This is Beirut

The Messiah Wars: How Israel and Iran's Visions Shape Middle Eastern Politics

Salam El Zaatari, 30/01 09:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

In the high-stakes chess game of Middle Eastern politics, a hidden force drives both Israel and Iran toward an eerily similar endgame, an unshakable belief that history is hurtling toward a divinely orchestrated climax. On one side, Israel’s religious circles whisper about the long-awaited Messiah, a figure destined to restore their ancient ...

Imminent Execution Threat for Two Iranian Opposition Members

This is Beirut, 27/01 18:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Iran opposition Amnesty International

Two Iranian men convicted of membership of the People's Mujahedin opposition group, outlawed by the Islamic republic, are at imminent risk of execution after being transferred to a different prison, the organisation and activists said on Monday. The men, Behrouz Ehsani, 69, and Mehdi Hassani, 48, a father of three, were moved without prior notice ...

Iran Arrests Two Young Women for Dancing in Cemetery

This is Beirut, 24/01 16:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Iran Human Rights Women's Rights Iran Women

Iranian police arrested two young women after publication of a video in which they danced in a Tehran cemetery without adhering to the country's strict dress code, local media reported Friday. "Not long ago, two people, in the cemetery of martyrs in Tehran, disregarding the sacred site, recorded a video clip with inappropriate clothing and ...

Iranian Revolutionary Guards Stage Military Exercises in Gulf Waters

This is Beirut, 24/01 15:20 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Gulf Donald Trump United Arab Emirates Iran military exercises

Iran's Revolutionary Guards conducted naval drills on Friday in the Gulf and strategic Strait of Hormuz as part of a series of nationwide military exercises, state media reported. The drills -- which involved fast boats, shore-to-sea missiles and surface-to-surface missiles -- as featured by state TV, are part of a string of exercises, dubbed ...

Iran Arrests 10 Bahai Women in 'Shocking' Raids

This is Beirut, 22/01 21:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Iran Bahai community

Iranian authorities on Wednesday arrested 10 women members of the Bahai community, a representative group said, warning of escalating repression against one of the country's biggest non-Muslim religious minorities. "Security forces arrested ten Bahai women, without arrest warrants or prior notification, in a series of shocking home raids," the ...

Iran Claims Oct 7 Attack 'Destroyed' Chance for US Nuclear Talks

This is Beirut, 22/01 20:14 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Mohammad Javad Zarif Iran WEF Rafael Grossi IAEA

Iranian Vice President for Strategic Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif said Wednesday that Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel had "destroyed" an opportunity for talks to revive a landmark nuclear accord. The Palestinian militant group's unprecedented assault triggered a devastating war in Gaza, drawing in Tehran-aligned ...

Iran Sentence Pop Singer, Tataloo, to Death

This is Beirut, 19/01 20:55 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Iran Police Singer

An Iranian court has sentenced popular singer Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, known as Tataloo, to death on appeal after he was convicted of blasphemy, local media reported on Sunday. "The Supreme Court accepted the prosecutor's objection" to a previous five-year jail term on offences including blasphemy, reformist newspaper Etemad reported online. It ...

Iran: Two Judges Shot Dead at Supreme Court

This is Beirut, 18/01 18:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Iran Tehran Supreme court Assassination

Two judges were killed in a shooting attack on Saturday at the Supreme Court building in Tehran, Iranian state media reported. "This morning, a gunman infiltrated the Supreme Court in a planned act of assassination of two brave and experienced judges. The two judges were martyred in the act," the judiciary's Mizan Online website ...

Ex-CIA Analyst Guilty of Leaking Documents on Israel Plans to Strike Iran

This is Beirut, 17/01 23:13 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Iran CIA

A former CIA official pleaded guilty Friday to leaking top secret US intelligence documents about Israeli military plans for a retaliatory strike on Iran. Asif Rahman, 34, who worked for the Central Intelligence Agency since 2016 and held a top secret security clearance, was arrested by the FBI in Cambodia in November. Rahman faces up to 20 ...

Russia and Iran Harden Military and Trade Ties in New Pact

This is Beirut, 17/01 18:55 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Russia Iran Vladimir Putin Masoud Pezeshkian

Russia and Iran signed a new treaty on Friday underpinning their economic and military cooperation, in what both sides cast as a major milestone in their relations. Moscow has looked to the Islamic Republic as a strategic ally since sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022, worrying Western officials who see both as malign actors on the world ...

Iran Guards Hail Gaza Ceasefire as 'Victory' for Palestinians

This is Beirut, 16/01 09:45 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Palestine Ceasefire Hamas Iran

Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Thursday hailed a ceasefire deal in Gaza between Israel and the Hamas militant group as a "victory" for Palestinians and a "defeat" for Israel. "The end of the war and the imposition of a ceasefire... is a clear victory and a great victory for Palestine and a bigger defeat for the monstrous Zionist regime," the ...

Marjane Satrapi Rejects French Honor over Iranian Hypocrisy

This is Beirut, 15/01 14:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Culture Artist Film France Iran

French-Iranian author and illustrator Marjane Satrapi, best known for the book and film Persepolis, has refused the French Legion of Honor over the country’s "hypocrisy" in its dealings with Iran. In a letter to France's culture minister posted on social media on Monday, Satrapi said she would not accept the top state award at a ceremony ...

iran