avatarby Erfan Fard OPINION Israeli model May Tager, holding an Israeli flag, poses with Dubai-resident model Anastasia Bandarenka, holding an Emirati flag, during a photo shoot for FIX’s Princess Collection, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sept. 8, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Christopher Pike. The large-scale withdrawal of US military forces from the Middle East, which occurred during the administrations of Barack Obama and Donald Trump, handed Iran an opportunity to dominate the region. The American retreat made the Gulf Cooperation…

MARCH 8, 2021 1:42 PM2 OPINION A view of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility 250 km (155 miles) south of the Iranian capital Tehran, March 30, 2005. Photo: REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi On February 8, 2019, former US intelligence specialist Monica Witt was charged with betraying her oath to protect and defend the US by conducting espionage on behalf of Iran. She stands accused of delivering US national defense information to the Islamic regime. Witt served in the US military in the…

MARCH 1, 2021 1:24 PM1 avatarby Erfan Fard OPINION Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (L) meets with International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi (R) in Tehran, Iran, February 21, 2021. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo The year 2020 was chaotic and bizarre — yet by its end, a new era of peace had dawned between Israel and four Arab states. The creation of this new coalition, which is united in its belief that…

FEBRUARY 14, 2021 5:11 AM1 avatarby Erfan Fard OPINION Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi near Bushehr Nuclear Plant. Photo: Wikimedia Commons. President Joe Biden and his newly formed intelligence team have the task of designing a new American approach to the Islamic regime in Iran — a regime that has hegemonic designs on the Middle East region, is determined to create a continuous band of Shiite-controlled territory that…

avatarby Erfan Fard OPINION New commander of the Iranian Quds Force Brig. Gen. Esmail Ghaani. Photo: Erfan Kouchari via Wikimedia Commons. The Quds Force, which is estimated to have about 10,000 to 12,000 fighters, is the expeditionary arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). It was led until January 3, 2020 by Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in Baghdad by a US airstrike. Esmail Qaani, Soleimani’s deputy in Afghanistan, was appointed by Iran’s Supreme Leader to succeed Soleimani. Qaani…

U.S. officials say the Chinese government is trying to collect Americans' DNA, and they believe a recent offer from a Chinese company for assistance in COVID-19 testing was suspicious. Jon Wertheim reports. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biodata-dna-china-collection-60-minutes-2021-01-31/ For all the polarization that grips Washington, here's a source of rare consensus: the emerging threat of China's push to acquire our health care data, including the DNA of American citizens. U.S. officials tell us the communist regime's aggressive collection of our most personal information presents a…

‘Our goal was to deter a war,’ said CENTCOM’s Gen. McKenzie of the past few months, en route to the region for his first visit under the new administration. Katie Bo Williams – January 24th, 2021 ABOARD A MILITARY PLANE — Relations between the United States and Iran are in a “period of opportunity” following the inauguration of President Joe Biden, the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East said during his first swing into the region under the…

Almost three years after US withdrew from nuclear deal, millions more are on breadline By: Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran – 25 January 2021 This time last year, Mohammad could still just about afford fruit and chicken for his three children. But as US sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic have devastated the economy and spurred inflation — almost tripling the price of fresh fruit — the unemployed 47-year-old and his family survive on bread, potatoes and eggs and only then because…