U.S. says air strike killed 35 militants in Somalia
The U.S. military said on Monday that a recent airstrike in central Somalia killed 35 al Shabaab fighters.
Iran
Iran starts Gulf war games, to test submarine-launched missiles
Iran on Friday began large-scale naval drills at the mouth of the Gulf, which will feature its first submarine cruise missile launches, state media reported, at a time of rising tensions with the United States.
Iran: Despite Israel’s efforts, ‘we’ve achieved over 90% of objectives in Syria’
A senior Iranian defense official boasted Saturday that Iran has achieved the vast majority of its objectives in Syria since the start of that country’s civil war, and dismissed the efficacy of Israeli efforts to counter the Islamic Republic’s military presence there.
Iran announces 3-day navy drill from Gulf to Indian Ocean
Iran is to launch a three-day annual navy drill from Friday in a vast area of the Gulf and the Indian Ocean including a sensitive global shipping route, state TV reported on Thursday.
China, Iran meet amid efforts to preserve nuclear deal
The Iranian foreign minister’s passionate defense of Iran’s interests at the Munich Security Conference has made him ‘a famous person’ in China, his Chinese counterpart told him Tuesday, as the sides met amid efforts to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.
Israel unveils Rafael’s new advanced bunker buster missile, ‘Rocks’
With tensions still high between Israel and Iran a new air-to-surface long-range missile designed to destroy targets deep underground in heavily defended areas has been developed by Israeli defense giant Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
Democratic Party passes resolution calling for US to re-enter Iran nuke deal
The Democratic National Committee passed a resolution last week calling on the US to re-enter the Iran nuclear deal, a sign that the party’s 2020 presidential candidates will run on returning America to the landmark pact from which US President Donald Trump withdrew.
Iran says it cannot rule out possibility of war with Israel
Iran’s foreign minister accused Israel of ‘adventurism,’ with its campaign of airstrikes against Iranian targets in Syria and said he could not rule out the possibility that they could lead to a war between the Mideast arch foes.
Trump administration launches global effort to end criminalization of homosexuality
The Trump administration is launching a global campaign to end the criminalization of homosexuality in dozens of nations where it’s still illegal to be gay, U.S. officials tell NBC News, a bid aimed in part at denouncing Iran over its human rights record.
State Department uses social media targeted at Iranian citizens to pressure ‘corrupt’ regime
The Trump administration on Tuesday made a direct appeal to the Iranian people to reject what it called the ‘corrupt religious mafia’ running their country, rolling out a targeted social media campaign to paint the government in Tehran as an oppressive force more focused on exporting violence and funding terrorism than caring for its own population.
Iran-al Qaeda alliance may provide legal rationale for U.S. military strikes
Iran is providing high-level al Qaeda operatives with a clandestine sanctuary to funnel fighters, money and weapons across the Middle East, according to Trump administration officials who warn that the long-elusive, complex relationship between two avowed enemies of America has evolved into an unacceptable global security threat.
Netanyahu: Israeli-Arab ties advance, but full peace unattainable now
Israel can advance normalized ties with the Arab world without resolving the Israeli-Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but won’t be able to fully make peace with those countries, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.
Pence calls on EU to withdraw from Iran nuclear deal
US Vice President Mike Pence accused Washington’s European allies of trying to break US sanctions against Tehran and called on them to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, during the Warsaw ministerial conference on Thursday.
Iran says it has launched ‘cruise missile capable’ submarine
Iran on Sunday launched a new, locally-built submarine capable of firing cruise missiles, state TV said, in the country’s latest show of military might at a time of heightened tensions with the US.
Venezuela unveils anti-US coalition at United Nations
It was almost a who’s who of America’s foes as Venezuela’s foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza, was surrounded on Thursday by some of the world’s most notorious human rights violators. He was announcing the formation of a group of countries that he said would defend the United Nations Charter.
Putin says Russia, Turkey, Iran see US pullout from Syria as ‘positive step’
Moscow, Ankara and Tehran see the planned US withdrawal from Syria as a positive step, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after a summit with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts on Thursday.
Rouhani claims Israel, US behind deadly suicide bombing in Iran
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday blamed the suicide bombing of a bus carrying Revolutionary Guards troops that killed 27 in southeastern Iran on Israel and the United States, vowing revenge against Jaish al-Adl, the ‘mercenary group’ that committed it.
In Warsaw, Pence hails sight of Netanyahu ‘breaking bread’ with Arab leaders
US Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday hailed the symbolic importance of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “breaking bread” with Arab leaders at a Mideast conference in Warsaw, saying he hoped it heralded further cooperation to come.
Pence: Iran is plotting ‘new Holocaust’ to wipe Israel off the map
Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that Iran is plotting a ‘new Holocaust’ to obliterate Israel.
Iran could get nuclear weapon within two years, intel assessments find
Iran is capable of producing a nuclear weapon within two years, if it steps up work on its nuclear program and violates the 2015 deal with the West, according to a recent Israeli intelligence assessment.