After four months of vote recounts and bitter negotiations following May’s indecisive election, in September Iraq’s strife-ridden Council of Representatives voted to form the nucleus of a stable government when its parliamentarians agreed to select Barham Salih as president. In early October, Salih chose Adel Abdul-Mahdi to be prime minister and charged him with forming […]
Iran
Posted inEncore, sj-web
UMF arts center to hold contemporary Iranian art exhibit
FARMINGTON — The University of Maine at Farmington’s Emery Community Arts Center will be presenting “Inner Fragments,” an exhibition of art by 16 Iranian female artists. Curated by Iranian artists Parisa Ghaderi and Mahsa Soroudi, this show is the first time many of these original works have been exhibited in the United States. The exhibit […]
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Posted inNation / World, sj-web
U.S. braces for possible cyberattacks after Iran sanctions
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is bracing for cyberattacks Iran could launch in retaliation for the re-imposition of sanctions this week by President Donald Trump, cybersecurity and intelligence experts say. Concern over that cyber threat has been rising since May, when Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal, under which the U.S. and other […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Threats aside, Trump says he's willing to meet with Iranians
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said that he’d “certainly meet” with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, and without preconditions, if the Iranian leader were willing. Speaking Monday during a joint news conference with Italy’s premier, Trump said he would meet with the Iranians “anytime they want to.” “I’ll meet with anybody,” he said. “There’s nothing […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Economic sanctions, not words, will hurt Iran
It’s Tehran’s turn for the “fire and fury” treatment. In response to Iranian President Hasan Rouhani telling Donald Trump not to “play with the lion’s tail” because “war with Iran is the mother of all wars,” the president fired back in an emphatically all-caps tweet warning of “CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
President Trump plays into the hands of Iran's hardliners
NEW YORK — Jeb Bush said Donald Trump would be a “chaos president.” And this week, Trump lived up to the billing, choosing to defy virtually the entire world, including America’s closest European allies, and raising tensions in the most unstable part of the globe, the Middle East. It is hard to understand the rationale […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Donald Trump pulls U.S. out of Iran nuclear deal
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to follow through on his campaign threat to pull out of the landmark nuclear accord with Iran, according to two people familiar with his thinking, dealing a profound blow to U.S. allies and potentially deepening the president’s isolation on the world stage. Trump’s decision means Iran’s government must […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Iran faces a period of instability
NEW YORK — The most enlightening commentary on what is going on in Iran right now was written 162 years ago. In his book on the French Revolution, Alexis de Tocqueville explained, “Revolutions are not always brought about by a gradual decline from bad to worse. Nations that have endured patiently and almost unconsciously the […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Iran’s regime confronts new revolt
The anti-regime protests now jolting Iran send the world two core messages — one dismal and sobering, the other an explosive cocktail of the deadly and the hopeful. Both core messages provide guidance for open-minded American and free world policy makers. It takes a narrow-minded Obama administration apologist to miss the dismal and sobering message: […]
Posted inNation / World
Pro-government demonstrations protest violence in Iran
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Tens of thousands of Iranians took part in pro-government demonstrations in several cities across the country on Wednesday, state media reported, a move apparently seeking to calm nerves after a week of protests against the government and unrest that has killed at least 21 people. While the rallies showed support among […]