Iran Arrests Opposition Leader’s Son in New Wave of Crackdown
Authorities in Iran have handed a six-month jail term to a son of Mehdi Karroubi, a former Iranian opposition leader and presidential candidate who has been held under house arrest in Iran since February 2011, Iranian reformist website Kaleme reported today. A Revolutionary Court has found Hossein Karroubi guilty of “propagating against the regime” after he published his father’s open letter to President Hassan Rouhani, in which he had blasted the “despotic regime” for illegally putting him under house arrest and called for a public trial.
Khamenei’s Symbolic Clemency as Authorities Intensify Suppression of Activists
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has approved a set of terms and conditions for pardoning or commuting prison sentences of a number of Iranian convicts, Khamenei’s official website reported today. Judiciary Chief Sadegh Larijani had asked the Supreme Leader to review and authorize the conditions under which the Judiciary could grant clemency to certain convicts on the occasions of the birthday of Prophet Muhammad’s daughter and the upcoming Iranian New Year – which begins on March 21.
Iran-Backed Militia Groups Continue to Play Key role in West Mosul Operations
Ali al-Hussaini, a spokesman of the Iraqi Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces), has claimed that PMF forces have made significant territorial gains in western Mosul and the operation to liberate the strategic city of Tal Afar will begin soon.
Intra-Shiite Tensions Heat Up Ahead of Iraqi Elections
This article first appeared on Real Clear World.
While Iraqi forces are fighting to retake the western half of Mosul from Islamic State fighters, internal divisions regarding the future of Iraq’s political process are escalating ahead of provincial elections scheduled for September, especially within the country’s largest Shiite political bloc, the Shiite National Alliance.
Top U.S. General Says Iran Poses “Greatest Long-Term Threat” in Middle East
Iran seeks to be the “regional hegemon” and poses “the greatest long-term threat” to regional security and stability, the top U.S.
Resolving the Conflict in Yemen: U.S. Interests, Risks and Policy
The following testimony by Amb. (Ret’d) Gerald M. Feierstein, Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Gulf Affairs at the Middle East Institute, was delivered to the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 9, 2017.
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Ranking Member, Members of the Committee:
Thank you for providing this opportunity to speak to you today about Yemen and the tragic circumstances confronting the Yemeni people.
Iran-Backed Iraqi Militia Group Launches New Brigade to “Liberate” Golan Heights
A powerful Iran-supported Iraqi Shiite militia group has announced the creation of a new brigade to “liberate” the Golan Heights from Israel, the Iranian media reports. “After the latest victories [in Syria and Iraq], we established the ‘Golan Liberation Brigade’.
Afghan Daily Urges Kabul to Stop Tehran from Deploying Refugees to Syria Front Lines
Afghanistan’s largest daily Hasht-e Sobh has blasted the Iranian government for coercing Afghan refugees into fighting Iran’s proxy war in Syria.
I.R.G.C. Test-Fires Naval Ballistic Missile amid Heightening Tension with U.S.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) has “successfully” test-fired a naval missile destroying a floating target more than 100 miles away, the Iranian media reported earlier today.