IRAN

WORLD — At least 21 Christians have been arrested in five different cities in the two weeks since the US brokered ceasefire (22 June) brought an end to the air war between Iran and Israel, Christian advocacy organization Article18 reveals based on reports. The arrests in the cities of Tehran,…

Washington — As part of its “maximum pressure” policy toward Iran, particularly concerning Tehran’s nuclear program, ballistic missiles, and funding of armed groups in the Middle East, the United States has imposed a new package of sanctions on companies that assist Iran in evading existing sanctions. The U.S. Department of…

WASHINGTON, D.C. / TEHRAN — U.S. President Donald Trump stated that Iran has not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to halt uranium enrichment, though he believes the program has been permanently halted. He suggested that Iran’s nuclear program may not have stopped indefinitely, and it could restart…

GENEVA — Iran rejected the majority of key recommendations issued by UN Member States at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, including many focused on its treatment of religious minorities.  In response to the recommendations, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, claimed that all Iranian citizens…

By Hicham Bou Nassif | Weinberg Associate Professor of International Relations and the Middle East and George R. Roberts Fellow at Claremont McKenna College-California The Israeli strikes on Iran have stopped, but the crisis of its regime has entered a new phase. The news circulating in the international press over the past few…

DOHA / WASHINGTON, D.C. / TEL AVIV — A volatile series of events unfolded in the Middle East yesterday, beginning with Iranian missiles targeting the US’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and culminating in the swift collapse of a ceasefire between Iran and Israel announced by US President Donald…

By Hicham Bou Nassif | Weinberg Associate Professor of International Relations and the Middle East and George R. Roberts Fellow at Claremont McKenna College-California Broadly speaking, autocratic regimes typically fall in one of four ways:   Foreign invasion after losing a war, e.g. the fall of Hitler and Mussolini’s regimes in World War II…

By Heleen Murre-van den Berg Professor of Global Christianity, director Institute of Eastern Christian Studies (hlmvandenberg.me) Unknown to most visitors to Iran, unknown also to many Iranians, the country harbors a rich heritage of Christian sites. Except for a few notable exceptions, these churches and graveyards so far have attracted…

TEHRAN / TEL AVIV — The conflict between Israel and Iran has entered a critical new phase, now in its fourth consecutive day following three nights of deadly exchanges that have killed dozens of civilians.   In a sharply worded statement, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared Tehran’s citizens would “soon pay…

TEL AVIV — In a dramatic escalation spanning the last three days, Israel and Iran have traded increasingly severe air and missile strikes, prompting Israel to shore up its defenses even as Washington hesitates to join the conflict directly. According to Axios, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged President Donald…