In yet another missile strike by Israel on Damascus, 15 people were killed and a residential building was destroyed in the Syrian capital. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike, which hit close to an Iranian cultural center, had killed 15 people including civilians. Israel has targeted Syria...

LONDON, UK - The independent network Iran International TV said Saturday it had been forced on UK police advice to shut down its London studios, after a "significant escalation in state-backed threats from Iran". "I cannot believe it has come to this," said the network's general manager, Mahmood Enayat, adding that...

Israel condemned the "severe" expulsion of a senior diplomat from the African Union summit, accusing Iran of orchestrating the move with help from Algeria and South Africa. A video on social media shows guards escorting the Israeli foreign ministry's deputy director general for Africa, Sharon Bar-li, out of the AU...

The meeting was co-chaired by Sheikh Ahmed bin Hashel Al-Maskari, Head of the Omani Foreign Ministry's GCC Department.

Raisi is expected to hold private talks with his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping in the capital Beijing, with the pair expected to sign a number of "cooperation documents". The two met for the first time last September in Uzbekistan at a summit for the SCO, where the Iranian president...

On his upcoming trip, Raisi is expected to hold private talks with Xi, and delegations from both countries are due to sign "cooperation documents", according to Iranian media agency.

Last week, Iran claimed Israel launched a drone strike on a military plant in the central city of Isfahan.

The European Union has mobilized 10 search and rescue teams for Turkey after the stricken country requested EU assistance, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and EU crisis management commissioner Janez Lenarcic said.

TEHRAN, IRAN - One of Iran's main opposition figures, Mir Hossein Mousavi, has called for the "fundamental transformation" of a political system he said was facing a crisis of legitimacy amid protests triggered by Mahsa Amini's death. "Iran and Iranians need and are ready for a fundamental transformation whose outline is...

Tehran, Iran - Iranian authorities have detained a journalist at a reformist publication, local media reported Sunday, as her sister, also a journalist, remains in custody after reporting on Mahsa Amini's death. Iran has been gripped by nationwide protests since the September 16 death in custody of Amini, a 22-year-old...

The Iranian criticism of Grossi comes after the International Atomic Energy Agency director-general said he plans to visit Tehran in February for talks on getting it to increase cooperation over its activities, amid stalled negotiations to revive a landmark deal over Iran's nuclear program.

Washington, United States--The United States issued a joint statement with France, the United Kingdom and Germany on Friday criticizing Iran's "inadequate" response to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on its nuclear program. The UN nuclear watchdog issued a warning to Tehran on Wednesday after it found that changes had...

France agrees that "firmness" is needed in dealings with Iran, a diplomatic source told earlier, saying the nuclear program had reached "a dangerous point" and highlighting Tehran's role in the Ukraine war. Siding with Ukraine is not without risk for Netanyahu, as Russian air defences deployed in neighbouring Syria could...

Baghdad is currently heavily dependent on neighboring Iran for its electricity and gas and has sought to diversify its energy sources.

Israeli PM's remarks come after a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who called for calm following a flare-up of violence between Israel and the Palestinians and also nudged Israel to boost support to Ukraine.

Linking of banking system with Russia is seen as an attempt by both the countries to get around the US economic sanctions.

A convoy of trucks driving into eastern Syria from Iraq on Sunday was hit by air strikes, destroying all the vehicles, according to a war monitor. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that six refrigerated trucks were the target of strikes by unidentified aircraft in the Albu Kamal border...

Iran's deadliest recorded quake was a 7.4-magnitude tremor in 1990 that killed 40,000 people in the country's north, injured 300,000 and left half a million homeless.

Claiming that it has repelled a drone attack on a military site, Iran's defense ministry said that an unsuccessful attack was carried out by armed drones on one of the workshop complexes in central Isfahan province. The strike on the military site occurred late Saturday night and caused only minor...

Baghdad, Iraq - Iraq's Minister of Electricity, Ziyad Ali Fadel said the national grid has lost 7,500 megawatts in the past days due to curtailed Iranian gas imports which led to a decline in processing hours. He said the memorandum of understanding signed with the German company Siemens will lead...

Zarghami said he advised a "man who behaves harshly" towards a woman not wearing headscarf to "close his eyes if looking at her excites him". Zarghami was strongly criticised by ultra-conservatives in October after reportedly criticising the morality police.

Brussels, Belgium--The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog said Tuesday he plans to go to Iran next month for "much needed" talks on getting it to resume cooperation over its nuclear activities. "I might be back in Tehran... in February, perhaps, for a much needed political dialogue, or reestablishment thereof, with...

The EU and Britain on Monday slapped another round of sanctions on Iran which has been rocked by protests since the September 16 death of Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for allegedly breaching the country's strict dress code for women. "The move by the European Union...

The EU has already imposed sanctions on more than 60 Iranian officials and entities over the crackdown on protestors, including the "morality police", Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders and state media. But the 27-nation bloc has so far stopped short of blacklisting the Revolutionary Guards themselves as a terror group despite...

Iranian authorities have arrested three female journalists in the past two days, local media said, amid protests triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini. Iran has been gripped by protests since the September 16 death of Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, arrested for allegedly breaching the country's strict...

"Joonam," a documentary about a three-generation family of Iranian women now living in Vermont, and "The Persian Version," a colorful but candid dramedy which hops between Iran and New York over several decades, received world premieres on Saturday. "Shayda," a drama directed by Noora Niasari about a Persian woman who...

Iran's economy has been subject to increasing pressure with fresh sanctions imposed by Western countries over the authorities response to protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini.

PARIS, FRANCE - Thirty women political prisoners in Iran, including a Franco-Iranian academic and the daughter of a former president, on Sunday demanded an end to the executions of protesters in the country. "We, the political and ideological prisoners in the women's ward of Evin Prison, demand an end to the...

Members of the European Parliament voted on Wednesday to include the Guards on the 27-nation bloc's terror list in "light of its terrorist activity, the repression of protesters and its supplying of drones to Russia". The vote is non-binding but comes with EU foreign ministers already due to discuss tightening...

The EU will impose new sanctions on 37 Iranian officials and organizations over the crackdown on protests, but is still debating listing the Revolutionary Guard as a "terrorist" group, diplomats said. Foreign ministers from the bloc are to agree to adopt the fourth package of sanctions on Tehran over its...

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian "strongly criticized the emotional approach of the European parliament and labelled the move inappropriate and incorrect" in a telephone call with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, the ministry said.

There is a need to find a route to ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict, otherwise global uncertainty would continue. "This is complex question, but we will have to talk about how we find a pathway to ending the conflict," adds Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in Davos.

PARIS, FRANCE - Iran has released a prominent chef and Instagram influencer who was detained earlier this month in its crackdown on nationwide protests, a human rights groups and supporters said. Navab Ebrahimi, known for his videos promoting Persian cooking, was arrested in Tehran on January 4 and taken to the...

Pressure is growing among opposition exiles and activists for the European Union and United Kingdom to follow the United States and blacklist the Guards over the crackdown on the four months of protests since the death of Mahsa Amini in September.

Tehran, Iran--Iran on Saturday executed former top defense official and dual British national Alireza Akbari, who was accused of spying for UK intelligence, the judiciary reported. Akbari was executed after being sentenced to death for "corruption on earth and harming the country's internal and external security by passing on intelligence", the...

Nearly six years after the breakup of diplomatic ties between the two countries, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has expressed hope that ties between Tehran and Riyadh could be restored through dialogue between the two regional arch-rivals. Saudi Arabia broke up ties with Iran in 2016, after protestors attacked its...

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani left Thursday for Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and discuss projects to address chronic power shortages, the premier's office said. Despite its oil riches, Iraq is beset by crumbling infrastructure, endemic corruption and decades of war. Dependent on its...

Tehran, Iran -- Iran has protested to Iraq over the use of the name "Arabian Gulf" for a regional football competition held in the neighboring country, state media reported Wednesday. The Islamic republic insists the body of water should be called the "Persian Gulf" and has repeatedly raised the issue with...

DUBAI, UAE  - The US Navy said Tuesday it had seized over 2,000 assault rifles smuggled on a fishing boat along a maritime route from Iran to Yemen. The cargo was discovered on Friday off the coast of Oman "on a route historically used to traffic illicit cargo to the Huthis...

The 60-year-old former lawmaker and women's rights activist was charged with "collusion against national security, propaganda against the Islamic republic and disturbing public order by participating in illegal gatherings", the lawyer said.

Iran has sentenced to death three people accused of killing three members of the security forces during the protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, the judiciary said Monday. Iran has been rocked by civil unrest since the September 16 death of Kurdish Iranian Amini, 22, following her arrest...

PARIS, FRANCE -  Iran on Saturday executed two men for killing a paramilitary force member during unprecedented protests sparked by the death in custody of a young woman. The latest hangings double the number of executions to four over the nationwide protests, which escalated since mid-September into calls for an end...

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iranian authorities have arrested a journalist who published interviews with families of death row inmates sentenced in connection with nationwide protests, the reformist daily Etemad said Friday. Fourteen Iranians have been sentenced to death in connection with the unrest triggered by Mahsa Amini's death in custody on September...

No reason was given for the arrest of Ebrahimi, who had some 2.7 million followers on Instagram enjoying his slickly produced videos showing how to produce classic Persian dishes without pain. But social media users said the arrest coincided with him posting a recipe to make Persian cutlets on the...

Tehran, Iran - A member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards was shot dead outside his house in Tehran, state media reported Wednesday, adding that he may have been killed during a burglary. Qassam Fathollahi of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was shot "four times in front of his house" in southern...

President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran has vowed to avenge the killing of a top Iranian general three years ago in a US drone strike. General Qassem Soleimani was ordered to be killed by then US President Donald Trump. The Iranian general commanded the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of...

Speculations are rife that the decision by Tehran could have been taken in retaliation to India's suspension of the import of fruits like kiwis and peaches from Iran.

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iranian authorities have arrested football players who attended a mixed party east of Tehran, local media reported Sunday, without identifying them or giving their exact number. "Several current and former players of one of Tehran's prominent football clubs were arrested last night (Saturday) at a mixed party in...

TEHRAN, IRAN  - Iran's top court has ordered the retrial of a third man reportedly sentenced to death over nationwide protests, the judiciary said Saturday. The Islamic republic has been rocked by protests since the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, after her arrest in...

TEHRAN, IRAN  - Iran has summoned the Italian ambassador to protest "interventionist" policies, the foreign ministry said late Thursday, a day after Rome called in Tehran's envoy over its response to nationwide protests. The Islamic republic has been gripped by protests since the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini,...