Tag: Iran

US killing of Iran’s top general ‘unlawful’: UN expert

GENEVA,  Switzerland (AFP) — The US drone strike that killed Iran’s top general Qasem Soleimani was “unlawful”, the United Nations expert on extrajudicial killings concluded in a report released Tuesday. Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, concluded it was an “arbitrary killing” that violated the UN charter. The US had provided no evidence that an imminent attack against US interest was being planned, she wrote. The independent rights expert […]

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WHO says Mideast at ‘critical threshold’ in virus numbers

  CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — The World Health Organization warned Wednesday the Middle East was at a decisive moment in the fight against the novel coronavirus, with cases surging as countries ease lockdown measures. “We are at a critical threshold in our region,” the WHO’s Middle East head, Ahmed al-Mandhari, said in an online press conference. According to figures published by the global health body on Wednesday, the 22 countries from Morocco to Pakistan had […]

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Powerful explosion kills 19 in Iran capital

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — A powerful explosion at a clinic in northern Tehran killed at least 19 people on Tuesday, Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency reported. The blast at Sina At’har health center caused damage to buildings in the vicinity and sent a plume of thick black smoke into the night sky, state television reported. “An explosion was reported at 20:56 (1626 GMT) followed by a fire at Sina At’har clinic. Medical units were dispatched […]

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Iran asks Interpol to help arrest Trump for killing general

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran said Monday it has called for Interpol to help arrest President Donald Trump and 35 other US officials for the January killing of its top general in an American drone strike. Tehran prosecutor Ali Qasi Mehr, quoted by state news agency IRNA, said 36 US political and military officials “involved in the assassination” of General Qasem Soleimani “have been investigated and were ordered to be arrested through Interpol”. “These people […]

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Iran coronavirus deaths top 10,000

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran on Thursday announced 134 new deaths from the novel coronavirus took the overall toll in the Middle East’s deadliest outbreak past 10,000. The Islamic republic has struggled to contain the spread of the virus since it reported its first cases in the Shiite holy city of Qom in late February. Official figures have shown a rising trajectory in new confirmed cases since early May, when Iran hit a near two-month […]

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Iran arrests 3 for trying to sell babies on Instagram: report

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Police in Iran said they have arrested three people accused of trying to sell babies on Instagram, semi-official news agency ISNA reported Wednesday. “Three people who were seeking to sell two babies have been arrested,” Tehran’s police chief Hossein Rahimi was quoted as saying. One of the babies was 20 days old and the other was two months, Rahimi said. Police had been alerted about “ads on Instagram for selling babies”, […]

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Iran reports over 100 new virus deaths for third day running

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iranian health authorities reported over 100 new deaths from the novel coronavirus Sunday for the third day running, stressing that the outbreak had not yet peaked in the hard-hit country. Iran reported its first coronavirus cases on February 19 and has since struggled to contain the outbreak, the deadliest in the Middle East. The Islamic republic recorded its lowest single-day death toll in early May, before seeing a new rise in […]

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For the first time, Pres. Duterte welcomes 5 new ambassadors to the PHL through virtual ceremony

  (Eagle News) — In the first-ever virtual presentation of credentials ceremony, President Rodrigo Duterte welcomed five new ambassadors to the country on Friday, June 19. President Duterte affirmed the Philippines’ “friendly and cooperative” ties with the State of Palestine, New Zealand, Canada, Islamic Republic of Iran, and Socialist Republic of Viet Nam as he received the credentials of their respective ambassadors, hoping stronger ties with the countries or state they represent. Malacanang said that […]

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Iran navy test-fires new cruise missiles

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran test-fired a “new generation” of cruise missiles Thursday, the navy said, in the first such military exercises since 19 sailors were killed last month in a friendly fire incident. The armed forces’ website published pictures of the drill in the Gulf of Oman showing missiles being fired from a warship and the back of a truck, and a vessel exploding out at sea. A statement said both short- and long-range […]

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Iran will execute spy who helped US target general

by Amir Havasi TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Tehran said Tuesday it will execute an Iranian for spying for the United States and Israel after his conviction was upheld for helping the US to locate a top Iranian general killed in a drone strike. Mahmoud Mousavi Majd was convicted of spying on Iran’s armed forces, “especially the Quds Force and on the whereabouts and movements of martyr General Qasem Soleimani”, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said in […]

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Iran dismisses ‘desperate’ US move to end nuclear waivers

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Tehran on Thursday dismissed the impact of what it called Washington’s “desperate attempt” to end sanction waivers for nations that remain in the Iran nuclear accord. The United States had made the move in a bid “to distract public opinion from its continued defeats at the hands of Iran,” said Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran. “Ending waivers for nuclear cooperation with Iran… has effectively no […]

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Iran announces new phase in virus fight despite nearly 2,300 new cases

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran on Monday said it was entering a new phase of trying to eliminate the novel coronavirus after bringing the Middle East’s deadliest outbreak under control in many regions. “Reports show we have passed the management and control phase and are now in the phase of curbing” the spread of COVID-19, government spokesman Ali Rabiei told a televised news conference. But even as Rabiei gave the upbeat assessment in Iran’s three-month […]

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