Iran

10 July 2020; MEMO: Another explosion has occurred in Iran’s capital Tehran according to the official IRIB news agency, in what is the latest in a string of similar incidents over the past few weeks.

The report, based on witness accounts, said some parts of the city experienced power-outages as a result of the blast, although no information on the cause has been released yet.

TEHRAN, July 9 (NNN-IRNA) – The U.S. military bases in Iraq will probably be shut down in the future, the Iranian ambassador to Iraq, Iraj Masjedi, was quoted as saying, by Tehran Times daily on Wednesday.

Masjedi made the remarks on Tuesday, about political developments in neighbouring Iraq.

He said, Iraq is currently seeking to create a balance between the “two main actors,” namely Iran and the United States, and is trying to “utilise capabilities of the two countries.”

Neither Iran nor the United States can be removed from Iraq, he added.

TEHRAN, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Iran and Syria signed an agreement on Wednesday to expand "comprehensive" military and security cooperation, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

The agreement was signed between Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Baqeri and Syrian Defense Minister Ali Abdullah Ayyoub in the Syrian capital Damascus.

As part of the agreement, Iran "will strengthen Syria's air defense system," Baqeri was quoted as saying.

08 July 2020; MEMO: Spokesman of Iran’s Power Industry, Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, has denied reports that an Israeli cyberattack caused a fire in Iran’s nuclear facility, Arabi21 reported yesterday.

“The reports about cyberattacks on energy stations in the country are false,” Mashhadi told a local Iranian news agency according to Arabi21.

TEHRAN, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Monday that the Islamic republic will spares no efforts to support the Palestinian cause, official IRNA news agency reported.

"The Palestinian resistance has been able to thwart the U.S. and Israeli plots," Khamenei wrote in response to a letter of Ismail Haniyeh, politburo chief of Hamas movement.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran on Sunday confirmed that a damaged building at the underground Natanz nuclear site was a new centrifuge assembly center, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Iranian officials had previously sought to downplay the fire, which erupted early on Thursday, calling it only an “incident” that affected an “industrial shed.” However, a released photo and video of the site broadcast by Iranian state television showed a two-story brick building with scorch marks and its roof apparently destroyed.

06 July 2020; MEMO: Iranian experts believe that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is working to strengthen its relations with Tehran, in parallel with the rapprochement with Israel.

TEHRAN, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Iran has filed a lawsuit in the International Court of Justice against the United States over effects of sanctions on Iran's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Leila Joneidi, Iran's presidential aide for legal affairs, said on Saturday.

The continuous U.S. sanctions against Iran at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic are an indication of "inhuman" move and against human rights, Joneidi was quoted as saying by Tehran Times daily.

The official made the remarks during a visit to the Pasteur Institute in the capital Tehran.

03 July 2020; MEMO: Iran will “change its strategy of confrontation” with the US and Israel if they cross the red lines and target its national interests, Noor News, known to be close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), warned yesterday.

(Reuters) - The illegitimate presence of U.S. forces in Syria should end immediately, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in a video conference broadcast on Iranian state TV on Wednesday.

Iran would continue its support for Syria’s legal government, Rouhani said.