Iran

Google Blocks Accounts in ‘Influence Operation’ Linked to Iran

Google said Thursday it blocked YouTube channels and other accounts over a misinformation campaign linked to Iran, on the heels of similar moves by Facebook and Twitter.

Google said that working with the cybersecurity firm FireEye, it linked the accounts to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting as part of an effort dating to at least January 2017.

Air France, British Airways to end flights to Tehran

Air France and British Airways announced Thursday that they will halt flights to Tehran next month, citing low profitability as the US reimposes sanctions on Iran.

Air France, which had run connections to the Iranian capital via its low-cost operator Joon, said it would axe the route on September 18, blaming “poor commercial viability”.

British Airways had announced shortly earlier that it was axeing its London to Tehran service as it was “currently not commercially viable”.

The last outbound flight to Tehran will be on September 22, and the last inbound flight from Tehran will be on September 23, the British flag-carrier added.

Dutch carrier KLM said last month that it was also suspending Tehran flights due to “negative results and financial outlook”.

Merkel Cool On EU Independent Payment System to Save Iran Deal

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday she agreed with her foreign minister that relations with the United States are changing but she stopped short of backing his call for a separate EU payments system to save a nuclear deal with Iran.

“On the question of independent payment systems, we have some problems in our dealings with Iran, no question, on the other hand we know that on questions of terrorist financing, for example, SWIFT is very important,” Merkel told reporters.

She added that it was very important to keep good co-operation with the United States in the area of security.

Iranian Sunnis Say Police Blocked Eid Prayers in Four Tehran Districts

Iran’s minority Sunni Muslims say authorities of the Shiite-majority nation have prevented some Sunnis from holding communal prayers in the capital, Tehran, to mark the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

The Council of Azeri Sunni Prayer Centers in Tehran and the neighboring province of Alborz issued a statement saying Sunnis were prevented from attending prayers for Wednesday’s holiday in four districts of the capital: Khalij-e-Fars, Punak, Resalat and Yaft Abad.

Iran’s main Sunni news site, Sunni Online, published a Thursday report saying Tehran police blocked Sunni prayers in the four above-mentioned districts by deploying at the entrances of the prayer centers and dispersing worshippers. Such centers often are in homes of Sunnis or in large rooms of other buildings.

US Lawmakers Urge Iran Expulsion from SWIFT Banking Network

Republican lawmakers are calling for Iran to be expelled from the main financial system that oversees international bank transfers, as the Trump administration steadily re-imposes sanctions on the country following the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.

SWIFT is short for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. It is based in Belgium, but its board includes executives from U.S. banks and federal law gives the administration authority to act against Iran’s central bank and other banks covered by terrorism and money laundering sanctions.

Suicide among women on the rise in Iran

Ban on women’s entrance to sports stadiums in Iran continues to remain in force. Mullah Nasser Makarem Shirazi underscored his fatwa banning the presence of women in Iran’s stadiums.

Officially, women are banned from entering stadiums and watching men’s games in Iran. Despite occasional maneuverings by the regime to fend off social reactions to the ban on women’s entrance to stadiums and also for foreign consumptions, the clerical regime has always stressed on the ban on women’s entrance to sports stadiums.