Syria’s new rulers warn against incitement as tensions brew

Damascus, Syria Reuters Syria’s new authorities on Thursday launched a security crackdown in a coastal region where 14 policemen were killed a day before, vowing to pursue “remnants” of the ousted Bashar al-Assad government accused of the attack, state media reported. The violence in Tartous province, part of the coastal region that is home to […]
Netanyahu says Israel hit Iran hard; Khamenei says damage should not be exaggerated

Jerusalem/Cairo, Egypt Reuters Israel’s airstrikes “hit hard” Iran’s defences and missile production, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, as Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the country was considering its response. With warfare raging in Gaza and Lebanon, direct confrontation between Israel and Iran risks spiralling into a regional conflagration. But a day […]
Israel targets Hezbollah intel HQ in Lebanon, Iran says it will not back down

Beirut, Lebanon/Jerusalem Reuters Israel said it had targeted the intelligence headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut overnight and was assessing the damage on Friday after a series of strikes on senior figures in the group that Iran’s Supreme Leader dismissed as counter-productive. Israel has been weighing options in its response to Iranian ballistic missile attack on […]
Iran’s Pezeshkian brings hopes of moderation after routing hardline rival

Dubai, United Arab Emirates Reuters Iran’s President-elect, low-profile moderate Masoud Pezeshkian, carries the hopes of millions of Iranians seeking less restrictions on social freedoms and a more pragmatic foreign policy. Pezeshkian, who defeated hardline Saeed Jalili in Friday’s second-round presidential vote, is someone world powers are likely to welcome, hoping he might pursue peaceful ways […]
Khamenei protege, sole moderate to battle in Iran’s presidential run-off

Dubai, United Arab Emirates Reuters A moderate lawmaker will face Iran Supreme Leader’s protege in a run-off presidential election on 5th July after the country’s interior ministry said on Saturday that no candidate secured enough votes in the first round of voting. Friday’s vote to replace Ebrahim Raisi after his death in a helicopter crash […]
Iran holds presidential vote with limited choices

Dubai, United Arab Emirates Reuters Iranians will vote for a new president on Friday following Ebrahim Raisi’s death in a helicopter crash, choosing from a tightly controlled group of four candidates loyal to the supreme leader, at a time of growing public frustration. While the election is unlikely to bring a major shift in the […]
Iran’s Raisi buried in Mashhad as mourners pack Iranian holy city

Dubai, United Arab Emirates Reuters President Ebrahim Raisi was buried in the Iranian holy city of Mashhad on Thursday as many thousands of mourners packed its streets for his funeral, four days after he died in a helicopter crash, footage broadcast by Iranian media showed. Raisi, 63, was widely seen as a candidate to succeed […]
Iran Supreme Leader leads prayers at Raisi funeral as election looms

Dubai, United Arab Emirates Reuters Iran’s Supreme Leader led prayers in Tehran on Wednesday at the funeral of President Ebrahim Raisi as the clerical establishment hurried to organise the election of a successor, which could further erode its legitimacy amid growing public discontent. The 28th June vote to replace Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash […]
Iranian President Raisi’s memorial muted amid public discontent

Dubai, United Arab Emirates Reuters Thousands of Iranians turned out to mourn President Ebrahim Raisi in the city of Tabriz on Tuesday, after he was killed in a helicopter crash near the Azerbaijan border at the weekend along with his foreign minister and seven others. State TV broadcast live images of mourners, many of them […]
Netanyahu says Israel preparing for scenarios in other areas than Gaza

Jerusalem/Cairo, Egypt Reuters Israel is keeping up its war in Gaza but is also preparing for scenarios in other areas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday, amid concern that Iran was preparing to strike Israel in response for the killing of senior Iranian commanders. “Whoever harms us, we will harm them. We are prepared […]