Category Archives: Iran

Baghdad airport attack: senior Iran-aligned militia official killed amid US tensions

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Rocket or drone attack on motorcade kills senior figure linked to embassy siege as well as ‘guests’ believed to be Iranians

A top official of an Iraqi Shia militia organisation has been reported killed in a motorcade outside Baghdad airport, raising the stakes in an already tense standoff between the US and pro-Iranian forces in Iraq’s capital.

The Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) announced that its head of public relations and protocol, Mohammed Ridha, was killed in a vehicle as he was escorting “guests” from the airport. Some reports said the attack was carried out by a drone, others that it was a volley of rockets.

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US troops deployed to Middle East after Baghdad embassy siege

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Up to 3,000 soldiers to be sent in as pro-Iran militants leave US embassy in Iraqi capital

Iranian-backed militants have ended a day-long siege of the American embassy in Baghdad following an order from their militia organisation, but the struggle between the US and Iran for influence in Iraq looked set to intensify further in 2020.

The US defence secretary, Mark Esper, announced that 750 airborne troops would be deployed to the region immediately, with more to follow in the next few days. Up to 3,000 soldiers are reportedly being prepared to move out to the Middle East, adding to the 14,000 sent there since May in an effort to counter Iran.

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Iraq riots expose an America weaker and with fewer options

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Mobbing of US embassy after US strikes on state-sanctioned militia show America’s plan of maximum pressure only added to chaos

The mobbing of a US embassy has historically served as an emblem of America in decline, so the scenes around the embattled mission in Baghdad are a fitting end to the decade.

Related: Trump accuses Iran over storming of US embassy compound in Baghdad

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Embassy protesters in Iraq deal symbolic blow to US prestige

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Washington humiliated as hundreds storm American compound chanting slogans in support of pro-Iranian militias

Protesters in Iraq have dealt a symbolic blow to US prestige after they stormed the American embassy compound in Baghdad, trapping diplomats inside while chanting “death to America” and slogans in support of pro-Iranian militias.

In a humiliating day for Washington, hundreds of supporters of Iraqi Shia militia, many wearing military fatigues, besieged the US compound, at one point breaching the main gate and smashing their way into several reception rooms. They lit fires, battered down doors, and threw bricks at bulletproof glass.

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Aftermath of US airstrike on Kata’ib Hezbollah militia in Iraq – video

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The US military carried out airstrikes on Sunday against the Iranian-backed Kata'ib Hezbollah militia in response to the killing of an American civilian contractor in a rocket attack on a US military base in Iraq. An Iraqi militia leader warned of a strong response after airstrikes in Iraq and Syria killed at least 25 people overnight. This footage shows the aftermath of a strike on Kata'ib Hezbollah's headquarters in the Iraqi town of Qaim

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Zaghari-Ratcliffe to go on hunger strike for fellow detainee in Iran

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British-Australian Kylie Moore-Gilbert wants to be removed from solitary confinement

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is to go on hunger strike in solidarity with another dual national being held in Iran.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a British-Australian academic, started an open-ended hunger strike six days ago in protest at being sentenced to 10 years on espionage charges. She wants at minimum to be moved from solitary confinement.

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The power behind the thrones: 10 political movers and shakers who will shape 2020

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Some are trusted aides, others are fixers who work in the shadows. Often unelected and unaccountable, they all have the ear of national leaders

The role of Dominic Cummings in plotting and facilitating Boris Johnson’s drive for power has focused attention on the influence exerted by behind-the-scenes advisers and confidants who have the ear of prominent politicians.

Powerful men and women around the world all have personal counsellors, trusted aides and backroom mentors. Then there are the “insiders” – string-pullers, fixers and manipulators with ambitions of their own. Few become well-known, although Cummings’s notoriety is by no means exceptional.

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US isolationism leaves Middle East on edge as new decade dawns

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With Trump deciding against protecting allies, old rivalries are converging across the region

Throughout the Middle East’s modern history, a constant remained – the US held a prominent stake and would throw its weight around to protect its interests and allies. The maxim held true as ideologies rose and fell, Gulf monarchies, Israel, and Arab nationalist police states took root – and war and insurrection periodically raged.

But it ended during Donald Trump’s third year, a time when an isolationist, unworldly president began to see regional interests through a much narrower lens. The effect has been profound and 2020 will continue the process of recalibration by traditional friends of the US without a country whose clout they used to defer to and whose agenda they could more or less understand.

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Iran says jailed Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert must serve out her sentence

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Tehran’s foreign ministry says it will not submit to ‘political games and propaganda’

An Australian academic jailed in Iran for espionage must serve out her sentence, Tehran’s foreign ministry said on Saturday, stressing it would not submit to “propaganda”.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert reportedly began a hunger strike in Tehran’s Evin prison on Tuesday after losing an appeal against a 10-year jail sentence.

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Iran unveils ‘budget to resist US sanctions’ with help from $5bn Russian loan

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President Rouhani claims Iran can manage, but IMF hints oil prices need to be triple current levels to balance budget

Iran’s president has presented a draft state budget of about $39bn (£30bn) to parliament, saying it was designed to resist US sanctions by limiting dependence on oil exports.

Officials have not given figures for the oil price and export volumes used in the calculations, although the International Monetary Fund has indicated Iran would need oil prices to be triple current levels to balance its budget as its crude exports have plunged.

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Defiant protesters back in Baghdad square within an hour of slaughter

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Demonstrators grow ever more determined to force real political change in Iraq despite a bloody crackdown which left over 20 dead

The gunshots emptied protesters from Baghdad’s Khilani square in minutes, but as nearby streets filled with the crush of people running for their lives, two men stayed on, waving a vast Shia banner in defiance of the bloodshed around them.

The pair must have known they were in the gunmen’s crosshairs, and soon one of them crumpled, hit by a bullet. But their determination to continue was a powerful message to authorities and militias trying to crush Iraq’s popular uprising by force.

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US citizen Xiyue Wang released from Iranian jail in prisoner swap

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Chinese-born Princeton student, sentenced to 10 years in prison, exchanged for Iranian scientist Masoud Soleimani

A Chinese-born US citizen sentenced to 10 years in prison in Iran on spying charges has been released as part of a prisoner swap.

Related: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe makes tearful appeal to be released from Iran jail

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Blocked roads then bullets: Iran’s brutal crackdown in its City of Roses

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An internet blackout hid the state’s response to unrest in Shiraz. Interviews with activists and an analysis of social media posts reveal what happened

“What are you scared of?” the woman in the black coat shouts. “Help me to understand.” She marches up to a man in uniform guarding the petrol station. “You’re ruining us,” she screams, as the man walks away.

The exchange comes from footage taken around 1am on Friday 15 November in the south-central Iranian city of Shiraz. Hours earlier, in a surprise announcement, Iran’s government had said it was raising the price of fuel by up to three times, adding to the strain on a population already struggling with an economy suffocated by US sanctions.

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Iraq risks breakup as tribes take on Iran’s militias in ‘blood feud’

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Unrest spreads after security forces fire on protesters and anger at Tehran’s influence increases

Iraq’s parliament will today begin the process of electing a new leader after the prime minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, resigned last week. His successor will have to cope with the severe unrest that is spreading across the country and which has pitched security forces against demonstrators for nearly two months. Fears are mounting that the country could unravel altogether.

Security forces killed at least 45 civilians who were protesting around the southern city of Nasiriyah on Thursday in one of the worst incidents in the recent outbreak of anti-government protests. The government’s actions were intended to be a show of brute force following the firebombing of the Iranian consulate in Najaf on Wednesday, an attack that was the strongest expression yet of the anti-Iranian sentiment by the Iraqi demonstrators.

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Protesters burn down Iranian consulate in southern Iraq

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Six demonstrators killed by security forces as violence grips the country

Anti-government protesters have burned down the Iranian consulate in southern Iraq, while six protesters were killed by security forces who fired live rounds amid ongoing violence in the country.

Related: How street protests across Middle East threaten Iran’s power

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How street protests across Middle East threaten Iran’s power

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Demonstrations from Baghdad to Beirut reveal the extent to which Shia dominance across the region has weakened

Turmoil in Baghdad, paralysis in Beirut and flames of unrest in Tehran; it has been a bad few months for Iran at home and elsewhere in the Middle East, where more than a decade of advances are being slowed, not by manoeuvrings on battlefields or legislatures – but the force of protest movements.

Early last week, Iran went dark for four days by closing its internet connections down. Even for the country’s autocratic leadership, this was a drastic step. But such are the stakes for a regime that is increasingly facing obstacles across its hubs of Shia influence. And those who laud Iran’s rise, as well as those who fear it, sense it is at a loss over how to respond.

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Iran’s digital shutdown: other regimes ‘will be watching closely’

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Blackout is part of growing trend of governments shutting citizens off from the world

Access to the internet is gradually being restored in Iran after an unprecedented five-day shutdown that cut its population off from the rest of the world and suppressed news of the deadliest unrest since the country’s 1979 revolution.

The digital blackout that commenced last Friday is part of a growing trend of governments interfering with the internet to curb violent unrest, but also legitimate dissent.

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UN urges Iran restraint amid reports of high protester death toll

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Concerns raised over alleged use of live ammunition against petrol price demonstrators

The United Nations has urged Iran to end its shutdown of the internet and ensure its security services show restraint after the “clearly very serious” extent of casualties in protests that have swept the country in response to steep petrol price rises.

The office of the United Nations high commissioner for human rights said it was “deeply concerned” about reports of live ammunition being used against demonstrators.

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Iran begins payments to 60 million as petrol price protests continue

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Government claims it is switching subsidies from petrol consumption to households

Iran’s government has begun rushing out promised direct payments to 60 million Iranians, in a sign that the regime has been spooked by the scale of protests against petrol price rises announced last week.

In some cases petrol prices are being raised by as much as 300%. Unrest continued throughout Iran on Monday and internet access remained blocked for a second day.

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Iran warns security forces may act against petrol price rise protests

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Interior minster says authorities will intervene if public properties are damaged in protests that have spread across country

Iran’s interior minister has warned that security forces will act to restore calm if those protesting against the 50% increase in petrol prices “damaged public properties”, as anti-government protests spread across Iran.

Protesters blocked traffic in major cities and clashed with police after a night of demonstrations punctuated by gunfire. At least one person has reportedly been killed.

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