Iran

Earlier this month, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad paid a surprise visit to Tehran, where he met with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi. This was Assad’s second visit to Iran since Syria’s civil war broke out in 2011. In Tehran, Khamenei told the Syrian president that Damascus …

Iraqi writer Farouk Yousef pointed out that after the US gave Iran $90 billion following the signing of the nuclear agreement with the Obama administration in 2015… the bulk of the money… was spent on terrorist groups run by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, and …

The US military will participate in a major Israeli drill later this month simulating an airstrike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Israel’s Channel 13 reported on Tuesday. The drill, part of an exercise dubbed “Chariots of Fire,” will include the air-to-air refueling of Israeli fighter jets by US Air Force tanker …

State media aired what it said was Intelligence Ministry footage of the arrest of two French citizens, accused of attempting to “instigate chaos” by inciting Iran’s protesting teachers. One week after a statement on the arrest of two Europeans, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry revealed the identities, nationality and details of what …

The warning by Defense Minister Benny Gantz over Iran manufacturing and installing 1,000 advanced centrifuges, and the IDF drill simulating an attack on Iran, express growing concerns in Jerusalem over the reported failure of the Vienna talks. Iran is attempting to complete the manufacture and installation of 1,000 IR6 advanced …

The Russo-Ukrainian war has had a direct impact on the status of the various China–Central Asia–Russia–Europe transit corridors that traverse Eurasia. The Northern Corridor branch of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), in particular, has faced serious challenges and limitations, forcing a halt to the so-called “New Eurasian Land Bridge” …

Iran is just “a few weeks away” from having enough enriched uranium to build its first nuclear bomb, Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz told an Institute for National Security Studies conference at Herzliya’s Reichman University. The Islamic Republic has doubled its supply of 60% enriched uranium to 60 kilograms, Gantz …

Iran’s state TV on Tuesday confirmed the arrest of two French citizens, saying they met with protesting teachers and took part in an anti-government rally. The report identified the two as Cecile Kohler, 37, and Chuck Paris, 69, and said they were not on a tourist visit to Iran. France …

Emboldened by an oil price surge since Russia invaded Ukraine, Iran’s clerical rulers are in no rush to revive a 2015 nuclear pact with world powers to ease sanctions on its energy-reliant economy, three officials familiar with Tehran’s thinking said.

Iran began the new fiscal year on March 21, 2022 having recorded an estimated GDP growth rate of about 4% over the previous year and 3% for the non-oil sector. The consumer price index (CPI) has grown by 35% year-on-year, according to the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI). While GDP …