Facebook removes 82 fake pages, groups and accounts tied to Iran 1 million US and British followers were victims of disinformation activity Washington: Facebook Inc said on Friday it had deleted accounts originating in Iran that attracted more than 1 million US and British followers, its latest effort to combat disinformation activity on its platform. Social media companies are struggling to stop attempts by people inside and outside the United States to spread false information on their platforms with goals ranging from destabilising elections by stoking hardline positions to supporting propaganda campaigns. The fake Facebook accounts originating in Iran mostly targeted American liberals, according to the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, a think-tank that works with Facebook to study propaganda online. Facebook said it removed 82 pages, groups and accounts on Facebook and Instagram that represented themselves as being American or British citi...

Qom’s top legal, religious cleric announces support for Iran protests 12/30/2017 10:50:58 PM 16 Demonstrators called on the regime to stop supporting terrorist groups abroad Al Arabiya, 30 December 2017  - A prominent hardline cleric responsible for being one of Iran’s leading reference on Islamic jurisprudence has voiced support for the ongoing protests currently gripping several cities across the country. Considered the top religious cleric in the city of Qom, Hossein Noori Hamedani, on Saturday supported the popular protests against the high prices and high costs of living in the country. “The people are demanding their right and we must support them,” Hamedani was quoted by the Iranian media. He added: “People are demanding their legitimate rights because they suffer from high living costs and the difficulty of living, as well as the spread of unemployment,” calling on the government to work to reduce poverty and unemployment and avoid the anger...

Sanctions help, not hurt, Iran’s people Under the 2015 nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Iranian regime received tens of billions of dollars in sanctions relief, plus the promise of new business from a variety of Western companies. Some people see this as a triumph of diplomacy which will improve the lives of the Iranian people, and engender good will. A common argument against economic sanctions is that that the private sector and a nation’s citizenry sh The council’s report points out that Mahan Air is by no means alone. Untold numbers of companies, from multitudes of industries, are generating profits for the IRGC at the expense of the Iranian people. Whatever one might think about economic sanctions in general, the composition of the Iranian economy makes them not only well-advised but absolutely necessary to separating the repressive government from its people. As such, President Trump’s moves to designate the IRGC as a  ...

Tillerson lands in Riyadh at start of Gulf, South Asia tour 10/21/2017 6:22:52 PM U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson gathers his things to board his plane to depart for a several day Mideast trip, Friday, Oct. 20, 2017 RIYADH (Reuters) OCT, 21, 2017  - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Riyadh on Saturday to attend a landmark meeting between officials from Saudi Arabia and Iraq aimed at improving relations between the two countries and countering Iran’s growing regional influence. The chief U.S. diplomat flew into King Salman Air Base a little more than a week after U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a strategy to contain Iran and compel Tehran to agree to close what he charged are flaws in the multinational 2015 deal designed to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons. Tillerson’s only official meeting on Saturday was a working dinner with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. He was stopping in Saudi Arabia on the first leg of a...

US spies can make it harder to do business with Iran. Here's how, says CIA chief Mike Pompeo 10/20/2017 9:54:13 AM CIA Director Mike Pompeo speaks at the FDD National Security Summit in Washington, October 19, 2017 • The United States should make it more expensive for Iran to engage in 'adventurism' in the Middle East, CIA Director Mike Pompeo said Thursday. • The intelligence community is trying and struggling to expose Iranian companies with ties to the nation's sanctioned security forces. CNBC, Oct. 19, 2017  - The U.S. intelligence community and Treasury Department can make it harder for Iran to meddle in regional affairs by exposing Iranian businesses that have ties to the nation's elite security force, CIA Director Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster said on Thursday. Their comments suggest the investment climate in Iran could become more challenging just as foreign firms seek to build or restore ties in the c...