Iran

UN inspectorate chief calls Tehran’s move a ‘concrete step in the right direction’, amid threat of restored sanctionsIran has offered to keep its stock of uranium enriched up to 60% – below the purity levels required to make a nuclear bomb – the head of the UN nuclear inspectorate, Rafael Grossi, has confirmed amid the threat of restored European […]

Tehran alleged to have targeted retired politician, 84, who is also human rights activist and critic of IranCanadian authorities foiled an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate a former justice minister and rights activist who has been a strong critic of Tehran, the Globe and Mail newspaper has reported.The 84-year-old was justice minister and attorney […]

Ever since the election, there have been endless headlines about US women emulating South Korea’s fringe 4B movementSex sells. Sex strikes, meanwhile, make for an irresistible headline. Ever since Donald Trump overwhelmingly won the election, there have been endless headlines about how American women are emulating South Korea’s fringe 4B movement (which […]

Contact was reportedly at Trump-allied billionaire’s request and could be significant for dismal US-Iranian relationsElon Musk reportedly met with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations on Monday, a day before Donald Trump named the SpaceX founder as one of the heads of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.The meeting was a discussion […]

IDF hits Gaza, Syria and Beirut suburbs, as analysts say raids could be aimed at forcing hand of Hezbollah in negotiationsMiddle East crisis – live updatesIsrael has intensified its air offensives on three fronts, launching dozens of new strikes in Lebanon, Gaza and Syria as negotiations for a ceasefire on its northern border reach a critical point.The […]

The move has been described as ‘chilling’ by activists and rights groups as arrests mount over dress code breaches The Iranian state has said that it plans to open a treatment clinic for women who defy the mandatory hijab laws that require women to cover their heads in public.The opening of a “hijab removal treatment clinic” was announced by Mehri […]

CIA’s Asif W Rahman will appear in court over espionage offenses following a release of highly classified documentsA US intelligence official has been charged with espionage offenses following an investigation into the leak last month of highly classified documents detailing Israel’s plans for military attacks on Iran.Asif W Rahman, who works for the […]

Kaja Kallas says Ukraine’s victory in war is ‘a priority for us all’, adding that it is also in the US interestChina should face “a higher cost” for supporting Russia in the war against Ukraine, the EU’s incoming foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has said.The former Estonian prime minister was speaking to MEPs during a three-hour hearing before […]

Tehran cites 1888 charts in effort to prove ownership of islands near strait of Hormuz that are also claimed by UAEMaps drawn up more than 130 years ago on the instruction of the Marquess of Salisbury, the then British foreign secretary, have been cited by Iran in its deepening dispute with the Gulf states over the ownership of three strategic islands at […]

An émigré player’s artistry sings through a London street, rising over many barriersThe Kurdish MusicianShe is swaddled in pink, sky-blue and veiled in a gold hejab that with every chime of her santoor dangles its fringe where trailed Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. You can read the latest full report here:Qatar to close Hamas office over ‘lack of good faith’ in ceasefire talksIsraeli air strikes on the Lebanese coastal city of Tyre have now killed seven people.Reuters reported that Lebanon’s health ministry said the death toll has risen from three to seven after the attack on […]

Trump campaign said US officials warned him in September about suspected Iranian assassination plotThe US justice department is bringing criminal charges over an Iranian plot to kill the president-elect, Donald Trump, that was thwarted by the FBI, the government said.The federal government has unsealed criminal charges in what the justice department said […]

Protesters and political prisoners are being drugged, tortured and beaten in state-run institutions, say rights groupsHuman rights organisations say they are gravely concerned that a young Iranian woman arrested for stripping down to her underwear could be subjected to torture after she was transferred to a psychiatric hospital by the authorities.Amnesty […]

12 Palestinians killed in attack on al-Shati refugee camp; Irish foreign minister says country will join South Africa’s case in the international court of justiceIran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson has said the presidential election result in the US is a chance for a new administration to “review the wrong approaches of the past”.Reuters quotes […]

Leon Panetta says he also expects US president-elect to favor letting Russia retain control of areas of UkraineDonald Trump will as president give Benjamin Netanyahu a “blank check” in the Middle East, possibly opening the way for all-out war between Israel and Iran, the former CIA director and US defense secretary Leon Panetta predicted.“With regards […]

Philippe Lazzarini, head of Unrwa, says aid agency will collapse ‘without intervention by member states’Lebanon’s army has issued a warning to residents in the Ghobeiry area of the southern suburbs of Beirut that today between 10.30am and 1.30pm it will “detonate unexploded ordnance” in the area.Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has […]

Iran and Hezbollah have dismissed the potential impact of a Trump administration on their prospects in the Middle East after the Republican candidate defeated Kamala Harris in the US election. Fatemeh Mohajerani, Iran's spokesperson, said the country had taken measures to cushion the impact of potential sanctions, while Hezbollah's leader, Naim Qassem, said […]

Critics dismayed at timing of dismissal amid war and on day of US election – and warn more may come for PM’s political gainMany Israelis have been left reeling by Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to dismiss his popular defence minister in the midst of a multifront war, accusing him of carrying out the move for his own political gain.In a surprise […]

This blog is now closed. See our latest full report here and all our Middle East crisis coverage hereAl Jazeera reports that the death toll from an Israeli strike on tents housing displaced people in central Gaza has risen to six, and includes a six-year-old and a four-year-old child.Lebanon’s Nation News Agency has reported that the Israeli army, which […]

Top Iranian officials previously referred to an execution when reacting to Jamshid Sharmahd’s death on 28 OctoberIran has claimed that an Iranian-German dual national who had been sentenced to death died last week before his execution could be carried out.“Jamshid Sharmahd was sentenced to death, his execution was imminent, but he died before it could […]