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Al-monitor – Ali Hashem writes, “The war for the Syrian Desert is in fact a war for the heart of the Middle East. The Iranian-led coalition in Syria is racing against the US-backed forces there, as both seek to defeat the Islamic State (IS), the group that has shaped the face of the region for the last four years. It is a war in …

RFL/RE – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says Qatar is reviewing demands by neighboring nations to end a diplomatic dispute that erupted earlier this month. “Qatar has begun its careful review and consideration of a series of requests presented by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and U.A.E,” Tillerson said in a statement issued on June 25. The United Arab Emirates, …

Al-Arabia – The director of the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency has said that Iran is the world’s largest supporter of terrorism, and that there is cause to worry as its “influence has expanded considerably in recent years”. CIA Director Mike Pompeo’s came during an appearance on MSNBC in which he also at US national security is being threatened by …

RFL/RE – Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities to take part in state-sponsored anti-Israeli rallies marking the annual Quds Day, state media report. Some protesters set Israeli and U.S. flags on fire, reports said on June 23, while others chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.” The demonstrators also …

CHRI – Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s recent declaration that security forces should “fire at will” against presumed enemies of the state is an established policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). “Iran’s leader spoke about firing at will only recently, but as a matter of fact, …

RFL/RE – Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran — already running high — could worsen with King Salman’s designation of his aggressive and ambitious son, Muhammad bin Salman, as the next ruler, analysts say. The crown prince said last month on Saudi TV that he was not open to trying to improve relations with Tehran, which he accused of trying …

RFL/RE – Pakistani officials say an air force jet has shot down an unmanned Iranian drone that was “deep inside the Pakistani airspace.” Pakistani media quoted two unnamed officials on June 20 as saying the unmanned aircraft was shot down in the Panjgur district of southwestern Balochistan Province over the weekend. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they …

RFL/RE – Iran has fired missiles into eastern Syria targeting the Islamic State (IS) militant group which claimed the attack on the Iranian parliament and a shrine in Tehran. The powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) military organization said in a statement on June 18 that it launched mid-range ground-to-ground missiles from western Iran into the Deir al-Zour region of …

RFL/RE  – Iranian forces have killed two suspected members of an armed Sunni Muslim group in southeastern Iran and arrested five others, a minister said, accusing Saudi Arabia of “sponsoring terrorists” in the country. “A group of seven terrorists who wanted to attack a barracks in Chabahar (in Sistan Baluchistan province) was dismantled,”Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi said late on June …

RFL/RE – Iranian media are reporting that police have killed four gunmen linked to the extremist group Islamic State (IS). Azizollah Maleki, the police chief in the southern province of Hormozgan, was quoted as saying on June 12 that his forces killed the “armed terrorists” the day before in a shoot-out near the southern town of Roudan. Maleki said that …