Special to WorldTribune.com Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he has warned Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani over accusations that Erdogan and his family are involved in black market oil trading with Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL). In a phone conversation on Dec. 3, Erdogan said he told Rouhani: “You will pay a high […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Iran will cancel the nuclear agreement with world powers unless an investigation into its past weapons research is dropped. Adm. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on Nov. 29 that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) must end its investigation into the military dimensions issue, AFP reported. The […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Iran on Nov. 3 detained five more news professionals in an ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression in the Islamic Republic. Two of the five journalists, Isa Saharkhiz and Ehsun Mazandarani, were identified by The Associated Press, citing Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency. The journalists were accused of cooperating with “anti-revolutionary” foreign media outlets. […]
Special to WorldTribune.com The supreme leader has the final say in Iranian geopolitics. And Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has just made it clear – no more talks with the United States. Khamenei’s declaration was seen not only as a shot at U.S. President Barack Obama but at moderates in Iran looking to build momentum for warming […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Judgement Day came twice this month in Saudi Arabia and the leader of one of two warring factions of Islam wants the world to know that the other faction is responsible. Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a Shi’ite, on Sept. 27 demanded that Shia Saudi Arabia apologize for the stampede near […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — A host of “systemic and systematic violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights” continue to plague Iran despite the election of the purportedly reformist President Hassan Rouhani. That’s part of a stinging assessment of the current human rights landscape according to Ahmed Shaheed, the UN’s Special Rapporteur […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Presidents, prime ministers, kings and potentates will be in New York for the 68th annual UN General Assembly. The ongoing Syrian crisis and the toxic haze of recent chemical weapons use, clouds the diplomatic horizon at the global gathering as delegates confront issues of war, peace and widening humanitarian […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Fariborz Saremi Currently the Middle East is in a state of upheaval from which it may never truly recover. Politically, the region as a whole is extremely unstable, as are several countries within the region. To ensure that permanent chaos does not ensue the United States and the Islamic Republic of […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Yossef Bodansky, Senior Editor, Global Information System /Defense & Foreign Affairs The military and political dynamic in and around Syria continued to escalate since late in the week ending Sept. 14, and more so in the days after that (Sept. 15/16) with the Syrian military clearly having the initiative and the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Yossef Bodansky, Senior Editor, Global Information System /Defense & Foreign Affairs On Friday, Sept. 13, the United States and the Russian Federation signed an agreement aimed to bring to an end the political fiasco engendered by the Barack Obama administration in the aftermath of the Aug. 21, chemical attack in Damascus. […]