ARPOL-E-ZAHAB, Iran (AP) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani launched an investigation Tuesday into why government housing built by his hard-line predecessor collapsed while others withstood a powerful earthquake near the border with Iraq that killed more than 530 people. In the Kurdish town of Sarpol-e-Zahab, which was reconstructed in the decades since the 1980s war … Continue reading
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The latest on an earthquake along the Iran-Iraq border (all times local): 6:30 a.m. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency says the death toll in the powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake along the borders of Iran and Iraq has risen above 140. IRNA also said over 860 people were injured in the quake that … Continue reading
BEIRUT (AP) — Saudi Arabia on Thursday ordered its citizens out of Lebanon in its first concrete action against the Mediterranean country, while officials in Beirut demanded the immediate return of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who abruptly announced his resignation last week in a television appearance from the kingdom, where he has been holed up … Continue reading
GENEVA (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson doubled down Thursday on Washington’s call for Syrian President Bashar Assad to leave power, looking past recent battlefield gains by his Russian-backed forces to insist that “the reign of the Assad family is coming to an end.” Tillerson made the comments after what he called a … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will say Friday the Iran nuclear deal is no longer in America’s national security interests, but he won’t withdraw from the landmark 2015 accord or immediately re-impose sanctions against Tehran, according to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, other U.S. officials and outside advisers to the administration. Trump’s speech from … Continue reading
BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. military said it shot down an Iranian-made, armed drone in southern Syria on Tuesday, marking the third time this month that that the U.S. has downed aircraft affiliated with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government. The U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group said a U.S. F-15 fighter jet shot down … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court may soon decide how courts are supposed to view presidential power in the age of Donald Trump. The administration has promised a high court appeal of a ruling blocking the president’s ban on visitors from six majority Muslim countries. The case could be a major test for the young … Continue reading
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranians began voting Friday in the country’s first presidential election since its nuclear deal with world powers, as incumbent Hassan Rouhani faced a staunch challenge from a hard-line opponent over his outreach to the wider world. The election is largely viewed as a referendum on the 68-year-old cleric’s more moderate policies, … Continue reading
February 20, 2017 To the University Community: The White House issued a Presidential Executive Order (“Executive Order”) on January 27, 2017, which impacts members of the Norfolk State University Community. The Executive Order suspends the “entry into the United States” for 90 days (and possibly longer) to nationals from seven countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, … Continue reading
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Iranian infant in need of life-saving heart surgery arrived Tuesday at a Portland hospital with her family after being temporarily banned from coming to the U.S. by President Donald Trump’s immigration orders. Iranian doctors told Fatemeh Reshad’s parents weeks ago that she needed at least one urgent surgery to correct … Continue reading
LONDON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday urged British Prime Minister Theresa May to follow the American administration and impose new sanctions on Iran over a recent missile test. The two leaders met at 10 Downing St. for talks British officials tried to focus on boosting trade ties between the two countries … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local): 1:05 p.m. The Pentagon is compiling the names of Iraqis who’ve supported U.S. and coalition personnel to help exempt them from President Donald Trump’s decision to temporarily halt immigration from that Muslim-majority nation and six others. Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, … Continue reading
VIENNA (AP) — OPEC has agreed to cut its oil production for the first time in eight years, ending a strategy of high supply that had aimed to cripple the U.S. energy industry but also led to decade-low prices and drained the budgets of crude-producing nations. The cartel will cut 1.2 million barrels a day … Continue reading
VIENNA (AP) — OPEC has agreed to cut its oil production for the first time in eight years, ending a strategy of high supply that had aimed to cripple the U.S. energy industry but also led to decade-low prices and drained the budgets of crude-producing nations. The cartel will cut 1.2 million barrels a day … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian military said Friday its officers have found evidence of chemical weapons use by Syrian militants in the northern area of Aleppo where government forces are trying to regain control of areas they recently lost to insurgents. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said that ministry experts have found … Continue reading
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Close allies of Iran’s former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose presidency was marked by confrontation with the West, said Monday that the country’s supreme leader recommended he not run in next May’s presidential election because he is a polarizing figure among hard-liners. Mohammad Reza Mirtajeddini, Ahmadinejad’s vice president from 2009 to 2013, … Continue reading
VIENNA (AP) — Indirectly warning the United States, the head of Iran’s atomic energy agency said Monday that his country’s landmark nuclear deal with could be jeopardized by foot-dragging on sanctions relief, promised in exchange for Tehran’s commitment to curb key atomic activities. But a senior U.S. official said Washington is delivering on its commitments. … Continue reading
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A Canadian-Iranian retired professor was released from prison on “humanitarian grounds” and flown out of Iran on Monday, state media reported, ending her months of detention alongside other dual nationals swept up by hard-liners in the security services. Homa Hoodfar returned to Canada via Oman, a brief report on the state-run … Continue reading
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The latest on the high-level U.N. General Assembly meetings (all times local): 3:40 p.m. The leaders of small Pacific nations are giving emotional tributes to Ban Ki-moon for becoming the first U.N. chief to visit their part of the world in seven decades. Their speeches have been tinged with concern about … Continue reading
BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local): 6:15 p.m. Turkey’s foreign minister has spoken with his Russian counterpart about Ankara’s ongoing operations against the Islamic State group in Syria. Turkey’s Mevlut Cavusoglu called Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday to update him on the progress of ‘Euphrates Shield,’ Turkey’s incursion into … Continue reading
OSLO, Norway (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met his Iranian counterpart in Norway on Wednesday June 15th to once again discuss Iran’s complaints that it’s not getting the sanctions relief it deserves under last year’s landmark nuclear deal. Kerry also raised the importance of Iran using its influence with Syria’s government to … Continue reading
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iran asked the United Nations on Thursday, Apr. 28 to intervene with the U.S. government over a Supreme Court ruling that allows nearly $2 billion in frozen Iranian assets to be paid to victims of terrorist attacks for which the Middle Eastern country has been blamed. In a letter to Secretary … Continue reading
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranians voted Friday, Apr. 29, in the country’s parliamentary runoff elections, a key poll that will decide how much power allies of moderate President Hassan Rouhani will have in the next legislature after the landmark nuclear deal with world powers. Though Rouhani continues to have popular support after the deal, its … Continue reading
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Jamaica defended its decriminalization of possession of small amounts of marijuana. Iran said it seized 620 tons of different types of drugs last year and is helping protect the world from “the evils of addiction.” Cuba opposed the legalization of drugs or declaring them harmless. The first U.N. General Assembly special … Continue reading
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran appeared Wednesday, Feb. 17, to back a plan laid out by four influential oil producers to cap their crude output if others do the same, though it offered no indication that it has any plans to follow suit itself. The agreement reached in Doha the day before by Qatar, Saudi … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 