Category: 2. Middle East

Iran on Wednesday executed a man convicted of espionage for Israel and involvement in the killing of a Revolutionary Guard but activists said he was sentenced to death after an unfair trial and a confession obtained by torture.

Mohsen Langarneshin, reportedly aged 34, was hanged at dawn at Ghezelhesar prison in Karaj outside Tehran, several rights groups said.

His mother and father held a vigil outside the jail during the night, pleading for his life to be spared, images on social media…

Syria said Israel launched new strikes near Damascus on Wednesday, after sectarian clashes left nearly 40 dead in two days and Israel warned against attacks targeting the Druze minority.

The sectarian violence and Israel’s intervention present huge challenges to the Islamist authorities who overthrew longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, and follow massacres last month in Syria’s Alawite coastal heartland.

United Nations special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen condemned the violence as…

Israel struck Syria on Wednesday in what it called a “warning” against attacks on the Druze minority, in a military intervention that came as sectarian clashes spread near Damascus, killing 13 people.

The sectarian violence, and Israel’s intervention, present huge challenges to the Islamist authorities who overthrew longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, and follow massacres last month in Syria’s Alawite coastal heartland.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “carried out a…

British police said today they had charged a man arrested on suspicion of trying to get into the Israeli embassy in London with terrorism offences and possession of a bladed weapon, Reuters reports.

Police said a man was detained by officers attempting to gain unauthorised access to the grounds of the embassy in west London on Monday evening and arrested him on suspicion of a public order offence, trespassing on a designated site and possession of an offensive…

A representative of Saudi Arabia told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) yesterday that Israel considers itself above all laws and refuses to comply with the court’s advisory opinion on halting its aggression against the Gaza Strip.

Mohamed Saud Alnasser, who is the director of legal affairs at the kingdom’s Foreign Ministry, condemned Israel’s “flagrant violations of international law” in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as…

The Israeli government yesterday reversed its decision to dismiss Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar, in a move that appeared to be aimed at pre-empting a potentially precedent-setting High Court ruling on petitions challenging Bar’s ouster. The decision came one day after Bar announced that he will step down on 15 June.

Now that the government has reversed its decision to dismiss Bar, it is unclear what the court will decide with regard to his case.

Israeli Prime…

Asra Media has affirmed that Palestinian prisoner Abdullah Barghouti is facing systematic attempts to kill him in Israel’s Gilboa Prison and his health condition has reached a life-threatening stage, the Palestinian Information Centre has reported.

In a statement on Tuesday, Asra Media said that it had received information confirming that Barghouti has been exposed to repeated brutal physical attacks that left injuries all over his body, including bruises,…

Israel’s security establishment has informed senior ministers that the chances of reaching a new agreement between the United States and Iran are now significantly higher, according to a report by Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (Kan) yesterday.

The report said the latest assessment by Israeli security officials marks a shift from earlier evaluations, which viewed an agreement between Washington and Tehran as unlikely.

In light of this development,…

Iran will hold nuclear talks in Rome on Friday with Britain, France and Germany, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday. The aim, Reuters has reported, is to improve strained ties at a time of high-stakes nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington.

The meeting will precede a fourth round of nuclear talks this weekend between Iran and the United States, also to be held in Italy.

“In my opinion, the three European countries have lost their role [in…

Palestinian activist Susan Abdelkader Bishara was shot and killed yesterday evening in the city of Tira, located in the southern Triangle area within Israel, Sama News Agency reported.

According to local sources, Bishara, who was in her forties, suffered multiple gunshot wounds. She was transferred to hospital, where she later died from her injuries.

Her death raises the number of crime-related fatalities within the Palestinian community inside the 1948…