TOKYO: Japan’s reputation as a neutral actor in the Middle East peace process continues to suffer as it tries to forge a close defense relationship with Israel. Diplomats say Tokyo is taking a visibly softer stance with regard to aggressive Israeli policies and the annexation of Arab lands by force.
AL-MUKALLA: Iranian interference in Yemen started immediately after exiled Ayatollah Khomeini’s 1979 return to Tehran, the Yemeni leader has revealed.
And Rashad Al-Alimi, president of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, told Al Arabiya TV on Monday that in 1983 Iran’s government gave its backing to an armed group commanded by Badder Addin Al-Houthi, the father of the Houthi movement’s leader.
ROME: The Italian Senate’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee unanimously approved on Tuesday a resolution urging Iran to respect women’s rights and stop its crackdown on peaceful protesters.
The resolution was proposed by Sen. Stefania Craxi, speaker of the committee. “My text received full support by all the parties,” she told Arab News.
“This clearly signifies the unanimous condemnation by the Italian Parliament of the barbarism carried out by the regime in Tehran since the killing of Mahsa Amini.”
GENEVA: The United Nations on Tuesday named three women to lead a rights investigation into Iran’s violent crackdown on women-led protests that have rocked the Islamic republic for more than three months.
Bangladesh Supreme Court lawyer Sara Hossain, Pakistani law professor Shaheen Sardar Ali and rights activist Viviana Krsticevic from Argentina will be the independent members of the fact-finding mission, UN Human Rights Council head Federico Villegas announced.
Hossain, a long-time human rights activist, will chair the investigation, the council presidency added.
LONDON: Actors, novelists, directors and other members of the international arts community are demanding the immediate release of Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti, The Guardian reported on Tuesday.
Alidoosti, one of the country’s most famous actresses, was arrested on Saturday on charges of spreading false information about nationwide protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death.
