Tehran, Iran Iran temporarily closed its nuclear facilities over "security considerations" in the wake of its massive missile and drone attack on Israel over the weekend, the head of the UN's atomic watchdog said Monday. Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a UN Security Council meeting, International Atomic Energy...

Amir-Abdollahian is set to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad during the visit, while Syria's information ministry said he was to inaugurate a new Iranian consular section. Syria's pro-government newspaper Al-Watan said the officials' talks would be "mainly focused" on repercussions of last week's strike.

TEHRAN, IRAN – Iran and Iraq will launch the first maritime passenger transport line within the next two months, an official at Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) said. The chief executive of the organization noted that an expert-level meeting was held by the Iraqi side with a focus on...

Tehran, Iran - Iran on Saturday again threatened retaliation for the deaths of seven Revolutionary Guards in a strike on Damascus, with the army chief saying his country's enemies will "regret" the killings. Tehran has vowed to avenge Monday's air strike on the Syrian capital it blamed on its arch-enemy Israel,...

The threat of regional war compounded fears that the Federal Reserve would not cut interest rates as much as previously expected, with the focus now on the release of key US jobs data later in the day. The sell-off followed a plunge across the board on Wall Street.

Tehran, Iran - Iran has repatriated the bodies of seven Revolutionary Guard Corps members killed in a strike on the country's consular annex in Damascus, which Tehran blamed on Israel, local media reported. The Guards, including two generals, were killed in the air strike on Monday which levelled the Iranian embassy's...

Iran sealed contracts worth billions of dollars with domestic companies to boost its oil production in the face of Western sanctions. In a ceremony broadcast on state TV, the oil ministry and Iranian businesses signed deals worth $13 billion to increase daily oil production in six major fields.

Tehran, Iran -  Iran’s production of aluminum ingot in the country registered a 7% growth in the first 11th month of this Iranian year, the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO).  Iran’s four major aluminum production companies produced 54,893 tons of aluminum ingots in February 2024,...

TEHRAN, IRAN – The Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade said that Iran exported fisheries, livestock, agricultural and food products worth US$5.5 billion to over 130 countries during the first eleven months of the year. Rouhollah Latifi, the spokesperson for the Trade Development Commission at the Iranian Ministry of Industry,...

TEHRAN, IRAN – Tehran on Saturday strongly condemned a UN report on the Islamic republic's response to mass protests in 2022, denouncing Western countries' "Iranophobia". The report was built on "baseless claims" and "false and biased information, without a legal basis", foreign affairs ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement. International experts...

Tehran, Iran - Iran on Monday announced a turnout of 41 percent in last week's elections for parliament and a key clerical body -- a record low since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, according to voting records. Conservatives were reported to have secured the bulk of seats in Friday's elections for the...

Authorities were still counting ballots two days after Friday's vote for members of parliament and for the Assembly of Experts, which selects the Islamic republic's supreme leader. The official IRNA news agency put the turnout at around "41 percent" among 61 million eligible voters. No official figure had yet been announced.

Tehran, Iran - Iran began counting ballots on Saturday after a vote for parliament and a key clerical body, with local media estimating a low turnout and conservatives expected to dominate. Friday's elections were the first since widespread protests triggered by the September 2022 death in police custody of Mahsa Amini,...

Iran announced the launch of a remote sensing and imaging satellite into orbit from Russia, according to state media. The launch of "Pars-I" with the Russian Soyuz-2.1b launcher was broadcast live by state television in Iran. The satellite was launched "from Russia's Vostochny launch base", some 8,000 kilometers east of...

Conservative daily Vatan-e-Emrouz hailed what it called the population's "interest in the candidates' electoral campaigns", which began on February 22. In Tehran, where less than 20 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots in 2020, election banners are visibly less prevalent than the previous elections.

TEHRAN, IRAN – The Middle Eastern country has improved its global standing in steel production, becoming the ninth largest producer in January 2024, according to new data released by the World Steel Association (WSA). In the first month of 2024, Iranian steel mills produced a total of 2.6 million tons...

Tehran, Iran -  Pakistan has decided to link the gas pipeline from the country's Gwadar port city to the Iranian border as part of the Iran-Pakistan project. According to Pakistani media, the country will expedite the project, which faced significant delays, in two phases. Pakistan’s Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC)...

TEHRAN, IRAN - The Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) reported that Iran and the 27 European Union member states traded over US$5 billion (€4.7 billion) worth of goods in 2023. Trade between Iran and the member states of the European Union recorded a decrease of 9 percent from...

Tehran, Iran - Iran unveiled two new air defense systems on Saturday, state media reported, with tensions high in the Middle East amid the war in Gaza. "The Arman anti-ballistic missile system and the Azarakhsh low-altitude air defense system, built by the ministry of defense, were unveiled this morning," the official...

Tehran, Iran – Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan on Thursday said that Iran and Armenia have the potential to increase the volume of their bilateral trade to $3 billion. Grigoryan made the remarks during the 18th meeting of the Iran-Armenia Joint Economic Commission where he also described Iran...

The saboteurs hit pipelines in the cities of Borujen in the southwestern province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and Safashahr in the southern province of Fars, Aghli said, adding that there were no casualties in the explosions or the ensuing fires.

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Tuesday it has launched long-range ballistic missiles from a warship for the first time. The launch from the Shahid Mahdavi during naval maneuvers involved firing two ballistic missiles capable of striking targets up to 1,700 kilometerees (1,050 miles) away. "The...

"The current military-security situation heralds what is likely to be a more dangerous decade, characterized by the brazen application by some of military power to pursue claims," the report said.

"The presence of US forces in our region has no justification," Raisi said in a Tehran ceremony ahead of the 45th anniversary of Iran's Islamic revolution on February 12.

TEHRAN, IRAN – The country has exported more than 6.7 million tons of agricultural and food products worth US$4.8 billion during the first 10 months of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2023 – January 20, 2024), an Iranian economic official said. Rouhollah Latifi, the spokesman of the Iranian House...

The strikes hit "locations in the Akashat and Al-Qaim regions, including areas where our security forces are stationed", Awadi said. The United States carried out the strikes on Friday in retaliation for the killing of three US military personnel in a drone attack on a base close to Jordan's border...

Tehran, Iran - Iran and Turkey are set to enhance their electricity exchange capabilities through the implementation of modern technology, according to Mehdi Moghimzadeh, the head of Iran's Iran Grid Management Company. “With the signing of the contract for the operation of 400-kilovolt BtB HVDC line between Khoy (Iran) and...

Tehran carried out strikes against an anti-Iran group in Pakistan on January 16, the same week the nation's military targeted Iraq and Syria. Two days later, Pakistan responded in kind with a pre-dawn raid on "militant targets" in Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan province, one of the few mainly Sunni Muslim regions in...

Tehran, Iran - Gunmen in southeastern Iran near the Pakistan border killed nine foreign nationals on Saturday, Iranian media reported, more than a week after the neighbors exchanged deadly cross-border fire. "According to witnesses, this morning unknown armed men killed nine non-Iranians in a house in the Sirkan neighborhood of Saravan...

The strict dress code for women has been the subject of heated debate since nationwide protests following the death in custody in September 2022 of Mahsa Amini. Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, had been arrested for allegedly breaching the dress code.

Al-Asad airbase was targeted by 15 rockets" fired from Anbar province, which is home to the military base, an Iraqi police official from the region told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. He said 13 of the projectiles were shot down by anti-air defenses but that "two fell on the...

Iran's Revolutionary Guards launched a research satellite, a minister said, putting it into a higher orbit in a milestone for its aerospace program that has faced Western criticism. The United States has warned Iran against such launches, saying the technology can be used for ballistic missiles, including ones designed to...

"The Chinese side sincerely hopes that the two sides can exercise calm and restraint and avoid an escalation of tension," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular press conference. "We are also willing to play a constructive role in de-escalating the situation if both sides so wish," she said.

The statement did not say where the strike took place, but various Pakistani social media accounts reported blasts in Balochistan province, where the two countries share a sparsely populated border of nearly 1,000 kilometres (620 miles).

Davos, Switzerland - The United States wants a "de-escalation" in the Middle East despite its strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday. "We seek to stop the spread of conflict and to create the conditions for de-escalation," Sullivan said at the World Economic Forum...

Tehran, Iran - Iran urged on Monday the United States and Britain to "stop the war against Yemen" following their recent strikes on targets of the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels. US and British forces have hit scores of targets in Yemen after weeks of Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea,...

"We have repeatedly expressed our views to the authorities of the countries of the region, including Iraq, and declared that the presence of American forces in any form whatsoever... would not help to maintain stability and peace," said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani.

TEHRAN, IRAN - A bombing attack in southern Iran claimed by the Islamic State group has killed 91 people, state media said on Saturday, raising an earlier toll after two victims had succumbed to wounds. The two blasts in Kerman on Wednesday hit crowds at a memorial ceremony near the tomb...

At least 103 people were killed and another 140 injured when two blasts 10 minutes apart struck Iranian mourners commemorating slain Revolutionary Guards general Qasem Soleimani on the fourth anniversary of his killing, Iran's state media reported. Iran's Tasnim news agency, quoting what it called informed sources, said "two bags...

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iran's Alborz warship has entered the Red Sea through the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait, Tasnim news agency reported on Monday, at a time of heightened tensions over the globally important waterway. The agency did not give specific reasons for its deployment, but noted that Iranian military vessels had...

Air strikes in eastern Syria "likely" launched by Israel killed at least 19 pro-Iran fighters, a war monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said "19 pro-Iranian fighters, including four Syrians, and six Iraqis, were killed and more than 18 were wounded" in at least nine air strikes overnight...

Tehran, Iran - Iran's nuclear program remains peaceful, said Nasser Kanani, the spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Friday in response to a joint statement from the United States and three European countries. In a press release on Friday, Kanani suggested that these countries should reconsider their...

Iran hanged four people convicted of spying for arch foe Israel, the judiciary said, less than two weeks executing a man on similar grounds. "Four members of a sabotage group related to the Zionist regime (Israel)... were hanged this morning" in Iran's northwestern province of West Azerbaijan, the judiciary's Mizan...

Officers cordoned off the embassy as they combed through the surrounding areas following the report of the late afternoon blast. Israel's foreign ministry in a statement reported "an explosion" near the embassy.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi slammed the "inefficacy" of international bodies to halt fighting between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas which has ravaged the Gaza Strip. Raisi's remarks came a day after the United Nations Security Council approved a much-delayed resolution demanding aid be allowed into the besieged Hamas-run territory "at...

According to human rights groups, including Amnesty International, Iran executes more people per year than any other nation except China. In a November report, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group said the Islamic republic had executed more than 600 people so far this year, marking the highest figure in eight...

Tehran, Iran — Iran has waived visa requirements for passport holders from 33 nations, signaling a significant step in opening its doors to global visitors. “The government intends to open the country's doors to the world,” Iranian Minister of Tourism Ezzatollah Zarghami, said on Wednesday as reported by Saudi Gazzete....

Tehran, Iran - Iran warned Saturday of the threat of an "uncontrollable explosion" of the situation in the Middle East, after the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza war. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the top diplomat of the Islamic republic, also appealed for the...

Tehran, Iran – Iran and Oman have signed two memoranda of understanding to boost bilateral cooperation and using their national currencies in mutual trade instead of the dollar, mehrnews reported on Thursday. The MoUs were signed between Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Abbas Aliabadi, and Oman’s Minister of...

Speaking at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps aerospace force centre in the capital Tehran, Khamenei said "the defeat of the Zionist regime in Gaza is a fact." Israel has relentlessly been pounding the Gaza Strip since Hamas's attack, killing more than 12,300 people in the narrow Palestinian territory, including more...