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Head of Iran’s chief clerical body dead at 83

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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A leading Iranian cleric, Ayatollah Mohammadreza Mahdavi Kani, who headed the country’s most influential clerical body charged with choosing or dismissing the nation’s supreme leader, has died. He was 83.

Kani was the chairman of the Assembly of Experts, a body of 86 senior clerics that monitors the supreme leader and picks a successor after his death. That makes it potentially one of the most powerful institutions in Iran, although it does not involve itself the daily affairs of state.

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Iran arrests several ‘spies’ near Bushehr nuclear plant – Fars news agency

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ANKARA (Reuters) – Iranian security services have arrested several suspected spies in the southern province of Bushehr where the country’s first nuclear power plant is located, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Tuesday.

Iran has repeatedly cited signs of what it calls foreign plots to sabotage its nuclear programme, which world powers fear could be put to developing an atomic bomb capability and are seeking to curb through high-level negotiations, with a deadline of Nov. 24 for an accord.

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Iranian embassy had direct role in funding controversial cultural centre in Ottawa, legal battle over assets reveals

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Iranian embassy had direct role in funding controversial cultural centre in Ottawa, legal battle over assets reveals

National Post: Before it was shut down two years ago, the Iranian embassy in Ottawa funded a controversial cultural centre in the capital, a former senior administrator at the vacant diplomatic post has acknowledged in a sworn affidavit.

While on paper the Iranian Cultural Centre was run by the non-profit Mobin Foundation, the administrator described for the first time how the embassy paid the salaries of teachers who worked there and “sometimes paid other expenses.”

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EU says Iran nuclear talks in ‘critical phase’, experts to meet soon

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VIENNA (Reuters) – Efforts to reach a deal over Iran’s nuclear programme are in a “critical phase” ahead of a late November deadline for an agreement to end the decade-old dispute, an EU spokesman said on Thursday after high-level negotiations in Vienna.

“We are trying hard to make progress and remain fully engaged to achieve a comprehensive solution” by the Nov. 24 deadline, said Michael Mann, spokesman for European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

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‘All bases covered’ in coalition bid to defeat IS

Shahin Mahmoudi
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‘All bases covered’ in coalition bid to defeat IS

AFP – “All bases are covered” in a multinational coalition effort against the Islamic State, top US diplomat John Kerry says, as Washington harnesses diplomatic and public support to smash the militants. That’s why the secretary of state is now just continuing his efforts to travel throughout the region to get others to join us in this effort.

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Iran’s covert and quiet military build up and operations

Shahin Mahmoudi
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Iran’s covert and quiet military build up and operations

Huffington Post: The Islamic Republic has exercised a tactical shift with regards to its mass strategic signaling about its military and ballistic capabilities, development of nuclear technologies, covert operations, and long-range missiles. Iranian officials have considerably altered their tone, becoming less strident with regards to sending messages to others about their nation’s strategic and military capabilities.

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Paris conference aims to divide up tasks in IS fight

Shahin Mahmoudi
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Paris conference aims to divide up tasks in IS fight

AFP: Who strikes and where? Who provides the weapons? Who provides the intelligence? And who provides the cash? The international conference in Paris on Monday will seek to divide up the roles between nations with often diverging interests. Britain’s resolve may well have been stiffened however, by the execution of one of its citizens, aid worker David Haines, by IS militants.

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‘Not appropriate’ for Iran to join Islamic State talks, Kerry says

Shahin Mahmoudi
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‘Not appropriate’ for Iran to join Islamic State talks, Kerry says

Los Angeles Times: The conference in Paris is billed as a forum for global leaders to discuss how to confront the Islamic State. French officials have said they would like Iran to attend. At the Ankara news conference, however, Kerry called Iran a “state sponsor of terror” and cited the presence of Iranian forces in Syria helping the government of President Bashar Assad.

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Iran’s president has not delivered on pledges of more freedom – U.N.

Shahin Mahmoudi
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Iran’s president has not delivered on pledges of more freedom – U.N.

Reuters: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s promises of greater freedoms for the Islamic Republic have not resulted in any major improvements regarding human rights and freedom of expression, the U.N. chief said in a new report on Iran. U.N. Secretary-General’s annual report to the General Assembly on human rights in Iran also expressed alarm at the reported recent increase in executions in Iran.

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Collaboration with Iran’s regime is self-defeating

Shahin Mahmoudi
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Collaboration with Iran’s regime is self-defeating

Roll Call: As Iraq teeters on disintegration, some on Capitol Hill are floating the idea of collaborating with Iran in order to defeat the threat posed by the terror group Islamic State (ISIS). But, would this really serve American interests? As dangerous as ISIS is, our would-be partners in Tehran present an even greater security threat to the region and America’s core interests. 

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