Tehran

The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss Mike Pompeo’s threats directed towards Iran where the US Secretary of State said that a “swift and decisive” response would take place should Iran attack US military forces moving into the Persian Gulf.
In response to the escalating American military presence surrounding Iran, Iranian President Rouhani announced a gradual scale-down of the country’s nuclear commitments.

Vast swathes of the West seem not to realize that if the Strait of Hormuz is shut down a global depression will follow, writes Pepe Escobar. By Pepe Escobar Special to Consortium News The Trump administration once again has graphically…Read more →

Ann Wright reports on a citizen peace delegation’s recent trip to Iran, which included a meeting with the country’s foreign minister. By Ann Wright Special to Consortium News We knew that a CODEPINK: Women for Peace delegation to Iran would wind…Read more →

Mark Curtis reviews the expediency that for many decades has marked U.K. policy toward Iran. By Mark Curtis British Foreign Policy Declassified Forty years ago, the Iranian revolution sent a shockwave through the Middle East, overthrowing the Western client, Shah Mohammad…Read more →

As leaders from all around the world gathered to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of a war meant to end all wars, the aftermath of the bloody conflict nevertheless continue to resonate in many parts of the globe today.
Author and researcher Hanief Haider traces some of the trends and maneuvers from the pre-World War I era, such as Great Britain’s use of religious fervor to influence affairs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), which persist today.

(MEE) — Iran will maintain its military presence in Syria despite US pressure for its withdrawal, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday, revealing more details about a military cooperation deal that Tehran and Damascus signed this week. Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami visited Damascus on Saturday for talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and senior military […]

State Department Action Group ‘echoes the lead-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq’, Iranian American advocacy organisation says. (MEE) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Thursday the establishment of the Iran Action Group, a task-force to coordinate all of President Donald Trump’s efforts against Iran. The group will be led by Brian Hook, a […]

The Russian and US delegations led by Putin and Trump met for a working lunch in Helsinki, Finland on July 16, 2018 [PPIO]
 
Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed his summit with US President Donald Trump as a first step to clearing tensions between their two countries and denied any role in the 2016 presidential election.
“Of course, numerous problems persist, and we have failed to clear the backlog in full, it was impossible to do this, but I believe we have made the first important step in that direction,” he told reporters.

Putin and Trump met at the 25th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Vietnam in November 2017 [PPIO]
 
Russian president Vladimir Putin met his US counterpart Donald Trump with a slight advantage in Helsinki, Finland on Monday.
That would be a World Cup advantage.
Putin was in attendance at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow where in a dramatic finale to what many agree has been the most successful World Cup in years, France defeated Croatia 4 to 2.
In their opening sit-down in front of the press in Helsinki, Trump reiterated his tweet from the previous evening:

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, in Jomhouri Building, at Saadabad Palace, in Tehran on May 23, 2016 [Image: PMO, India]
 
Despite the threat of further sanctions on Iran, its oil industry is continuing to do brisk trade with a number of countries, including the BRICS.
According to Iranian oil industry sources in Tehran, overall bilateral trade with BRICS countries reached 53.78 million tons.
While this is a decline of just over 8 per cent year on year, its value is up 7.4 per cent due to higher oil prices.