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U.S. troops suspect that Iran may attempt to take revenge on President Donald Trump for the death of Quds Force General Qassem Soleimani on the anniversary of the airstrike that killed Soleimani. This week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani sent a cryptic warning to Trump, gloating about Trump’s loss in the 2020 election and warning that the American president’s life “will end” in “a few days.”In a speech during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Rouhani warned, “As I said after the martyrdom of Martyr Soleimani, I emphasise again that if you cut off Martyr Soleimani’s hand, we will cut off your...

Power struggle at the head of the ruling regime in Iran Since the Iranian revolution in 1979, understanding the structure of the ruling system in Iran and the decision-making mechanism, at times, has sometimes been challenging and difficult to understand and analyze. Although the "Vali-Faghih or the Supreme Leader" is at the top of the system's pyramid of power, the president holds the executive power. Still, the order of decision-making institutions in Iran is not clear, and this has long led to a dispute over authority between leaders of the regime who are at the center of its influence and...

Days ago into last week there were widespread rumors spreading on Mideast social media of the severe health decline of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The persistent rumors ranged from saying he was in a coma even to some claiming his death.But Khamenei put the unfounded speculation to rest after on Wednesday morning he appeared at an event marking the first anniversary of the death of IRGC Quds Force General Qassem Soleimani. He hasn't made a public appearance in three weeks.But more importantly he emerged to give final high level backing to prior statements of Iranian leaders, most notably President...

Minnesota Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison has been elected as the state Attorney General, fending off his Republican opponent in an election mired with domestic abuse allegations. Ellison, the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, defeated Republican Doug Wardlow and his ambitious run to become the first Republican state attorney general in nearly half a century. Ellison was once seen as the comfortable favorite in the race, but his campaign was thrown into turmoil when his former girlfriend accused him in August of physical and emotional abuse when they dated.

LOUIS FARRAKHAN Confirms DNC Deputy Chair Keith Ellison Was Disciple of Nation of Islam Keith Ellison was exposed earlier this month for lying about a meeting with Louis Farrakhan and the President of Iran in 2013. Rep. Ellison and fellow Democrat Gregory Meeks had dinner with Louis Farrakhan and Iranian leader Hassan Rouhani in 2013. LOUIS FARRAKHAN Confirms DNC Deputy Chair Keith Ellison Was Disciple of Nation of Islam The Democratic Party finally has a Deputy Chair who represents the true values of the party. Keith Ellison was exposed earlier this month for lying about a meeting with Louis Farrakhan...

Some commerce and industries in Iran will likely be able to resume activities in a week’s time, President Hassan Rouhani has announced, signaling that the Islamic Republic has survived the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Under the supervision of the Health Ministry, all those low-risk economic activities will resume from Saturday,” Rouhani said in a televised meeting. He added that two-thirds of Iranian government employees will work from their offices starting next weekend, adding that the easing of anti-coronavirus measures does not conflict with the country’s health advisories. Businesses deemed “high-risk” for Covid-19, as well as most of the education...

Iran’s president said on Wednesday that, with the advent of the coronavirus, the United States had missed a historic opportunity to lift sanctions on his country, though the penalties had not hampered its fight against the infection. On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo raised the possibility that Washington might consider easing sanctions on Iran and other nations to help fight the epidemic, but gave no concrete sign it plans to do so. “The United States lost the best opportunity to lift sanctions,” Hassan Rouhani said in a televised cabinet meeting. “It was a great opportunity for Americans to...

‘Whistleblower’ calls out John Kerry, says he ‘knows for fact’ Obama admin sent multiple letters directly to Soleimani Middle East expert Michael Doran slammed former Secretary of State John Kerry in a series of tweets exposing the Obama administration’s dealings with Iran. “I must become a whistleblower,” Doran, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute specializing in Middle East security issues, tweeted Friday in response to a self-serving opinion piece by Kerry published by The New York Times. Doran called out Kerry for his op-ed and the “ludicrous and reckless contention” that “diplomacy” with Iran and the nuclear deal negotiated...

**SNIP** Obama breaks three decades of silence with call to Iranian president Obama began by congratulating Rouhani on his June election. He referred to the long mistrust between the two sides but said he believed the talks were already making progress. Obama Calls to Congratulate Putin As the New York Times reported earlier in the week, there are serious charges that Putin rigged the election: “A day after claiming an overwhelming victory in Russia’s presidential election, Vladimir V. Putin on Monday faced a range of challenges to his legitimacy, including charges of fraud from international observers and a defiant opposition...

Iran has discovered a new oil field in the country’s south with over 50 billion barrels of crude, its president said Sunday, a find that could boost the country’s proven reserves by a third as it struggles to sell energy abroad over U.S. sanctions. The announcement by Hassan Rouhani comes as Iran faces crushing American sanctions after the U.S. pulled out of its nuclear deal with world powers last year. Rouhani made the announcement in a speech in the desert city of Yazd. He said the field was located in Iran’s southern Khuzestan province, home to its crucial oil industry....

Golly, whoever leaked this to Bloomberg must have been pretty high up the food chain to know what the president was thinking on a matter as sensitive as Iran diplomacy.And they must have a pretty sizable axe to grind with him if they’re willing to make him sound this weak, particularly in comparison to Bolton.Any theories? Do any current or former disgruntled national security aides with a reputation for score-settling in the press present themselves as logical suspects?The post-Bolton era will be a golden age of natsec leaking, my friends. President Trump discussed easing sanctions on Iran to help...

eace with Iran is the mother of all peace and war with Iran is the mother of all wars, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared on Iranian TV on Tuesday, according to Reuters. He said that if the United States wants to have negotiations with Iran then it must lift all sanctions. On Monday, Iran threatened to take further steps to reduce compliance with the 2015 deal in about a months time if Europe still failed to protect Iran from US sanctions. “With the continuation of the inaction of the Europeans in carrying out their commitments (to the nuclear deal) ......

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on Muslims worldwide on Saturday to unite against the United States, instead of “rolling out red carpets for criminals”. Washington in May reimposed sanctions on Tehran, after President Donald Trump pulled out of a 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran under which they had been lifted. “Submitting to the West headed by America would be treason against our religion ... and against the future generations of this region,” Rouhani told an international conference on Islamic unity in Tehran, in a speech broadcast live on state television. “We have a choice to either roll out red...

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on Muslims worldwide on Saturday (Nov 24) to unite against the United States, instead of "rolling out red carpets for criminals". Washington in May reimposed sanctions on Teheran, after President Donald Trump pulled out of a 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran under which they had been lifted. "Submitting to the West headed by America would be treason against our religion... and against the future generations of this region," Rouhani told an international conference on Islamic unity in Tehran, in a speech broadcast live on state television. "We have a choice to...

The Times of Israel is reporting that a new computer virus 'more powerful' than the Stuxnet worm that devastated the Iranian nuclear weapons program in 2010 has been unleashed on Iran's "infrastructure and strategic systems." While the extent of the damage is unknown, the new virus has been described as “more violent, more advanced and more sophisticated" than Stuxnet. That virus, jointly developed by US and Israel, is believed to have set back the Iranian nuclear weapons programs by several months to several years depending on the source. The report came hours after Israel said its Mossad intelligence agency had...

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia would not have murdered prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi without American protection, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday Saudi authorities staged the "worst cover-up ever" in the killing of Khashoggi in Turkey this month, as Washington vowed to revoke the visas of some of those believed to be responsible. "No one would imagine that in today's world and a new century that we would witness such an organised murder and a system would plan out such a heinous murder," Rouhani said, according...

President Bashar al-Assad has approved a gas attack in the Idlib province, which is the country’s last rebel stronghold, a report on Sunday said...The Wall Street Journal reported that the international pressure did little to sway Assad, who benefits from support from Russia and Iran. The report said Assad has approved the use of chlorine gas...Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a “total annihilation of terrorists in Syria,” while Iranian President Hassan Rouhani spoke of “cleansing the Idlib region of terrorists.”

With little fanfare, another taboo in U.S.-Iran relations has shattered. Jim Slattery, a former six-term Democratic Congressman from Kansas, late last year became the first former or current American legislator to visit the Islamic Republic of Iran. In Tehran to attend a conference on countering violent extremism, Slattery encountered a largely friendly reception from both officials and ordinary Iranians and came back equipped to present a more realistic and upbeat depiction of Iranians than is usually found on Capitol Hill. Speaking Monday at the Atlantic Council in Washington, Slattery conceded that there are elements in Iran that still oppose any...

Washington (CNN)Iranian President Hassan Rouhani issued a challenge to President Donald Trump on Monday, saying the Islamic Republic would welcome talks with the US "right now." "I don't have preconditions. If the US government is willing, let's start right now," Rouhani said during an interview that aired on state television late Monday local time, just hours before the US renewed sanctions on Iran. "If there is sincerity, Iran has always welcomed dialogue and negotiations," Rouhani said. Trump's national security adviser John Bolton, when asked about the offer by CNN's Jake Tapper, dismissed it as possible "propaganda." "Let's see what really...

President Trump threatened Iran in a late-night tweet on Sunday, responding angrily after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani criticized Trump and warned the American president not to "play with the lion's tail" and that "war with Iran is the mother of all wars." Trump's tweet, posted in all-capital letters: "NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE." (TWEET-AT-LINK) He declared, "WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!" At a gathering of Iranian diplomats in...