Ruhollah Zam, the operator of an anti-regime Telegram channel, in a trial at the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. (Supplied) By Trackpersia December 23, 2020 On 17 December, a group of plainclothes agents of the Iranian security destroyed the grave of the wrestling champion Navid Afkary who had been arrested in 2018 in relation with the [...]
Popular Mobilization Forces members stand by a burning truck after a drone attack blamed on Israel near Qaim border crossing, in Anbar province, Iraq, August 25, 2019. (AP) By Seth J. Frantzman December 23, 2020 In the recent lead-up to Hanukkah, Israel announced that it had conducted an unprecedented multi-layered air defense test. The test [...]
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Iraq amid increasing tensions between Washington and Tehran, May 13, 2020. (AP) December 22, 2020 Iran-backed militias are the most serious impediment to peace and prosperity in Iraq, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday, after a barrage of rockets targeted the US Embassy [...]
After Ruhollah Zam was hanged, some people criticized Ayatollah Sistani for not having reacted more strongly to Zam’s death sentence. (Social Media) December 15, 2020 The dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam was executed in Iran on December 12. Last winter the founder of Amad News was lured from his place of relative safety in [...]
Adel Abdul Mahdi, the former Iraqi prime minister. (AFP) By Hannah Somerville December 15, 2020 The former Iraqi premier has been forced to deny allegations that his government gave permission for the US air strike that killed General Ghasem Soleimani in Baghdad this year. Adil Abdul-Mahdi, who served as prime minister from 2018 until May [...]
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi walks with officers as he arrives in Mosul, Iraq, March 14, 2018. (Reuters) December 12, 2020 Former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi revealed that the aircraft that targeted Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and the deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Forces, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, near Baghdad [...]
Hadi Al-Amiri (center) the head of the pro-Iranian Badr Organization walks with Shi’ite fighters south of Mosul, undated. (REUTERS) By Ahmad Salloum December 7, 2020 United States Congress is preparing new legislation to bring sanctions against the Badr Organization, one of the largest Iranian proxy militias in Iraq. The bill, a copy of which The [...]
Members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards march during a military parade in Tehran on Sept. 22, 2007. (Reuters) December 7, 2020 A senior member of Iran’s elite Quds Force who had contracted coronavirus in Iraq has died from the virus, state media reported on Sunday. Brig. Gen. Abdolrasool Ostovar, who had previously served as [...]
Iraqi security forces are deployed in front of the US embassy in the capital Baghdad on January 1, 2020. (AFP) December 3, 2020 The U.S. is withdrawing some staff from its embassy in Baghdad, Iraqi and U.S. officials said Thursday, temporarily reducing personnel amid regional security concerns. U.S. Ambassador Mathew Tueller said the [...]
US soldiers stand guard during the handover ceremony of Qayyarah Airfield to Iraqi forces, in the south of Mosul, March 27, 2020. (AP) December 3, 2020 In a quest to root out ISIS group hideouts over the summer, Iraqi forces on the ground cleared nearly 90 villages across a notoriously unruly northern province. [...]
