With a crackdown on dissenters and a charm offensive to woo the kingdom’s swelling youth population, Saudi Arabia’s king-in-waiting Mohammed bin Salman is cementing his grip on power, analysts say. The 32-year-old crown prince, often known as MBS, is set to be the first millennial to occupy the throne in a country where half the […]

TEHRAN  – A rights group has called for targeted sanctions and an arms embargo against the Myanmar military in response to an offensive that has sent 410,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh to escape what the United Nations has branded ethnic cleansing. The latest spasm of violence in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State began on Aug. […]

TEHRAN  – The Trump administration is considering closing down the recently reopened US Embassy in Havana following a string of unexplained incidents harming the health of American diplomats in Cuba, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Sunday. Tillerson’s comments were the strongest indication to date that the United States might mount a major diplomatic response, […]

TEHRAN  – Turkey sent 80 military vehicles including tanks to its southwestern border with Syria, a report said. Citing a military source, Anadolu news agency said the deployment was part of reinforcements for troops stationed along the border. The vehicles were sent to the Iskenderun district of the southeastern province of Hatay, according to the […]

TOKYO- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may hold a snap general election next month, local media reported, a move that would allow him to seize on opposition disarray and growing support for his handling of the North Korea crisis. Abe appears increasingly inclined to call an election amid a recovery in public support following a […]

TEHRAN – London police say a second man has been arrested in connection with the London subway attack. Police said Sunday that a 21-year-old man was arrested late Saturday night in Hounslow in west London and is being held under the Terrorism Act. He is being questioned at a south London police station but has […]

TEHRAN – Afghanistan is considering training and arming 20,000 civilians to defend territories where militants have been driven out, officials say, sparking fears the local forces could become another thuggish militia. The proposal for a government-backed armed group that would protect its own communities from the Taliban and Daesh (also known as ISIL or ISIS) […]

TEHRAN – Passengers were evacuated from a British Airways airplane at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris on Sunday morning “for a security reason”, an airport official said. Flight BA303 was due to take off and fly to London’s Heathrow airport when the plane was evacuated, the official said, Reuters reported. “The incident is being […]

TEHRAN – Head of Bahrain’s Islamic Action Movement said Saudi Arabia, careless of the growing popular protests in the country, is evilly pressing ahead with its repressive policies both at home and abroad. The House of Saud does not have the slightest care about popular movements and protests and is moving toward its vicious goals […]

TEHRAN – A former Iranian ambassador highlighted China’s push to avert an escalation of tensions between the US and North Korea considering its extensive trade ties with Washington, but predicted that Beijing would stand by Pyongyang in case of flare-up of tensions.  Iran’s former ambassador to Beijing Mahdi Safari said China is strongly opposed to […]