Latest Iran government News

Iran restores access to WhatsApp and Google Play after they were banned amid protests

Dec. 24, 2024 14:22 PM EST

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's government on Tuesday said it had lifted a ban on access to WhatsApp and Google Play after more than two years, the official IRNA news agency reported. The report said the country’s Supreme Council of Cyber Space made the decision in a meeting led by...

Prominent Lebanese figure meets Syrian insurgent who led Assad's ouster, seeking better relations

Dec. 22, 2024 12:52 PM EST

BEIRUT (AP) — A prominent Lebanese politician held talks on Sunday with the insurgent who led the overthrow of Syria's President Bashar Assad, with both expressing hope for a new era in relations. Druze leader Walid Jumblatt is the most important politician from Lebanon to visit...

Murder and terrorism charges brought against Iranian officer in 2022 killing of American in Iraq

Dec. 20, 2024 13:29 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — An Iranian officer blamed for the 2022 killing of an American in Iraq has been charged in New York with federal murder and terrorism crimes, authorities announced on Friday. Federal authorities in New York City said Mohammad Reza Nouri, a captain in Iran’s...

The year in review: Influential people who died in 2024

Dec. 20, 2024 12:47 PM EST

It was a murder case almost everyone had an opinion on. O.J. Simpson 's “trial of the century” over the 1994 killings of his ex-wife and her friend bared divisions over race and law enforcement in America and brought an intersection of sports, crime, entertainment and class that was hard to...

Iran's rial hits a record low, battered by regional tensions and an energy crisis

Dec. 18, 2024 10:29 AM EST

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The Iranian rial on Wednesday fell to its lowest level in history, losing more than 10% of value since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election in November and signaling new challenges for Tehran as it remains locked in the wars raging in the Middle East. ...

Iran pauses the process to implement a new, stricter headscarf law for women, official says

Dec. 18, 2024 09:14 AM EST

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has paused the process of implementing a new, stricter law on women’s mandatory headscarf, or hijab, an official said — a bill that many believe could have reignited the protests that engulfed the Islamic Republic after the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini. ...

Two charged in connection with Iran-backed drone strike that killed 3 US troops in the Middle East

Dec. 16, 2024 20:31 PM EST

BOSTON (AP) — Two men, including a dual Iranian American citizen, have been charged with conspiring to export sensitive technology to Iran that was used in a drone attack in Jordan that killed three American troops early this year and injured dozens of other service members, the Justice...

YouTube singer arrested in Iran after performing an online concert while not wearing a hijab

Dec. 14, 2024 14:16 PM EST

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian authorities have arrested a female singer who performed a virtual concert on YouTube, a lawyer said. Milad Panahipour, an Iranian lawyer, said Parastoo Ahmady, 27, was arrested in Sari City, capital of the northern province of Mazandaran,...

Iran sentences an Iranian-American journalist to 10 years in prison

Dec. 14, 2024 08:13 AM EST

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A court in Iran has sentenced Iranian-American journalist Reza Valizadeh to 10 years on prison after finding him guilty of collaborating with a hostile government, his lawyer said Saturday. Reza Valizadeh is a former journalist for the...

PEN America condemns the arrest of Iranian activist Reza Khandan

Dec. 14, 2024 04:01 AM EST

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — PEN America condemned the arrest of Reza Khandan, Iranian activist and husband of leading human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, and demanded his immediate release. Karin Deutsch Karlekar, Director of Writers at Risk at the literary and human rights...