- Biden hosts Iraqi leader after Iran’s attack on Israel throws Mideast into greater uncertainty The Associated Press
- Biden to host Iraq’s leader after Iran’s attack on Israel spurs chaos across the Middle East Fox News
- Biden hosts Iraqi leader after Iran’s attack on Israel throws Mideast into greater uncertainty WFLA
- Analysis: Iran upends decades of shadow warfare in direct attack on Israel as tensions mount at home The Associated Press
- Biden says US remains committed to securing ceasefire that will free hostages, prevent conflict from spreading The Times of Israel
Tag Archives: Irans
Qatar Says Will Honor Deal Over Iran’s Funds – ایران اینترنشنال
- Qatar Says Will Honor Deal Over Iran’s Funds ایران اینترنشنال
- Iran: US ‘can NOT renege’ on deal to transfer $6 billion through Qatar for hostages The Times of Israel
- Iran doubles down on backing Hamas, says US unable to block $6 billion fund Al-Monitor
- US denies Iran access to $6 billion fund from prisoner swap deal – Business Daily FRANCE 24 English
- US Appears to Consider Blocking Iran’s Access to $6 Billion Voice of America – VOA News
- View Full Coverage on Google News
The Interview – Reza Pahlavi, son of Iran’s last shah: A year after Amini’s death ‘a new phase of resistance’ – FRANCE 24 English
- The Interview – Reza Pahlavi, son of Iran’s last shah: A year after Amini’s death ‘a new phase of resistance’ FRANCE 24 English
- ‘Alien’ remains and a Mahsa Amini protest: Thursday’s best photos The Guardian
- Opinion | Life after prison: Iranian women who stood up for Mahsa Amini The Washington Post
- Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah: ‘We’re entering a new face of a resistance’ in Iran FRANCE 24 English
- A year on, Mahsa Amini’s death exposes divides in Iran establishment Al-Monitor
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Israeli Spy Chief Says Iran’s Attempts To Supply Russia With Missiles ‘Foiled’ – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
- Israeli Spy Chief Says Iran’s Attempts To Supply Russia With Missiles ‘Foiled’ Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
- Mossad chief vows to target Iran’s ‘highest echelon’ if Israelis, Jews hurt in terror The Times of Israel
- Israel’s Top Spy Worried Russia Could Sell Iran Advanced Weapons Bloomberg
- Mossad chief accuses Iran of plotting deadly attacks, vows to hit perpetrators ‘in heart’ of Tehran The Associated Press
- Mossad chief says Israel worried Russia will sell advanced weapons to Iran The Times of Israel
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Inside the Russian effort to build 6000 attack drones with Iran’s help – The Washington Post
- Inside the Russian effort to build 6000 attack drones with Iran’s help The Washington Post
- Shot down by Russia: Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jet bites the dust in Donetsk | Russia-Ukraine | WION WION
- Russia-Ukraine war live news: NATO chief says Putin underestimates alliance Al Jazeera English
- Russia unleashes missiles on western Ukraine, killing and wounding civilians FRANCE 24 English
- Wrecked by Ukrainian drone, Polish-built landing ship Olenegorsky Gornyak is placed in a dry dock with large hole in its hull The Independent Barents Observer
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Erdogan to Iran’s Raisi: Islamic world should unite against Israeli attacks – The Times of Israel
- Erdogan to Iran’s Raisi: Islamic world should unite against Israeli attacks The Times of Israel
- Turkey Urges Israel to End Gaza Strikes as Violence Tests Diplomatic Thaw Bloomberg
- Turkish, Israeli foreign ministers discuss latest attacks, provocations by Israeli forces Anadolu Agency | English
- In call with Iran’s Raisi, Erdogan says Islamic world should unite against Israeli attacks The Times of Israel
- Islamic world should be united against Israel’s attacks in Palestine: Turkish president Anadolu Agency | English
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Iran’s Khamenei strikes conciliatory message on hijab
After nearly four months of protests in the country that were sparked over hijab laws, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed a conciliatory message for the first time Wednesday.
Speaking to pro-government women’s activists Wednesday morning, Khamenei said, “The hijab is a religious and inviolable necessity, but this inviolable necessity should not mean that someone with not a full hijab should be accused of anti-religion or anti-revolutionary.”
He asked why accusations are made against women with what is commonly referred to as “bad hijab,” meaning that the front of their hair is showing. Khamenei added that women with this type of hijab were participating in government, run ceremonies and events, and that “they are like our own [wives] and daughters.”
Khamenei also coined a term, which will likely fall into popular use soon within Iranian media, describing scarves that do not fully cover the hair as “weak hijab.” He said, “A weak hijab is not a good thing, but it should not cause that individual to be seen outside of religion and the revolution, and all of us have faults that we should resolve.”
One Sept. 16, Mahsa Amini was arrested by the country’s morality police for wearing a loose-fitting hijab. She later died while in police custody. Her death sparked immediate protests with calls for the end of the Islamic Republic. Since then, over 500 people have been killed and over 12,000 have been arrested. Two individuals have been executed for charges of attacking security personnel, and approximately a dozen more have already been sentenced or are awaiting sentencing for charges that carry the death penalty.
In previous speeches, Khamenei has accused the protestors of being agents of foreign governments, particularly the United States.
Today’s speech will likely do little to end protests, nor will it change the enforcement of the country’s laws. Many Iranian observers say that in recent months the enforcement of the country’s hijab law has been lax, but most observers see it as a tactical retreat rather than a change in government policy.
Mossad chief warns of Iran’s growing advanced weapons supply to Russia, efforts to enrich uranium
The chief of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency has warned that Iran plans to deliver more weapons to Russia, while Tehran continues to deny that it has supported Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
David Barnea, Mossad’s chief, spoke to employees at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem and stressed that his agency is “still warning about Iran’s future and intentions, which it is trying to keep secret,” including Tehran’s efforts to “deepen and expand the supply of advanced weapons to Russia.”
Iran has allegedly provided Moscow with weapons over the past few months, starting with a shipment of Shahed-136 “Kamikaze” drones. Tehran has repeatedly denied supplying Russia with any weapons, saying that it “has not and will not” do so.
But Barnea said in a speech to his agency’s employees that they had shared intelligence with Western allies earlier in the year that proved Iran planned to share the drones with Russia, with plans to prepare more deliveries in the coming months, Iran International reported.
IRAN THREATENS ZELENSKYY OVER SPEECH TO CONGRESS, CLAIMS IT HAS PROVIDED NO ARMS TO RUSSIA
Barnea also called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – also known as the Iran nuclear deal – an “absurd” agreement, echoing criticisms voiced by Prime Minister-Elect Benjamin Netanyahu.
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – JUNE 1: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) attends David Barnea’s (C) oath-taking ceremony as the new head of the Israeli national intelligence service, Mossad in Tel Aviv, Israel on June 1, 2021. Yossi Cohen (L), the outgoing head of Mossad, also attended the ceremony.
(Photo by GPO/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
In a previous Fox News Digital interview, Netanyahu said that the deal is “probably dead” after “the entire world saw what the true face of this regime is.”
INCOMING ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU SAYS HE HAS FORMED NEW COALITION GOVERNMENT
“We are warning about Iran’s intention to expand its uranium enrichment program, and its intention to increase its influence over friendly Muslim countries in the region in various ways,” Barnea said.
FILE – This undated photograph released by the Ukrainian military’s Strategic Communications Directorate shows the wreckage of what Kyiv has described as an Iranian Shahed drone downed near Kupiansk, Ukraine. As protests rage at home, Iran’s theocratic government is increasingly flexing its military muscle abroad. That includes supplying drones to Russia that now kill Ukrainian civilians, running drills in a border region with Azerbaijan and bombing Kurdish positions in Iraq. (Ukrainian military’s Strategic Communications Directorate via AP, File)
(Ukrainian military’s Strategic Communications Directorate via AP, File)
Iran reportedly reached 60% enrichment of uranium at its Fordow enrichment plant, marking a dangerous step closer to the country’s goal of obtaining nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran had informed the agency that it had started to enrich uranium at the higher levels.
BIDEN, IN NEWLY RELEASED NOV. 4 VIDEO, SAYS IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL ‘DEAD’
Weapons require 90% purity, but the level Iran has reached far exceeds its 20% produced prior to the 2015 nuclear deal, meaning that the country far exceeded the 3.67% cap the deal had mandated.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran, Iran July 19, 2022.
(President Website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS )
“Is this the country that the free world wants to sign any agreement with?” Barnea asked. “Our eyes will remain open, we will be doubly alert.”
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“I repeat my promise, as I said here last year as well, that Iran will not have nuclear weapons . . . never. This is my commitment, this is the institution’s commitment.”
Exclusive: U.S. imposes sanctions on Turkish businessman, citing links to Iran’s Quds Force
WASHINGTON, Dec 8 (Reuters) – The Biden administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on prominent Turkish businessman Sitki Ayan and his network of companies, accusing him of acting as a facilitator for oil sales and money laundering on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Ayan’s companies have established international sales contracts for Iranian oil, arranged shipments and helped launder the proceeds and obscured the origin of the Iranian oil on behalf of Iran’s Quds Force, an arm of the IRGC, the Treasury said in a statement first reported by Reuters.
“Ayan has established business contracts to sell Iranian oil worth hundreds of millions of dollars to buyers,” in China, the United Arab Emirates and Europe, the statement says, adding that he then funneled the proceeds back to the Quds Force.
Ayan’s son Bahaddin Ayan, his associate Kasim Oztas and two other Turkish citizens involved in his business network are also designated, along with 26 companies including his ASB Group of Companies, a Gibraltar-based holding company and a vessel.
Ayan, the son Bahaddin and Oztas were not immediately available for comment. Ayan’s ASB Group and Turkey’s Directorate of Communications did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Treasury action freezes any U.S. assets of those designated and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. Those that engage in certain transactions with those designated also risk sanctions.
The U.S. measures come at a time when ties between the United States and Turkey are strained over a host of issues, including disagreement over Syria policy and Ankara’s purchase of Russian air defense systems.
Most recently, Washington has warned Turkey to refrain from carrying out a military incursion into northern Syria after Ankara said it was preparing a possible ground invasion against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia that it views as terrorists but who make up the bulk of U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Washington maintains sweeping sanctions on Iran and has looked for ways to increase pressure as efforts to resurrect a 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran have stalled.
U.S. President Joe Biden had sought to negotiate the return of Iran to the nuclear deal after former President Donald Trump pulled out of the agreement in 2018.
The 2015 agreement limited Iran’s uranium enrichment activity to make it harder for Tehran to develop nuclear arms in return for lifting international sanctions. Iran denies wanting to acquire nuclear weapons.
Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Daphne Psaledakis; Additional reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Don Durfee and Howard Goller
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Team USA players share emotional embrace with Iran’s Saeid Ezatolahi
Martin Rogers
FOX Sports Insider
DOHA, Qatar – Saeid Ezatolahi wept.
He’d given everything, and this time, it hadn’t been enough. As the final whistle at Al Thumama Stadium signaled a 1-0 United States victory, there was nothing left for the Iran defensive midfielder to do. So, he sat on the turf, deep into the Qatari night, buried his head in his hands and let the tears tumble.
Seconds later, he felt a big arm around his shoulder. It was Josh Sargent, the USA forward, who had dueled with him during a first half in which the Americans desperately chased a goal until one came after 38 minutes via Christian Pulisic.
Sargent kneeled next to Ezatolahi, hugged him and offered some words of kindness and sympathy. Soon after, USA substitute Brenden Aaronson noticed the scene, saw the anguish on the Iranian player’s face, and came over, too. As did DeAndre Yedlin.
Josh Sargent, right, and DeAndre Yedlin of the United States console Iran defender Saeid Ezatolahi after Tuesday’s match. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
Tim Weah joined them. As he approached, Weah’s face changed from one of beaming delight to something more solemn. As Ezatolahi tried to collect himself, Weah took him by the hands and pulled him to his feet, before hugging and whispering in his ear.
“I think it’s more than just football,” Weah told me, as he left the stadium to return to the team’s Doha headquarters. “I think the United States and Iran have had so many issues politically and I just wanted to show that we are all human beings and we all love each other.
“I just wanted to spread peace and love and show him we come from different backgrounds, we grew up differently. He is still my family, he is still my brother and I love him the same way as the guys I grew up with.”
Unless you’ve been camping, hibernating or technology detoxing the past week, chances are you’ve noticed the intense depth of the political subplot surrounding the Iran clash that ultimately decided second-place in Group B and sent Gregg Berhalter’s side into a round of 16 meeting with the Netherlands.
But whatever the discussions during the week, however many questions players had to answer that had nothing to do with the sport of soccer, the Americans recognized the pain of defeat. They’ve felt it, more times than they wish to remember.
Just not on a stage like this, not yet at least.
Ezatolahi was helped off the field by Iran coach Carlos Queiroz. (Photo by Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images)
“I could feel the emotion from him on the ground,” Aaronson said. “It’s tough, it’s a tough moment for a lot of things. You put your heart and soul and I think he had a great game too, and a great tournament from Iran. It’s hard to see that from a player. All you want to do is go and console them and tell them that everything is going to be OK. It’s just a human thing.”
Aaronson, Weah and Sargent are all 22 years old. None of them had ever met Ezatolahi before. The United States should be proud of its men’s soccer team, for what it did during Tuesday night’s win-or-go-home triumph. And, perhaps even more so, for what it did afterwards.
They were not the only three to offer some solace. There were handshakes all-round before the team headed to the locker room, as well as some pats on the back. Ezatolahi received more attention from the Americans because he was so visibly devastated. He’s had a club career that has taken him to Russia and Denmark and the Qatari league. He felt, quite reasonably, that this current generation of the Iranian team had a unique chance to achieve something special.
For Sargent, seeing Ezatolahi’s tears gave him a lump in his throat, and his own emotion welled. Even talking about it later, his voice cracked a little, and he will remember that part of the night as much as anything that happened during a frenetic 90 minutes.
The finality of being eliminated from the World Cup can be very difficult to take. (Photo by FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images)
“I just really feel for any team,” Sargent told me. “Obviously it’s a big tournament, no matter who it was, seeing people upset like that touches me in a different way. It was on my way to where the team was anyway, so I thought I’d say something nice and encouraging.
“Everybody is human, obviously. We’ve all been working our asses off to get to this important point of our lives. This is the pinnacle of everybody’s career. I know it is not an easy situation when you lose.”
And so ends this whirlwind chapter of the World Cup for the Americans, with the knockout rounds providing a fresh new opportunity. In many ways it is a whole new tournament, both in format and pacing.
They move on having shown resilience and determination, worthy attributes for any athlete in the biggest competition of their career.
And a side of compassion, too, which may not win games – but deserves our applause nonetheless.
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Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. You can subscribe to the daily newsletter here.
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