Iran

Situation Report in English on Iran (Islamic Republic of) about Contributions, Education and more; published on 29 Jan 2023 by WFP.

In December, WFP provided 2,770 refugee girls with a cash incentive of IRR 500,000 (US$ 2) transferred to their bank accounts. WFP provides cash assistance to 7,197 Afghan and Iraqi refugee households each month. In December, WFP reached 32,699 beneficiaries including 32,082 refugees and 617 Iranian teachers as per the monthly target under unconditional resource transfers (URT), of whom 9,168 were women, 9,415 men, 6,737 girls, and 7,379 boys.

Seven actors in Iran have boycotted their own film to be screened at the state-sponsored Fajr Film Festival in protest to the bloody crackdown on ...

“Over time, all dictators have the illusion of imagining themselves as God, and they think they are absolutely right and eternal…but they are all mentally ill,” he said. Filmmakers and actors have been periodically boycotting the event, including in 2019, in protest to state violence against protesters. During this time, he explained, the festival meant nothing to him and even less so “in this bloody and grim year”. The Fajr Film Festival has existed since 1982, highlighting Iranian cinema for 10 days, during a period known as the Ten Days of Dawn (Fajr). Those who are withdrawing from the festival have taken a remarkable step because this means that they will no more have a chance of working in Iran, he said. “The film’s participation at any event is not and will not be my choice or decision.”

The defence ministry said three drones were involved, but there was only minor damage to the site.

Local authorities did not comment on activities at the site, but called it a "workshop". No details about the cause have been revealed. The Iranian defence ministry says it has foiled a drone attack on a military facility in the city of Isfahan.

The Iranian defence ministry said a drone carrying a small bomb hit the roof of one building in the facility late on Saturday night, while two other drones were ...

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Israel carried out the drone attack on an Iranian military center for research and development midnight Saturday, the Wall Street Journal said in an ...

Russia has used hundreds of these drones to target Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure. Small or quadcopter drones, however, cannot fly hundreds of kilometers to reach Esfahan, located in central Iran. [The WSJ quoted unnamed US officials ](https://www.wsj.com/articles/israel-strikes-iran-amid-new-international-push-to-contain-tehran-11675004979?mod=hp_lead_pos10)and people familiar with the operation that the drone attack was carried out by Israel.

Iran's hardliner Kayhan newspaper has proposed to form a national 'soft war' headquarters to deal with what it called the "hybrid war of the enemy".

In November, Khamenei called the ongoing anti-regime uprising following the death of Mahsa Amini a "hybrid war" led by the “enemies”. Ali Fadavi, the second highest commander in the Revolutionary Guard, also said in October that the country’s ‘enemies’ who used to focus on ‘hard war’ against the Islamic Republic for decades have now adopted a hybrid approach, combined with soft power. Iran’s hardliner Kayhan newspaper has proposed to form a national ‘soft war’ headquarters to deal with what it called the "hybrid war of the enemy".

Bomb-carrying drones targeted an Iranian defense factory in the central city of Isfahan overnight, authorities said early Sunday, causing some damage at the ...

It “is not in the interest of the region and its future,” Gargash wrote on Twitter. Iran in October launched a military exercise near the Azerbaijan border. Meanwhile, Iran continues to arm Russia with the bomb-carrying drone that Moscow uses in attacks in Ukraine on power plants and civilian targets. Separately, Iran’s state TV said a fire broke out at an oil refinery in an industrial zone near the northwestern city of Tabriz. A third apparently made it through to strike the building, causing “minor damage” to its roof and wounding no one, the ministry said. The Defense Ministry only called the site a “workshop," without elaborating on what it made.

A loud explosion at a military plant in Iran's central city of Isfahan was caused by an "unsuccessful" drone attack, Iranian state media reported on Sunday, ...

Israel says Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. The announcement came amid heightening tensions with arch-enemy Israel over Tehran's nuclear programme. "One of (the drones) was hit by the ...

Iranian foreign minister criticised the drone attack as 'cowardly' and aimed at creating 'insecurity'.

Talks between Iran and world powers to revive the 2015 nuclear deal have stalled since September. In 2020, Iran blamed Israel for a sophisticated attack that It is home to both a large airbase built for its fleet of US-made F-14 fighter jets and its nuclear fuel research and production centre. A ministry statement described three drones being launched at the facility, with two of them successfully shot down. Iran’s defence ministry did not comment on who carried out the attack. The extent of damage could not be independently ascertained.

After a gunman assaulted Azerbaijan's embassy in Iran's capital Tehran, Baku says it is evacuating staff and family members from the country.

During a phone call with his Azeri counterpart late Saturday, Raisi said Tehran and Baku have inseparable historical relations and will not allow those relations to be affected by the two countries' ill-wishers. The Islamic Republic’s state broadcaster also talked to the seven-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter of the family, who purportedly were in the car outside the embassy. Iran’s state media broadcast confessions by a grey-haired man identified as the assailant, who claimed he attacked the embassy believing that his wife was held inside the building. Member of the Iranian parliament’s presidium Ali Nikzad has promised that necessary investigations will be done regarding the attack. There have never been such hateful and threatening statements against Azerbaijan,” he said, referring to warnings from President Ebrahim Raisi and other leaders against any border changes or threats to Iran’s transit route to Armenia, which is vulnerable since 2020 changes. Police in Tehran says it arrested the attacker at the scene and authorities condemned Friday's incident, claiming that the gunman appeared to have had a personal, not a political, motive. Tehran-Baku tensions have simmered since the 2020 war, when Iran moderated its past support for mainly Christian Armenia due partly to domestic pressures from both ethnic Azeri and Shia clerics supporting fellow Muslims. Earlier, the Azerbaijani foreign ministry said the shooting was the result of Tehran failing to heed its calls for better security. According to an article in Trend, the incident at the embassy occurred as “part of Iran's policy of hostility towards Azerbaijan.” A deputy of the country’s parliament said, "Iranian televisions and radios continuously promote hostility towards Azerbaijan. The terrorist incident against our embassy proved this once again." It is not yet clear whether the embassy will continue to function. The embassy staff had given him a written statement attesting that she was not there, but the man said he was sure his wife was in the building and attacked the embassy to prove that.

Iran and Azerbaijan disagree on whether Friday's attack on the Azeri embassy in Tehran constituted a 'terrorist act'.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to cooperate to clarify the dimensions of the incident. After exiting the car with the rifle in hand, he passes an unarmed Iranian guard sitting in a booth and enters the embassy shooting. CCTV footage released by Iran showed the attacker hurriedly arriving at the scene with his car and crashing into another vehicle parked in front of the embassy. Iranian state television also interviewed the man’s two young children, whom he had reportedly brought to the embassy and were in the car at the time of the attack, with the daughter saying her mother had travelled back to Baku – where she was from – but her father believed she was at the embassy. [Translation: I was at the hospital and learned about the treatment process of the Azerbaijan Republic embassy staff. The attacker, a man identified as Yasin Hosseinzadeh, was interviewed by Iran’s state television and said he stormed the embassy to “rescue” his wife, whom he said had disappeared after entering the embassy close to a year earlier.

Saturday's strike came shortly after the Israeli Ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, mentioned Iranian drones and missiles when he said Israel does more to ...

Nevertheless, Israeli operations against Iranian military facilities could help Ukraine in the short term if it results in delays of drone resupplies when Russia depletes its second batch of Shaheds or, more crucially, delays in any potential SRBM transfer. Israeli sources [reported](https://twitter.com/BarakRavid/status/1619737041415327746) that a building related to the Iranian missile program was the target of the surgical attack. [has a production facility in Shahin Shahr](https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/iranian-drones-russia-capabilities-and-limitations). [cited by Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/blast-heard-military-plant-irans-central-city-isfahan-state-media-2023-01-28/) said it appeared Israel was behind the attack. "These include Iranian drones and missiles that Russia is using in Ukraine." It may also receive short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) There are likely substantive limits to what Israeli covert operations against Iranian facilities can achieve without sparking a full-fledged war with Tehran. Initial reports indicate small drones, [reportedly quadcopters](https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2023/01/29/israel-reportedly-carries-out-drone-strikes-on-iranian-factory-on-eve-of-blinkens-middle-east-tour/?sh=2b912c0973ea), struck what the Iranian defense ministry described as one of its "workshop sites." Israel is the prime suspect behind the suspected drone attack on Saturday against a military target near the central Iranian city of Isfahan. Asked why Israel has so staunchly refused to supply Ukraine military hardware, Prosor pointed to the Russian military presence in Syria. Did warn you." [cited estimations](https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-03-17/ty-article/israel-reportedly-struck-irans-main-production-site-for-military-drones-last-month/00000180-5bb2-dc1d-afc2-fbf796a50000) claiming the attack destroyed "hundreds" of Iranian drones.

The move comes two days after a gunman shot dead a security guard and wounded two other people in an attack Baku branded as an 'act of terrorism'

It gave no further details, including whether the embassy would continue to function. A young woman identified as the man's daughter said her mother was in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan will evacuate embassy staff and family members from Iran on Sunday, the foreign ministry said, two days after a gunman shot dead a security guard and wounded two other people in an attack Baku branded as an "act of terrorism."

Fatal shooting at Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran has increased tensions between 2 countries - Anadolu Agency.

[Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. The country's Foreign Ministry also summoned the Iranian ambassador. The senior Azerbaijani diplomat added that President Aliyev had decided to evacuate the embassy in the Iranian capital, terming it a "difficult decision" and adding that they have "no hope and no confidence." Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a phone call Friday with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov said the incident will not be allowed to have a "detrimental impact" on bilateral relations. Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada had on Saturday announced that a plane would be sent to Tehran to bring back diplomatic staff as well as the body of the slain embassy security chief. Meanwhile, Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency cited an "informed source" in the Foreign Ministry as saying that the operations of the Azerbaijani embassy shall continue, albeit with a smaller diplomatic staff. He said the attack was "unexpected," adding host countries are required to fulfill their obligations under the Vienna Convention to ensure the security of foreign diplomatic missions on their territory. Aliyev had earlier denounced the attack as a "terrorist act" and demanded a probe. A statement issued by his office quoted Raisi as saying that the governments of the two countries "will not allow bilateral relations to be affected by ill-wishers." The evacuation took place hours after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev had a phone call to discuss the issue, during which Raisi said a thorough investigation was underway. Tehran's police chief Hossein Rahimi told reporters the assailant was immediately arrested, adding a preliminary investigation pointed to "personal and family-related problems" as a possible motive for the attack. According to Azerbaijani media, a total of 53 people, including diplomats and their family members, boarded a special plane that landed at Heydar Aliyev International Airport in the capital Baku at 10 p.m.

The Iranian defence ministry on January 29 conceded there was a drone attack on a military facility in the central city of Isfahan a day after it ...

Local authorities did not comment on activities at the site, but called it a "workshop". No details about the cause were reported. Kyiv has previously warned Tehran that it could suffer unspecified consequences resulting from its provision of military drones to the Kremlin.

Azerbaijan closed its embassy in Tehran and evacuated the staff and their families amid spiraling tensions after a gunman stormed the diplomatic mission, ...