TEHRAN, Iran — Iran on Friday began celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed shah, overturned 2,500 years of monarchical rule and brought hard-line Shiite clerics to power. The climactic events that year — from revolutionaries in the streets of Tehran to...
Israel Says Its Jets Struck Iranian Military Sites in Syria
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said its jets struck Iranian military targets in Syria early Monday, an announcement that marked a rare departure from Israel's years-long policy of ambiguity regarding activities in neighboring Syria. The military said the targets included munition storage facilities, an intelligence site and a military training...
From New Orleans to Tehran: Life of Detained Iran Newscaster
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — She is largely unknown in the United States. But the American anchorwoman for Iran's state-run broadcaster, detained last weekend by U.S. authorities, is a familiar face on its English-language channel. As a newscaster for Press TV, Marzieh Hashemi has been conducting interviews and reading the...
Pompeo Repudiates Obama Mideast Policy, Takes Aim at Iran
CAIRO — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a scathing rebuke of the Obama administration's Mideast policies on Thursday, accusing the former president of "misguided" and "wishful" thinking that diminished America's role in the region, harmed its longtime friends and emboldened its main foe: Iran. In a speech to...
Pompeo Starts Middle East Visit to Ramp Up Pressure on Iran
AMMAN, Jordan — The Trump administration is doubling down on commercial and diplomatic efforts in the coming weeks to "put real pressure on Iran," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the start of a Mideast tour Tuesday. Pompeo is meeting with U.S. allies in the region, including stops...
Is Iran Now Too Powerful for Israel to Defeat?
Chuck Freilich knows Israel's military capabilities and politics inside out. After all, he is a former deputy Israeli national security adviser. Now he's a senior fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center and an op-ed he penned for the left-leaning Israeli news organization Haaretz is gaining widespread attention. Not just because of...
Is Islam Inherently Violent? Scholar Attempts to Answer the Question.
ISIS and the Iranian government have damaged the reputation of Islam, almost to the point of no return. That is one of the assessments of lecturer Hamid Entezam. And it's why he is constantly on the lecture circuit addressing perceptions about the Islamic faith. He will offer his thoughts on...
Syria: West Should Lift Sanctions to Help Refugees Return
MOSCOW — Syria's warring sides and the mediators meeting in Kazakhstan failed to agree on the formation of a committee meant to draft a new constitution for the war-torn country, the U.N. special envoy to Syria said Thursday, calling it a "missed opportunity." Staffan de Mistura was in the Kazakh...
Number of Injured in 6.3 Magnitude Iran Quake Rises to 716
TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian authorities said Monday that the number of injured in the magnitude 6.3 earthquake in western Iran the previous night has risen to 716. No fatalities were reported from the temblor. According to Iran's state television, most of the injured were immediately released from hospitals and suffered...
Trump Goes All In With Saudi Arabia. Read His Statement.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says the U.S. will not levy additional punitive measures at this time against Saudi Arabia over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. Trump said in a statement Tuesday that the U.S. does not condone the killing of the U.S-based Saudi columnist, but that "foolishly" canceling $110...