Iran

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Turkey shot down two Syrian fighter jets over Idlib province this weekend and Turkish drones and artillery took out armor on the ground, allegedly killing over a hundred Syrian troops, along with Lebanese Hizbullah fighters and Iran-supplied Shiite forces. Syria on Sunday announced that it was closing its air space […]

Epidemics

On Top of Everything Else, Coronavirus hits the Middle East

Brian Whitaker

(Al-Bab.com) – Iran announced on Friday that the number of coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 388, with 34 deaths so far (among a population of more than 80 million). These official figures are widely disbelieved and it’s likely the actual totals are much higher. One problem is that the number of infections […]

Elections

Iran goes from Bad to Worse: Hardliners win elections, thanks in part to Trump’s treaty withdrawal

Reese Erlich

(Progressive.org) – ‘TEHRAN—The parliamentary candidates had rented a large hall for a campaign rally, but only a few hundred supporters showed up. They came to see Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, a leading hardliner and possible presidential candidate next year. As warm-up speakers droned on, the audience responded with ritualistic chants but little enthusiasm. Many stared at their […]

censorship

Iran: No Justice for Bloody Crackdown (HRW)

Human Rights Watch

Unlawful Lethal Force, Families Threatened, Cover-Ups

Donald Trump

Anti-Science and Opportunistic: Trump and Iran’s Ayatollahs both Play down Coronavirus

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Christine Romans at CNN wonders if Trump’s news conference on Wednesday evening on the Covid-19 coronavirus was his “Mission Accomplished” moment. After he invaded Iraq in the spring of 2003, George W. Bush gave a triumphant speech that May about how war was now good for humankind beneath a banner […]

Epidemics

Can Iran Afford its Syrian Intervention in face of Failing Economy, Coronavirus?

The Conversation

By Tony Walker | – Iran’s emergence as a hot zone for the coronavirus further complicates that country’s relationships with its neighbours at a time when its economy is sliding deeper into recession. US President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran by tightening economic sanctions coincides with a spreading health crisis that will test […]

Iran

Trump’s Ham-fisted Mideast “Plan” gave Iran an opening in the Next Palestinian Movement

Middle East Monitor

By Omar Ahmed | – ( Middle East Monitor) – There are early signs that another uprising, or Intifada, will erupt in occupied Palestine. A couple of weeks ago, a spokesperson of the Gaza-based Al-Quds Brigades, an armed wing of the resistance faction Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), called on Palestinians to take up arms and […]

Congress

Engel: Trump gave out False Justification for Whacking Soleimani, Nearly starting a war with Iran

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Dan Mangan at CNBC reports that Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., is attacking Trump over his justification for assassinating Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani on January 3. The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee pointed to the Trump administration’s report to Congress on the drone strike at Baghdad International Airport, which […]

Congress

Rattled by Trump’s Erratic Violence, Senate to vote on Forbidding War on Iran without its Approval

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Senate will take up a measure to forbid Trump to go to war with Iran without Congressional approval, writes Daniel Flatley at Bloomberg. Republican senators Mike Lee, Susan Collins and Rand Paul are joining with Democratic senator Tim Kaine in sponsoring the bill. With the support of those Republicans, […]