Tag: Iran

  • US, UK Launch Strikes Targeting Iran-Linked Houthis In Yemen |

    Washington: The United States and Britain launched strikes against 36 Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday, in the second day of major US operations against Iran-linked groups following a deadly attack on American troops last weekend.

    The strikes hit buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems, launchers and other capabilities the Houthis have used to attack Red Sea shipping, the Pentagon said, adding it targeted 13 locations across the country.

    It was the latest sign of spreading conflict in the Middle East since war erupted between Israel and Hamas after the militant Palestinian group’s deadly assault on Israel on Oct.7.

    “This collective action sends a clear message to the Houthis that they will continue to bear further consequences if they do not end their illegal attacks on international shipping and naval vessels,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

    The Yemen strikes are running parallel to an unfolding US campaign of military retaliation over the killing of three American soldiers in a drone strike by Iran-backed militants on an outpost in Jordan.

    On Friday, the US carried out the first wave of that retaliation, striking in Iraq and Syria against more than 85 targets linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and militias it backs, reportedly killing nearly 40 people.

    While Washington accuses Iran-backed militias of attacking US troops at bases in Iraq, Syria and Jordan, Yemen’s Iran-linked Houthis have been regularly targeting commercial ships and warships in the Red Sea.

    The Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen, say their attacks are in solidarity with Palestinians as Israel strikes Gaza. But the US and its allies characterize them as indiscriminate and a threat to global trade.

    Faced with mounting Red Sea violence, major shipping lines have largely abandoned the critical trade route for longer routes around Africa. This has increased costs, feeding worries about global inflation while sapping Egypt of crucial foreign revenue from shippers sailing the Suez Canal to or from the Red Sea.

    The US has carried out more than a dozen strikes against Houthi targets in the past several weeks, but these have failed to stop attacks by the group.

    Just hours before the latest major wave of strikes from the sea and air, the US military’s Central Command issued statements detailing other, more limited strikes in the past day that included hitting six cruise missiles the Houthis were preparing to launch against ships in the Red Sea.

    “This is not an escalation,” said British Defense Minister Grant Shapps. “We have already successfully targeted launchers and storage sites involved in Houthi attacks, and I am confident that our latest strikes have further degraded the Houthis’ capabilities.”

    The United States said Sunday’s strikes had support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand. The US military’s Central Command said that beyond missile capabilities, the strikes targeted drone storage and operations sites, radars and helicopters.

    Despite the strikes against Iran-linked groups, the Pentagon has said it does not want war with Iran and does not believe Tehran wants war either. US Republicans have been ratcheting up pressure on Democratic President Joe Biden to deal a blow to Iran directly.

    It was unclear how Tehran would respond to the strikes, which do not directly target Iran but degrade groups it backs.

    Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a statement the attacks in Iraq and Syria represented “another adventurous and strategic mistake by the United States that will result only in increased tension and instability”.

    Iraq summoned the US charge d’affaires in Baghdad to deliver a formal protest after strikes in that country.

    The Houthi-run Yemeni News Agency (Saba) said the US and Britain launched 14 raids on Saturday on the governorates of Taiz and Hodeidah.

    Eleven of the attacks targeted the Al-Barah area in the Maqbanah District and areas in the Haifan District, a security source told the news agency. The other three attacks targeted Jabal Al-Jada’ in Al-Lahiya District and the Al-Salif District in Al-Hudaydah Governorate.

    Biden’s emerging strategy on Yemen aims to weaken the Houthi militants but stops well short of trying to defeat the group or directly address Iran, the Houthis’ main sponsor, experts say.

    The strategy blends limited military strikes and sanctions, and appears aimed at punishing the Houthis while limiting the risk of a wider Middle East conflict.

  • In Bid To Show Brave Face To India, Pakistan Just Exposed Itself At Global Stage |

    Days after Iran hit terrorist bases in Pakistan’s Balochistan, Islamabad has now retaliated by hitting terrorist bases in Tehran’s territory. In a press brief, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Islamabad undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in the Siestan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran. It said that several terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation codenamed ‘Marg Bar Sarmachar’. Tehran has confirmed 9 deaths in the attack. Islamabad’s military action comes after a missile attack by Tehran targeting a terrorist group killed two children in the southwestern Balochistan province of Pakistan.

    Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that the sole objective of today’s Act was in pursuit of Pakistan’s own security and national interest.

    Responding to a media query on India’s remark, a Pakistani official said that New Delhi will now understand the action taken in self-defense. “I am sure that India will understand the action Pakistan has taken in its self-defense today.”

    India has said that the attack on Balochistan was a matter between Iran and Pakistan. “Insofar as India is concerned, we have an uncompromising position of zero tolerance towards terrorism. We understand actions that countries take in their self-defense,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India.

    India had carried out two surgical strikes on Pakistan after Narendra Modi came to power in 2014. While trying to send a message to New Delhi about self-defense, Pakistan has purportedly exposed itself and Iran. Pakistan wanted to show that it would even respond to India in case of any future events like a surgical strike, it showed to the world that it indeed harbors terrorist groups in its home. Iran has already accused Pakistan of not taking action against terror groups despite several requests.

    Knowing that attacking Iran would further escalate the tension between the two nations, Pakistan took a safer line by saying that Iran is a brotherly country and that the people of Pakistan have great respect and affection for the Iranian people. “We have always emphasized dialogue and cooperation in confronting common challenges including the menace of terrorism and will continue to endeavor to find joint solutions,” said Pakistan’s foreign ministry.

    By issuing this statement, Pakistan again confirmed that terror groups are thriving uninterrupted in the country, a claim that India has made several times.

  • Iran’s international minister warns Israel from Beirut it might endure ‘an enormous earthquake’

    By Associated Press

    BEIRUT: Iran’s international minister on Saturday known as on Israel to cease its assaults on Gaza, warning that the battle would possibly increase to different components of the Middle East if Hezbollah joins the battle, and that may make Israel endure “a huge earthquake.”

    Hossein Amirabdollahian instructed reporters in Beirut that Lebanon’s Hezbollah group has taken all of the situations of a battle into consideration and Israel ought to cease its assaults on Gaza as quickly as attainable.

    Israel considers Hezbollah its most severe quick risk, estimating it has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, together with precision-guided missiles that may hit anyplace in Israel. The group, which has hundreds of battle-hardened fighters who participated in Syria’s 12-year battle, additionally has several types of navy drones.

    Hezbollah fighters have been on full alert alongside Lebanon’s borders with Israel following final Saturday’s assault by the militant Palestinian group Hamas that left a whole lot of Israeli civilians and troopers useless.

    On Saturday, the Israeli navy stated an Israeli drone strike alongside the border with Lebanon killed a “cell” that was attempting to infiltrate into Israel. On Friday, Hezbollah stated its fighters fired a number of rockets at 4 Israel positions alongside the border.

    Amirabdollahian stated he met Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who briefed him on the group’s circumstances in Lebanon.

    ALSO READ | Israel’s order on relocating Gaza residents ‘extraordinarily harmful’: UN chief Guterres

    “I know about the scenarios that Hezbollah has put in place,” Amirabdollahian stated. “Any step the resistance (Hezbollah) will take will cause a huge earthquake in the Zionist entity.”

    Amirabdollahian added: “I want to warn the war criminals and those who support this entity before it’s too late to stop the crimes against civilians in Gaza, because it might be too late in few hours.”

    With an eye fixed towards Hezbollah, U.S. President Joe Biden has warned different gamers within the Middle East to not be a part of the battle and has despatched American warships to the area and vowed full assist for Israel.

    The Iranian international minister stated he will likely be contacting U.N. officers within the Middle East as a result of “there is still an opportunity to work on an initiative (to end the war) but it might be too late tomorrow.”

    The chance of a brand new entrance in Lebanon brings again bitter reminiscences of a vicious monthlong battle between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006 that led to a stalemate and a tense detente between the 2 sides.

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    BEIRUT: Iran’s international minister on Saturday known as on Israel to cease its assaults on Gaza, warning that the battle would possibly increase to different components of the Middle East if Hezbollah joins the battle, and that may make Israel endure “a huge earthquake.”

    Hossein Amirabdollahian instructed reporters in Beirut that Lebanon’s Hezbollah group has taken all of the situations of a battle into consideration and Israel ought to cease its assaults on Gaza as quickly as attainable.

    Israel considers Hezbollah its most severe quick risk, estimating it has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, together with precision-guided missiles that may hit anyplace in Israel. The group, which has hundreds of battle-hardened fighters who participated in Syria’s 12-year battle, additionally has several types of navy drones.googletag.cmd.push(operate() googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

    Hezbollah fighters have been on full alert alongside Lebanon’s borders with Israel following final Saturday’s assault by the militant Palestinian group Hamas that left a whole lot of Israeli civilians and troopers useless.

    On Saturday, the Israeli navy stated an Israeli drone strike alongside the border with Lebanon killed a “cell” that was attempting to infiltrate into Israel. On Friday, Hezbollah stated its fighters fired a number of rockets at 4 Israel positions alongside the border.

    Amirabdollahian stated he met Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who briefed him on the group’s circumstances in Lebanon.

    ALSO READ | Israel’s order on relocating Gaza residents ‘extraordinarily harmful’: UN chief Guterres

    “I know about the scenarios that Hezbollah has put in place,” Amirabdollahian stated. “Any step the resistance (Hezbollah) will take will cause a huge earthquake in the Zionist entity.”

    Amirabdollahian added: “I want to warn the war criminals and those who support this entity before it’s too late to stop the crimes against civilians in Gaza, because it might be too late in few hours.”

    With an eye fixed towards Hezbollah, U.S. President Joe Biden has warned different gamers within the Middle East to not be a part of the battle and has despatched American warships to the area and vowed full assist for Israel.

    The Iranian international minister stated he will likely be contacting U.N. officers within the Middle East as a result of “there is still an opportunity to work on an initiative (to end the war) but it might be too late tomorrow.”

    The chance of a brand new entrance in Lebanon brings again bitter reminiscences of a vicious monthlong battle between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006 that led to a stalemate and a tense detente between the 2 sides. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp

  • Iran’s morality police again on streets months after anti-hijab protests

    By India Today World Desk: Iran’s morality police have been again on the streets of varied cities, together with the capital Tehran, throughout the nation, to implement the necessary hijab guidelines. This got here 10 months after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini’s loss of life in police custody triggered nationwide protests and caught the world’s consideration.

    Morality police personnel patrol the streets of the cities in Iran and implement the strict gown code for ladies, together with the hijab and different clothes, which aren’t revealing.

    According to the spokesperson for the Iranian legislation enforcement power, Saeid Montazeralmahdi, morality police have been patrolling on foot and working with autos to crack down on individuals who weren’t following the gown code.

    ALSO READ | Niece of Iran’s supreme chief urges world to chop ties with Tehran

    The morality police would “issue warnings and then introduce to the judicial system people who unfortunately insist on their norm-breaking behaviour without concern for the consequences of their covering that is outside of the norm”, he was quoted as saying by state media.

    Montazeralmahdi acknowledged that police anticipated everybody to comply with the principles in order that officers would have extra time to cope with “other vital missions”, Al Jazeera reported.

    IRAN’S DREADED MORALITY POLICE

    The morality cops preserve a strict test on girls and typically males on how they’re dressed. They might ask girls to regulate their hijabs or demand a change in clothes which is extra loose-fitting and regarded acceptable.

    If girls are caught violating the necessary gown code, they’re despatched to the so-called academic services run by the police.

    MAHSA AMINI’S DEATH SPARKS NATIONWIDE PROTESTS

    In September final 12 months, Mahsa Amini died in a hospital in Tehran after she was arrested by the morality police for allegedly not carrying a hijab.

    ALSO READ | Iran’s ‘loss of life committee’ president says punishment to all concerned in violence will proceed

    Her loss of life, as a result of potential police brutality, led to large protests with girls not carrying their headscarves and slicing their hair in defiance of the Iranian regime. However, authorities severely cracked down on the protests with tons of of protesters being detained. Around 500 demonstrators have been killed through the protests.

    Across the world, girls celebrities confirmed their solidarity with their Iranian counterparts by slicing off their hair and recording the act on social media.

    For the previous few months, morality police have put in surveillance cameras to determine unveiled girls. They are given warnings or requested to pay fines or seem in court docket. If violators are caught of their automobiles, then their automobiles might be impounded.

    The gown code additionally applies to eating places and purchasing centres, which have been going through closures, for providing providers to girls with free hijabs, Al Jazeera reported.

    ALSO READ | Iranian dancer, who left base after going through threats, believes protests will finish Tehran’s ‘cruelty’

  • Mother transformed to Christianity from Islam; ‘Iran had problems’ says Yavarivafa, IOC Refugee program shuttler

    The greatest sacrifice Dorsa Yavarivafa has needed to make to play badminton is being away from her household, particularly her father who acquired her began out within the sport as a ten 12 months outdated. The sport has been a relentless by all of the tribulations of her refugee life although, and as a International Olympic Committee scholarship athlete, she hopes it would lead her to the Olympics.

    “It hurts me a little bit, and it’s hard not playing for your country. Who doesn’t wanna play under a flag and make their country proud?” she asks, including it’s a privilege although to play below the IOC’s Refugee program, and get the chance to purpose on the Olympics.

    The Iran-born remembers successful in each age-group event there was, however not being picked to characterize her nation, being discriminated in opposition to for her mom’s spiritual decisions.

    “Iran didn’t play fair. I was winning National tournaments. But they had problems with my mother’s religion so we had to leave. She was born a Muslim, but believes in Christianity and changing her religion caused a problem,” Dorsa explains.

    It meant fleeing to Germany first and UK later, searching for refugee standing which suggests Dorsa can’t see her father who’s again in Iran for one more few years. “It’s been 5 years since I saw my Dad face to face. He’s really proud of me playing this sport, so that keeps me going,”she provides.

    It had began along with her dad asking her to offer badminton a strive after a spot of basketball. She didn’t benefit from the group dynamic, and craved a person sport. She discovered badminton a enjoyable sport after giving it a go, and began competing in smaller tournaments. At 12/13, she reckoned she needed to go professional on this sport.

    Her time as a refugee has meant uncertainty the place it might develop into a threat to remain in a rustic and in addition fixed concern of deportation. Badminton has saved her completely satisfied by these robust occasions. “I would get first place in nationals, but couldn’t go international back in Iran. I was training so hard every single day, it hurt,” she remembers of the travails of not being picked by her house nation Iran.

    Dorsa performs singles and doubles at London now, the latter partnering Sri Pradeepta Ananth. But she grew up a fan of Carolina Marin in her early teenagers. Now she research sports activities science at Sandwell College, and idolises An Se Young whom she watched play at All England earlier this 12 months. She loves the Korean’s attacking fashion of play. “In men’s singles I like Viktor Axelsen.”

    Her personal singles nationwide rating dipped after she moved from Birmingham to London as a result of she couldn’t prepare as earlier than. In doubles she is ranked No 41 within the UK. Dorsa’s eventual goal is to receives a commission for what she does – play badminton professionally, and maybe characterize the UK. “Who doesn’t want to play under a flag?” she repeats.

    She trains on the courtroom thrice every week – Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and within the gymnasium an additional three days – Saturdays she performs tournaments , and Sundays are relaxation days. Being an expert athlete means she’s had to surrender on sure issues she loves – junk meals, for begin. “I love food, but now I have a dietician, and have had to give up on certain food,” she says of the self-discipline imbibed, because of desirous to play on the highest degree.

    Winning the IOC refugee scholarship was one of many happiest days in Dorsa’s life. “It’s an honour. What we couldn’t do in our country, we’ll under this flag. The way I think of it, let’s just make them proud anyway.” It’s what retains her getting in coaching. There are fond recollections of enjoying badminton along with her buddies in Iran, and an acceptance of circumstances the best way they panned out. The scholarship will fund Dorsa’s coaching and competitors within the lead as much as Paris 2024, as she makes an attempt to qualify for the Olympics.

  • Gujarat couple looking for to enter US illegally held captive in Iran by Pak nationwide: Cops

    By Press Trust of India: A younger couple from Naroda in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad metropolis who deliberate to enter the United States of America illegally has been held hostage in Iran by a Pakistani agent who has sought cash for his or her launch, a police official mentioned right here on Monday.

    An FIR on this regard is being lodged at Krushnanagar Police Station of Naroda space and the Ahmedabad metropolis crime department has began investigation, mentioned Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Chaitanya Mandlik.

    Since the incident has taken place outdoors the nation, crime department will method the Indian Embassy in Iran with all particulars to safe the discharge of the couple recognized as Pankaj Patel and his spouse Nisha Patel, each 29, the DCP knowledgeable.

    Also Read: Double-murder accused needed for 30 yrs arrested by Mumbai Police

    According to the main points shared with Krushnanagar police by the couple’s household, the 2 needed to enter the US illegally and got here involved with a Hyderabad-based agent who organized their air tickets.

    As per the agent’s plan, the couple was purported to land at Tehran in Iran after which proceed additional as per directions, police mentioned.

    However, after they landed at Tehran airport a couple of days again, a Pakistani agent took them to a lodge and held them hostage for ransom, officers mentioned.

    The Pakistani agent and his accomplices thrashed Pankaj Patel and despatched a video to his kin and sought an enormous sum of money to launch the couple, they added.

    Also Read: Groom tied to a tree by bride’s household for demanding dowry in UP’s Pratapgarh

  • Taliban and Iran are capturing at each other. Here’s why

    By Bidisha Saha, Devvrat Pandey: At least three people have been killed and quite a lot of different others injured after clashes broke out alongside the Iranian-Afghan border on May 27, extra escalating tensions between the two nations amid a heated dispute over water rights in newest weeks.

    The newest skirmishes come amid rising tensions between the two nations over the motion of water from the Helmand River in Afghanistan to the jap space of Iran. It is being reported that the jap space has been affected by excessive drought conditions. The mouth of the river is alongside the border between southwestern Afghanistan and southeastern Iran, the place the clashes took place.

    Using satellite tv for pc television for laptop imagery and the most recent motion pictures of the clashes, India Today’s OSINT group has acknowledged the geolocations of the web sites that lie alongside the southwest Afghan-Iran border between Kang district of Nimruz and Zaranj metropolis in Afghanistan.

    Both nations have blamed each other for starting the fights. According to Iran’s deputy police chief, Gen. Qassem Rezaei, the Taliban fired the first images on Saturday morning, reported by Iran’s state media Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). On the alternative hand, from the Taliban’s viewpoint, Iran started the battle, as mentioned by Afghan Interior Ministry spokesperson Abdul Nafi Takor.

    What’s the Helmand water-sharing dispute all about?

    The problem of water has been a flashpoint between Afghanistan and Iran for lots of of years. The two nations are tied by the Helmand River, which is the longest river in Afghanistan. It emerges from the Sanglakh foothills of the Hindu-Kush mountain range inside the northeastern part of Maidan Wardak Province and feeds into Hamun Lake alongside the nation’s border with Iran.

    The Helmand River is a major water provide for every Afghanistan and Iran – important for consuming water, fishing and irrigation. However, the two nations signed a treaty of water sharing sources in 1973, nevertheless it was under no circumstances sanctioned, which made Helmand’s waters a level of competitors between the nations.

    ALSO READ | 3 women amongst 10 killed, 25 injured in avalanche in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan

    The water treaty specifies that Afghanistan ought to ship a imply of twenty-two cubic meters per second of water to Iran, and an additional 4 cubic meters per second for “goodwill and brotherly relations.” The treaty moreover establishes a model new Helmand Commission to handle the provisions of the settlement.

    Since December 2021, the two nations have been engaged in a sequence of border crossfires attributing quite a lot of parts just like water rights, drug trafficking, and the presence of terrorist groups, which contribute to the rationale for these clashes.

    Dams Along the Helmand River

    Construction work on the Baksh Abad dam inside the western Farah province of Afghanistan is meant to help inside the expertise of hydroelectric power, irrigation of better than 100 hectares of land, enchancment of roads, and creation of employment. But it moreover provides Afghanistan the ability to cut off the motion of water into Iran, which has alarmed Iranian officers as a result of the nation experiences intervals of intense drought.

    Things took a vile flip in 2021 when the Kamal Khan Dam in Afghanistan’s Chahar Burjak district was opened. While drought-ridden Iran says the dam is an environmental concern, Afghanistan argues that dams will protected water for it in line with the 1973 treaty.

    The dam was constructed to resolve the world’s infrastructural and agricultural challenges. But Iranian authorities have tried to halt its constructing for years, contending that it may interrupt the water present that feeds the Hamoun wetlands.

    The Helmand River Treaty permits Afghanistan the right to pursue developmental duties over the water our our bodies inside the space. However, the question stays whether or not or not the occasion of dams or canals is permissible beneath worldwide laws over a sharing water treaty.

    Other Reasons Behind the Clash

    Another plausible cause behind the Iran-Afghan battle is drug trafficking. Afghanistan is the world’s largest producer of opium, and much of this opium is trafficked by way of Iran. Iran has accused Afghanistan of not doing enough to stop drug trafficking, and this has led to tensions between the two nations.

    The presence of terrorist or militant groups can be a cause behind the clashes. Iran and Afghanistan are every residence to quite a lot of terrorist groups, along with the Islamic State of Iran and the Taliban. These groups have carried out assaults in every nations, and this has led to tensions between the two nations.

    In addition to the weather talked about above, the Iran-Afghanistan battle can be being exacerbated by the current political state of affairs in Afghanistan. The Taliban’s return to power has led to quite a lot of uncertainties and challenges, and this has created an setting by means of which tensions between Iran and Afghanistan often are inclined to escalate.

    In newest days, pro-Taliban accounts on-line have been sharing a video with a ‘Nasheed’ music calling on the showing defence minister, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, to face as a lot as Iran. Mullah Yaqoob is the son of Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban’s late founder and first supreme chief.

    Taliban in Afghanistan seeks recognition on the worldwide platform, nevertheless the United States has mentioned that it may not acknowledge the Taliban authorities besides it meets explicit conditions, which embody respecting human rights and stopping Afghanistan from turning right into a protected haven for terrorists. Some allegations suggest that the United States may be supporting the Taliban to include Iran in a battle. These allegations are based on the reality that the United States has left all foremost battle weapons inside the arms of the Taliban which is now being exploited by Taliban fighters and totally different militant groups. However, there is no such thing as a such factor as a concrete proof to help this allegation.

    ALSO READ | Drones hit buildings in Moscow, no essential accidents: Russian officers

  • Iran hangs 2 males for blasphemy

    By Reuters: Iran has executed two people who had been sentenced to dying for blasphemy, the judiciary’s data site Mizan reported on Monday, drawing an indignant response from human rights group Amnesty International.

    Yousef Mehrdad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare have been executed for crimes along with blasphemy, insulting the religion of Islam, the prophet and totally different sanctities, Mizan reported.

    The site reported that the two have been working dozens of on-line anti-religion platforms dedicated to the hatred of Islam, the promotion of atheism and insults to sanctities.

    ALSO READ | Gold mine fireside in Peru kills 27, nation’s worst mining accident in 2 a few years

    Amnesty International condemned the executions on its Twitter internet web page for Iran.

    “Today’s execution of Yousef Mehrdad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare for ‘apostasy’ marks a shocking new low for Iran’s authorities & only furthers Iran’s pariah status,” it wrote.

    “They were hanged solely for social media posts in a grotesque assault on the rights to life and freedom of religion.”

    U.N. consultants have known as on majority Shi’ite Muslim Iran to stop the persecution and harassment of religious minorities pointing to an Iranian protection of specializing in dissenting beliefs or spiritual practices, along with Christian converts and atheists.

    ALSO READ | Israel demolishes ‘illegal’ Palestinian West Bank school, attracts EU ire

  • Dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi travels abroad after 14-year ban

    By AFP

    TEHRAN: Dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi has left Iran for the first time in 14 years for a go to to France, weeks after being launched from jail, his lawyer said Wednesday.

    The 62-year-old Iranian director, whose motion pictures have acquired fairly a couple of worldwide awards, was freed on bail in early February after virtually seven months in detention in Tehran.

    “After having fully served his sentence, Panahi was authorised to leave the country and obtained his passport,” his lawyer Saleh Nikbakht instructed AFP.

    On Tuesday night time Panahi’s partner, Tahereh Saidi, posted {a photograph} on Instagram of herself and the filmmaker at an airport, with every displaying joyful to go away the nation after a 14-year ban.

    The lawyer said Panahi was travelling to France to go to his daughter.

    Panahi was banned from making motion pictures and leaving the Islamic republic after supporting mass protests in 2009 and making a set of flicks that critiqued the state of latest Iran.

    That did not stop him from working clandestinely inside the nation, and his 2015 film “Taxi” acquired the Golden Bear on the Berlin Film Festival.

    Arrested in Tehran in July last 12 months, the director was to serve a six-year jail sentence handed down in 2010 for “propaganda against the system”.

    However, Panahi was launched two days after occurring a hunger strike in early February to protest the conditions of his detention.

    “As far as I know, there are no more court cases against him,” Nikbakht said.

    As properly as scooping the Golden Bear in Berlin, Panahi acquired a Golden Lion on the Venice Film Festival in 2000 for his film “The Circle”. In 2018, he moreover claimed the right screenplay prize at Cannes for “Three Faces”.

    Panahi’s latest film, “No Bears”, which like a whole lot of his newest work stars the director himself, was screened on the 2022 Venice Film Festival when the filmmaker was already behind bars. It acquired the Special Jury Prize.

    TEHRAN: Dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi has left Iran for the first time in 14 years for a go to to France, weeks after being launched from jail, his lawyer said Wednesday.

    The 62-year-old Iranian director, whose motion pictures have acquired fairly a couple of worldwide awards, was freed on bail in early February after virtually seven months in detention in Tehran.

    “After having fully served his sentence, Panahi was authorised to leave the country and obtained his passport,” his lawyer Saleh Nikbakht instructed AFP.googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.present(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

    On Tuesday night time Panahi’s partner, Tahereh Saidi, posted {a photograph} on Instagram of herself and the filmmaker at an airport, with every displaying joyful to go away the nation after a 14-year ban.

    The lawyer said Panahi was travelling to France to go to his daughter.

    View this submit on Instagram

    A submit shared by Tahereh saeedi (@taherehsaidii)

    Panahi was banned from making motion pictures and leaving the Islamic republic after supporting mass protests in 2009 and making a set of flicks that critiqued the state of latest Iran.

    That did not stop him from working clandestinely inside the nation, and his 2015 film “Taxi” acquired the Golden Bear on the Berlin Film Festival.

    Arrested in Tehran in July last 12 months, the director was to serve a six-year jail sentence handed down in 2010 for “propaganda against the system”.

    However, Panahi was launched two days after occurring a hunger strike in early February to protest the conditions of his detention.

    “As far as I know, there are no more court cases against him,” Nikbakht said.

    As properly as scooping the Golden Bear in Berlin, Panahi acquired a Golden Lion on the Venice Film Festival in 2000 for his film “The Circle”. In 2018, he moreover claimed the right screenplay prize at Cannes for “Three Faces”.

    Panahi’s latest film, “No Bears”, which like a whole lot of his newest work stars the director himself, was screened on the 2022 Venice Film Festival when the filmmaker was already behind bars. It acquired the Special Jury Prize.

  • US deploys guided-missile submarine amid menace of Iran’s assault on Israeli-owned ships

    Iran was considering assaults on Israeli-owned ships, senior western intelligence officers talked about. Amid rising tensions with Iran, the US talked about it had deployed a guided submarine in a position to carrying as a lot as 154 Tomahawk missiles to the Middle East.

    This {photograph} launched by the US Navy current a guided-missile submarine in a position to carrying as a lot as 154 Tomahawk missiles. The Navy talked about nuclear-powered submarine, based out of Kings Bay, Georgia, handed by the use of the Suez Canal on Friday, April 7, 2023 (Photo: AP)

    By India Today World Desk: As tensions between Israel and Iran proceed to soar, the United States Navy on Saturday talked about it had deployed a guided submarine, in a position to carrying as a lot as 154 Tomahawk missiles to the Middle East. According to US military and Israeli intelligence corporations, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Force was getting ready a drone assault in opposition to Israeli-owned civilian service supplier vessels crusing inside the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, Western senior intelligence officers knowledgeable The New York Times.

    Iran and Israel are arch-rivals and currently have been engaged in a ‘shadow battle’ of unclaimed assaults on each other’s property, infrastructure and nationals.

    Israel has prolonged thought-about Iran to be its excessive enemy, citing Iranian requires Israel’s destruction, its assist for anti-Israel militant groups like Hezbollah and its nuclear program.

    Israel and Western nations say Iran is making an attempt to develop nuclear weapons, a value Iran denies.

    “Nuclear-powered submarine, based out of Kings Bay, Georgia, passed through the Suez Canal on Friday. It is capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet to help ensure regional maritime security and stability,” Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesperson for the 5th Fleet based in the Gulf nation of Bahrain told AP.

    IRAN CONSIDERING ATTACKS ON ISRAELI-OWNED SHIPS

    An Iranian political strategist close to the Guards told The NYT Iran was considering attacks on Israeli-owned ships in the region as one means of retaliating against Israeli airstrikes in Syria that killed two members of the Guards in March.

    By Thursday, the US 5th Fleet had warned Israel’s defense establishment about an imminent threat from Iran against Israeli ships and said that the Guards were in a position to strike, according to two Western intelligence officials, the NYT reported.

    Israeli ships were advised to turn off their transponders and sail as close as possible to the coast of Oman. They were asked to move away from the Iranian coast and to routinely report their whereabouts and any suspicious activity.

    ALSO READ | Iran reports drone attack on defense facility in Isfahan

    US officials said the deployment of the submarine, the USS Florida, was meant to deter Iran and maintain the stability of one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, in which millions of dollars in commercial goods, oil and gas are transported every day, the report said.

    “Recent events, including the strikes in Syria and public threats made by Iran against merchant vessels, prompted us to remind regional mariners to remain vigilant,” the spokesperson said.

    The US does not typically acknowledge the presence of its submarines anywhere, unlike ships and planes, which can be tracked.

    TENSIONS BETWEEN IRAN, ISRAEL SOAR

    In February, Iran blamed Israel for a drone attack on a military factory near the central city of Isfahan. Its ambassador to the UN said the findings indicated Israel “was liable for this tried act of aggression”

    The tensions between the US and Iran reached an all-time extreme since former President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal in 2018, claiming it did not curtail Iran’s missile program and regional have an effect on.

    ALSO READ | Explained: Why is Israel specializing in Iran’s drone providers?

    The Biden administration’s efforts to revive the settlement hit a wall closing 12 months. The tensions have worsened as Iran has outfitted assault drones to Russian forces in Ukraine and as Israel and Iran have escalated their yearslong shadow battle inside the Middle East.

    Tehran has sought improved relations with China, which brokered an settlement closing month to revive diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

    The US, the UK and Israel have accused Iran of specializing in oil tankers and industrial ships currently, allegations denied by Tehran. The US Navy has moreover reported a sequence of tense encounters at sea with Iranian forces that it talked about have been being recklessly aggressive.

    ALSO READ | US carries out air strikes in Syria after Iran-backed drone assault kills American contractor

    (With inputs from AP)

    Published On:

    Apr 9, 2023