Ebrahim Raisi accused by US of role in deaths of thousands of political prisoners in 1988
A hardline cleric once thought to be a possible successor to Iran’s supreme leader has been appointed head of the Islamic Republic’s judiciary, sparking concern from rights activists over his involvement in the execution of thousands of people in the 1980s.
Ebrahim Raisi was named to the post in a decree by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
Continue reading...Iran reforms drive 90% fall in death penalty worldwide, but report warns hardline approach to minor cases violates human rights
Global efforts to abolish the death penalty are in danger of being undermined by anti-drug governments that use capital punishment to enforce a zero-tolerance approach, experts have warned.
The caution comes even though the number of people sentenced to death for drug offences around the world has actually fallen by nearly 90% over the past four years, according to a study by Harm Reduction International, with 91 known deaths last year compared with 755 in 2015.
Continue reading...Almost 36 hours after the apparent resignation of Iran’s foreign minister, there are finally some answers to the many questions it raised. For instance, his superior, president Hassan Rouhani, has not accepted his resignation, which is required under Iranian law. Neither has the top decision-maker in the country, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – if one is to believe cryptic rumours of a “high-ranking official” having told the diplomat that his exit is not “expedient”. Mohammad Javad Zarif is back at work, joining Rouhani in greeting a visiting Armenian delegation early on Wednesday.
But there is still the question of why Zarif suddenly decided to go on Instagram at midnight on Monday, expressing gratitude to “the dear and honourable Iranian people for the last 67 months” and apologising for his “incapacity” to continue serving in his post. Being under fire from all sides is certainly not a novelty for the ever-smiling Iranian chief diplomat. For years, he has been adored and despised for essentially the same thing: his ability to convincingly make Iran’s case to the world in fluent English, with a strong grasp of how western media works.
Continue reading...Spokesman says party will not oppose measure but cites lack of sufficient evidence
Labour has said it will not seek to block the government’s decision to ban the political wing of Hezbollah in the UK, but suggested the move by Sajid Javid was motivated by his leadership ambitions rather than actual evidence.
Membership of the Lebanon-based group’s military wing is already outlawed, but the proscription will now be extended to its political arm, the home secretary announced on Monday.
Continue reading...Exit of Iran’s foreign minister means the loss of a major proponent of US-Iran negotiations
Mohammad Javad Zarif was Iran’s lead negotiator of the 2015 nuclear deal, and if his resignation is accepted, it will be another large nail in the agreement’s mostly sealed coffin.
Iran’s presidential chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi denied the resignation had been accepted. But for the president, Hassan Rouhani, the departure of such a close ally at a time of prolonged intense political pressure will be a serious blow.
Continue reading...Official who negotiated nuclear deal apologises to nation but gives no reason for exit
The Iranian foreign minister, Javad Zarif, has resigned without warning, offering an apology to the nation as the nuclear deal he negotiated with world powers stands on the verge of collapse after the US withdrew from it.
The veteran diplomat first offered a vague Instagram post with an “apology” for his “inability to continue to his service”. The post included a drawing of Fatima, the daughter of the prophet Muhammad, as Monday marked the commemoration of her birth.
Continue reading...Javad Zarif urges EU to defend agreement and accuses Israel of seeking war with Iran
The Iranian public are on the brink of abandoning faith in the nuclear deal signed with Europe and other world powers in 2015, putting pressure on the regime to pull out of the deal, Iran’s foreign minister has said.
Speaking at the Munich security conference, Javad Zarif also accused Israel of seeking war with Iran and said Europe needed to be prepared to “get wet if it wants to swim against the dangerous tide of US unilateralism”.
Continue reading...The collapse of the Isis caliphate’s last stronghold in Syria is sending shockwaves across the region, changing the calculations of the major powers as they jockey for advantage. Triumphalism in Washington, Moscow and Damascus risks obscuring the human cost of a “victory” that may quickly prove transitory.
Of immediate concern is the fate of civilians, mainly women and children, displaced from formerly Isis-controlled areas where many were held against their will. The independent International Rescue Committee says up to 4,000 people are fleeing towards the al-Hawl refugee camp in north-east Syria.
Continue reading...The US vice-president rebuked European powers over Iran and Venezuela on Saturday, in a renewed attack on traditional US allies, rejecting a call by Germany’s chancellor to include Russia in global cooperation efforts. Describing the results of Donald Trump’s presidency as 'remarkable' and 'extraordinary', Pence told senior European and Asian officials that the European Union should follow the US in quitting the Iran nuclear deal and recognising the head of Venezuela’s congress, Juan Guaidó, as president
Pence hails 'remarkable, extraordinary' Trump tenure in attack on US allies
Continue reading...Israeli leader bets on antipathy toward Iran to overshadow Palestine issue in Warsaw
They are images that will infuriate the Palestinian leadership: the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, smiling and joking with Arab leaders at an international conference on the Middle East.
Israel has formal diplomatic relations with only two Arab states, Egypt and Jordan. For decades, one price the country has paid for its occupation of the Palestinian territories has been snubs by the majority of its neighbours.
Continue reading...Monica Witt, who defected in 2013, worked as a cryptologist and a counter-intelligence investigator for more than 10 years
A former US air force intelligence officer who defected to Iran in 2013 has been charged with espionage, giving away the identity of a US agent and other secrets.
Monica Witt, aged 39, was a cryptologist and a counter-intelligence investigator for the US air force for more than 10 years before working as an intelligence analyst for the defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton for five months in 2008 and doing other private sector work.
Continue reading...Lack of participation at Middle East event reflects anger over US policy on Iran and Syria
Key European powers will offer only limited participation in a high-profile Trump administration summit on the Middle East starting on Wednesday, reflecting their growing anger over unilateral US policymaking on Iran and Syria.
The UK foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, will leave the Warsaw summit early, pleading Brexit Commons business, while France is sending a civil servant and Germany its junior foreign minister.
Continue reading...Hundreds of thousands of Iranians march through capital to mark 40th anniversary of Islamic revolution
Iran’s president has insisted “enemy” plots against the country will fail and called President Donald Trump an “idiot” as vast crowds marked 40 years since the Islamic revolution.
Hundreds of thousands of Iranians, including soldiers, students, clerics and chador-clad women holding small children, marched through the capital in freezing rain on Monday to mark the anniversary.
Continue reading...Hundreds of thousands of students, clerics, soldiers and black-clad women holding small children thronged streets across Iran to mark the toppling of the shah – many carrying portraits of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who died in 1989, and Iran’s current supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Continue reading...Comments come after Donald Trump suggested US forces in Iraq were monitoring activity in Iran
Iraq’s president has hit back at comments made by Donald Trump, saying that the US president did not ask Iraq’s permission for US troops stationed there to “watch Iran”.
A day after Trump said US soldiers in Iraq would be tasked with monitoring Iran, Barham Salih told reporters at a forum in Baghdad that the US military presence in the country was the result of a bilateral agreement with the specific goal of fighting terrorism.
Continue reading...Trump said he wanted to maintain a military presence, despite saying the invasion of Iraq was ‘one of the greatest mistakes’
Donald Trump wants to keep US troops in Iraq, in order to “watch” Iran.
Related: Super Bowl: Donald Trump would have 'hard time' letting son play football
Continue reading...The Facebook accounts had garnered about 2 million followers and researchers say they amplified anti-west views
Facebook and Twitter both announced on Thursday they had taken down hundreds of accounts believed to have been part of coordinated influence operations from Iran, Russia and Venezuela.
Related: Apple cracks down on Facebook after it paid teens for access to their data
Continue reading...Plans for prisoner exchanges have also not gone to plan, says Martin Griffiths
Deadlines for a retreat of Houthi troops in Yemen, agreed in talks last month, have had to be delayed, the UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, has said. He also conceded plans for prisoner exchanges have not gone to plan.
Griffiths also had to deny that the retired general Patrick Cammaert, appointed by the UN to implement the ceasefire in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, had quit due to disagreements with Griffiths’s team.
Continue reading...Marzieh Hashemi tells Guardian she was denied halal food and had hijab removed while held as ‘material witness’
An American newscaster for the Iranian government’s Press TV network, who was detained by the US government without being charged, has complained of mistreatment as she was held as a material witness in a criminal case.
Related: US releases American journalist working for Iranian state TV after uproar
Continue reading...Jeremy Hunt is first senior European minister to agree to attend controversial meeting
The foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has agreed to attend a summit organised by the US in Warsaw originally billed as an alliance to confront Iranian aggression, but only on the condition that the US secretary of state hosts a meeting on Yemen on the summit’s margins.
Hunt is the first senior European minister to declare that he will attend the summit, which starts on 13 February. European diplomats have been reluctant to attend, suspecting that the event is part of a US drive to undermine Europe’s support for the Iran nuclear deal signed in 2015.
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