Iranian authorities have released another Christian convert from prison amid concerns the new coronavirus COVID-19 could spread in overcrowded jails, Christian activists said Monday. Amin Khaki, 38, learned from prison authorities Monday that he should not return to jail, confirmed well-informed advocacy group Middle East Concern (MEC). “It is expected that he will be able to reclaim the money put down as security,” MEC told Worthy News.
Efforts to combat the spread of locust swarms in East Africa are facing serious challenges as a result of border closures, flight shutdowns, and increased shipping prices, with the current swarms expected to grow 500 times by June.
Iran has released a Christian woman who was jailed after refusing to reconvert to Islam, activists confirmed to Worthy News. Rokhsareh (Mahrokh) Ghanbari, 62, is among some 85,000 prisoners freed in recent weeks amid concerns about the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon has been accused of helping to bring coronavirus to the nation. Opponents of the powerful group point out that Lebanon took three weeks to block flights from Iran, after a woman who had just returned from there tested coronavirus positive on February 20. Hezbollah is accused of causing the delay to ensure its supporters could return home. Denying the claims, Hezbollah is trying to show the Lebanon Shiite community that it is working to protect them from the outbreak.
President Trump warned that Iran and its allies are planning to attack American troops “and/or assets” in Iraq.
The Trump administration on Monday renewed several waivers on U.S. sanctions against Iran, allowing Russian, European and Chinese companies to continue to work on Iran’s civilian nuclear facilities without drawing American penalties.
The messianic expectations of Muslim and Jewish leaders are dovetailing, with many scholars from each camp agreeing that coronavirus is the harbinger of a divine figure who will arrive as a king in the midst of pandemics and economic crises.
The U.S.-led coalition withdrew on Sunday from a military base in northern Iraq that nearly launched Washington into an open war with neighboring Iran.
Iran’s theocratic regime could crumble under the pressure of the coronavirus outbreak that has spread through elite ranks and the broader population alike, according to the European Union’s top diplomat.
The United States says it has imposed sanctions against 20 companies based in Iran and Iraq, along with officials and other individuals there who are accused of supporting terrorist groups.
From Jerusalem’s Western Wall to Saudi Arabia’s Mecca, the coronavirus is changing the Middle East and people in the region are adjusting to a new normal.
An ‘unprecedented’ locust swarm is forming in the Horn of Africa, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and is expected to cause major food shortages across Africa and the Middle East later this summer.
A member of the Assembly of Experts, which has the power to appoint or dismiss the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has died from the COVID-19 illness caused by the virus, the semi-official Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported Monday.
The Israel Defense Forces indicated Monday its primary foe in the region, Iran, was curbing its activities as it grapples with a major outbreak of the coronavirus.
Iran said Saturday the coronavirus outbreak has killed another 97 people, pushing the death toll in the country to 611, as war-ravaged Syria announced a number of strict measures despite the government saying it has no confirmed cases.
The regime in Tehran is in lots of trouble these days. As U.S. sanctions tighten, at least a quarter of Iran’s oil rigs are now out of action, ‘dealing a potentially long-term blow to its oil industry.’ The coronavirus ‘has now spread to every province in the country and people are fearful that the true scale of the outbreak is even worse than is being disclosed.’
The United States is conducting retaliatory airstrikes against an Iran-backed militia group operating in Iraq following a deadly attack a day earlier against a base hosting Western forces near Baghdad, the Pentagon says.
‘Evangelical Zionist Christianity’ is the charge laid against a Christian convert in Iran whose prison sentence the government recently extended.
Iranian Christians are asking for prayer support as the Islamic Republic, in an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus, has begun releasing huge crowds of prisoners that include persecuted Christians.
A rocket attack Wednesday night on an Iraqi military base housing coalition personnel cost the lives of three coalition personnel, the U.S. military confirmed. Details were not provided pending notification of next of kin, but military sources said two Americans and a British soldier were killed.