Social and Political

Radiofarda – Lithuania on Thursday designated the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group as a terrorist organization and issued a 10-year ban on all individuals related to the Iran-backed group from entering the Baltic nation’s territory. “After receiving valuable information from our foreign partners, we can assume that Hezbollah is functioning on the principles of terrorist organization,” Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said. …

Al-Arabia – Lebanese President Michel Aoun said last week that an international investigation into the deadly Beirut explosions would undermine his country’s sovereignty and would cover up the truth. However, one day earlier, Aoun asked his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron for satellite images of the Port of Beirut. Now, the current government – made up of Aoun’s party, Hezbollah and …

VOA – One of the Iranian lawyers representing a minority Kurdish political prisoner facing execution in Iran has reportedly asked for a retrial to overturn the man’s death sentence, which supporters say was unjustly based on forced confessions. In a Tuesday interview with VOA Persian, a source with knowledge of the situation said the lawyer submitted the request for a …

VOA – Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to establish full diplomatic ties as part of a U.S.-brokered deal, President Donald Trump announced Thursday. Trump is calling the agreement the “Abraham Accord” after the father of three monotheistic religions founded in the Middle East — Christianity, Islam and Judaism. It is only the third peace deal Israel has …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A prisoner sentenced to qisas (retribution in-kind) for murder was executed at Yazd Central Prison. According to Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Yazd Central Prison on Wednesday, August 12. His identity has been established as Mojtaba Tutunchi. An informed source told IHR: “Mojtaba was arrested over a fight where his brother in …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s navy temporarily seized control of a Liberian-flagged oil tanker in what the United States said were international waters near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday. The US-led maritime security coalition in the Gulf released photos of Iran forces fast-roping to the deck of the ship, known as the MT Wila, from what appears to be an Iranian Sikorsky SH-3 …

Radiofarda – The Iranian capital of Tehran will remain on partial lockdown for an additional week, the city’s Coronavirus Combat Taskforce announced on Thursday, following the reinstatement of COVID-19 restrictions on July 23 after a surge in cases impacted the city. Dr. Alireza Zali, Commander of the Coronavirus Taskforce of Tehran, confirmed that 534 COVID-19 patients were admitted to Tehran …

Radiofarda – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking about the contentious Belarusian presidential election and the ensuing police crackdown against peaceful protesters, says that “we want good outcomes for the Belarusian people, and we’ll take actions consistent with that.” Pompeo, who earlier condemned the conduct of the election that handed authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka a sixth-straight term by a …

Radiofarda – Coronavirus’ contamination power has increased by three to nine times in Iran, Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi said on Tuesday, August 11. Speaking in a program of the state-run television, Harirchi said the coronavirus is a complex virus and “has even become more complex [due to mutations] now”. “In addition to complexity, its contamination rate has increased by …

The Iranian Navy has boarded and briefly seized a Liberian-flagged oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) says, amid heightened tensions between Tehran and the United States. CENTCOM published a black-and-white video on August 13 showing what appeared to be special forces fast-roping down from a helicopter onto the MV Wila, whose last position …