Statue of Qassem Soleimani in the Iranian city of Gilan. (Twitter) May 20, 2020 Iranian President Hassan Rouhani approved a resolution by the Islamic Republic's Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution to launch a new award named after slain military commander Qassem Soleimani, who was targeted by a US airstrike last January. The [...]
The damaged Konarak vessel, hit by a friendly fire missile during naval exercises, is docked at the Jask port, in southern Hormozgan province, May 11, 2020. (AFP) By Bonnie Kristian May 19, 2020 Iranian naval exercises in the Gulf of Oman devolved into disaster Sunday afternoon when a missile from one Iranian ship accidentally [...]
Konarak naval vessel still burning after being towed to port. May 11, 2020. (Supplied) By Amir Taheri May 16, 2020 Last Monday’s tragedy in the Gulf of Oman in which 19 Iranian naval officers were killed and 15 others injured in a “friendly fire” incident has focused attention on the Islamic Republic’s failure to [...]
Iranians stand in front of a bank, hoping to buy U.S. dollar at the official rate in downtown Tehran, April 10, 2018. (AP) May 16, 2020 The US has publicly threatened to trigger the restoration of all UN sanctions on Iran if the organization’s Security Council fails to extend an arms embargo on [...]
The Konarak was hit by friendly fire in the Gulf of Oman exactly 123 days after the IRGC fired the two missiles that brought down Ukraine Airlines Flight 752. (Reuters) By Faramarz Davar May 14, 2020 The Iranian navy has issued a statement about the recent deaths of Iranian sailors in the Gulf of Oman, but [...]
Qassem Soleimani, the late head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Qods Force. (NRT) By Amir Toumaj May 14, 2020 More than four months after the US killed Qods Force commander Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike, debates about his legacy continue. His last will and testament, published in February 40 days after his death, [...]
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. (AP) May 13, 2020 US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran on Wednesday of using its resources to “foment terror” even as its people face the Middle East’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak. “Even during this pandemic the Iranians are using the ayatollah regime’s resources to foment terror [...]
Vladimir Putin meets with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, November 23, 2015. (Reuters) By Alireza Nader May 13, 2020 The Russian-Iranian alliance, a defining feature of power politics in the Middle East, is experiencing strains that should be exploited by the Trump administration. Moscow and Tehran are historic enemies whose [...]
Iranian laborers work at a unit of South Pars gas field in Asalouyeh Seaport, north of Persian Gulf, Iran, Nov. 19, 2015. (Reuters) By Brenda Shaffe May 12, 2020 The Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign is having a significant impact on Iran’s macroeconomic stability and draining the government’s export earnings and reserves. As Iranian oil exports plunge, Iran’s regional and non-oil [...]
Screen Grab From video showing Iranian speed boats during a March 2016 ceremony. (ISNA) By James Stavridis May 12, 2020 President Donald Trump sent a warning shot across the bow of Iran last month, tweeting that any further “harassment” of US warships by Tehran’s navy in the Gulf would result in the destruction of [...]
