As Iran heads into crucial peace talks with the United States of America, here are the six men who decide the Islamic Republic's course.
General Soleimani headed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps's Quds Force and also served as Iran's pointman on Iraq.
Iranian hackers shared unsolicited information they had stolen from former United States President Donald Trump's presidential campaign with people who were associated with President Joe Biden's campaign over the summer, CNN reported, citing federal law enforcement officials.
'As result, Netanyahu 'convinced' Trump to go to war with the help of overoptimistic Israeli intelligence assessments, essentially explaining to him that they only need to bomb Iran for 3-4 days, and the regime would then collapse.' 'Rather unsurprisingly, Netanyahu is ever since blaming his own intel service for the entire operation failing.'
Two individuals, Carlisle Rivera, 49, and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, were arrested from Brooklyn and Staten Island in New York on Thursday.
Hours after an Iranian military commander claimed to have located the crash site of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, conflicting reports emerged as the head of Iran's Red Crescent Society, Pir Hossein Koulivand, said that rescue teams are still searching the area for the accident site.
Although extensive air attacks have been carried out to destroy most of Iran's defence capabilities, the latter's resilience and sustenance during the war clearly indicate that the US landing force would encounter severe resistance in the operation, explains Commodore Venugopal Vengalil (retd).
Raisi's condition currently remains unknown, Iranian state news agency IRNA has reported, after the helicopter he was traveling in crashed in the country's East Azerbaijan Province.
Shipping Corporation of India's oil tanker, MT Desh Shanti, which was detained in Iran for 26 days, arrived at Visakhapatnam port in the early hours on Wednesday, sources said.
A major escalation unfolded in West Asia on Monday after Iran reportedly launched multiple missiles targeting United States military installations in Qatar and Iraq, including Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar -- the largest US military installation in the region, according to a CNN report.
The threat of wars hovers over the negotiations in Oman, but the good part is that Trump called the talks to be 'very good' and Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian responded that they 'constitute a step forward', points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Iran on Thursday ordered a release of an Indian tanker seized by it in Persian Gulf while carrying crude from Basrah in Iraq and taken to its Bandar Abbas Port 24 days ago.
Official sources in India said it is in touch with Iran to secure the release of 17 Indians.
Thousands of mourners on Saturday joined the formal funeral procession for Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, who was killed a day before near Baghdad's international airport in an air strike ordered by United States President Donald Trump.
Taking Kharg would give the US control over virtually all of Iran's oil exports and thus provide significant leverage, notes Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War. It would also put American troops within range of Iran's remaining missiles, drones, and artillery on a piece of real estate that is just eight square miles in size, and just 15 miles from the Iranian mainland.
India has said it will take all steps to protect its national interests and ensure comprehensive national security in all domains after Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a strategic defence pact.
The pause gives the US time to breathe, to regroup, to move its expeditionary force into position without risk of interception along the way. It gives Iran nothing -- on the ground, attacks against its infrastructure continue apace. Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
Iran on Monday launched multiple missiles at US military installations in Qatar and Iraq, including the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar -- the largest US military base in the region.
After his remarks at the White House. Trump, in his Truth Social pos,t warned that any retaliation from Iran would be met with "force far greater than what was witnessed tonight."
In a post on Truth Social, Trump described the operation as a historic moment for the US, Israel and the world, while urging Iran to agree to end the ongoing conflict.
The United States military forces on Thursday (US local time) conducted self-defence strikes on two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups.
The IRGC said that Ismail Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed after their residence was targeted in Tehran.
In a Truth Social Post, Trump said, "This cannot continue. There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days."
The strikes were concentrated in an area in Pakistan's Balochistan where "one of the largest headquarters" of Jaish al-Adl was located, the report said.
United States President Donald Trump has expressed strong disapproval of Israel and Iran 'violating the ceasefire' he announced earlier in the day and said the two countries have been fighting 'so long and so hard that they don't know what the f*** they're doing'.
Sources are in touch with Iranian authorities through diplomatic channels, both in Tehran and in Delhi.
The 18 companies sanctioned include Marshall Islands-registered Changtai Shipping and Motionavigations Limited and UAE-based Indo Gulf Ship Management.
The MSC Aries was last seen on Friday, sailing towards the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Dubai, according to The Times of Israel.
US President Donald Trump on Saturday (local time) said that the United States has launched an attack on three Nuclear sites in Iran.
Al-Ittihad's Asian Champions League match with Iran's Sepahan was called off on Monday after the Saudi team refused to leave their dressing-room due to a statue of an assassinated Iranian general being placed at the entrance to the pitch.
Authorities were still looking into Matar's nationality and his criminal records, if any.
'The bigger challenge and dilemma for Pakistan would be if the US and Saudi Arabia go full throttle against Iran and enforce regime change in Tehran.' 'That would be bad news for Pakistan, especially with the current instability in Balochistan,' notes Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
After the October 7 attack by Iranian-backed Hamas forces on Israel, the United States military has blamed other Iranian-backed proxy groups for near-daily attacks against its forces in Iraq and Syria.
Mentioning the recent attacks on US forces in Syria and Iraq, he added, "The US sent messages to the Axis of Resistance but received a clear response on the battlefield."
President Joe Biden and other top US leaders had been warning for days that America would strike back at the militias, and they made it clear it wouldn't be just one hit but a "tiered response" over time.
Will Russia's entry deter Trump on his warpath?, asks Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The US treasury department informed about the sanctions following the October 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas.
The Delhi police has asked for details of all Iranians, including Iranians settled overseas, who have come to the national capital through the FRRO.
The 24-year-old man charged with the attempted murder of Salman Rushdie has denied being in contact with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and said that he acted alone when he stabbed the Mumbai-born author, whom he disliked for being 'disingenuous'.
Iran has supplied Iraq with fighter jets to help it counter the belligerent offensive by Islamist militants who have taken over large swathes of territory, a media report said in London.
