Gulf and Arabian Peninsula

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry has kept Iranian-Kurdish civil rights activist Farzaneh Jalali in one of its detention centers in the city of Kermanshah since she was arrested without a warrant on February 23, the International Campaign on Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) reports.

Anwar Mohamad Gargash, the minister of state for foreign affairs of the United Arab Emirates, blamed Iran’s “interventionism” for the war and human suffering in Yemen.

The leader of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) has

The Iranian media extensively covered Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud’s recent trip to Malaysia. State-run and semi-official outlets close to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.), in particular, discussed in details the growing economic and trade ties between Riyadh and Kuala Lumpur.

First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri has warned that soaring unemployment has become Iran’s “biggest challenge” and revealed that a staggering number of 500,000 Iranians are annually added to the list of those already without jobs in the country.

Sergey Vershinin, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Middle East and North Africa department, will meet with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari to discuss the U.N.-sponsored peace talks on Syria, the

Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif blamed Western countries for the failure of international efforts to tackle drug trafficking and claimed that the Islamic Republic pays a high price for its contribution to combating the global illicit narcotics trade.

According to

Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, one of Iran’s most senior clerics and a staunch supporter of the Iranian regime and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamene

The daughter of Abdolfattah Soltani, a prominent human rights lawyer jailed in Iran, says hardline Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi is blocking the release of her father although he is legally eligible

Iran’s Fars News Agency (FNA), a mouthpiece of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.), has published interviews with Iraqi politicians and militia commanders about Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir’s February 25 visit to Baghdad and its potential implications for the war against the Islamic State and for Iraq’s relations with Iran.

Note: The latest issue of MEI’s Monday Briefing e-mail incorrectly linked to this page. If you’re looking for the Monday Briefing for March 6, click here.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, in a meeting with a top moderate figure has reportedly promised not to wage a campaign of repression against the moderate and reformist factions in the lead-up to the May 2017 presidential elections.