Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi on Sunday announced to state media that the Islamic Republic had completed construction of a facility capable of producing advanced centrifuges at its nuclear plant Natanz, fulfilling threats that it would continue nuclear production in the event that the US withdraw from the 2014 nuclear deal and slap heavy sanctions on the country.
The Trump administration is now pledging the US will remain in Syria until the ‘enduring defeat’ of the Islamic State group, a move that could signal open-ended American involvement in the war-torn country.
S President Donald Trump told Jewish leaders Thursday that the US would not give aid to the Palestinians until they reach an agreement with Israel. He also said the Iranian regime had ‘lost their mojo’ since he withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal, and was now fighting for its survival. In quitting the deal, he said, he had done ‘a great thing for Israel.’
The slated US sanctions targeting Iran’s energy and financial sectors in early November will pulverize the Islamic Republic’s struggling economy, according to a new analysis released last week by economists.
Israel’s Defense Forces have carried out more than 200 airstrikes in Syria over the last year, many of which Israel claimed were targeting Iranian positions and weapons convoys, the IDF stated on Tuesday.
Israel carried out airstrikes against Iranian military targets in the Syrian provinces of Hama and Tartus on Tuesday, a monitoring group said.
Israel will combat any Iranian threat in Syria and beyond, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said on Monday, just one week after Iran was reported to have transferred short-range ballistic missiles to Shi’ite allies in Iraq in recent months.
An Iranian civil aviation company is suspected of smuggling arms into Lebanon, destined for the militant group Hezbollah and Iranian weapons factories — and western intelligence sources said Monday they’ve uncovered the unexpected routes that Iran apparently took to try avoiding detection.
Israel signaled on Monday that it could attack suspected Iranian military assets in Iraq, as it has done with scores of air strikes in war-torn Syria.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his allies Iran and Russia not to ‘recklessly attack’ Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province, warning that hundreds of thousands of people could be killed.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that closer ties between Israel and the Arab world were a silver lining of the otherwise ‘bad’ Iran nuclear deal.
Iran admitted on Sunday that it had worked closely with the Open Society Foundation, a grant-making network founded by American billionaire George Soros, which has often been accused of promoting an anti-Israeli agenda through left-wing NGOs.
Iran has given ballistic missiles to Shi’ite proxies in Iraq and is developing the capacity to build more there to deter attacks on its interests in the Middle East and to give it the means to hit regional foes, Iranian, Iraqi and Western sources said.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday war was unlikely but called on Iran’s armed forces to boost their defense capacities, according to his official website.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Sunday with a US envoy for Syria for talks on the war-ravaged country and Iran, his office said.
The United Nations called on Russia, Iran and Turkey on Thursday to forestall a battle in Syria’s Idlib province which would affect millions of civilians and could see both sides using chlorine as a chemical weapon.
Saudi FM Adel Al-Jubeir said during a press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that ‘we have come to an agreement with Russia regarding continued coordination concerning regional developments. We made it clear that we support additional sanctions on Iran.’
Iran’s hardline government has sentenced four Christians to harsh prison terms for putting their faith in Jesus Christ.
Iran has signed a deal to rebuild Syria’s armed forces, which have been depleted by more than seven years civil war, Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said on Monday.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will visit Iran on Sept 7, his office said on Monday, on a trip expected to include a three-way summit with Russian and Iranian leaders.