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RFL/RE – Mehdi Karrubi, a top Iranian opposition leader who has been under house arrest for nearly six years, has resigned as secretary-general of his party. Karrubi wrote in a letter to the National Trust party that his resignation is an effort to preserve unity ahead of the May presidential election. “Considering my situation since [2011] and given that I …

RFL/RE – Iran’s currency fell to an unofficial record low against the U.S. dollar on December 26, extending a dramatic drop in the rial’s value in recent months that has prompted concerns about the country’s economy. The street value of the rial reportedly hit 41,500 to the dollar on December 26, compared to 35,570 in September and beating the previous …

RFL/RE – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev said he is ready to host talks between Russia, Iran, and Turkey on the conflict in Syria in the Kazakh capital of Astana. “Kazakhstan is ready to host all sides for talks in Astana,” Nazarbaev said on December 26 during a visit to St. Petersburg where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kazakh …

Al-Arabia – Iran has killed hundreds of thousands of birds in recent weeks as avian flu spreads across seven provinces of the country, officials have reported. More than 1,000 wild birds, mostly geese, have been found dead in the Mighan wetland in central Iran, the environmental protection organization told state news agency IRNA on Monday. IRNA said 63,000 chickens, along …

Al-Arabia – Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, has hailed the ‘victory’ in Syria’s Aleppo claiming that the city represents a frontline for ‘Islamic revolution’ in his country. According to him, Iranian authorities view the evacuation of citizens from Aleppo and the destruction of the city as “victory”. Jafari also said that Tehran …