Hamas leader thanks Iran for supplying weapons to Gaza
The head of the Palestinian resistance movement thanked Iran for supplying military support and financial backing during the recent conflict with Israel in a televised address Friday.
Iran
House Dems Reject Measure To Boost Israeli Security Aid
House Democrats on Thursday voted against a measure to provide Israel with emergency funding for its Iron Dome missile defense system, which destroys terrorist rockets before they land, saving scores of lives as Israel continues to fight against Palestinian terror groups.
Iran Christians attend meetings to prepare for prosecution
Christian converts and evangelists in Iran attend ‘persecution preparedness’ meetings to share practical and psychological ways of coping with the threat of government raids on underground churches and the prospect of being jailed in notoriously appalling prisons on the grounds of ‘national security,’ Open Doors UK reports.
Ahmadinejad registers to run for Iran’s presidency again
Renowned for being a Holocaust denier who advanced Iran’s nuclear program, former Iranian former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad registered Wednesday as a candidate for his country’s presidency, the Associated Press reports. Ahmadinejad was previously in office for two four-year terms from 2005 to 2013.
Iran has enriched uranium to up to 63% purity, IAEA says
“Fluctuations” at Iran’s Natanz plant pushed the purity to which it enriched uranium to 63%, higher than the announced 60% that complicated talks to revive its nuclear deal with world powers, a report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday.
Blinken calls Hezbollah ‘threat,’ U.S. blacklists 7 Lebanese nationals
The United States on Tuesday called on governments worldwide to take action against Lebanon’s Iranian-backed militant group Hezbozllah, as the Treasury Department sanctioned seven Lebanese nationals it said were connected to the group and its financial firm, Al-Qard al-Hassan (AQAH).
EU’s Borell says Iran nuclear talks moving to crucial stage
Negotiations in Vienna between world powers and Iran are moving into a crucial stage and the next few weeks will be critical to saving their 2015 nuclear deal, the European Union’s top diplomat said on Monday.
U.S. cutter fires at Iranian vessels in Strait of Hormuz
A U.S. Coast Guard cutter fired at least 30 warning shots at a group of Iranian fast-attack boats Monday while escorting a U.S. Navy submarine through a tense section of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.
Iran Releases Mistreated Christian Men
Four devoted Christian men mistreated while in detention in Iran have been temporarily released due to the coronavirus pandemic, activists confirmed Thursday.
US Navy seizes weapons in Arabian Sea likely bound for Yemen
he U.S. Navy announced Sunday it seized an arms shipment of thousands of assault weapons, machines guns and sniper rifles hidden aboard a ship in the Arabian Sea, apparently bound for Yemen to support the country’s Houthi rebels.
On al-Quds Day, Iran’s Khamenei says Israel ‘is a terrorist base, not a country’
In a speech to mark the annual al-Quds Day, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday called Israel “not a country, but a terrorist base” and said its downfall was imminent.
Biden weighing unfreezing $1 billion for Iran
The Biden administration is weighing unfreezing $1 billion in Iranian funds that the country could use for humanitarian relief, CNN reported on Thursday.
Iran Teases Attack on US Capitol Building as Biden Admin Prepares To Lift Sanctions
Iran released a provocative new video over the weekend that depicts its military forces blowing up the United States Capitol building, a threat that comes as the Biden administration inches closer to providing Tehran with billions of dollars in economic sanctions relief.
US Secretary of State meets with head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has met with Yossi Cohen, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, for talks that centered on Iran, the Associated Press reports.
Iran sought nuclear weapons, technology for WMDs last year, reports find
The Islamic Republic of Iran made multiple attempts in 2020 to obtain technology for its weapons of mass destruction program and has not stopped its drive to develop atomic weapons, intelligence agencies from the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany recently reported.
US denies Iran claims of prisoner deal; UK plays it down
The United States and Iran are in active talks over the release of prisoners, a person familiar with the discussions said Sunday as Washington denied a report by Iranian state-run television that deals had been struck.
Biden said to tell Mossad chief that US not close to return to Iran nuke deal
US president Joe Biden reportedly told Mossad chief Yossi Cohen that the US is not close to returning to the nuclear deal with Iran, according to a news report Sunday.
Iran expects sanctions on banks, oil to be lifted based on nuclear talks
Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator said that Tehran expects US sanctions on oil, banks and other sectors and on most individuals and institutions to be lifted based on agreements reached so far at talks in Vienna, Iranian state media reported on Saturday.
Zarif Had No Knowledge of Israeli Strikes Until Kerry Told Him, Translation Reveals
Leaked audiotape of Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif indicates he had no knowledge of covert Israeli military strikes before former secretary of state John Kerry provided him with the information, new details that contradict the State Department’s recent defense of Kerry.
Iran: One Christian released from prison, four more detained
While Christian convert Majidreza Souzanchi was released from Iran’s Greater Tehran Penitentiary on April 8, four other Christians were arrested and detained by Iranian intelligence officials on April 19, International Christian Persecution reports. Iran currently ranks 8 on the Open Doors Watch List of countries where Christians are persecuted for their faith.