Page 38 - Iran

Iran forces kill Jaish al-Adl militant commander, his companions in Pak

In the latest development, Iran's forces, in an armed clash, attacked a militant group, one month after the two countries conducted air strikes on each other

Iran begins first election campaign since 2022 protests over Amini's death

Candidates for Iran's parliament began campaigning on Thursday in the country's first election since the bloody crackdown on the 2022 nationwide protests that followed the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody. State television said 15,200 candidates will compete for a four-year term in the 290-seat chamber that hardliners have controlled for two decades. That is a record number and more than twice the candidates who contested the 2020 election, when voter turnout was just over 42 per cent, the lowest since 1979. Amini died on September 16, 2022, after her arrest by Iran's morality police for allegedly violating the country's strict headscarf law that forced women to cover their hair and entire bodies. The protests quickly escalated into calls to overthrow Iran's clerical rulers. In the severe crackdown that followed, over 500 people were killed and nearly 20,000 arrested, according to human rights activists in Iran. On Wednesday, the Guardian Council election watchdo

Iran accuses Israel of attack that saw explosions strike gas pipeline

An Israeli sabotage attack on an Iranian natural gas pipeline caused the multiple explosions that struck it a week ago, Iran's oil minister alleged on Wednesday, further raising tensions between the regional archenemies amid Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The comments by Iran's Oil Minister Javad Owji come as Israel has been blamed for a series of attacks targeting Tehran's nuclear programme. The explosion of the gas pipeline was an Israeli plot, Owji said, according to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency. The enemy intended to disturb gas service in the provinces and put people's gas distribution at risk. He added: The evil action and plot by the enemy was properly managed. Owji provided no evidence to support his claims. Israel has not acknowledged carrying out the attack, though it rarely claims its espionage missions abroad. The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a longtime foe of Iran, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The blasts on Febr

Yemen's Houthi rebels fire missiles at ship bound for their supporter Iran

The Star Iris had been heading from Brazil to Bandar Khomeini in Iran, the main backer and armer of the Houthis in Yemen's years-long war

Iran marks 45th anniversary of Islamic Revolution as tensions escalate

Iran marked on Sunday the 45th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution amid tensions gripping the wider Middle East over Israel's continued war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Thousands of Iranians marched through major streets and squares decorated with flags, balloons and banners with revolutionary and religious slogans. In Tehran, crowds waved Iranian flags, chanted slogans, and carried placards with the traditional Death to America and Death to Israel written on them. Some burned US and Israeli flags, a common practice in pro-government rallies. There was a heavy security presence in the major cities across the country. The anniversary came a month after a deadly attack by the extremist Islamic State group in the central city of Kerman that left at least 95 people dead during the commemoration for prominent Iranian general Qassem Soleimani whom the US killed in a 2020 drone strike. Iran has tried to blame the US and Israel for the attack as the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Str

Iran announces visa-waiver for Indian tourists for maximum of 15-day stay

Iran on Tuesday announced a visa-waiver programme for Indians entering the country by air for tourism for a maximum stay of 15 days. The visa-free entry has been rolled out for Indian citizens from February 4 subject to four conditions, the Iranian embassy said. In December, Iran approved a new visa-free programme for India and 32 other countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. The Iranian readout said individuals holding ordinary passports will be allowed to enter the country without a visa once every six months, with a maximum stay of 15 days. "It is important to note that the 15-day period cannot be extended," it said. "The visa abolition only applies to individuals entering the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran for tourism purposes," it said. It said Indians wanting to stay for a longer period or make multiple entries within a six-month period or requiring other types of visas must obtain necessary visas fro

Yemen appoints Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak as country's new Prime Minister

In a surprise move, Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, Yemen's foreign minister, has been appointed as the country's new Prime Minister, according to Al Jazeera

President Joe Biden vows response as Iran denies role in US base attack

The troops were the first Americans to die from a West Asia attack since regional tensions were inflamed by the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza last October

Iran executes 4 convicted of planning sabotage, alleged links with Mossad

Iran executed on Monday four men convicted of planning sabotage and alleged links with Israel's Mossad secret service, state media reported. The official IRNA news agency said the men were convicted of planning to target a factory in 2022 belonging to Iran's defense ministry and involved in missile and defense equipment in the central city of Isfahan. The operation was allegedly engineered by Mossad and the four were trained by the Israeli agency in an African country before entering Iran, it said. The four were identified as Iranian nationals: Mohammad Faramarzi, Mohsen Mazloum, Vafa Azarbar and Pejman Fatehi. The execution was carried out after the country's Supreme Court upheld their death sentences, handed down by another court in September. The report did not say how the death sentences were carried out, but in Iran it's usually by hanging. In 2022, Iran said its intelligence agents had dismantled a group linked to Mossad that had allegedly planned terror operations inside Ira

Proxies can even consume empires that support them. Iran should remember

While it may be tempting to allow militants to operate as long as they are focused on your strategic rival next door, there is no such thing as 'our' terrorists

3 Americans killed in drone attack by Iran-backed militia in Jordan: Biden

Three American service members were killed and many were wounded in a drone strike in Jordan, President Joe Biden said in a statement Sunday. He attributed the attack to Iran-backed militia groups. They were the first US fatalities in months of strikes against American forces across the Middle East by Iranian-backed militias amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, increasing the risk of escalation. Biden said the United States will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner our choosing. There was no immediate reaction from Jordan, a kingdom bordering Iraq, Israel, the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, Saudi Arabia and Syria. US troops long have used Jordan as a basing point. Some 3,000 American troops typically are stationed in Jordan. Since Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip began, US troops in Iraq and Syria have faced drone and missile attacks on their bases. The attack on Jordan marks the first targeting American troops in Jordan during the war. Bi

Iran launches 3 satellites into space as tensions grip wider Mideast

Iran said Sunday it successfully launched three satellites into space, the latest for a programme that the West says improves Tehran's ballistic missiles. The state-run IRNA news agency said the launch also saw the successful use of Iran's Simorgh rocket, which has had multiple failures in the past. The launch comes as heightened tensions grip the wider Middle East over Israel's continued war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. While Iran has not intervened militarily in the conflict, it has faced increased pressure within its theocracy for action after a deadly Islamic State suicide bombing earlier this month and as proxy groups like Yemen's Houthi rebels conduct attacks linked to the war. Footage released by Iranian state television showed a nighttime launch for the Simorgh rocket. An Associated Press analysis of the footage's details showed that it took place at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran's rural Semnan province. State TV named the launched satellites Mahda, Kayhan-2 and Hatef

China presses Iran to rein in Houthi attacks in Red Sea, says report

Freight through Suez Canal down 45% since Houthi attacks

US strikes 3 facilities in Iraq after attack on forces, says Lloyd Austin

The US military struck three facilities in Iraq on Tuesday, targeting an Iranian-backed militia in retaliation for missile and drone attacks on American troops in Iraq and Syria over the past several days, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. The US strikes hit militia facilities in western Iraq, near the Syrian border, US Central Command said. At President Biden's direction, US military forces conducted necessary and proportionate strikes on three facilities used by the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other Iran-affiliated groups in Iraq, Austin said in a statement. These precision strikes are in direct response to a series of escalatory attacks against US and Coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias. The strikes came hours after the US said militants fired two one-way attack drones at the al-Asad Air Base, injuring US service members and damaging infrastructure. And they follow the militia's most serious attack this year on the air base

China assures Pak of support to defend sovereignty after Iran's airstrikes

China has assured Islamabad of its support in defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity even while welcoming on Tuesday the restoration of diplomatic ties between Tehran and Islamabad after their recent air strikes against each other. As China's Foreign Minister Sun Weidong visited Pakistan on a mediation mission, a statement from Foreign Ministry on Monday said it is maintaining close contacts with Pakistan and Iran to bridge their differences. China on January 18 offered to play a constructive role to ease tension between Pakistan and Iran following their missile strikes against each other and asked the two countries to "exercise restraint and calmness and avoid escalation. Earlier on January 18, Pakistan conducted "precision military strikes" against what it called "terrorist hideouts" in Iran's Siestan-Balochistan province that killed 9 people. The attack was seen as retaliation to Iranian missile and drone attacks on January 16 which targeted two bases of the Sunni ..

India likely to resume Iran crude oil imports due to Houthi threat

The issue may have been discussed during recent bilateral meetings between the countries last week when External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar travelled to Iran

Iran is 'directly involved' in Yemen Houthi rebel ship attacks, says US

Iran is very directly involved in ship attacks that Yemen's Houthi rebels have carried out during Israel's war against Hamas, the US Navy's top Mideast commander told The Associated Press on Monday. Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of the Navy's 5th Fleet, stopped short of saying Tehran directed individual attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. However, Cooper acknowledged that attacks associated with Iran have expanded from previously threatening just the Persian Gulf and its Strait of Hormuz into waters across the wider Middle East. "Clearly, the Houthi actions, probably in terms of their attacks on merchant shipping, are the most significant that we've seen in two generations,he told the AP in a telephone interview. The facts simply are that they're attacking the international community; thus, the international response I think you've seen. Iran's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Cooper's remarks. Houthi .

Pakistan, Iran restore bilateral ties by agreeing to reinstate ambassadors

Pakistan and Iran have "mutually agreed" to reinstate their ambassadors in each other's country, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Monday, restoring bilateral ties downgraded following last week's tit-for-tat attacks on each other's territory. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian will also visit the country on January 29 at the invitation of cash-strapped Pakistan's Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani, the FO said in a statement. Tensions escalated between Islamabad and Tehran after Pakistan conducted "precision military strikes" against what it called "terrorist hideouts" in Iran's Siestan-Balochistan province that killed 9 people in the wee hours on Thursday. The attack was seen as retaliation to Iranian missile and drone attacks last Tuesday on two bases of the Sunni Baloch militant group Jaish al-Adl in Pakistan's unruly Balochistan province. Following the telephone conversation between the foreign ministers of Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran, it has been .

Gaza's expanding footprint

The conflict is getting unpredictable

Israeli airstrike on Syria kills at least 5 Iranian advisers: Officials

An Israeli strike on the Syrian capital, Damascus, destroyed Saturday a building used by Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard killing and wounding 10 people, state media outlets and an official with an Iran-backed group said. An opposition war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said at least five people were killed in the missile attack that struck when officials from Iran-backed groups were holding a meeting. State-TV reported that the Israeli aggression targeted a residential building in the tightly guarded western Damascus neighbourhood of Mazzeh, home to several diplomatic missions, including the Lebanese and Iranian embassies. An official with an Iran-backed group in the Middle East told The Associated Press that the building was used by Revolutionary Guard officials, adding that the Israeli missiles destroyed the whole building and that 10 were either killed or wounded in the attack. The strike came amid widening tensions in the region and the Israeli ...