Social and Political

iranintl – The Pentagon has denied media reports that the Biden administration may be considering a full withdrawal of American troops from Syria in 2024. A report in Foreign Policy Wednesday suggested that “the White House is no longer invested in sustaining a mission that it perceives as unnecessary,” quoting “four sources within the Defense and State departments”. But a Pentagon …

Iranwire – Iran’s former Justice Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi has been disqualified from running in the upcoming election for the Assembly of Experts, a chamber of theologians that appoints the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader and oversees his work. The Borna news agency reported the news on January 25, a day after former President Hassan Rouhani was barred from standing again in the March …

Iranwire – The United States is offering up to $15 million for information regarding Hossein Hatefi Ardakani, an Iranian businessman alleged to have helped acquire technology for the Islamic Republic of Iran’s weapons programs. “Since 2014, Ardakani has used his network of intermediary companies, including Malaysia- and Hong Kong-based front companies and UAE logistics businesses, to procure and to facilitate …

VOA – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he and Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi agreed at a meeting on Wednesday on the need to avoid steps that could further threaten Middle East stability three months into the Gaza war. Turkey, which supports a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has harshly criticized Israel for its attacks on Gaza, called …

VOA – Iran said Wednesday it is willing to help coup-hit Niger overcome international sanctions as Tehran seeks to reduce its isolation by bolstering ties with African countries. Iran’s first vice-president, Mohammad Mokhber, said his country condemns “the cruel sanctions that are imposed by the domination system,” in a meeting with Niger’s Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine. “We will …

iranintl – Pakistani lawmaker Mushahid Hussain Syed has suggested Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ cross-border airstrikes might have occurred without government knowledge.  Senator Hussain Syed, head of Pakistan’s Defense Committee, told Iran International that the attack seemed like a “deep state operation” to save face following a series of recent security breaches, the latest of which was twin blasts on the death anniversary of IRGC-Quds Force former …

Iranwire – Former President Hassan Rouhani has been banned from standing again in an election in March for the Assembly of Experts, a chamber of theologians that appoints the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader and oversees his work, state media reported on January 24. Rouhani’s official website cited an unidentified official at the Guardian Council, a body that vets candidates in …

VOA – The United States hit Iranian-backed targets in Iraq and Yemen in a span of about two hours early Wednesday morning, striking a militant headquarters in Iraq and knocking out more missiles in Yemen that were ready to launch into international shipping lanes, according to the U.S. military. U.S. military aircraft hit the Iranian-backed proxies in Iraq just after …

VOA – Five people on Tuesday illegally entered the premises of Iran’s embassy on the outskirts of Stockholm during a protest, Swedish police said in a statement. The people were later removed from the area. It was not immediately clear whether any of the five had entered the embassy building itself, a police spokesperson told news agency TT. Stockholm and …

gatestoneinstitute.org – History has the form of a double helix: history is indeed the DNA of living memory. There is what actually happened and there is what people believe happened. They are not the same but they are inseparable…. Hamas had told Israel that it intended to focus on helping its people in Gaza and that it did not want war. Israel, to …