Human Rights Watch said the promised amnesty has not stopped local commanders from retaliating against former members of the army, police and intelligence services.
President Donald Trump declared Monday it “looks” like Iran was behind the explosive attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities. But he stressed that military retaliation was not yet on the table in response to the strike against a key U.S. Mideast ally.
Iran’s president urged the U.S. on Wednesday to “put warmongers aside” as tensions roil the Persian Gulf amid an escalating crisis between Washington and Tehran in the wake of the collapsing nuclear deal with world powers.
The Trump administration stepped up pressure on Iran on Wednesday, imposing sanctions on an oil shipping network with ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and offering a reward of up to $15 million for anyone with information that could disrupt its faltering economy even further.
But Tehran also announced that seven members from the seized British-flagged tanker Stena Impero will be released — an apparent good-will gesture meant to defuse tensions.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reiterated that Tehran won't enter into direct talks with the U.S. unless Washington rejoins the 2015 nuclear deal that President Donald Trump scrapped a year ago.
From the vast deserts of Saudi Arabia to the crowded neighborhoods of Beirut, a drone war has taken flight across the wider Middle East, raising the stakes in the ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
Tehran unveiled the Bavar-373, what it says is a long-range surface-to-air missile system that tracks 100 targets at a same time and attacks them with six different weapons.
Oman, seen as a neutral Gulf Arab country that has acted as a facilitator of talks between the U.S. and Iran in the past, sits across the strait from Iran, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.