Iran vows to continue space program after satellite launch failure

Iranian officials have been adamant that the country’s space program will continue despite failures to launch satellites into orbit.

United States

How Idlib escalation could affect Syrian Kurds

Syrian Kurds are pondering how to take advantage of Turkish-Russian tensions over Idlib, focusing on Turkish-controlled Afrin and not ruling out the prospect of fighting along with government forces if the conflict escalates.

Syria

Rouhani faces winter of Iran's discontent

Iran’s hard-liners have already secured a takeover of the parliament in elections this month; Trump says any negotiations are totally up to Iran.

United States

Key nuclear watchdog reassures Washington it can still monitor Iran as deal unravels

The International Atomic Energy Agency chief is making the rounds in Washington this week to stress that his agency can still monitor Iran’s nuclear program as the nuclear deal unravels.

Congress

Europe worries as Trump seems to lose interest in new Iran deal

Europeans with embassies on the ground disagree with the belief by Donald Trump administration officials that the Iranian regime is on the brink of collapse, and that the administration can wait for Iran to surrender to a long US wish list.

United States

Khamenei calls on Iranians to participate in parliamentary vote

Iran's supreme leader urged the people of Iran to vote in the upcoming parliamentary election out of duty to their nation as President Hassan Rouhani warned about the concentration of power in the country.

Iran

Iranian actors call on Rouhani to allow cinema legend to come home

Many of the Iranian actors who have supported President Hassan Rouhani are now calling in their favors by asking for veteran actor Behrouz Vossoughi's return to Iran after 40 years in the United States.

Iran

Intel: Space Force tracked Iranian missile strikes

Members of the Space Force helped track and detect the Iranian ballistic missiles that struck an Iraqi air base last month.

Iraq

How Iranian hard-liners helped Reformists ahead of elections

Hard-liners are finding ways to ban Reformist candidates from elections, but this may play into the Reformists' hands.

Iran

Iranian Kurdish rebels hire law firm to lobby Trump administration

The Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan now has lobbyists covering both the executive and legislative branches.

United States

Iran’s Khamenei defends pre-election purge of Reformists

Iran’s supreme leader called for high turnout in the country’s upcoming parliamentary vote despite wide public discontent with the candidate-vetting process.

Iran

PMU factions reluctant to target US interests in Iraq directly

Following the assassinations of Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Shiite armed factions are reluctant to engage in direct war with the United States due to the lack of military balance between them and their fear of US reactions.

Iraq