Category Archives: Iran

Saudi-Iranian detente is fragile but potential for the Middle East is huge

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Should rapprochement solidify it could augur well for Yemen, Lebanon and Syria – and spell disaster for Israel

Tehran’s embassy in Riyadh has reopened for the first time since 2016, the Iranian foreign ministry quietly confirmed in April, in the latest of a series of gestures showing that the two Middle East powers are determined to dial down a rivalry that has disfigured the region for 40 years.

All kinds of signs, trivial and large, suggest the rapprochement is genuine: civilian flights between the two countries are to resume; an Iranian won an $800,000 Saudi Qur’an-reading competition; Iranian steel is making its way to Saudi markets; officials from the two countries were seen embracing after the Saudi navy rescued 60 Iranians trapped in Sudan; and Ibrahim Raisi is expected to announce a visit to Riyadh soon, the first by an Iranian president since 2007.

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Iran executes Swedish-Iranian for alleged terrorism

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Habib Farajollah Chaab allegedly behind attack that killed dozens of people in southern province of Khuzistan in 2018

Iran has executed a man who was allegedly behind an attack that killed dozens of people at a military parade in the southern province of Khuzistan in 2018, state media have reported.

Habib Farajollah Chaab had been sentenced to death for being “corrupt on Earth”, a capital offence under Iran’s strict Islamic laws.

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‘I’m in intense pain’: Vahid Beheshti passes 70 days on UK hunger strike

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Camped outside Foreign Office, Beheshti is demanding Iran’s Revolutionary Guards be proscribed

Vahid Beheshti’s hunger strike outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office took a surreal turn on Wednesday – its 70th day – when he attended a royal coronation tea party at Buckingham Palace, arriving by wheelchair and wearing a suit and red tie.

He has lost more than 17kg (37lb), or a quarter of his body weight, and he told the Guardian that “my body and joints are now racked in intense pain”. As he left his tent, draped in the Iranian flag and surrounded by flowers, he clutched an envelope containing a letter for the king. After carefully smartening himself up, he was wheeled to a taxi by his wife, Mattie Heaven, a Conservative councillor.

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Raisi flies to Syria for first Iranian presidential visit since start of civil war

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Tehran seeks to bolster influence over Damascus as Gulf states move to normalise relations with Assad

Ebrahim Raisi has flown to Damascus for the first state visit by an Iranian president to Syria since the civil war broke out in 2011, as Tehran seeks to bolster its political and economic influence over the Assad regime.

Iran has been a long-term supporter of Bashar al-Assad, sending Iranian militia to help defeat Assad’s opponents, and as the normalisation of relations between Syria and Gulf states nears, Iran wants to ensure it reaps the economic benefits of its support. Raisi is also making the visit now to try to build a stronger anti-Israeli alliance in the region.

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Film-maker Jafar Panahi leaves Iran for first time in 14 years as travel ban lifted

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The award-winning director who was released from prison in February is rumoured to be a juror at the Cannes film festival

Jafar Panahi, the acclaimed Iranian director whose life has been dominated by clashes with his country’s government, has left Iran for the first time in 14 years.

Panahi’s wife, Tahereh Saeedi, posted a picture on Instagram on Tuesday night showing her arriving with her husband at an undisclosed airport.

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Red Cross announces exchange of nearly 900 prisoners in Yemen war

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International Committee of the Red Cross organises swap between Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels as ceasefire talks continue

An “emotional and precious” exchange of nearly 900 prisoners involved in Yemen’s long-running war began on Friday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said.

The exchange, the largest since 2020, is likely to be staged over three days, and includes politicians, journalists and soldiers. On Friday, four flights carrying a total of 318 people took place between the rebel-held capital, Sana’a, and government-controlled Aden. A further 500 will be exchanged on Saturday.

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Women not wearing hijab to be banned from Tehran metro – reports

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Iranian state TV shows metro staff stopping women at ticket barriers, in effect barring many from work

Hijab enforcement groups are to be set up on the Tehran metro and women not wearing the hijab will be refused entry, in effect banning some women from work, Iranian state TV has reported.

The move appears to be part of a pattern of government efforts to force Iranian public bodies to take greater responsibility for enforcing the hijab. Many Iranian women, especially in urban centres, have refused to comply with the hijab rules, in a sign that the “women, life, freedom” protests that began in September continue in a more individualised form.

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Iranian police plan to use smart cameras to identify “violators of hijab law”

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Women who break Islamic dress code will be identified, warned on first instance and then taken to court

Police in Iran plan to use smart technology in public places to identify and then penalise women who violate the country’s strict Islamic dress code, the force said on Saturday.

A statement said police would “take action to identify norm-breaking people by using tools and smart cameras in public places and thoroughfares”.

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Saudi officials arrive in Iran to discuss reopening diplomatic missions

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Visits comes two days after Middle Eastern powers met in China to restore relations

A Saudi delegation arrived in Tehran on Saturday to discuss reopening diplomatic missions with Iran after seven years.

The visit comes two days after the unprecedented meeting between Iran and Saudi Arabia’s heads of diplomacy in China after the two countries agreed to restore diplomatic ties last month.

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China enters riskier space by positioning itself as diplomatic alternative to US

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Recent meetings in Beijing mark a return to the world stage but with that comes increased scrutiny

Beijing this week displaced New York and the UN as the diplomatic capital of the world, hosting two meetings that have the potential to unblock two of the deepest conflicts plaguing the globe – the nine-year-old conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and the 30-year standoff between Riyadh and Tehran.

For Beijing, often described as neuralgic towards interventionist foreign policy, it marks a step into the biggest of diplomatic leagues, and a sign of the country’s return to the global stage post-Covid.

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Saudi Arabia and Iran work to restore relations as foreign ministers meet

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Faisal bin Farhan and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Beijing for talks after Chinese-brokered agreement

The Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers have met for the first time in seven years, weeks after the two countries came to an agreement, brokered by Chinese officials, to restore diplomatic relations.

Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Iran’s Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met in Beijing to discuss the reopening of embassies, the appointment of ambassadors and a planned visit to Saudi Arabia by Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s president. They also discussed resuming flights between the two countries and issuing travel visas for each others’ citizens.

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Two women attacked with yoghurt in Iran arrested for not covering hair

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Country’s chief justice says unveiled women will be prosecuted ‘without mercy’ after defiance

Two women have been arrested in Iran for not covering their hair in public after having a tub of yoghurt thrown over them.

Video footage that went viral on social media showed two female customers being approached by a man who engages them in conversation.

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US strikes Iran-backed group in Syria after deadly attack on coalition base

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Airstrikes in retaliation to attack on base in north-east by suspected Iranian-made drone that killed US contractor

The US military has carried out airstrikes against Iran-backed forces in retaliation for an attack that killed an American contractor and wounded five US troops.

A day after the deadly attack on US personnel in Syria, which Washington blamed on a drone of Iranian origin, sources said a US base in Syria’s north-east was targeted in a new missile attack. US officials said there were no US casualties in the incident on Friday.

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UK and Israel sign deal strengthening tech, trade and security ties

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Timing is controversial given actions of Israel’s far-right government towards settlements and judiciary

The UK and Israel have signed a long-term agreement strengthening ties in the fields of defence, security and technology following plans announced last year to put relations between the two countries on an elevated footing.

The timing of Tuesday’s agreement is controversial since it will be seen as a mark of approval for Israel’s far-right government, which has put settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank at the top of its agenda and faces a massive backlash over plans to neuter the role of the judiciary.

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Long shadow of US invasion of Iraq still looms over international order

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‘Tell me, how does this end?’ asked US general David Petraeus during first push to Baghdad in 2003

The French statesman Georges Clemenceau once said: “War is a series of catastrophes that results in a victory.” In the case of the invasion of Iraq, however, the war that began 20 years ago started in victory and has ended in a series of catastrophes.

The main US military pullout from Iraq was ultimately completed by 2011, finally answering the question posed by Gen David Petraeus during that first push to Baghdad in 2003: “Tell me, how does this end?” Yet the long shadow of the invasion still looms over the international order, staining the reputation of those who instigated it and the political process itself, and dealing a heavy blow to the self-confidence that the west felt in the years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

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Detente between Saudi Arabia and Iran is no panacea for Yemen war

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It may speed up peace talks between Riyadh and the Houthi movement, but it risks locking out other groups

The new detente between Saudi Arabia and Iran is likely to have significant implications for the civil war in Yemen, possibly speeding up peace talks between Riyadh and the Houthi movement, but it also risks locking out other groups, including the main separatist faction, women and western governments.

Saudi Arabia has been holding private direct talks in Oman with the Houthi movement since October but the main separatist group, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), has said it will not feel bound by any deal if it extends to issues of the administration, security or distribution of resources in the south of the country.

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Iran and Saudi Arabia agree to restore ties after China-brokered talks

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Embassies to reopen in move that could have wide implications for Iran nuclear deal and Yemen war

Iran and Saudi Arabia, the two great oil-producing rivals of the Middle East, have agreed to restore ties and reopen embassies seven years after relations were severed.

The agreement came after Chinese-brokered talks held in Beijing. “As a result of the talks, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to resume diplomatic relations and reopen embassies … within two months,” Iran’s state news agency Irna reported, citing a joint statement.

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Campaign calls for gender apartheid to be crime under international law

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Prominent Afghans and Iranians say current laws do not capture the systematic suppression of women

A prominent group of Afghan and Iranian women are backing a campaign calling for gender apartheid to be recognised as a crime under international law.

The campaign, launched on International Women’s Day, reflects a belief that the current laws covering discrimination against women do not capture the systematic nature of the policies imposed in Afghanistan and Iran to downgrade the status of women in society.

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Iran makes first arrests over suspected schoolgirl poisonings

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No details given about suspects as regime cracks down on criticism of its response to alleged school attacks

Iran has announced the first arrests connected to a spate of suspected poisonings of schoolgirls that has gripped the country.

“Based on the intelligence and research measures of the intelligence agencies, a number of people have been arrested in five provinces and the relevant agencies are conducting a full investigation,” the deputy interior minister, Majid Mirahmadi, told state television. Mirahmadi did not provide details on the detained individuals.

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IAEA chief qualifies claim that Iran will restore nuclear site monitoring

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Head of UN nuclear watchdog had said Tehran agreed to restore equipment and hand over data

The head of the UN nuclear weapons inspectorate was forced to qualify some of the claims he made about commitments he had extracted from Iran at the weekend about increasing access to UN inspectors.

At his first press conference on his return from Tehran on Saturday, Rafael Grossi said “yes” when asked if Iran had pledged to restore all the cameras and other surveillance equipment that it had removed from its nuclear-related sites. But at Monday’s press conference he qualified this, saying it required further discussion.

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