Tag: iran

Retired Gen. David Petraeus told Congress on Wednesday that the US shouldn’t take the existing international order for granted. The former CIA director told the House Armed Services Committee that the post-World War II world order had begun to face an “unprecedented threat from multiple directions.” “Americans should not take the current international order for […]

Michael Flynn, national security advisor for President Trump, made a statement Wednesday regarding Iran’s recent ballistic missile test, as well as attacks on Saudi naval vessels in the Red Sea. According to Flynn, these acts demonstrate Iran’s continued efforts to increase its aggressive influence within the Arab world. “Recent Iranian actions, including a provocative ballistic missile […]

On Monday, suspicious footage emerged appearing to show an explosion of some sort rocking a Saudi frigate off the coast of Yemen. Initially, Iranian media reported that the Saudi frigate had been hit by an anti-ship missile, much like the kind Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen had fired in October at an Emirati ship and several US […]

The US’s new ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, on Tuesday slammed Iran for testing a long-range ballistic missile on Sunday, calling the act unacceptable and a violation of Iran’s nuclear accord with world powers. “I will tell the people across the world that is something you should be alarmed about,” Haley told reporters […]

Iran on Sunday carried out a test launch of a medium-range ballistic missile that exploded after 630 miles (1,010 km), a U.S. official said on Monday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the test was carried out from a site near Semnan, east of Tehran. The official added that the last time this […]

As another prong in President Donald Trump’s efforts regarding refugees from war-torn nations, he and Saudi Arabian King Salman spoke on the phone earlier this week regarding the establishment of “safe zones” in places like Syria and Yemen. These safe zones, once established, would provide people who would otherwise become refugees with a safe area to […]

Peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition in Kazakhstan were a coup for their international sponsors, but exposed the limits of what Russia, Turkey and Iran can achieve in their efforts to resolve the six-year-old war. It was the first time in nine months the two sides had come together, albeit briefly and unhappily, […]

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – a charity worker accused of security offences – was detained while trying to leave the country with her baby daughter after visiting relatives in April 2016. Her family denies she broke any laws. Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, who is from London, said his wife’s detention was a “stain” on Iran. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, […]

Russia and Turkey, which for years have backed opposing sides in Syria’s civil war, say they will work to map the outlines of a peace agreement during negotiations this week, the first major test of whether the powers’ newfound cooperation can achieve a breakthrough to end the conflict. The Trump administration has said it won’t […]

A letter from a young woman to her fallen husband, a pro-Assad fighter in Syria, was recently published in Tasnim News, one of Iran’s most prominent news agencies affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). “This shrine [the Zaynab shrine] is sacred … I am worried about people who throw stones at it and so […]

According to various sources, at least seventy five people were killed on Thursday morning when a commercial high rise building collapsed due to fire. Among those killed were at least 50 firefighters responding to the call.  The building collapsed onto them as they attempted to fight the flames. Emergency services, including at least ten fire […]

Russia has invited the incoming Trump administration to Syrian peace talks it is sponsoring later this month with Turkey and Iran, part of a process from which the Obama administration pointedly has been excluded. U.S. participation, especially if an agreement is reached, would be the first indication of the enhanced U.S.-Russia cooperation that President Vladi­mir […]