Iranwire – Controversial Iranian singer Amirhossein Maqsoodlou, better known as Amir Tataloo, has admitted to engaging in “anti-cultural and obscene” activities online, according to semi-official media. Authorities in Türkiye apprehended the tattoo-covered artist on December 2 following a complaint filed by the Iranian authorities, and handed him over to the Islamic Republic’s police on December 6, media outlets reported at …
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Iranian Soldier Kills 5 Comrades Where IS Attack Killed Dozens
VOA – An Iranian soldier opened fire on fellow soldiers Sunday, killing five of them in the southeastern city of Kerman, where 94 people were killed in a bombing attack earlier this month, Iranian state TV reported. State TV said the shooting happened when the soldier arrived at a barracks dormitory and opened fire on the resting soldiers. It said …
Read More »Analysts: Assassination Plot Shows Extremes Iran Employs to Target Critics
VOA – A thwarted Iranian plot to assassinate two journalists working for a Persian TV network in London has renewed focus on the ways hostile governments try to target critics outside their jurisdiction. Details of the plot, uncovered by the British news outlet ITV News late last year, included a plan to kill the journalists Sima Sabet and Fardad Farahzad. …
Read More »US weighs stepping up fight against Houthis as Red Sea shipping chaos drags on
Al-Arabia – The US and the UK are exploring ways to step up their campaign against Houthi militants in Yemen without provoking a broader war, with a focus on targeting Iranian resupplies and launching more aggressive pre-emptive strikes, people familiar with the matter said. The proposals could mark an escalation in the allied effort to end the chaos in the Red Sea, which …
Read More »Iran Satellite Launch Raises Concern Over Missile Program
iranintl – Iran announced Saturday a ‘new record’ satellite launch as part of its space program that many fear could be a cover for the regime to expand it ballistic missile program. Official Iranian news agencies published images of a rocket blasting off, claiming that it carried and placed a homemade satellite to an orbit 750 kilometers above earth. The …
Read More »Governor And Ex-IRGC Commander Dies Of Respiratory Illness
iranintl – A senior IRGC officer and the governor of Iran’s East Azarbaijan province died on Saturday due to what officials said was a “respiratory and pulmonary illness.” Zeinolabedin Khorram-Razavi, a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, gained prominence when he and 47 others were abducted by opponents of the Syrian regime in July 2012 during the early years of …
Read More »Iran’s Reform Front Is Almost Out Of Electoral Competition
iranintl – Less than 45 days before Iran’s parliamentary elections, it appears that only a small segment of the reform camp is likely to take part in the restricted competition. The interior ministry and the Guardian Council that vet candidates, have disqualified almost all so-called reformist and moderate candidates, paving the way for ultraconservatives to win a majority. The left …
Read More »Iran And Hezbollah Help Direct Houthi Attacks In Red Sea
iranintl – Commanders from Iran’s IRGC and Lebanon’s Hezbollah are in Yemen helping to direct Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, regional and Iranian sources told Reuters. Iran – which has armed, trained and funded the Houthis – stepped up its weapons supplies to the militia in the wake of the war in Gaza, which erupted after Iranian-backed Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, …
Read More »U.S. Blames Iran-Backed Militants For Attack On Iraq Base, Tehran Accuses Israel Of Killing IRGC Officers In Syria
RFL/RE – As heightened tensions in the Middle East lead to concerns of a broader regional conflict, the United States has blamed Iran-backed militants for an attack on a U.S. military base in Iraq, while Iran accused Israel of killing members of the Iranian military in Syria in an incident Tehran says will not go unanswered. U.S. Central Command, or …
Read More »Iran: Talk Big but Wave a Small Stick
gatestoneinstitute.org – Tehran needed TV clips to show that its pawns in the region are moving — without, however, provoking a major Israeli or American retaliation. The fact that ISIS was able to launch a carnage operation in the middle of a solemn official memorial ceremony for Soleimani who “wiped ISIS off the face of the earth,” led to suspicions …
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