Tehran, Iran | AFP | From a Yemeni missile attack to the resignation of Lebanon’s prime minister, the “Cold War” between Middle East rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran has been heating up. Experts believe the risk of a direct military clash is low, but why have tensions escalated now and how …
Read More »Iran denounces CIA ‘fake news’ in Bin Laden files
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iran has accused the CIA of spreading “fake news” about the Islamic republic with newly declassified files seized in the 2011 raid in Pakistan in which Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed. The CIA on Wednesday released 470,000 additional files found in May 2011 when …
Read More »Putin visits Tehran for talks on Syria, nuclear deal
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Russian President Vladimir Putin met Iran’s leadership Wednesday in Tehran as the two Damascus allies push a Syria peace plan and the Kremlin offers its backing for a landmark nuclear deal facing US opposition. Putin — on his first visit to Tehran since 2015 — …
Read More »Iran move won’t weaken US hand with N.Korea: Tillerson
Washington, United States | AFP | US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Sunday denied that Donald Trump’s threat to tear up the Iran nuclear deal had weakened America’s chance of reining in North Korea through diplomacy. Asserting that Washington had “unified the international community” on the North Korean threat, Tillerson vowed …
Read More »France urges US Congress not to cancel Iran nuclear deal
Paris, France | AFP | France on Saturday urged the US Congress not to rip up the Iran nuclear deal, after President Donald Trump decertified Iran’s compliance with the 2015 agreement. “We strongly hope that Congress, which is now responsible for a possible rupture, does not jeopardise the deal,” French Foreign …
Read More »Iranians mock ‘ridiculous’ Trump speech
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iranians responded with anger and mockery on Saturday to the bellicose speech against their country by US President Donald Trump and his threats to tear up the landmark nuclear deal. “I was so angry last night,” said Layla, 42, who runs an artisan shop in …
Read More »Trump puts America first, but more and more alone
Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump has gambled with US diplomatic credibility by attacking an Iran nuclear deal that his European allies cherish as a benchmark for international cooperation. And in doing so the US president has underlined the risk that his “America First” foreign policy will translate …
Read More »US Congress may hold key to Iran deal future
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump dumped the fate of the Iran nuclear deal on US lawmakers Friday, leaving open the question of whether they can turn the screw on Tehran without killing the accord. Unveiling an aggressive new strategy against what he called the “rogue regime” …
Read More »UN chief hopes Iran nuclear deal will survive
United Nations, United States | AFP | UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “very much hopes” the nuclear deal with Iran can be salvaged, a spokesman said Friday, as President Donald Trump was set to de-certify the 2015 agreement. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres considers the deal to be a “very important …
Read More »Nobel peace laureates denounce Trump’s Iran move
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The nuclear weapons disarmament campaigners awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize denounced US President Donald Trump’s decision on Friday to decertify the Iran nuclear deal, saying it makes proliferation more likely. “President Trump’s rejection of the JCPOA is an incitement to proliferation, makes achieving further agreements …
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