Former Trump defense secretary urges Biden to do more to stop Iran's threats on officials
Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper says it was time for the Biden administration โto do better than just playing defenseโ to Iranian threats on Trump administration officials.
Iran threat prompted more security at Trump rally as officials warn of potential for copycat attacks
Federal law enforcement officials are warning of possible copycat attacks or retaliatory violence after the attempt on Donald Trumpโs life, as a visibly stronger security detail surrounds the Republican nominee and President Joe Biden.
Iran's hard-line parliament speaker emerges as the theocracy's top figure in the presidential vote
Iranโs hard-line parliament speaker has registered for the countryโs June 28 presidential election.
Iran inters its late president at holiest Shiite site in nation after fatal helicopter crash
Iran has interred late President Ebrahim Raisi at the holiest Shiite shrine in the nation, days after a fatal helicopter crash killed him, the countryโs foreign minister and six others.
Mourners begin days of funerals for Iran's president and others killed in helicopter crash
Mourners have begun the days of funerals and processions for Iranโs late president, foreign minister and others killed in a helicopter crash.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, a hard-line diplomat, dies in a helicopter crash
Iran's state media has reported that Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has died in a helicopter crash that also killed the country's president.
Iran's foreign minister accuses US of giving Israel 'green light' to attack consulate in Syria
Iranโs foreign minister has accused the United States of giving Israel the โgreen lightโ for a strike on its consulate building in Syria that killed seven Iranian military officials, including two generals.
Tehran vows response after strike blamed on Israel destroyed Iran's Consulate in Syria and killed 12
Iran has vowed to respond to a deadly airstrike widely attributed to Israel that demolished Iranโs consulate building in the Syrian capital and killed 12 people, including two Iranian generals.
Iran marks the 45th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution as tensions grip the wider Middle East
Iran has marked the 45th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution amid tensions gripping the wider Middle East over Israelโs continued war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
A look at the Iraqi government's relationship with armed groups that are clashing with US forces
A U.S. strike in Baghdad that killed a commander with the powerful Kataib Hezbollah paramilitary group this week highlighted the ambiguous status of the countryโs Iran-allied armed factions.
How to strike back after deadly drone attack? US has many options, but must weigh consequences
President Joe Biden has made it clear the U.S. will strike back after a deadly drone attack killed three service members and wounded more than 40 at a small base in Jordan over the weekend.
Iran strikes targets in northern Iraq and Syria as regional tensions escalate
Iran says it fired missiles at what it claimed were Israeli โspy headquartersโ near the U.S. consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, and at targets linked to the extremist group Islamic State in northern Syria.
From Houthis to Hezbollah, a look at the Iran-allied groups rallying to arms around Middle East
The drone strike that killed three U.S. troops in Jordan and was apparently launched by Iran-backed militants was the latest in a flurry of attacks and reprisals across the Middle East.
Iran mourns those slain in Islamic State-claimed suicide blasts as death toll rises to 89
Iranian officials have tried to link Israel and the U.S. to an Islamic State group-claimed suicide bombing while speaking to a mass funeral for some of the 89 people killed in the attack.
Islamic State group claims responsibility for Iran suicide bombings killing at least 84 people
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings targeting a commemoration for an Iranian general slain in a 2020 U.S. drone strike.
US again renews protection for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and top aide over Iran threats
The Biden administration has once again renewed taxpayer-funded protection for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and one of his top aides, who have been the target of persistent threats from Iran.
Iran says at least 84 were killed in blasts at a ceremony honoring slain general
Iran says twin bomb blasts killed at least 84 people at an event honoring a prominent Iranian general slain in a U.S. airstrike in 2020.
Iran holds funeral for a general who was killed by an alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria
Iran has held a funeral for a high-ranking general of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard who was killed by an alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria.
US should use its influence to help win the freedom of a scholar missing in Iraq, her sister says
The sister of a Russian-Israeli academic at Princeton University who went missing in Iraq nearly six months ago says the United States should use its influence to help win her freedom.
US sanctions Iranians over alleged plots to kill John Bolton and others around the world
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official and others it says took part in wide-ranging plots to kill former national security adviser John Bolton and others around the world, including at least one additional U.S. government official.
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Amid crisis, Hezbollah 'bank' a lifeline for some Lebanese
As more Lebanese fall into poverty in the country's economic crisis, increasing numbers are turning to the financial arm of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group for help. He could still pull out the dollars in his account at the al-Qard al-Hasan Association, the financial arm of the militant Hezbollah group. Stepping in where the state and financial institutions have failed, Hezbollah is providing a vital lifeline for some Lebanese. Over the past year, the al-Qard al-Hasan association has seen a significant increase in clients, despite it being under U.S. Treasury sanctions since 2007. That has proven a boon for the al-Qard al-Hasan association, as some turned to it as an alternative to store their cash.
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Rally in Baghdad marks 1 year since Iran general's killing
Thousands of Iraqis converged on a landmark central square in Baghdad on Sunday to commemorate the anniversary of the killing of Soleimanil and al-Muhandis in a U.S. drone strike. Sunday's rally was being held amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. in the final days of President Donald Trumpโs administration. Their killing dramatically ratcheted up tensions in the region and brought the U.S. and Iran to the brink of war. In Yemen, Iranโs embassy in the rebel-controlled capital, Sanaa, held a ceremony commemorating the killing of Soleimani and al-Muhandis. โThis ceremony today shows the deep ties between the two governments and people of Yemen and Iran,โ he said.
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Iraq says it has dismantled mine on tanker in Persian Gulf
BAGHDAD โ Iraq's military on Saturday said explosives experts with its naval forces successfully dismantled a mine that was discovered stuck to an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf two days earlier. The announcement came a day after Iraq confirmed reports by private security firms that a mine had been discovered attached to the side of a tanker rented from Iraq's Oil Marketing Company, known as SOMO, as it was refueling another vessel. Iraq has not provided further details, but the two private security firms said the discovery was likely a limpet mine on the MT Pola, a Liberian-flagged tanker. Soleimani headed Iran's Revolutionary Guardโs elite Quds Force, responsible for the Islamic Republicโs foreign operations and frequently shuttling between Iraq, Lebanon and Syria. His assassination dramatically ratcheted up tensions in the region and brought the U.S. and Iran to the brink of war.
![Houston energy insiders, Iraqi nationals have very different worries about unrest brewing in Middle East](https://www.click2houston.com/resizer/L4hNTnyTM-GfUonxOyHzMINGAIM=/1600x900/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/d1vhqlrjc8h82r.cloudfront.net/01-04-2020/t_ddc0203093d0426fac9b8451aad3c38e_name_image.jpg)
Houston energy insiders, Iraqi nationals have very different worries about unrest brewing in Middle East
HOUSTON โ Iraqi nationals living in Houston worry their countrymen back home will face the immediate backlash of Iranian General Qassem Soleimaniโs death. Oil prices already jumped following Soleimaniโs death. โMany of the abuses was directed and ordered by Qassem Soleimani,โ said Al Bayati. Al Bayati and Aldulaimi said peaceful protesters, who are pushing for government reform, became the frequent target of attacks by Iran-backed militia groups. Al Bayati, a political activist, said many of the protesters simply want a government that is accountable to the people.