Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said his people have the right to protest and criticize the government, in his first public response to nationwide anti-establishment protests that have stretched into a fourth day. On Saturday, as a counter to the protests, state-sponsored rallies took place around the country. …Read more

Iran warned of a tough crackdown on Sunday against demonstrators posing one of the boldest challenges to its clerical leaders since nationwide unrest shook the Islamist theocracy in 2009. How serious are the protests? Political protests are rare in Iran, where security services are pervasive. And yet tens of thousands of people have protested acrossRead more

An Iranian official is blaming “foreign agents” for the shooting deaths of two protesters during widespread anti-government demonstrations Saturday. “No shots were fired by the police and security forces,” Habibollah Khojastehpour, a deputy governor of the province where the protesters were killed. “We have found evidence of enemies of the revolution, Takfiri groups and foreignRead more

 U.N. Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres warns the world is likely to face many complex and new dangers in 2018. In a year-end message, Guterres appeals for greater unity to overcome these threats and create a more peaceful world. When Guterres assumed office one year ago, the world was in the midst of a hopeful moment. NegotiationsRead more

An Egyptian court has handed down a sentence of three years to former Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and 19 other people for making statements that insulted the judiciary. The defendants were also fined various amounts of money. Morsi’s lawyer said his client would appeal the verdict. The former president has faced a host of chargesRead more

In 2014, Abdulrahman Saad was taken from his home in Mosul by Islamic State fighters, leaving his family in limbo. They asked IS security offices and judges: Where is our husband and father? No answer. When the operation to retake Mosul began, they heard he was being held in the western part of the city,Read more

The Palestinians have withdrawn their envoy to Pakistan after he appeared at a rally with a radical cleric linked to the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Palestinian envoy Walid Abu Ali shared the stage with Hafiz Saeed, the head of the hard-line Jamaat-ud-Dawa movement, at Friday’s rally, which was held to protest U.S. recognition of Jerusalem asRead more