Republic Islamic Financial News

Iran's strikes this week in Pakistan, Iraq and Syria have brought back into the spotlight its ballistic missile programme, which has ground forward over the past 40 years despite sanctions. On Tuesday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hit what it called «a spy headquarters» in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region and «terrorist» targets in Syria. Its forces also fired on «an Iranian terrorist group» in Pakistan, which said the attack killed two children and riposted with a strike on Iranian territory that Tehran said claimed nine lives. Iran's missile capabilities are one reason why Western attention remains fixated on this regional power, as the Islamic republic and its proxies step up attacks in the Middle East in solidarity with Gaza's Hamas militants in their war with Israel. — Range and accuracy - The massive Iranian missile armoury covers ranges from short (300 kilometres or 186 miles) to medium (300-1,000 kilometres) and long (up to 2,000 kilometres). A majority are produced or assembled locally thanks to Iran's advanced industries and university sector. «Hardly a year goes by without an Iranian announcement about the development of a new type of ballistic or cruise missiles,» said Eva Koulouriotis, an independent expert. Tehran has gradually advanced into solid-propellant missiles — which are «easier to store and much quicker to bring into action than liquid-fuel ones, so they are much more useful tactically,» said Jeremy Binnie of British private intelligence firm Janes. «The Iranians have taken Scud technology from the 300 kilometres of the missiles they received in the 1980s to 1,600 kilometres or more,» he added, as well as developing «much better guidance systems… enabling them to carry out

the New York Times. This is to give Trump additional military options even as he weighs a new diplomatic initiative with the Islamic republic, according to the report.“About 2,300 Marines from the 31st Expeditionary Unit are scheduled to arrive in the Middle East later this week, and U.S.

state-sponsored vigilantism" to crush dissent after the «Women, Life, Freedom» protests in 2022, a UN investigation said Friday. Iran is making «concerted state efforts to stifle dissent, perpetuating a climate of fear and systematic impunity», the United Nations' Independent International Fact-Finding Mission said in a new report. These involve «the increased use of technology and surveillance, including through state-sponsored vigilantism». Iran was rocked by demonstrations after the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress rule for women based on Islamic sharia law. Widespread anger led to weeks of taboo-breaking protests against the Islamic republic's system of government under supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran's top diplomat said Wednesday an Arab country will soon deliver it a letter from US President Donald Trump, who has called for striking a nuclear deal with the Islamic republic. «The letter has not reached us yet but an envoy from an Arab country is set to deliver it soon in Tehran,» Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters after a cabinet meeting. He did not elaborate on the identity of the Arab country or the timing of the letter's delivery. On Friday, Trump said he wrote a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for talks to forge a new deal on Tehran's nuclear programme, or face a potential military option. But Iran has rejected talks under «maximum pressure» policy that Trump reinstated after his return to the White House in January.

human rights groups said on Thursday.

Israel's deadly strikes, Iran lauded its defences while media outlets dismissed the assault as «weak», signalling what analysts say is the Islamic republic's reluctance to escalate further. Saturday's Israeli attack on military sites followed an October 1 missile barrage by Iran — its response to the killing of militant leaders it backs and a Revolutionary Guards commander. Iran said the strikes around Tehran and in the provinces of Khuzestan and Ilam killed at least four soldiers and caused «limited damage» to radar systems.

Iran on Saturday to stop attacking Israel to break the cycle of violence after Israel launched strikes against the Islamic republic in retaliation for a missile barrage. «We urge Iran to cease its attacks on Israel so that this cycle of fighting can end without further escalation,» US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett told reporters. The Israeli military conducted air strikes against Iran on Saturday, hitting military bases and missile sites, and other systems in several regions.

Iran's supreme leader has decorated the Revolutionary Guards aerospace commander for the Islamic republic's missile attacks on arch-foe Israel, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's website said on Sunday. «Ayatollah Khamenei presented the Order of Fath (»Conquest" in Farsi) to General Amirali Hajizadeh, commander of the Guards Aerospace Force," it said. The decoration was bestowed because of «the brilliant 'Honest Promise' operation», the website said.

Iran held funeral processions on Thursday with calls for revenge after the killing in Tehran of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in a strike blamed on Israel.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave Sunday his official endorsement of Masoud Pezeshkian as the Islamic republic's ninth president, following snap elections won by the reformist camp's candidate.

Around 61 million Iranians are eligible to vote in the polls where reformist Masoud Pezeshkian, 69, hopes for a breakthrough win against a divided conservative camp.

shipping companies for transporting Iranian oil, saying it was a response to Tehran's nuclear «escalation,» on the eve of presidential elections in the Islamic republic. «Over the past month, Iran has announced steps to further expand its nuclear program in ways that have no credible peaceful purpose,» Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

Ebrahim Raisi, seen as a possible successor to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has reshuffled the cards in the succession process and increased the spotlight on the Iranian number one's son Mojtaba as a contender. While analysts emphasise it is impossible to know for sure the intentions of Iran's leadership, Raisi's record as a pillar of the Islamic republic over several decades made him an inevitable candidate to become its third supreme leader after Khamenei and revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Iraq at a military base in Syria housing a US-led coalition, according to Iraqi security forces. In response, the Iraqi forces launched a major search operation in northern Nineveh province and found the vehicle used in the attack, they said in a statement. It is the first major attack against the coalition forces in several weeks.

Iran as the country faces a multitude of challenges following a tumultuous period since the last parliamentary elections in 2020. This will be the first elections in Iran since the nationwide anti-government protests of 2022 that were triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini. The previous election in Iran in 2019 were held after major protests.

The leader the federal official Opposition is calling for immediate action against the Iranian regime, in the wake of Global News reporting revealing the extent of the Islamic republic’s interference in Canada.

Iranian journalists will spend around a month behind bars as part of a three-year partly suspended prison sentence for «conspiracy» and «collusion», local media reported on Sunday. Under the sentence, Negin Bagheri and Elnaz Mohammadi will serve one-fortieth of the term, or less than a month, in prison, their lawyer Amir Raisian told the reformist Ham Mihan daily newspaper, where Mohammadi works. «The remaining period is suspended over five years,» during which time they will be required to take «a professional ethics training» and «prohibited from leaving the country,» the lawyer added. Raisian did not elaborate on whether the verdict can be appealed, and the report did not detail the allegations against the reporters. Mohammadi's sister, Elahe, who also works for Ham Mihan, has since September 2022 been in prison after reporting on the funeral of Mahsa Amini, 22, who died in police custody. The death on September 16, 2022 of Amini, an Iranian Kurd, came after her arrest for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic's dress code, triggering months-long nationwide protests. Foreign-based rights groups have reported multiple arrests ahead of the anniversary of Amini's death. Bagheri works for the unaffiliated Haft-e Sobh newspaper. Elnaz Mohammadi was arrested and kept in Evin prison for a week in February.

Binance didn't answer detailed questions about the new transactions uncovered by Reuters.

Angry demonstrators took to streets across Iran again Saturday despite more than a hundred casualties and continued harsh pushback, including internet access restrictions, as the protest movement sparked by Mahsa Amini's death in custody entered the fifth week.

Struggling through decades of economic sanctions, Iran has placed its first international import order using $10 million worth of cryptocurrency, according to a senior government trade official.