Writing in the Thursday edition of the Providence Journal, Former US Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy questioned the West’s notion that current President Hassan Rouhani is ‘moderate’, and that a disconnect has existed between perception and reality in the West for “more than three decades.”

Kennedy argues that, despite the illusion of the moderate Iranian president, “Rouhani is only the latest to artfully exploit this fantasy and play into a naïve, aspirational worldview among many in the West about Tehran’s behavior and intentions.”

Maryam Rajavi called on international community to expel Iranian regime from region

World can be free of fundamentalism only when the clerical regime in Iran as the epicenter of fundamentalism is overthrown

In a gathering of French supporters of the Iranian Resistance celebrating the New Year, the Iranian Resistance’s President-elect Maryam Rajavi expressed her regrets over bitter incidents of 2015 which made the world suffer especially in France and in the Middle East.

The Hill

By Hamid Yazdan Panah

Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia have escalated following the execution of a Shiite cleric by the Saudi government, and the storming of the Saudi embassy in Tehran. The Iranian regime went out of its way to denounce the execution of the Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, as a “big crime,” which would have consequences. What has been lost in the coverage of this conflict is the long history of systematic persecution of Sunnis within Iran.

The Guardian

Kuwait has become the latest country to downgrade its relations with Iran after recalling its ambassador, in a widening regional crisis over the execution of a Saudi Shia cleric and the ensuing attack on the kingdom’s embassy in Tehran.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Sudan have already severed diplomatic ties with Iran, while the United Arab Emirates has recalled its envoy.

USA TODAY

Jane Onyanga-Omara, USA TODAY

Bahrain and Sudan announced Monday they are severing diplomatic ties with Iran, one day after ally Saudi Arabia announced it was cutting ties with Tehran.

The move ramps up tensions in the region after Iranian protesters set fires at the Saudi Embassy over the weekend, in response to the Saudi execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

WAM/Abu Dhabi

Bahrain shuts down mission, Sudan expels ambassador.

The UAE has decided to downgrade the level of its diplomatic representation in Iran to that of a charge d’ affaires and to require a reduction in the number of Iranian diplomats stationed in the UAE.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement said that Saif Al Zaabi, the UAE Ambassador in Tehran, has been summoned home, in accordance with this decision.

The Wall Street Journal

REVIEW & OUTLOOK

Tehran demands waivers from a new law on visa entries to the U.S.

President Obama has staked much of his foreign-policy legacy on the Iran nuclear deal, but does that deal effectively give the Iranians veto power over legislation by the U.S. Congress? That’s the question at the center of Tehran’s “outrage” at a security law passed by Congress after the Paris and San Bernardino attacks.

By Angus McDowall

RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia widened its rift with Iran on Monday, saying it would end air traffic and trade links with the Islamic republic and demanding that Tehran must “act like a normal country” before it would restore severed diplomatic relations.

Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Reuters in an interview that Tehran was responsible for rising tensions after the kingdom executed Shi’ite Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday, describing him as a terrorist.