To Stop Iran's Bomb, Bomb Iran John R. Bolton, New York Times 26 March 2015   For years, experts worried that the Middle East would face an uncontrollable nuclear-arms race if Iran ever acquired weapons capability. Given the region’s political, religious and ethnic conflicts, the logic is straightforward. As in other nuclear proliferation cases like India, Pakistan and North Korea, America and the West were guilty of inattention when they

UN Monitor Says Iran is Worsening on Rights, Despite Pledges Nick Cumming-Bruce, New York Times 16 March 2015   GENEVA — Iran’s use of the death penalty is rising and its repression of political critics is worsening despite promises by President Hassan Rouhani of a less restrictive society, a United Nations human rights monitor said on Monday. The monitor, Ahmed Shaheed, also raised the possibility that the human rights situation in Iran

Sudan embraces genocide, terrorism — and Iran Eric Reeves, The Washington Post 30 November 2014   Eric Reeves is a professor at Smith College and the author of “Compromising with Evil: An Archival History of Greater Sudan, 2007-2012.” It is not often that we’re able to listen in on the comments of senior officials in a government that stands internationally accused of genocide. But that’s exactly what we’ve been given through the leaked

Rivals Tehran, Riyadh pledge billions to Lebanon’s army By Hugh Naylor, The Washington Post 4 November 2014 Saudi Arabia and Iran have offered apparently competing aid packages to Lebanon’s small and modestly armed military as it confronts increasing attacks at home by militants with ties to extremists fighting in Syria’s civil war. The pledges total billions of dollars’ worth of mostly light arms and underscore mounting concern among the

Iran Orders Elite Troops: Lay Off U.S. Forces in Iraq By Eli Lake, The Daily Beast 6 October 2014 Pay no attention to the Shi'ite militias threatening to kill U.S. troops in Iraq. The elite Iranian forces backing those militias have been ordered not to attack the Americans. That’s the conclusion of the latest U.S. intelligence assessment for Iraq. And it represents a stunning turnaround for Iran’s Quds Force, once considered America’s most

Iran executes man for heresy By Saeed Kamali Dehghan, The Guardian 29 September 2014 A 37-year-old man has been executed in Iran after being found guilty of heresy and insulting prophet Jonah, according to human rights activists. Mohsen Amir-Aslani was arrested nine years ago for his activities which the authorities deemed were heretical. He was engaged in psychotherapy but also led sessions reading and reciting the Qur’an and providing his own

Iran General Helped Iraq's Kurds Battle IS Group By Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press 24 September 2014 A top Iranian general and 70 of his forces were on the ground in Iraq this summer, helping Kurdish fighters defend the regional capital Irbil against Islamic State militants, a senior commander from Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Wednesday. The commander's remarks appeared to confirm for the first time that Iranian military forces are playing

Iran ‘backs US military contacts’ to fight Islamic State BBC 5 September 2014  Iran's Supreme Leader has approved co-operation with the US as part of the fight against Islamic State (IS) in Iraq, sources have told BBC Persian. Ayatollah Khamenei has authorised his top commander to co-ordinate military operations with the US, Iraqi and Kurdish forces, sources in Tehran say. Iran has traditionally opposed US involvement in Iraq, an Iranian ally.

Christian sentenced by Iranian judge to have his lips burnt with a cigarette for eating during Ramadan   By HARRIET HERNANDO, Daily Mail   July 23, 2014   An Iranian judge sentenced a Christian man to have his lips burnt with a cigarette for eating during the day in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The barbaric punishment was carried out in public in a square in the city of Kermanshah. Five other Muslim men were also flogged in public

The doctrine of de-violentization in Islam: An alternative to Christian pacifism? By Mahmood Delkhasteh, Iranian.com July 12, 2014 In June 1981, the last stage of a coup by dictatorial forces against Iran’s first elected president, Abolhassan Banisadr, had accelerated. While a decree was issued for his execution by a “revolutionary” judge and his supporters were brutally attacked by club-wielders, I was distributing the president’s last message