“Iraq’s New Prime Minister Wants to Control the Iran-Backed Militias. It Won’t Be Easy,” Shelly Kittleson, Foreign Policy, August 7, 2020.
A funny but serious op-ed, that makes a good point about good governance in Iran. “Is everything about Iran fake?,” A.J. Caschetta, op-ed, The Hill, August 7, 2020.
Interesting. “Iran’s foreign minister said Thursday that the US and its ally Israel constitute a “nuclear threat” to the Middle East, on the 75th anniversary of the atomic attack on Hiroshima. “Today, US & Israeli nukes threaten our region,” Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter.” So, how exactly do US and Israeli (if they have them) nuclear weapons threaten the region? No one else is making this claim. And there is no saber rattling. See “Iranian FM: US, Israel pose ‘nuclear threat’ to Middle East,” Israel Hayom, August 7, 2020.
Update on Beirut blast. “”There is a possibility that fireworks, petrol and weapons were stored together,” another intelligence source told Fox News. “Officially, the blast happened at the fireworks and petrol warehouse.” An investigation is underway into the cause of the explosion, which killed at least 157 people, injured more than 5,000 and left 300,000 homeless. Reuters reported that a fire started at warehouse 9—according to the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International possibly as a result of welding—before spreading to warehouse 12 where some 2,750 tons of explosive ammonium nitrate was stored.” See “Iran-Backed Hezbollah Under Pressure in Lebanon as Explosion Anger Grows,” David Brennan, Newsweek, August 7, 2020.
“Iran Sentences 10 Bahai Citizens to Prison for Following Banned Faith,” Iran Press Watch, August 7, 2020.
“Google closes YouTube accounts linked to Iranian government,” Al Monitor, August 7, 2020. “Google announced it terminated 16 YouTube accounts in April that were allegedly linked to the Iranian state-sponsored International Union of Virtual Media network. … The accounts in question allegedly took part in “coordinated influence operations,” which refers to coordinated behavior from accounts related to certain information. The users posted in Arabic about the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and US-Saudi relations, according to Google.”