Social and Political

RFL/RE – Pakistani warplanes launched air strikes early on January 18 on alleged militant targets in neighboring Iran, an attack that Tehran said left at least nine people dead, including four children and three women. Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi told reporters that none of the people killed were Iranian. The strikes in Sistan-Baluchestan Province came after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps …

Al-Arabia – The Biden administration is expected to designate Yemen’s Houthis as a terror group this week, less than three years after reversing a Trump-era decision to add the Iran-backed group, according to sources familiar with the decision. Some US officials had been lobbying against the move out of fear that the progress made in reaching a fragile ceasefire between warring parties …

iranintl – The American physicist and nuclear expert, David Albright, has issued a shocking new report that Iran needs roughly a week to develop uranium for its first atomic weapon. Albright, the founder and president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, DC, wrote “The unfortunate reality is that Iran already knows how to build nuclear weapons, …

iranintl – In less than one day, Iran’s IRGC has launched missile strikes on three neighboring countries, claiming ‘revenge’ for civilians and troops killed in the past few weeks. Having hit several locations in Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan Monday, IRGC missiles and drones targeted Pakistan Tuesday, in an operation that Iran said was against the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl. Pakistan called …

iranintl – In spite of Iranian denials, the Australian government admits it is “concerned” by Iran’s ongoing espionage activities. A spokeswoman for Australia’s Home Affairs Department told Iran International: “Last year, the Australian Government made it clear that it is concerned by reports of harassment and monitoring of people in Australia by foreign governments, including Iran.” Earlier this month, The Australian …

Iranwire – In less than 24 hours, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) conducted missile attacks in three countries: Pakistan, Iraq and Syria.  While the Damascus government, which has close relations with the Islamic Republic, did not condemn the attack on Syrian soil, both Iraq and Pakistan strongly denounced the strikes as violations of their sovereignty.  Why did the Islamic Republic launch such attacks, …

Iranwire – Pakistan says it has recalled its ambassador from Iran after an Iranian air strike killed two children in the country’s southwest. Pakistan will also not allow Iran’s ambassador in Islamabad, who is visiting his home country, to return, Pakistani Foreign Office spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement on January 17. “Last night’s unprovoked and blatant breach …

Iranwire – Four individuals accused of involvement in the killing of renowned Iranian cinematographer Dariush Mehrjui and his wife Vahideh Mohammadifar went on trial on January 17. The session at the First Branch of Alborz Criminal Court was open to the public, but journalists were not allowed to attend. Manoush Manouchehri, the lawyer of Mehrjui’s family, reportedly requested the death …

RFL/RE – Iran’s Beheshti University has declared that students with disciplinary records won’t be eligible for a program that facilitates access to higher education levels, a move seen as an attempt to silence student protesters from the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement. The prominent state-run school on January 15 announced the move involving the “exceptional talents quota” policy and said it reserves the …

VOA — Pakistan confirmed Tuesday that an Iranian cross-border attack had killed two “innocent children” in its southwestern Baluchistan province and warned Iran of “serious consequences.”The statement came just hours after Iran said it struck strongholds of a Sunni armed group, Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice), allegedly sheltering on the Pakistani side of the nearly 900-kilometer border between the two …