World’s first book on Iranian hotels reveals the charming places you can stay in the country

The world’s first guide to hotels in Iran is out next month. And anyone who’s dubious about its contents, that it can’t surely showcase anything enticing, is in for a surprise. Persian Nights – Amazing Boutique Hotels & Guesthouses in Iran, published by teNeues (www.teneues.com), is authored by Thomas Wegmann, who travelled from the top to … Read more

Gay Iranian, 20, ‘beheaded by his brother and cousins after they discovered his sexuality’ 

A gay Iranian man has been reportedly beheaded by his brother and two cousins after they discovered he had been exempted from military service due to his sexuality. Alireza Fazeli Monfared, 20, was allegedly taken by the three male members of his family to the village of Borumi, western Iran, and murdered.  Afterwards, the three … Read more

Russia and China using cyber attacks to ‘steal, sabotage and ransack’ the West, Dominic Raab warns

Dominic Raab accuses Russia of ‘sheltering’ criminal cyber gangs who are using attacks to ‘steal, sabotage and ransack’ the West and ‘want to undermine the very foundations of our democracy’ as oil pipeline hack cripples US Raab speaking at  National Cyber Security Centre’s CYBERUK conference today  Says authoritarian regimes  are using technology to attack international … Read more

US ship fires 30 warning shots in encounter with 13 armed Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz

The US Coast Guard fired 30 warning shots after 13 Iranian armed speedboats came within yards of seven American military vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday.  Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said some of the Iranian fast boats came as close as 150 yards of six U.S. military vessels escorting the guided-missile submarine Georgia. … Read more

Second-highest ranked employee at Swiss embassy falls to her death from high-rise building in Iran 

Second-highest ranked employee at Swiss embassy falls to her death from high-rise building in Iran Embassy’s first secretary, 51, died after falling from a building in northern Tehran She lived on the 18th floor of the residential building where she fell to her death Swiss Embassy had represented the US in Iran since the 1979 … Read more

Iranian state TV claims Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe will be freed after UK ‘paid £400m military debt’

Iranian state TV claims Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe will be freed after the UK ‘paid £400million military debt’ – but the British mother’s family say they have heard nothing Iranian State TV quoted anonymous official claiming UK had agreed to pay debt Channel reported deals had been reached to release prisoners with Western ties However, UK officials … Read more

John Kerry facing mounting calls to resign as Biden’s climate envoy

A growing list of Republicans – including several potential 2024 presidential candidates – is trashing Biden climate envoy John Kerry following a new claim by a top Iranian diplomat in a leaked recording, and one GOP Senator wants Kerry’s resignation. Kerry on Monday emphatically denied telling Iran’s foreign minister Javad Zarif information about Israeli attacks … Read more

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: UK condemns Iran as a year is added to jail term

Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab slam Iran for imposing ‘totally inhumane and wholly unjustified’ extra year in prison for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe as the PM says he is ‘working very hard’ to secure her release Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been given an additional one year jail term in Iran Dominic Raab said the sentence was ‘totally inhumane … Read more