Human Rights Watch said the promised amnesty has not stopped local commanders from retaliating against former members of the army, police and intelligence services.
President Donald Trump declared Monday it “looks” like Iran was behind the explosive attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities. But he stressed that military retaliation was not yet on the table in response to the strike against a key U.S. Mideast ally.
Iran’s president urged the U.S. on Wednesday to “put warmongers aside” as tensions roil the Persian Gulf amid an escalating crisis between Washington and Tehran in the wake of the collapsing nuclear deal with world powers.
The Trump administration stepped up pressure on Iran on Wednesday, imposing sanctions on an oil shipping network with ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and offering a reward of up to $15 million for anyone with information that could disrupt its faltering economy even further.
From the vast deserts of Saudi Arabia to the crowded neighborhoods of Beirut, a drone war has taken flight across the wider Middle East, raising the stakes in the ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
Tehran unveiled the Bavar-373, what it says is a long-range surface-to-air missile system that tracks 100 targets at a same time and attacks them with six different weapons.
In the meantime, Britain continues plans to deploy a Europe-led "maritime protection mission" to safeguard shipping in the area after Iran's Revolutionary Guard seized the Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday.
The comments by President Hassan Rouhani come as tensions remain high between Iran and the U.S. over the 2015 nuclear deal, which President Donald Trump pulled America from over a year ago.
The attack on the Saudi city of Najran came after Iran announced it has quadrupled its uranium-enrichment production capacity, though still at a level far lower than needed for atomic weapons.
Iran threatened Wednesday to enrich its uranium stockpile closer to weapons-grade levels in 60 days if world powers fail to negotiate new terms for its 2015 nuclear deal, raising regional tensions as a U.S. aircraft carrier and bombers headed to the Middle East to confront Tehran.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday his country doesn’t want a war with the United States and believes America will “sooner or later” support the Iran nuclear agreement again following the Trump administration’s withdrawal.