“Pompeo urges UN Security Council to extend Iran’s arms embargo,” Jerry Omondi, CGTN Africa, April 19, 2020.  Secretary of State Pompeo has asked the UNSC to extend Iran’s arms embargo.  “The arms embargo on Iran – the world’s leading state sponsor of terror – expires six months from today. The UN Security Council (UNSC) must extend the embargo before Iran’s violence escalates and they start a new arms race in the Middle East. The clock is ticking,” Pompeo said in a Twitter post Friday.  Iran’s arms embargo is scheduled to be lifted in October, five years after it was imposed.  In Nov. 2019, Pres. Rouhani said Iran would regain access to the international arms market after the lifting of the sanctions.  “When the embargo…is lifted next year we can easily buy and sell weapons.”  Pompeo says Iran’s aggressions require an extension of the arms embargo.  “In the last year, Iran fired ballistic missiles at its neighbors, mined and captured oil tankers, smuggled weapons into conflict zones, and shot down a civilian passenger jet. We can’t risk Iran buying more advanced weapons and transferring their arsenal to irresponsible actors.”

“Iran is using chat apps to spy on its citizens, researchers say,” The National, Bloomberg, April 19, 2020.

“Iran extends prisoner furloughs, closure of holy sites amid coronavirus,” WHBL, April 19, 2020.

“Iran Shows Off Drones that Can Reach Israel, Threat Increases,” Seth Frantzman, Jerusalem Post, April 19, 2020.

“Tehran City Official Says Pandemic Toll Much Higher As Shrines Set To Reopen,” Radio Farda, April 19, 2020.

“Iranian regime will not stop bankrolling terror,” Baria Alamuddin, Arab News, April 19, 2020.

“Iran-US tensions decrease in Iraq, for now,” France 24, April 19, 2020.