Social and Political

RFL/RE – The chaotic withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan and the lightning collapse of the internationally recognized government in Kabul in August spelled the end of the West’s nearly 20-year foothold in the war-torn country. Now, with the Taliban back in control of Afghanistan, other powers that have fallen out with the West or are considered its …

RFL/RE – At least 10 people have been killed in a road accident in southwestern Iran. The official government news agency IRNA said the accident happened as a truck hit a minibus that was carrying laborers on the road linking the city of Khorramshahr with the city of Ahvaz in Khuzestan Province. Between five and 15 injured people were taken to …

Iran-HRM – Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence has arrested several prominent Kurdish figures for attending the funeral of political prisoner Haidar Ghorbani, who was recently executed in Sanandaj Prison. The Ministry of Intelligence also interrogated dozens of people in the western city of Kamyaran for the same reason. According to the Hengaw Organization, which covers the news of the Kurdish regions of Iran, …

Al-Arabia – A military exercise launched earlier this week by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) was a warning to Israel, the head of the IRGC said on Friday, adding that if Israel takes military action against Tehran, “we will cut off their hands.” “The message of this exercise is a serious and real warning to the threats of the Zionist regime …

RFL/RE – In a sign of thaw in ruptured ties, Saudi Arabia has approved visas for three Iranian diplomats allowing them to take up posts at the headquarters of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the kingdom, Saudi and Iranian officials said. Shi’ite-led Iran and Sunni-controlled Saudi Arabia have held several rounds of talks since April aimed at improving …

RFL/RE – Talks with Iran aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal will resume in Vienna on December 27, European Union coordinator Enrique Mora said. “Vienna talks to resume on Monday 27 December. The JCPOA Joint Commission will meet to discuss and define the way ahead,” Mora wrote on Twitter on December 23, referring to the formal name of the pact …

AL-Arabia- Talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal will resume next Monday, the EU diplomat chairing the negotiations said on Thursday, urging a “picking up of the pace.” Officials have said the deal would become obsolete within weeks if Iran continued to step up its nuclear activities as it has been doing since 2019, a year after the US …

Al-Arabia – Iran is intervening in Iraq to quell destabilizing internal unrest stirred up by Iranian-backed militias. The actions come as Tehran seeks to preserve its deep influence in the country while also navigating tense negotiations over its nuclear ambitions with the US. A particularly high-level intervention came last month, hours after an attack on the Iraqi prime minister’s residence …

RFL/RE – Frustration and skepticism are growing among Iranians as indirect talks between Tehran and the United States aimed at reviving a landmark nuclear deal remain mired in delays and disputes. When Iran and world powers signed the accord in 2015, it triggered euphoric scenes across the Islamic republic. Many Iranians hoped it would spell the end of years of …

RFL/RE – The U.S. Navy says two of its patrol ships seized a cargo of illicit weapons from a stateless fishing vessel encountered in the North Arabian Sea that the navy said originated in Iran. The vessel “transited international waters along a route historically used to traffic weapons unlawfully to the Huthis in Yemen,” the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet said in …