Tag Archives: Middle East

Iranian Health Minister Takes Ill On Camera, Has Virus

The New York Times reports: Iran’s deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi, who has spearheaded the country’s efforts to contain the coronavirus, has contracted the illness, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday, renewing concerns about the spread of the virus in the country. In an interview with the state-run news outlet IRNA, a spokesman for the ministry said that Mr. Harirchi …

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Pope Rejects Trump’s Middle East Peace Proposal

Reuters reports: Pope Francis on Sunday warned against “inequitable solutions” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying they would only be a prelude to new crises, in an apparent reference to U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace proposal. It was believed to be the first time the pope, who has often defended both Palestinian rights and Israel’s need for security, has …

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US Claims New Truce Agreement With The Taliban

The Associated Press reports: A senior U.S. official said Friday the United States and the Taliban have reached a truce agreement that will take effect “very soon” and could lead to withdrawals of American troops from Afghanistan. The official said the agreement for a seven-day “reduction in violence” to be followed by the start of all-Afghan peace talks within 10 …

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Pentagon: 100+ Brain Injuries From Iran Missile Strike

Reuters reports: The U.S. military is preparing to report a more than 50% jump in cases of traumatic brain injury stemming from Iran’s missile attack on a base in Iraq last month, U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an announcement, said there were over 100 cases of TBI, up from …

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Iranian Security Forces Fire On Protesters [VIDEO]

The Associated Press reports: Online videos appeared to show Iranian security forces firing live ammunition and tear gas to disperse protests as popular anger swelled Monday over the accidental shootdown of a Ukrainian jetliner and Iran’s failed attempt to conceal its role in the tragedy. The unrest comes amid soaring tensions between Washington and Tehran that have raised fears of …

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Iran Sees Second Night Of Anti-Govt Protests [VIDEO]

The Voice Of America reports: Anti-government protests erupted again Sunday night in Iran for a second day of demonstrations against the military, which first denied and then admitted it mistakenly shot down a civilian Ukrainian plane, killing all 176 on board. “They are lying that our enemy is America, our enemy is right here,” one group of protesters chanted outside …

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Iranian Olympic Medalist Reveals Her Defection

CNN reports: Iran’s sole female Olympic medalist, Kimia Alizadeh, has announced that she’s permanently left her country for Europe. “Let me start with a greeting, a farewell or condolences,” the 21-year-old wrote in an Instagram post explaining why she was defecting. “I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran who they have been playing with for years.” …

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Iran Admits “Unintentionally” Shooting Down Airliner

ABC News reports: Iran has admitted that it unintentionally shot down the Ukrainian passenger plane that crashed near Tehran Wednesday, killing all 176 people on board. The plane was mistaken for a “hostile flight” after it turned toward a “sensitive military center,” at which point the plane was “unintentionally hit” with an anti-aircraft missile, according to an official Iranian statement …

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Iranian Officials Deny Shooting Down Ukrainian Airliner

CBS News reports: Iranian officials have denied claims that they mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet. The plane crashed early Wednesday morning soon after takeoff from Tehran’s airport, killing everyone on board. A video obtained by the New York Times appears to show the impact. In it you can see a bright flash, which sources tell CBS News senior …

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New Video Appears To Show Missile Hitting Airliner

The New York Times reports: Video verified by The New York Times appears to show an Iranian missile hitting a plane above Parand, near Tehran’s airport, the area where a Ukrainian airliner stopped transmitting its signal before it crashed on Wednesday. A small explosion occurred when a missile hit the plane, but the plane did not explode, the video showed. …

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US Claims Iranian Missile Shot Down Ukrainian Airliner

USA Today reports: The Ukrainian jet that crashed after taking off from a Tehran airport probably was shot down by an Iranian missile, a London-based global information firm says. “Photographs purportedly taken near the site of the crash and circulated on social media appear to show the guidance section of an SA-15 Gauntlet short-range, surface to air missile, which landed …

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Iranian Commander Warns Of “Harsher Revenge Soon”

Reuters reports: A Revolutionary Guards commander said Iran would take “harsher revenge soon” after Tehran launched missile attacks on U.S. targets in Iraq in retaliation for last week’s U.S. killing of an Iranian general, Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday. The agency was quoting senior commander Abdollah Araghi, speaking after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran appeared …

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Trump: “Iran Appears To Be Standing Down” [VIDEO]

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran “appears to be standing down” after its missile attack on U.S. targets in Iraq, and he vowed to keep up the pressure on Tehran with “punishing” new economic sanctions. Trump made the comments in an address to the nation Wednesday from the White House less than a day after …

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LIVE VIDEO: Trump Addresses Nation After Iran Strike

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump plans to address the nation on Wednesday morning after Iran on Tuesday night launched dozens of missiles at a pair of Iraqi bases that house American troops. The attacks caused no American or Iraqi casualties, Iraqi officials told multiple outlets. Iranian leaders, who vowed to avenge last week’s U.S. drone strike that killed Revolutionary …

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REPORT: It Was Pompeo Who Pushed Trump To Strike

The New York Times reports: Last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was the loudest voice in the administration pushing President Trump to kill Iran’s most important general. This week, he is back in his role as the nation’s top diplomat, trying to contain the international crisis the general’s death created. True to form, Mr. Pompeo is not backing down. …

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Iranian Parliament Designates US Army As Terrorists

From Iran’s Tasnim News Agency: Iran’s lawmakers unanimously voted for a motion to designate the US Army and the Pentagon as terrorist organizations in response to a recent move by Washington to assassinate Iran’s revered commander, Lt. General Qassem Soleimani. The generalities and details of the emergency motion were unanimously passed during an open session of the parliament on Tuesday …

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Biden Eviscerates Trump On Iran: His Self-Defeating “America First” Dogmatism Has Come Home To Roost

The Associated Press reports: Former Vice President and Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden excoriated President Donald Trump on Tuesday, calling the president’s approach to Iran erratic, devoid of strategy and not fully explained to the American people. “President Trump has no strategy here, no endgame,” Biden said in a terse speech delivered in New York. “His constant mistakes and poor …

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US Forces On High Alert For Iranian Drone Strikes

CNN reports: US forces and air-defense missile batteries across the Middle East were placed on high alert overnight Monday to possibly shoot down Iranian drones as intelligence mounted about a threat of an imminent attack against US targets, two US officials tell CNN. The alert reflects the heightened tensions between the US and Iran in the wake of last week’s …

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IRAN: Dozens Killed In Stampede At General’s Funeral

Al Jazeera reports: At least 32 people have been killed in a stampede that erupted in the Iranian city of Kerman at the funeral procession for a top commander killed in an air attack by the United States, Iran’s state television said. “Unfortunately because of overcrowding 32 of our citizens lost their lives in the procession … and 190 were …

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Soleimani’s Eulogist Puts $80M Prize On Trump’s Head

From the Saudi outlet Al Arabiya: The eulogist at the funeral procession of prominent Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in Iran put an 80-million-dollar prize on US President Donald Trump’s head on live state TV. “We are 80 million Iranians, if each one of us puts aside one American dollar, we will have 80 million American dollars, and we will …

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