Iran’s Parliament Ousts Finance Minister

Iran’s parliament has voted to remove Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Masoud Karbasian from office. A total of 137 MPs voted for Karbasian’s removal while 121 voted in favor of him remaining in office. He follows Ali Rabiei, Iran’s former minister of labor and social welfare, who was voted ...

Iran’s Defense Minister in Syria for New Cooperation

Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami has arrived in Syria for a two-day visit to discuss a number of issues, including ways of expanding defense and military cooperation. Hatami told reporters at Damascus airport on Sunday that the aim of the visit was to boost bilateral cooperation under the new conditions ...

US Official Visits Syria’s Kurdish-held Territory: American Forces will Remain

A senior US official has paid a visit to northern Syria without the permission of Damascus, saying Washington will keep troops in the territories held by Kurdish militants. State Department representative William Roebuck traveled Saturday to the cities of Manbij and Ayn al-Arab locally known as Kobani, both situated in ...

At Least 27 Hostages Held by ISIL in South Syria: HRW

At least 27 people are being held by ISIL in southern Syria, Human Rights Watch said Saturday as it deplored the hostage-taking as a “war crime.” The group of mostly women and children were abducted by ISIL during a massive July 25 assault on the Druze community in Sweida, in which the ...

Erdogan: Commitment of all Turks Needed to Combat Attacks on Economy

The commitment and determination of Turks is the guarantee needed to combat attacks on Turkey’s economy, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday, in his first comments on the ongoing currency crisis in days. “As we tackle attacks against the Turkish economy today, our biggest guarantee is the commitment and determination ...

Who is Israa al-Ghomgham? (Infographic)

Amnesty Worried Saudi May Execute Female Activist

Amnesty International has voiced concern about the situation of detained female Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul amid rising speculations that the kingdom may start to execute its jailed women rights campaigners. Al-Hathloul was detained back in May during an arrest spree by the kingdom of its female rights activists. “To be ...

Russia’s Lavrov Receives Turkey’s Cavusoglu: Syria Tops Agenda

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu held on Friday a joint press conference after negotiations in Moscow with Syria topping the agenda. “Turkey is one of Russia’s key partners, we see an increase in our economic relations. And we intend to build up our military-technical ...