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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have agreed to meet again next week.... Pompeo met with top Iraqi officials amidst a US warning based on Israeli intelligence reports, citing an Iranian threat to US interests..... Iran made official Wednesday what it was already reported to doing in recent days. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani informed Russia, China and other nations still involved in the 2015 JCPOA nuclear agreement (France, Germany United Kingdom) that Iran is pulling out... Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacting Wednesday saying: "Israel won't let Iran get nuclear weapons".... The Syrian Army...

Sotoudeh has represented opposition activists and women who removed mandatory headscarf. Nasrin Sotoudeh, an internationally renowned human rights lawyer jailed in Iran, was handed a new sentence on Monday which her husband said was 38 years in prison and 148 lashes. Sotoudeh, who has represented opposition activists including women prosecuted for removing their mandatory headscarf, was arrested in June and charged with spying, spreading propaganda and insulting Iran's supreme leader, her lawyer said. She also was jailed in 2010 for spreading propaganda and conspiring to harm state security — charges she denied ... The news comes days after Iran appointed...

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...

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...

Iran’s president has strongly criticized the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and urged Muslims to support the Palestinian cause. Hassan Rouhani also lashed out at the United States for imposing a ban on travelers from six largely Muslim countries. He was addressing a congregation after Friday prayers at Mecca Masjid in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad during his three-day visit to India. Rouhani called for unity between the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam. …

Three Democratic congressmen attended a private dinner hosted by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in 2013, a new report reveals. Reps. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Andre Carson of Indiana and Gregory Meeks of New York attended the private dinner, along with Louis Farrakhan, a notorious anti-Semite who leads the black supremacist group Nation of Islam. Iran is the number one state sponsor of terrorism, according to the United States government, which has listed the Islamic Republic as a state sponsor of terror since 1984. Rouhani was in New York for a United Nations meeting and held the dinner party just hours...

Al Quds Al Arabi on Saturday cited reliable sources in Tehran who said Iranian authorities ordered the arrest of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his visit to the city of Shiraz and that the arrest was made with the approval of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei after his remarks had been described as inciting unrest. The independent pan-Arab daily newspaper, published in London, learned that the authorities intended to impose house arrest on Ahmadinejad. Two weeks ago, on the Thursday that saw the start of anti-government protests in Iran, the former president, said in a speech to a crowd of residents...

Unlike his predecessor, President Trump is siding with the Iranian people. Once again, the Iranian people are rejecting their authoritarian government and repressive rule by the mullahs. The president of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, is also losing support, according to sources at the Rand Corporation. In recent days the Iranians have demonstrated in Tehran and other major cities such as Mashad and Kermanshah to protest food prices and unemployment. Some demonstrators have been shot and remarkably, there are reports of cries of “death to Khameini,” the cleric who is Iran’s supreme leader. But this time, unlike during the Obama Administration, the...

Ten people have been killed overnight in anti-government protests sweeping Iran, according to state TV. "In the events of last night, unfortunately a total of about 10 people were killed in several cities," it said. At least 12 people have now died since protests began on Thursday

A protester shot and killed a police officer on Monday during the fifth day of demonstrations in Iran, Reuters reported, citing Iranian state television. The policeman is the first member of law enforcement to be killed during the protests. Roughly a dozen people were killed on Sunday as civilians continued to protest alleged government corruption and economic conditions. One officer was killed and three other officers were wounded after a demonstrator opened fire with a hunting rifle in the city of Najafabad, Reuters reported, citing a police spokesman on state TV. Protesters have taken to the streets for each of...

While US President Barack Obama’s administration has been so busily celebrating the framework deal sealed last Thursday with Iran over its nuclear program, official Iranian statements in Farsi appear to disprove Obama’s claims about what has or hasn’t been agreed. The New York Post outlined on Saturday the different statements about the agreement. Those statements include one by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy head Federica Mogherini, as well as an official Iranian text, a text in French, and US Secretary of State John Kerry’s summary which presents the framework as being a done deal. […] But...

European Union foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini says she is preparing to visit Iran following the implementation of a landmark nuclear deal between Tehran with world powers. Mogherini said Saturday there was no set date had been set, but that preparations with Tehran were well underway. She insisted all 28 EU nations were backing the opening with Iran. ...

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini participated in the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. This will be 68-year-old Rouhani’s second term as president. […] In his speech to Iran’s parliament, Rouhani said his country will not be the first to violate the nuclear deal, but will also not stand by the deal if other countries violate it. […] In a pre-ceremony meeting with Mogherini, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Khonsari said the EU must remain alert to Trump’s efforts to “undermine the deal and blame Iran.” In her response, Mogherini promised that the EU...

Ahmad Jannati has been chosen to lead Iran’s new assembly of experts, the body which oversees the work of the country’s supreme leader and will elect his successor. Jannati was voted chairman of the 88-member Assembly with 51 votes. The 90-year-old is said to be dismissive of President Hassan Rouhani and his attempts to end Iran’s global isolation by normalizing ties with the West. He is also the leader of the Guardian Council, a hardline vetting body that disqualified thousands of reformists from standing in February’s elections for the assembly and parliament. …

A decision by Italian officials to cover up ancient nude statues to not offend Iran's visiting president is drawing ridicule in Rome. Ahead of a news conference Monday with Premier Matteo Renzi and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, wooden panels were erected around some Roman statues in Rome's Capitoline Museums. When images of the cover-up made the Italian media Tuesday, politicians from across the spectrum decried and derided the decision. The museum said Tuesday that the premier's office wanted the statues along Rouhani's path to the news conference covered up. Renzi's office declined to comment. ...

Everyone loves to deal with moderates, especially when they represent a rare shift toward moderation for a rogue state. The trouble is that the concept of a moderate is relative. In dealing with the former Soviet Union we heard the term "Politburo moderates" over and over. Reaching out to this fabricated species was an excuse for being nice to despicable governments. In the case of the Islamic Republic of Iran, reaching out to "moderates" among the ayatollahs' inner circles has been a constant dream of American officials for the past 30 years. These moderates are supposed to be the...

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani says the official implementation Saturday of the landmark deal reached between Tehran and six world powers has satisfied all parties except radical extremists. Speaking in the parliament in comments broadcast live on state television, Rouhani said, "In (implementing) the deal, all are happy except Zionists, warmongers, sowers of discord among Islamic nations and extremists in the U.S. The rest are happy." ...

A shortlist of candidates chosen by TIME magazine*s editors for the 2015 Person of the Year was revealed on NBC*s TODAY show Monday morning. The eight contenders are, in alphabetical order:

The death of a top Iranian military commander in Syria this week has dealt a "psychological blow" to elements backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to a U.S. intelligence official. The killing of a commander in the Revolutionary Guards Corps at the hands of ISIS also highlights the extent of Iranian involvement in Syria and the dire straits in which Assad finds himself, Washington-based analysts say. Brig. Gen. Hossein Hamedani was killed outside Aleppo, Syria, where he was advising the Syrian army in its fight against extremists, Iranian state media reported Friday. Iranian media carried messages of condolence from Iranian...

Saudi Arabia firmly rejected Iran’s criticism of its handling of the Haj pilgrimage Saturday after Tehran demanded an inquiry into the Mina stampede. “I believe the Iranians should know better than to play politics with a tragedy that has befallen people who were performing their most sacred religious duty,” Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said, according to AFP. Al-Jubeir, delivering remarks along US Secretary of State John Kerry, insisted that Saudi Arabia was on top of the situation. “The Kingdom has had a long history of spending tremendous resources to care for the pilgrimage to ensure that the pilgrims who come...