“Ex-President Khatami Abstains From Voting In Iran Elections,” Iran International, 3-2-24.

“Iran: Raisi Re-Elected for Assembly of Experts,” teleSur, 3-2-24.  And see the Supreme Leader cast his vote, covered by the “IRNA News Agency and by X.”

“Grammy winner gets 3-year prison sentence in Iran for anti-regime song,” UPI, 3-2-24.  He wrote the song about the death of Mahsa Amini.  And the Regime requires Hajipour to “also write a song about U.S. ‘atrocities against humanity’,”.

I’ll say it again.  The world will have to decide if Iran will hold the Strait hostage.  “A ship earlier hit by Yemen’s Houthi rebels sinks in the Red Sea, the first vessel lost in conflict,” AP, 3-2-24.  “The Rubymar, which carried a cargo of fertilizer and previously leaked fuel, could cause ecological damage to the Red Sea and its coral reefs.  Persistent Houthi attacks have already disrupted traffic in the crucial waterway for cargo and energy shipments moving from Asia and the Middle East to Europe. Already, many ships have turned away from the route.”  They are going around the Cape of Good Hope, adding 10 days and hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Iranian threat to overthrow the Kuwait government has finally resulted in “Kuwait Top Court Criminalizes Lebanon’s Hezbollah,” Asharq Al-Awsat, 3-2-24.  BTW, Kuwait has made few entries on this blog over the years.  But here, the threat was too great.