Tehran, Iran--Police in Iran said on Saturday they plan to use "smart" technology in public places to identify and then penalise women who violate the country's strict Islamic dress code.A statement said the force would "take action to identify norm-breaking people by using tools and smart cameras in public places and...

Saturday's visit is part of "implementing the tripartite agreement" reached on March 10 between the two regional powers, brokered by China, to restore relations ruptured in 2016, the Saudi foreign ministry said. The two longtime Middle East rivals have now pledged to work together.

Nearly a decade of war in Yemen has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, both directly and indirectly, and triggered what the United Nations has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The Huthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, triggering the conflict with the government backed for eight years by...

TEHRAN, IRAN - Dozens of schoolgirls were poisoned Saturday in several schools across Iran, local media reported, in continuation of the mysterious phenomenon that has shaken the country for months.Since late November many schools, mostly for girls, have been affected by sudden poisoning incidents from gases or toxic substances, in some...

France's foreign minister has held a rare face-to-face meeting with her Iranian counterpart in China, urging Tehran to release French nationals "arbitrarily detained" in Iran, the foreign ministry said. Catherine Colonna, traveling with French President Emmanuel Macron on his state visit to China, met Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Beijing.

The two regional powers have cut ties twice since the 1987 crackdown on protesting Iranian pilgrims in Makkah. They have now pledged to work together for regional stability.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan have pledged to reopen diplomatic representations within two months.

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iran on Wednesday welcomed a US call to help end the long-running conflict in Yemen by backing a peace process, one year after a United Nations-brokered truce dramatically reduced fighting.Diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict have multiplied since the Yemeni government's main foreign backer Saudi Arabia signed a Chinese-brokered...

Iran and the United Arab Emirates have long had close economic ties which continued even during the diplomatic chill. A veteran diplomat who served most recently as director general of the foreign ministry's diaspora affairs department, Reza Ameri's career had previously taken him to Algeria, Sudan and Eritrea.

Reza Noshadi, who heads the National Iranian Gas Company’s engineering subsidiary, said that Iran will be able to export gas to Oman through the 200-kilometer pipeline from Minab to Kuhmobarak.

Damascus, Syria - An Israeli air strike on Tuesday killed two Syrian civilians, state media reported, the fourth such attack on government-held areas of the war-torn country in less than a week.During more than a decade of civil war in Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on its territory,...

TEHRAN, IRAN - Twenty Iranian schoolgirls were hospitalized Tuesday after the latest in a mysterious wave of poisoning attacks that have sickened thousands of pupils, state media reported.The girls were treated after suffering shortness of breath, in Tabriz, capital of the northwestern province of East Azerbaijan, reported the news agency IRNA."Emergency...

Iranian authorities ordered the arrest of two women, the judiciary said after a viral video appeared to show them being attacked by a man for not wearing the hijab. Video footage widely shared on social media in Iran appeared to show the two women customers, who were not wearing hijab...

Tehran, Iran--An officer from Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards was killed in Israeli air strikes on Syria early on Friday, a website affiliated with the Guards said.During more than a decade of civil war in Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on Syrian territory, primarily targeting Iran-backed forces and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters,...

Syria's foreign ministry condemned the strikes, accusing Israel in a statement of trying to "escape internal divisions", as the country faces a severe domestic crisis over controversial judicial reforms.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia has agreed to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a "dialogue partner", state media reported on Wednesday, the latest indication of closer political ties with China.The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was established in 2001 as a political, economic and security organization to rival Western institutions.Besides China,...

Riyadh's move to partner with the bloc comes less than three weeks after the unveiling of a landmark China-brokered reconciliation deal with Iran to restore full diplomatic relations that were severed seven years ago.

In his first comments on the matter to be made public since the deal was struck, Xi said the dialogue promoted by China would "play a major role in strengthening regional unity and cooperation". Crown Prince Mohammed on Tuesday "expressed the Kingdom's appreciation for the Chinese initiative to support efforts...

The proposed meeting between Saudi Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian aims to implement a reconciliation deal brokered by China.

The Britain-based Observatory, which has a wide network of sources on the ground, said 19 people were killed in the first wave of US strikes: three Syrian soldiers and 16 members of Iran-backed militias. After the strikes, Biden sought to lower the temperature saying the US "does not seek conflict...

The US president sought to lower the temperature on Friday, saying the United States "does not seek conflict with Iran, but is prepared to act forcefully to protect our people". Hours after the strikes, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said 10 rockets were fired at American and coalition forces at...

Kanani was referring to criticism, including from France, of Iran's response to months-long protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini after the 22-year-old's arrest for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women. Hundreds of people have been killed, including dozens of security personnel, and...

Mohammed bin Salman has also worked to mend rifts with regional rivals like Qatar and Turkey, and even offered up the Gulf kingdom as a possible mediator for the war in Ukraine.

Reaffirming their resolve to implement a landmark bilateral reconciliation deal, the Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers spoke by phone to mark the beginning of Ramadan and vowed to meet soon. The two ministers "exchanged congratulations on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan", which begins in both countries on...

The UN has confirmed that Yemen's Houthi rebels and its internationally recognized government have reached an agreement to exchange more than 880 prisoners. This comes in the wake of the China-brokered deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran to restore diplomatic ties between the two countries. The two regional powers back...

Dubai, UAE - Saudi Arabia and Iran are taking more steps to consolidate their ties following the rapprochement between them brokered by China. The Iranian government on Sunday proposed to Saudi Arabia three locations for a foreign minister’s  level meeting. Addressing a news conference in Tehran,  Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian...

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - Iran's top security official on Sunday signed a deal with Iraqi authorities for "protection" of their common border, the Iraqi prime minister's office said, months after Tehran struck Kurdish opposition groups in Iraq's north.Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region hosts camps and rear-bases operated by several Iranian Kurdish factions, which...

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has "welcomed" an invitation from Saudi Arabia's King Salman to visit the kingdom following the reconciliation between the two countries, an Iranian official said. "In a letter to President Raisi... the King of Saudi Arabia welcomed the deal between the two countries (and) invited him to...

TEHRAN, IRAN -  An Iranian court sentenced two people to death over an October attack on a shrine in the southern city of Shiraz that cost over a dozen lives, the judiciary said Saturday.The pair were convicted of assisting in "corruption on earth, armed rebellion and acting against national security", the...

The degree of anger and sympathy for the protesters, particularly among the American and European public, makes it near impossible to reach a nuclear deal, believes Vali Reza Nasr.

China, Iran, and Russia are conducting a five-day trilateral naval exercise, Security Belt-2023, in the Gulf of Oman, according to media reports. China's Defense Ministry, in a statement, said the exercises will conclude on Sunday and will include the participation of China's guided-missile destroyer Nanning, which will engage in activities such...

United Nations, United States--The surprise rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran should offer momentum toward peace by the warring parties in Yemen after eight years of conflict, UN officials said Wednesday.The UN Security Council on Wednesday discussed the impact on Yemen of the shock Chinese-led announcement on March 10 that diplomatic...

The initial conversation between Xi and Mohammed bin Salman took place during bilateral talks at a summit in Riyadh in December, an official told AFP. Several other meetings also laid the groundwork for last week's talks in Beijing, the official said.

"Dear Mr President, I am very glad to see you in Moscow. Thank you for accepting our invitation," Putin told Assad at the start of their meeting broadcast by state TV. "We are in constant contact and our relations are developing."

Iran has been under renewed US sanctions since then president Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear agreement between Tehran and major powers in 2018. Saudi Arabia, a longtime US ally, has said it supports the sanctions, which target key areas, including oil.

Iran said it would welcome restoring ties with Bahrain to end seven years of ruptured relations, following the China-brokered deal to heal rifts between Tehran and Riyadh. "The resumption of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia shows the effectiveness of the diplomatic solution to resolve misunderstandings," said Iran's foreign ministry...

Lukashenko said he had observed "with great respect the perseverance with which the (Iranian) people resist external pressures, attempts to impose the will of others on them". "And I see that, despite everything, you are developing modern technologies and nuclear energy," he added about Iran's contested nuclear programme which has...

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iran's top diplomat on Sunday said "everything is ready" to implement a stalled prisoner exchange deal with the United States, which Washington promptly denied as a "cruel lie".At least three US citizens are held in the country's prisons, according to Iran's judiciary and the US State Department."We have...

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iran's judiciary on Sunday confirmed a death sentence for a Swedish-Iranian dissident for "terrorism" over two years since his disappearance at an airport in Turkey, the judiciary's Mizan Online website reported.Habib Chaab has been held in Iran since October 2020 after he vanished during a visit to Turkey...

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iran has announced more than 100 arrests nationwide over the mystery poisonings of thousands of schoolgirls, charging that the unidentified alleged perpetrators may have links with "hostile" groups.In the wave of cases since late November, schoolgirls have suffered fainting, nausea, shortness of breath and other symptoms after reporting...

Israeli airstrikes targeting a weapons depot in Syria killed two pro-Iran fighters and wounded three soldiers, a war monitor said. "Israeli strikes targeted a weapons depot belonging to pro-Iran forces located... between Tartus and Hama provinces," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Abu Dhabi, UAE--Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has made a phone call to Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, during which he expressed the UAE's welcome of the Riyadh and Tehran agreement...

Around one-third of countries are likely to go through a recession, Sir Masood Ahmed, President of the Center for Global Development, tells TRENDS in an interview.

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iran has finalized a deal to buy Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets from Russia, state media reported, as defense cooperation between the two countries deepens.The air force of sanctions-hit Iran has an ageing fleet of aircraft and has struggled to acquire spare parts to keep its warplanes in...

TEHRAN, IRAN - Gunmen ambushed and killed two Iranian policemen on patrol in the restive southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, state media reported Saturday.The officers had been "on a mission to provide security" during Friday prayers in the town of Golshan when they came under attack, said the official news agency IRNA.Clashes...

Surprise Saudi-Iran detente, midwifed by China, has gone against the drift of Austin’s visit to the Middle East which was largely premised on an abiding antagonism between the two countries.

Negotiations overseen in Switzerland by the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross will see Yemen's warring parties holding talks in Geneva starting Saturday to discuss a prisoner exchange, according to rebels and government officials. Hostilities have largely stopped since a UN-brokered ceasefire took effect in April last...

Riyadh cut ties with Tehran after Iranian protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions in the Islamic republic in 2016 following the Saudi execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. The two countries also agreed to activate the security cooperation agreement signed in 2001.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been politically isolated in the region since the start of Syria's war in 2011, triggered by the government's suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations, and was expelled from the Cairo-based Arab League. But since the quake, Arab leaders have made overtures to his government. "We welcome the...

Austin's talks with his hosts were centred on the changing geopolitics of the region, which is currently roiled by rising threat from Iran and the ongoing war in Ukraine.