iran

Iran Population Ageing Fast, Bucking Government Efforts

Iran's once-youthful population is aging fast, fuelling economic fears as cash-strapped couples resist a government push for more children. Driven by rising life expectancy and dramatically declining birth rates, Iran's demographic makeup has shifted over the years, mirroring trends across much of the world. The National Population ...

Iran Reports Swiss National Accused of Spying Committed Suicide in Prison

Iran's judiciary said a Swiss national accused of spying was found dead in prison in the eastern city of Semnan on Thursday, adding that he had taken his own life. "This morning, a Swiss citizen committed suicide in Semnan prison," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said, adding that he had been "arrested by security agencies for espionage and ...

Italian PM: Jailed Italian Reporter in Tehran Freed

An Italian journalist arrested in Iran and jailed for three weeks has been freed and is returning to Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office said on Wednesday. "The plane taking journalist Cecilia Sala home took off from Tehran a few minutes ago" following "intense work through diplomatic and intelligence channels", Meloni's office said in ...

Iran Reportedly Executed at Least 901 People in 2024

Iranian authorities reportedly executed more than 900 people last year, including around 40 in a single week in December, the United Nations rights chief said on Tuesday. "It is deeply disturbing that yet again we see an increase in the number of people subjected to the death penalty in Iran year-on-year," Volker Turk said, adding that at least ...

France Asks Citizens to Avoid Iran Until 'Hostages' Released

France on Tuesday urged its citizens to avoid travelling to Iran until French nationals held there have been released. "The situation of our compatriots held hostage in Iran is quite simply unacceptable. They have been unjustly detained for several years, in unworthy conditions," Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said, urging French nationals not ...

Iran Denies Beirut Airport Diplomat Inspection Incident

The Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee confirmed that Iranian diplomats were not subjected to any inspection at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport last Friday. Ebrahim Rezai, the committee’s spokesperson, clarified on Sunday, “The committee held an extensive four-hour session to investigate the ...

Equivocations

The situation in both Lebanon and Syria is still shrouded in ambiguities, deliberate equivocations, and malevolence. Nothing seems clear, and actors continue to operate in grey zones, let alone in the dark alleys that persist throughout.. The chances of negotiations and constructive engagement are quite narrow and are not part of the political ...

Scandal at Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport

According to local TV channel MTV, the arrival of an Iranian plane unveiled years of smuggling at Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport. Three customs control teams operate at Beirut Airport. While these teams are traditionally sectarian, one team, composed entirely of three Shiite controllers, has allegedly been facilitating the smuggling of ...

A Farewell to Arms

A farewell to arms is the essential condition for a return to normal political life in Lebanon, whether or not a new president is elected on January 9. Hezbollah must reinvent itself and relinquish all military autonomy. After everything that has happened, a return to the status quo ante is out of the question, and the Speaker of Parliament must ...

Breathing Life into Shiraz’s Forgotten Alleys Through Art

In the winding alleys of southern Iran, artist Adel Yazdi has taken it upon himself to turn his rustic old neighborhood into a cultural and tourist hub through vibrant paintings and carved relief faces. Narenjestan, a neighborhood characterized by crumbling, uninhabited houses, is nestled in Shiraz, a southern city celebrated for its historic ...

Iranian Artist Adel Yazdi Transforms Shiraz Walls Into Artistic Masterpieces

In the winding alleys of southern Iran, artist Adel Yazdi has taken it upon himself to turn his rustic old neighborhood into a cultural and tourist hub through vibrant paintings and carved relief faces. Narenjestan, a neighborhood characterized by crumbling, uninhabited houses, is nestled in Shiraz, a southern city celebrated for its historic ...