The Iranian Foreign Ministry reacted angrily to latest statements by France and Britain about Tehran’s hard power strategies that promote instability in the Middle East.
Tehran appears to be losing the race for Syria’s reconstruction despite all the blood, treasure and political capital the Islamic Republic has invested in the Assad regime’s survival over the past six years.
A senior Iranian military official has warned that there will be a “far more widespread” Intifada (uprising) against Israel in response to President Donald Trump’s recent decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, the Iranian media reported.
Iran seeks to turn Syria into its largest foreign military base by establishing military bases across the country and supporting militias, an article published in Alwatan Arab daily alleged.
The Iranian Navy’s 50th flotilla of warships docked at the Sri Lankan port of Colombo earlier today, Tasnim News Agency reported. According to public relations department of the Navy, the Iranian naval fleet included Shahid Naghdi and Bayandor destroyers and Tonb logistic-combat vessel. The Iranian naval commanders from Artesh (Iran’s regular Army) onboard plan to meet senior Sri Lankan military officials to seek ways of bolstering naval cooperation between the two countries.
Air pollution in the southwestern Iranian province of Khuzestan has reached “extremely dangerous” levels, the BBC Persian reports. All flights at the international airport in Ahvaz, Khuzestan’s capital, have been suspended, and schools in several cities such as in Ahvaz, Abadan, Khoramshahr, and Mahshr have temporarily shut down. A video clip published on the BBC Persian website shows that dense dust pollution has forced scores of residents to leave the area.
Tens of thousands have been subjected to enforced disappearance in Syria since 2011. The regime is responsible for a majority of these detentions, but various armed groups have been guilty of the practice as well. Amnesty International has warned that “the plight of those who have vanished after being arrested by the authorities or detained by armed groups is a tragedy that has been largely ignored internationally.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry has rejected European power’s demand that Tehran limit its missile activities and moderate its regional behavior. Bahram Qassemi, the ministry’s spokesman, lashed out at French President Emmanuel Macron’s latest demand that Iran’s ballistic missile program be placed under international surveillance.
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The leader of an Iraqi militia group with close ties to Iran traveled to Lebanon this week to voice solidarity with Hezbollah and pledged to stand with the “axis of resistance” in any future wars with Israel. Akram al-Kaabi, the head of Harakat al-Nujaba, made the remarks to reporters in southern Beirut after visiting the tomb of late Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, who was allegedly killed by Israel. “We, at the axis of resistance, will mobilize forces against Israel at any place.
This essay examines the humanitarian negotiation of protection in the Syrian refugee response. Focusing on the case of Lebanon, the essay presents three examples of how the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has negotiated refugee protection: by avoiding the refugee label, by establishing the contested notion of “protection space,” and by suspending refugee registration at the request of the Lebanese government.
Iraqi Interior Minister Qasim al-Araji announced yesterday that the country is planning on opening the al-Qaim-Abu Kamal border crossing between Iraq and Syria, Iranian and Iraqi media reported. Al-Araji, who is a senior member of Iran-backed Badr Organization, added that his ministry has obtained permission from Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Chief of Staff of the Iraqi military, General Othman Al-Ghanimi, to reopen the strategic border crossing.
