MUNICH (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister said Saturday that U.S. President Donald Trump is receiving bad advice if he believes an American “maximum pressure” campaign against his country will cause the government in Tehran to collapse. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told a group of top defense officials and diplomats at the Munich Security Conference that the information provided to the president has dissuaded Trump from accepting offers from other leaders to mediate between Washington and Tehran. “President Trump has…

The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran is in jeopardy. European governments should use the JCPOA’s dispute-resolution mechanism both to pursue immediate measures to de-escalate regional tensions and to explore a follow-up agreement – or an alternative should the current deal collapse. BERLIN – When Iran announced in January that it would further “reduce” its commitments under the 2015 deal limiting its nuclear activities, it was not responding to the United States’ assassination of Iranian Quds Force leader…

Image copyright Reuters Image caption The US unveils charges against Chinese telecoms firm Huawei last year The US has expanded its lawsuit against Huawei, accusing the Chinese telecoms giant of a "decades-long" plan to steal technology from US firms. Prosecutors said Huawei had violated the terms of partnerships with US companies and stolen trade secrets such as source code and robot technology. It adds to a list of other charges brought by the US last year. Those accused Huawei of…

On January 8, 2020, Ukraine International Airlines 752 crashed. The plane, a Boeing 737-800, was headed from Tehran to Kiev, and had 176 people onboard. Iran changed stance on crash pretty quickly Immediately following the crash, Iranian authorities claimed that the plane suffered an engine failure, and that was the cause of the crash. As Ali Abedzadeh, Chief of the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran, said: “One thing is for certain, this airplane was not hit by a missile.” This…

These are boom times for multitasking, boom times for alienation, and, thus, boom times for content. Audiences need entertainment (give me more to do with my phone!), and capital has made the safe bet: If you build it, they (advertisers, subscribers) will come. The podcast harnesses the authority of Voice of America–style radio but updated for the spirit of our times: You choose what (and to whom) you listen. There is something for absolutely every taste (the only podcast I…

It seems nothing can stop international tourism, except maybe coronavirus. But even the damage caused by the virus to the tourist industry may be fleeting, as international travel keeps growing. How hardy is international tourism? According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, international tourist arrivals (defined as overnight visitors) worldwide grew 4% in 2019 to 1.5 billion, despite uncertainty over Brexit, the collapse of Thomas Cook and several low-cost airlines, plus trade tensions and the global economic slowdown. The usual…

When the world rang in the New Year on January 1, Iranians were reeling from the country's worst political unrest in decades. Just weeks before, tens of thousands of people had poured onto the streets across Iranian cities, in an outburst of anger over corruption and hardship as the country's economy buckled under the weight of US-imposed sanctions. The protests were met with a deadly crackdown by the security forces, leaving many in Iran believing things could not get any worse. Then on…

Image copyright EPA Image caption The news comes at a time of high tension between Iran and the US Iran's top court has confirmed a death sentence for a man convicted of spying for the CIA. Amir Rahimpour "earned a lot of money" to pass on information about Iran's nuclear programme to the US, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said. He added that "two more American spies" had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage and five years for…