Page 24 - Iran

Mike Waltz expert on threats posed by China, Russia, and Iran: Trump

US President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said his NSA pick Mike Waltz brings with him expertise on the threats posed by China, Russia, Iran, and global terrorism. "I am honoured to announce that Congressman Mike Waltz (R-FL) is hereby appointed to serve in my Cabinet as my National Security Advisor," Trump said declaring the appointment. "Mike retired as a Colonel, and is a nationally recognised leader in national security, a bestselling author, and an expert on the threats posed by China, Russia, Iran, and global terrorism," he said. "Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda, and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!" he said. Waltz serves as a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He represents Florida's Sixth Congressional District. "Mike is the first Green Beret to have been elected to Congress, and .

Iran obsesses over destroying Israel instead of building itself: Netanyahu

Netanyahu criticised Iran's recent ballistic missile attack on Israel, which cost Iran approximately $2.3 billion

Trump ramps up support for Israel, pressure on Iran with top job picks

Promising he could put a stop to the region's warfare, Trump cast the Biden-Harris administration as demented warmongers and said his election would mean peace in the world again

Militant attack on Pakistani border leaves 5 Iranian security forces dead

A militant attack near the Pakistani border with Iran left five Iranian forces dead, the state-run IRNA news agency reported on Sunday. The report said the dead were ethnic Baluch members of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard's volunteer Basij force and were killed in Saravan city in Sistan and Baluchistan province. Saravan is some 1,400 km (870 miles) southeast of the capital Tehran. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Earlier in the day, state TV reported that Revolutionary Guard forces killed three terrorists and arrested nine others in a military operation. The report did not specify which group the suspects belonged to. Last month, unknown gunmen killed four people, including the chief of the Revolutionary Guard in the province. In September, gunmen killed four border guards in Sistan and Baluchistan province in two separate attacks. The militant group Jaish al-Adl, which seeks greater rights for the ethnic Baluch minority, claimed responsibility for

Soldier with Yemen's exiled govt opens fire on Saudi troops killing two men

A soldier for Yemen's exiled government opened fire on Saudi troops as they exercised in eastern Yemen, killing two of them and wounding another in a rare insider attack during the kingdom's nearly decadelong war there, officials said Saturday. The assault in eastern Hadramawt province comes as a yearslong cease-fire between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthi rebels largely has held despite the militants' ongoing attacks against shipping in the Red Sea corridor. While the Houthis did not claim the attack, at least one Houthi official praised it as being the beginning and an indication of a harsh future awaiting the invaders. Meanwhile, US warplanes carried out new strikes targeting Houthi positions that lasted into early Sunday morning, the American military said. The strikes come after the militants likely shot down yet-another American reconnaissance drone over the country. The attack on the Saudi troops took place Friday night in Seiyun, a city some 500 kilometers (310 miles) east o

News updates: Had Cong given priority to rural India, we would have less poverty, says Nitin Gadkari

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US charges Iranian citizen over alleged pre-election plot to kill Trump

The Justice Department has charged an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates

FBI thwarts Iranian plot to assassinate Donald Trump; 3 people charged

The FBI thwarted an Iranian plot to assassinate Donald Trump, the Department of Justice said on Friday as it charged an Iranian national and arrested two American citizens for involvement in a plot to murder the Republican president-elect. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) charged Farhad Shakeri, 51, an asset of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who is believed to reside in Iran. Two individuals, Carlisle Rivera, 49, and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, were arrested from Brooklyn and Staten Island in New York on Thursday. According to statements made by Shakeri in recorded interviews, he was tasked by the Iranian regime on October 7 to devise a plan to kill Trump, who was re-elected as the president of the US earlier this week. However, Shakeri claimed he did not intend to carry out the plan within the deadline set by the IRGC. Shakeri, who was deported to Iran in 2008 after serving 14 years in prison for a robbery conviction, said he was also instructed to surveil two

Iran's currency falls to all-time low as Donald Trump claims US presidency

Iran's currency, the rial, fell on Wednesday to an all-time low as former President Donald Trump was on the verge of clinching the US presidency again. The rial traded at 703,000 rials to the dollar. In 2015, at the time of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, it was at 32,000 to USD 1. On July 30, the day that Iran's reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian was sworn in and started his term, the rate was 584,000 to USD 1. Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord in 2018, sparking years of tensions between the countries that persist today. The slide comes as Iran's economy has struggled for years under crippling international sanctions over its rapidly advancing nuclear program, which now enriches uranium at near weapons-grade levels. Pezeshkian, elected after a helicopter crash killed hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi in May, came to power on a promise to reach a deal to ease Western sanctions. However, Iran's government has for weeks been trying to downplay the effect

Red Cross launches international emergency appeal urging aid for Lebanon

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on Tuesday launched an international emergency appeal asking donors to provide resources for Lebanon during the Israel-Hezbollah war. IFRC also called on all parties to protect paramedics in the conflict that has left thousands of people dead and wounded, many of them over the past six weeks. Jagan Chapagain, the secretary-general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told The Associated Press in Beirut that needs are just growing so fast. He met with officials and toured shelters housing people displaced by the conflict. The IFRC said its emergency appeal for 100 million Swiss Francs (USD 115.8 million) is aimed at helping Lebanon and the Lebanese Red Cross through the ongoing conflict. The 13-month war between Israel and Hezbollah has killed more than 3,000 people, wounded over 13,000 in Lebanon. Hundreds of thousands of the displaced are staying in shelters around the small ..

Iran's foreign minister visits Pakistan to discuss Middle East tensions

Iran's foreign minister arrived in Pakistan's capital Tuesday for a two-day official visit to discuss a range of issues, including tensions in the Middle East and further improving bilateral ties, officials said Tuesday. Abbas Araghchi was received by Pakistani officials just after midnight when his plane landed at an airport near Islamabad. He will meet with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and other officials at the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday. The visit comes as Iran is in an escalating standoff with Israel. Iranian officials are increasingly threatening to launch yet another strike against Israel after its Oct. 26 attack on the Islamic Republic that targeted military bases and other locations and killed at least five people. Pakistan denounced Israel's strikes at the time. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the visit also provides an important opportunity to advance cooperation and dialogue between Pakistan and Iran on a wide rang

Russian rocket launches Iranian satellites as Moscow, Tehran expand ties

A Russian rocket on Tuesday blasted off successfully to carry a pair of Iranian satellites into orbit, a launch that reflected growing cooperation between Moscow and Tehran. The Soyuz rocket lifted off as scheduled from Vostochny launchpad in far eastern Russia and put its payload into a designated orbit nine minutes after the launch. It was carrying two Russian Ionosphere-M Earth observation satellites and several dozen smaller satellites, including the two Iranian ones. Iran's two satellites, named Kowsar and Hodhod, were the first launched on behalf of the country's private sector. In 2022, a Russian rocket launched an Iranian Earth observation satellite that was built in Russia on Tehran's order. Tuesday's launch comes as Russia and Iran have expanded ties in various spheres. Ukraine and the West have accused Tehran of providing Moscow with hundreds of exploding drones for use on the battlefield in Ukraine and helped launch their production in Russia. The Iranian drone deliveri

Stripped of freedom: Iranian woman's hijab protest shakes regime

A young woman's defiant protest at Tehran's Islamic Azad University has reignited global attention on Iran's compulsory veiling laws and the broader fight for personal freedoms

Iran's help transformed Houthis into potent military force: UN experts

Yemen's Houthi rebels have been transformed from a local armed group with limited capabilities to a powerful military organisation with support from Iran, Iraqi armed groups, Lebanon's Hezbollah militants and others, UN experts said in a new report. The Iranian-backed Houthis have exploited the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and worked to enhance their status in Iran's self-described Axis of Resistance to gain popularity in the region and beyond, the experts monitoring sanctions against the Houthis said in the 537-page report to the UN Security Council. To support Iranian-backed Hamas militants, whose surprise attacks in southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, sparked the war in Gaza, the Houthis have been attacking vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, disrupting global shipping in a key geopolitical area. Despite Houthi claims that they would target ships linked to Israel, the panel said its investigations revealed the rebels have been targeting vessels indiscriminately. Its analysis of

Oil climbs more than 2% on reports of Iran preparing strike on Israel

Israeli intelligence suggested that Iran is preparing to attack Israel with a large number of drones and ballistic missiles

After execution of a German-Iranian, Germany closes 3 Iranian Consulates

Germany ordered the closure of all three Iranian consulates in the country on Thursday in response to the execution of Iranian German prisoner Jamshid Sharmahd, who lived in the United States and was kidnapped in Dubai in 2020 by Iranian security forces. Sharmahd, 69, was put to death in Iran on Monday on terrorism charges, the Iranian judiciary said. That followed a 2023 trial that Germany, the US and international rights groups dismissed as a sham. The decision to close the Iranian consulates in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich, announced by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, leaves the Islamic Republic with only its embassy in Berlin.

The Siege: Ben Macintyre's book recalls a forgotten Iranian hostage crisis

Mr Macintyre's original aim in writing this book was to showcase the brilliance of the SAS in post-war action

What is happening to oil prices amidst Israel-Iran conflict?

Oil prices fell over 4% on October 28 after Israel carried out targeted retaliatory strikes on Iran over the weekend. Watch the video to know more.

Israel, Iran playing dangerous game that will be impossible to contain

Though Tehran has played down the extent of the damage, the Iranian regime has not ruled out a response

Netanyahu says Israel hit Iran hard; Khamenei says don't overstate damage

With warfare raging in Gaza and Lebanon, direct confrontation between Israel and Iran risks spiralling into a regional conflagration