iran

Women-Only Flight Lands in Iranian Holy City for First Time

An Iranian airline conducted a rare women-only flight on Sunday, landing for the first time in the holy city of Mashhad in the northeast, state media reported. The Aseman Airlines flight by Shahrzad Shams -- one of Iran's pioneering women pilots -- carried 110 passengers on board, according to the official IRNA news agency. Dubbed the "Iran ...

Khamenei Says Iran Does not Have or Need Regional Proxy Forces

Iran's supreme leader denied Sunday that militant groups around the region functioned as Tehran's proxies, warning that if his country chose to "take action", it would not need them anyway. The remarks came after a year in which Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza suffered heavy losses in wars with Israel, and two weeks after the ...

What Is Israel Doing in Syria?

On the morning of Sunday, December 8, as the Syrian people had just rid themselves of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the Israeli military declared the Golan Heights a “closed military zone,” while reinforcing its military deployment there. A few hours later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced from this territory, annexed by Israel in ...

New U.S. Sanctions on Iranian Oil

The United States has intensified sanctions against a growing number of oil tankers and companies accused of being involved in the trade of Iranian oil, Bloomberg reported,. Nine ships and eight companies have been added to the sanctions list, according to a government statement released on Thursday. Among the vessels targeted is the MS Enola, ...

UN Says ‘Ambitious’ Aid to Country Possible as Western Powers Prepare Return

The United Nations humanitarian chief said Tuesday that he was "encouraged" after meetings in Damascus with Syria's new leaders, saying there was a "basis for ambitious scaling-up of vital humanitarian support", as Western diplomatic missions prepare to return to Damascus. "Moment of cautious hope in Syria," Tom ...

Iranian Singer Parastoo Ahmadi Arrested for Daring Desert Concert

On December 11, 2024, 27-year-old Iranian singer Parastoo Ahmadi performed an unprecedented concert in the Iranian desert, her hair uncovered and shoulders bare. Without an audience but streamed live on YouTube, the performance quickly went viral. Fully aware of the risks, Parastoo boldly defied Iran’s strict laws, which prohibit women from ...

Iran Shuts Down Power Plants Due to Fuel Shortages

Several power plants in Iran have been shut down due to a fuel shortage exacerbated by a cold wave straining energy supply, local media reported on Monday.   Iran, a major energy producer, holds the world's second-largest natural gas reserves, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), and ranked as the seventh-largest crude ...

Iran Closes Offices, Schools Over Cold, Energy Shortage

Iran announced the closure of offices and schools in many provinces across the country on Sunday due to a cold snap and energy shortages, according to state media. Iran is an energy giant, with the world's second-largest reserves of natural gas, according to the US Energy Information Administration. However, the country has been forced to ration ...

'Maximum Pressure 2.0' on Iran: The First Step Toward the Regime's Collapse?

For several months now, international political discourse has largely centered around one key issue: Iran. More specifically, the repeated statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President-elect Donald Trump suggest that the main focus of the two allies is to apply maximum pressure on the Iranian regime. On one side, Trump ...

Israel Says Blows Against Iran and its Allies Triggered Regional 'Chain Reaction'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that a series of blows by Israel against arch-foe Iran and its allies had triggered a "chain reaction" poised to transform the entire Middle East. "The historic events that we witness today are a chain reaction," Netanyahu declared in a video address directed at the Iranian people. He ...