of the Revolutionary Guards, which is the gang of gangsters that actually runs Iran,” Netanyahu said in a televised statement. He …

alarabiya – Iran’s new supreme leader has rejected de-escalation proposals conveyed to Tehran by intermediaries, demanding Israel and the United States first be “brought to their knees,” a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday. Mojtaba Khamenei had held his first foreign policy session since being named supreme leader, and had taken a stance for revenge against the US and Israel …

alarabiya – Oil tankers are crossing the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s actions to choke traffic through the shipping route have not hurt the US economy, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told CNBC on Tuesday, reiterating the Trump administration’s position that the war should be over in weeks, not months. “Already you’re seeing tankers are starting to dribble through …

alarabiya – President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday France would never take part in operations to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, pushing back on comments by US President Donald Trump that Paris was willing to help. Trump, speaking at a White House event on Monday, said he had spoken to Macron, giving him an “8 out of 10” score on …

iranintl – Daniel Levinson, son of retired FBI agent Robert Levinson who vanished in Iran over 19 years ago, says the US‑Israeli strikes could bring long‑delayed justice to his family and strengthen the fight for freedom against Tehran’s oppressive regime. Few Americans have been more entangled with the secretive world of Iran’s intelligence operations than the Levinson family. Robert Levinson, …

Iranwire – On the 18th day of the war between the U.S./Israel and Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Khorasan Province announced the arrest of ten individuals on charges of “espionage.” On Tuesday, March 17, as cities like Tehran, Tabriz, and Shiraz continue to face Israeli strikes, the IRGC reported the detention of several citizens. According to the …

Iranwire – On the 18th day of the war in Iran, the Israeli army announced that Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Organization for the Mobilization of the Oppressed (Basij), was killed in military strikes. Early on Tuesday, March 17, Eyal Zamir, Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, said that “significant achievements” were made during the strikes carried out on …

Iranwire – According to a report by Reuters, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has categorized the detention of Kamran Hikmati, a Jewish Iranian-American dual citizen, among “unjust detentions.” Kamran Hikmati, a jewelry store owner, was arrested last year. It is reported that the Islamic Republic is holding him in Evin Prison. The charge against this dual-national citizen is cited …

RFL/RE – Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has claimed that Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, was killed in a wave of air strikes on Tehran that also took the lives of other senior Iranian officials. There was no evidence presented to back up the claim, which if confirmed would represent the highest-profile assassination since the killing of Iran’s supreme leader …

gatestoneinstitute.org – Unlike Venezuela’s military elite, whose loyalty ultimately depends on financial incentives, Iran’s security apparatus has always viewed itself as the armed guardian of a sacred Islamic revolutionary mission. Iran, however, represents a fundamentally different political organism. Confusing the two systems could produce disastrous strategic errors. The Islamic Republic of Iran is not merely an authoritarian government cloaked in …