Source: Agence France Presse
Security & Justice
Captured Hezbollah Operative May Have Been Israeli Double Agent, Report Suggests
The alleged senior Hezbollah operative abducted by Israeli special forces last week in Batroun may have been operating as a double agent, according to a report by The Telegraph.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Lebanon’s Probe into Israeli Raid Expected to Take Days as Security Officials Weigh Theories
Lebanese authorities are ramping up investigations into an Israeli commando raid last week in the northern coastal city of Batroun, during which Imad Amhaz, a Hezbollah official, was snatched.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Opinion
The Emptying of Baalbek Is a Moment to Take Stock
“Large numbers of people continue to flee their homes every day, as Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been going on unabated.” These disturbing words could be from almost any news report about Israel’s invasion of its northern neighbour over the past month. However, they can be found in a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre issued on July 27, 2006.
Saturday, November 2, 2024
A Future Without Hezbollah
At the end of September, when Israel’s campaign to destroy Hezbollah was reaching its height, I met one of the group’s supporters in a seaside café in western Beirut. He was a middle-aged man with a thin white beard and the spent look of someone who had not slept for days. He was an academic of sorts, not a fighter, but his ties to Hezbollah were deep and long-standing.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Sports
Tottenham Forward Son Heung-min Crowned Asia’s International Player of the Year
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was crowned as Asia’s International Player of the Year for the fourth time by the Asian Football Confederation at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Real Madrid Launch Investigation into Racist Insults After El Clasico Defeat
Real Madrid has launched an investigation into racist insults directed at players during Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to Barcelona in LaLiga, it said on Sunday.
Monday, October 28, 2024
Friday 21 June 2024 11:37:19
State Media: Iran Summons Italy Envoy over Canada Sanctions
Iran has summoned the Italian ambassador, who represents Canadian interests in Tehran, after Ottawa listed the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist entity, state media said on Friday.
Tensions have been high between the two countries, which broke off diplomatic relations in 2012. In the absence of a diplomatic mission, Canada’s interests in Iran have been represented by Italy.
Canada on Wednesday listed the Guards as “a terrorist entity,” citing “disregard for human rights” and “willingness to destabilize the international rules-based order.”
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani called the move “hostile” and contrary to international law.
On Thursday, the ministry summoned the Italian ambassador to Tehran, Paola Amadei, “to convey our country’s firm protest against the Canadian government’s illegal action,” the official IRNA news agency reported.
In a post on social media platform X, Iran’s acting foreign minister, Ali Bagheri, said the “Canadian government will be responsible for the consequences of this provocative and irresponsible decision.”
Ottawa’s designation bars Revolutionary Guards members from entering Canada and prohibits Canadians from dealing with them. It also allows for the seizure of any assets the Guards or its members hold in Canada.
Canada and other nations are pursuing legal action against Iran at the International Court of Justice over the downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 in January 2020.
The passenger jet was shot down shortly after take-off from Tehran, killing all 176 people on board, including 85 Canadian citizens and permanent residents. Iran said the missile strike was a mistake.
Ottawa has previously listed the Quds Force, the Guards’ foreign operations arm, as a terrorist entity and, in 2022, permanently denied entry to more than 10,000 Iranian officials, including Guards members.
The United States designated the Guards as a foreign terrorist organization in April 2019 and the European Union sanctioned them this month for allegedly supplying drones to Russia and its allies in the Middle East.