Middle East

Persian Monarch Reza Shah Pahlavi came to power in 1925, but he was forced to abdicate under Allied pressure in 1941. He died in exile in 1944 and his remains were returned to Iran in 1950. Has a symbol of Iran’s pre-revolutionary past come back to haunt it? Speculation that a body found near a […]

Featured

Why Trump can’t put Iran back in an Obama-style box of severe sanctions

Juan Cole

Iranian oil exports were back up to 2.5 million barrels a day or so last month, similar to the levels common before the US placed severe sanctions on the country beginning in 2012. At the low point Iran, which produces around 4 million barrels a day, was only exporting 1.5 million barrels a day, forced […]

Iran

Two-Faced Trump: Peace in Korea, World War in the Middle East

John Feffer

Trump believes he can simultaneously capture a Nobel Peace Prize for North Korea while leaping toward war with Iran. The president giveth and he taketh away. Donald Trump is a stern and wrathful leader. He thinks nothing of raining down fire and fury upon the enemies of his “chosen people.” Indeed, he even flirts with […]

Houthi

US Troops fighting for Saudis against Houthis in Yemen

AFP

Washington (AFP) – A team of elite US Green Beret commandos deployed to the Saudi border of Yemen last year to help find and destroy Huthi rebel missile caches, the New York Times reported Thursday. Since Yemen’s brutal conflict erupted three years ago, Huthi rebels have fired multiple ballistic missiles toward Riyadh and other Saudi […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli Rights groups sue Army over Illegal Sniping at unarmed Gaza Protesters (Video)

i24News

Eylon Aslan-Levy | – – “THE RUNDOWN | With injuries and fatalities mounting on the #Gaza border with #Israel, some NGOs are standing up to the IDF. The #IDF, however, is saying they’ve been duped by Hamas. Our Eylon Aslan-Levy has the story.” i24News: “NGOs Stand Up to IDF Amid Gaza Protest Casualties”

Arms Sales

Saudi Arabia world’s 3rd highest military spender but 41st in World Population

Middle East Monitor

Saudi Arabia has ranked third across the world with military spending which reached $69.4 billion in 2017. It replaces Russia, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a new report on Wednesday. According to the report, military spending across the world has increased by 1.1 percent in 2017 compared to the previous year […]

Antisemitism

Palestinian president widely condemned for ‘anti-Semitic’ comments

AFP

By Jean-Luc Renaudie | – – Jerusalem (AFP) – Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas drew widespread condemnation Wednesday, including from the European Union and the United States, over alleged anti-Semitic comments suggesting the “social function” of Jews in banking had led to past massacres. The 82-year-old Abbas made the comments during a free-wheeling speech that led […]

Iran

Netanyahu’s Theatrics backfire, making the case for Iran deal

Meysam Tayebipour

Benjamin Netanyahu created a global media storm when he announced ownership of new documents that would question Iran’s nuclear deal. Twitter feeds were full of conjecture debating what he would reveal – most probably some information showing Iran had continued its nuclear activities clandestinely after the nuclear deal had been reached between Iran and the […]

Elections

How Troll Farms & Fake News are being Weaponized against Iraq’s Women Politicians

Niqash

Special Correspondent | Niqash.org | – – (Baghdad) As Iraqi elections near, the epidemic of disturbing and divisive fake news on local social media only gets worse. But who exactly is behind it? And are they motivated by profit, popularity or a political agenda? Last week, a rumour swept social media in Iraq: The authorities […]