Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on his re-election Saturday, calling for deeper ties between Moscow and Tehran. In a telegram to Rouhani, Putin “confirmed the readiness to continue active joint work to further develop the Russian-Iranian cooperation partnership,” the Kremlin …
Read More »Things get Messi for Iranian lookalike
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iranian student Reza Parastesh looks so much like his sporting hero Lionel Messi that it almost landed him in jail for disrupting public order this week. So many people came out to take selfies with Parastesh in the western city of Hamedan over the weekend …
Read More »Ahmadinejad barred from Iran elections
Ahmadinejad barred as Iran Guardians pick vote candidates Tehran, Iran | AFP | Former Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was barred from running in next month’s election Thursday while President Hassan Rouhani was among six candidates approved by Iran’s conservative-controlled Guardian Council, state media reported. The other candidates selected were hardliners …
Read More »Iran’s Rouhani says ‘this man in America’ abetting Syria terrorists
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that “terrorists” were applauding his US counterpart Donald Trump for launching a missile strike on an airbase of his Syrian government ally. But he backed calls for an independent inquiry into a suspected chemical weapons attack on a …
Read More »Iran official calls for sterilisation for sex workers
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Female sex workers and homeless drug addicts in Tehran should be “convinced” to undergo sterilisation to prevent social problems, a deputy provincial governor in the Iranian capital said on Sunday. “These women deal drugs, consume drugs and also work as sex workers,” Siavash Shahrivar told …
Read More »Saudi invites rival Iran for talks on hajj return
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Saudi Arabia has invited regional rival Iran to discuss a return of its nationals to next year’s hajj after Iranians were excluded from the pilgrimage following a major diplomatic row, reports said Friday. The Al-Hayat daily reported that Riyadh’s pilgrims minister Mohammed Bentin had …
Read More »Iran’s Rouhani congratulates Assad on Aleppo ‘victory’
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani phoned his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday to congratulate him on the impending defeat of rebel forces in the battleground city of Aleppo, his website said. “The victory in Aleppo… constitutes a great victory for the Syrian people against terrorists …
Read More »Iran back, signs major gas deal with France’s Total
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iran signed a deal with France’s Total on Tuesday to develop a major offshore gas field, its first big contract with a Western energy firm since sanctions were loosened in January. Total will lead a consortium also including China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Iran’s …
Read More »Iranian nuclear scientist executed for spying for US
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iran has executed a nuclear scientist convicted of handing over “top secret” information to the United States, a judicial spokesman said on Sunday. “Shahram Amiri was hanged for revealing the country’s top secrets to the enemy (US),” Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejeie was quoted as saying by …
Read More »Iran reporting a travesty of journalism
By Andrew M. Mwenda For three weeks now, Western media have covered the elections and resultant demonstration in Iran with unparalleled zeal. But the reporting has been a one sided affair without even the slightest attempt to show balance. The partisan way they have covered the opposition to the complete …
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