"Vessels are being advised to transit as far away from Iranian territorial waters as possible" to minimize the risk of seizure, US Fifth Fleet spokesperson Commander Tim Hawkins told AFP. The International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC), led by Washington, is "notifying regional mariners of appropriate precautions to minimize the risk...

TEHRAN, IRAN – Pretoria fully supports Tehran joining BRICS, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said at a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian."South Africa is interested in Iran being accepted as a friendly country by the BRICS," Ramaphosa said as quoted by Mehr News.The South African president also...

Based on the agreement, five Iranian prisoners in the US and five American prisoners in Iran will be exchanged," the official IRNA news agency reported, quoting an informed source. It reported that the deal with the US includes releasing an amount of $6 billion of Iranian money frozen in South...

BEIRUT, LEBANON - Lebanon's culture minister said on Wednesday he had asked authorities to ban hit movie "Barbie" for purportedly "promoting homosexuality", as anti-LGBTQ rhetoric soars in one of the Middle East's more liberal countries."It was decided... to send a request to Lebanon's General Security agency... to take all necessary measures...

Tehran, Iran -- Oman has said it has been making efforts to facilitate regional and international cooperation by with the active participation of Iran.In a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart on Tuesday, Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi referred to the recent talks between Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and...

Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to resume diplomatic relations and reopen their respective embassies following a China-brokered deal announced in March.

Tehran, Iran-- In a defiant posture toward the West, Russia has declared that it will continue to enhance military cooperation with Iran, despite what it termed as enemies' opposition to the ties between the two countries.Deputy Foreign Minister of Russian Federation Sergei Alexeyevich Ryabkov said that the military cooperation between...

Tokyo, Japan - Iran's foreign minister visited Japan on Monday for the first time since 2019, in a rare trip to a G7 member country by the Islamic republic's top diplomat.The purpose of the visit by Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to the current chair of the G7 was not announced, but reports said...

Drastic government measures have restricted water use for some purposes, including crop irrigation, and authorities have cracked down on illegal practices they long ignored.

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iran on Sunday appointed Mohammed Jafar Montazeri, who is under US and British sanctions, to head the Islamic republic's top court.Montazeri was named the supreme court chief after the "opinions of all the court judges" were taken into consideration, the judiciary's Mizan Online website said.The 75-year-old, who had...

"The economies of Iran and Pakistan are inherently complementary. For example, Pakistan can be a supplier of Iran's needs in the agricultural sector, and Iran can cover Pakistan's need for energy. The total bilateral trade between Iran and Pakistan has been going up in recent years and reached more than...

The dispute over the field -- known as Arash in Iran and Dorra in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia -- dates back to the 1960s when Iran and Kuwait awarded overlapping offshore concessions. Last year Kuwait and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to develop the field, despite objections from Iran which...

The main activist group representing families of those killed has called for a protest march on Friday afternoon, converging on the port. On Thursday, 300 individuals and organisations including Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International renewed a call for the United Nations to establish a fact-finding mission, a demand...

The US military says Iran has either seized or attempted to take control of nearly 20 internationally flagged ships in the region over the past two years. Washington said its forces blocked two attempts by Iran to seize commercial tankers in international waters off Oman on July 5, while Tehran...

Both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait renewed "their previous and repeated calls to the Islamic Republic of Iran to negotiate" the demarcation of their maritime borders to settle the issue, according to the statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA). Recent attempts to revive negotiations have failed.

Tehran, Iran - Iran's Revolutionary Guards launched naval drills on Wednesday near strategic Gulf islands controlled by Iran but claimed by the United Arab Emirates, state media said.The manoeuvres, which were being held mainly near Abu Musa island but also around Greater and Lesser Tunb, came two weeks after the United...

On July 11, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced that Iraq would start paying for Iranian gas with oil, as a way of circumventing the complicated mechanism. "Work is continuing with the American side concerning unpaid bills, which have fallen to 9.2 billion" euros ($10 billion), Sudani told reporters at...

Earlier this month, Kuwait had invited Iran for another round of maritime border talks after Tehran said it was ready to start drilling in the field. On Thursday, Sky News Arabia quoted Kuwait's Oil Minister Saad Al-Barrak as saying his country would begin "drilling and production" at the gas field...

Tehran, Iran--Iranian authorities have banned the editor-in-chief of reformist daily Etemad "from any press activity for a year" over coverage of last year's nationwide protests, the newspaper reported on Saturday.The journalist, Behrooz Behzadi, was "accused of publishing false content", Etemad said, citing a decision by the prosecutor's office following a complaint...

Tehran, Iran – Iran's second-largest carmaker, Saipa, has successfully delivered another batch of cars to Venezuela as part of an automotive export and joint manufacturing deal signed during a visit by Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi to Caracas in early June.According to a statement released by Saipa on Wednesday, the shipment...

The Arab world's most impoverished country, locked in an eight-year conflict between Houthi rebels and forces supporting the internationally recognized government, has deep ties to coffee.

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - Internet privacy company Proton announced Wednesday a new VPN Observatory, tracking demand for its services to detect attacks on free speech in countries like Russia and Iran before they hit the headlines.Switzerland-based Proton said its new observatory would document spikes in sign-ups to its virtual private networks (VPNs),...

Amnesty International expressed concern over the crackdown launched by Iran against women deemed to have violated the Islamic republic's dress rules. Iran was roiled by months of unprecedented protests triggered by custody death of Mahsa Amini in September last year, who had been arrested by the morality police for breaking...

Tehran, Iran - Iranian authorities have arrested several followers of the Bahai faith accused of spying for Tehran's arch-foe Israel, local media in the Islamic republic reported on Tuesday.The Bahais, Iran's largest non-Muslim religious minority, are not recognised by the state and often targeted over alleged ties to Israel -- home...

Tehran, Iran – The clothing industry in Iran which employs around two million people grew by 17 percent last year compared to the previous year, a senior Iranian official said on Monday. “Currently, at least 100,000 production units have been registered in the garment industry,” the Director General of the Office...

They venerate fire as a supreme form of purity. Alongside water, air and earth, the elements must not be contaminated by human activity.

Baghdad, Iraq -- Demonstrators marched in the Iraqi and Iranian capitals Friday to denounce Sweden's permission for protests that desecrate the Quran, as Stockholm withdrew staff from its Baghdad embassy.Hundreds of people gathered in Baghdad's Sadr City after Friday prayers, chanting "Yes, yes to Islam, yes, yes to the Quran", an...

The wind catchers, called badgirs in Persian, are just one of the engineering marvels inhabitants have developed in this ancient city in central Iran -- where temperatures reach well over 40 degrees celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in the summer. And, unlike energy-guzzling air-conditioners, they're cost and carbon-free.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes also targeted positions of the Syrian army's elite Fourth Division near the airport in the town of Dimas. One Syrian pro-regime fighter and two foreign, Iran-affiliated combattants were killed in the strikes, the Observatory said.

Avoided by western tourists, Iran is turning to wealthy Arab states and other nearby countries to bolster its sanctions-hit economy. It is also drawing visitors from Russia and China. Owing to the thaw in relations with Saudi Arabia, Iran is now interested in closer ties with the Arab world.

Designated by the UN as one of the five countries in the world most touched by some effects of climate change, Iraq is experiencing its fourth consecutive summer of drought.

Dubai, UAE - The United States has announced plans to bolster its military presence in the Middle East in response to Iran's recent actions involving the seizure and harassment of commercial shipping vessels in key waterways. Reuters reported on Monday. The Pentagon will be sending additional F-35 and F-16 fighter jets,...

Dubai, UAE - Indian officials are concerned about China's growing influence in the Middle East and how it will impact India's national interests in the region, an article carried by Middle East Institute says. “The difference in strategies being employed by India and its partners in the Middle East, including Israel,...

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani has described the three-day trip as "a new turning point" which could bolster economic and trade ties with African nations. He also said on Monday that Tehran and the three African countries share "common political views".

Tehran, Iran-- After years of frosty relations between the two countries, Egypt and Iran are set to restore ties with the visit of Iranian tourists to the North African country.According to the Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Ahmed Issa, Iranian tourists will soon travel to the country through Egypt's...

The Iraqi prime minister said the decision to pay for Iranian gas imports with oil corresponds with the mechanism agreed with the US in order not to violate the sanctions. Gas is crucial for Iraq's electricity generation, but US sanctions on Iranian oil and gas impose restrictions on how Baghdad...

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - A powerful alliance of pro-Iran factions in Iraq called on Sunday on Baghdad to pressure the United States to unlock pending payments to Tehran for crucial gas imports.Iraq, ravaged by decades of conflict and international sanctions, relies on gas imported from its eastern neighbor for a third of...

TEHRAN, IRAN -  Four assailants were killed on Saturday after blasting their way into an Iranian police compound, leaving one officer dead in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan near the Pakistani border, state media said."Four unidentified armed individuals attacked and entered police station Number 16 of Zahedan", the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan...

Tehran, Iran--Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has claimed that health tourism in the country has attracted patients from neighboring countries and even Central Asian states who prefer to get medical care in Iran rather than in Europe.Raisi made the remarks on Friday as he inaugurated Ghadir Major Hospital in the north...

The new British sanctions regime will expand existing penalties imposed by creating new criteria under which individuals and entities can be hit. They include any Iranian activities "undermining peace, stability and security in the Middle East and internationally", and the "use and spread of weapons technologies from Iran".

BEIRUT, LEBANON - The vice-governors of Lebanon's central bank plan to resign unless politicians swiftly name an incoming governor, two senior officials at the crisis-hit country's top financial body told AFP on Thursday.The term of embattled three-decade chief Riad Salameh ends this month with no successor in sight, setting the stage...

Al-Jaber, head of the UAE national oil company ADNOC, told ministers from countries of the OPEC oil producers' grouping the industry must "urgently decarbonize its operations and take collective action to eliminate operational emissions".

Tehran, Iran-- Iran has signed oil contracts worth $40 billion with domestic and foreign companies during the last 20 months.Speaking at the second ministerial session of the 8th OPEC International Seminar entitled “Investments, finance and inclusive petroleum growth strategies” at the Austrian capital, Iran’s oil minister Javad Owji said Iran’s...

Baghdad, Iraq-- Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid has emphasized the need for reinforcing partnership with Iran in the fields of trade and energy.The president made the remarks during a meeting with an Iranian delegation headed by deputy foreign minister Bagheri Kani in Baghdad.Rashid accentuated the imperative of reinforcing partnerships in...

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization -- which on Tuesday welcomed Iran as its ninth member -- encompasses a vast stretch of the globe from Moscow to Beijing and includes around half the world's population when observer and "dialogue partner" nations are included. Created in 2001 to discuss security and economic matters,...

KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT -  Kuwait reinvited Iran on Monday to talks on their sea borders after Tehran said it was ready to start drilling in a disputed gas field in the resource-rich Gulf.Kuwait insisted it held "exclusive rights" to the maritime field along with Saudi Arabia, after the neighboring countries agreed...

The kingdom had already condemned Wednesday's incident in which an Iraqi citizen living in Sweden stomped on the Muslim holy book and set several pages alight. The foreign ministry summoned the ambassador on Sunday to urge Sweden "to stop all actions that directly contradict international efforts seeking to spread the...

France has been rocked by a major wave of violent street protests sparked by the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old of Algerian origin, identified only as Nahel M., in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday. The government has deployed tens of thousands of security forces and made hundreds...

Tehran, Iran-- Iran has earned revenue to the tune of $54 billion last year from the export of oil, according to US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimate. OPEC members earned about $888 billion in net oil export revenue last year. That’s what the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates in...

Citing a military source, Syrian state news agency SANA said that Israel carried out air strikes near the government-held city of Homs. The air strikes hit "some points in the vicinity of the city". Israel, during more than a decade of war in Syria, has launched hundreds of air strikes,...