Sept. 10 – Israel’s military chief, Aviv Kohavi, said military plans to deal with Iran’s nuclear program had been “greatly accelerated” this week, as Tehran continued to delay nuclear deal talks in Vienna.
In an interview published on Monday, Kohavi said Israel’s defence budget had been increased to implement the plans, which he said involved more intelligence efforts and more military capability.
The latest statistics from the World Bank suggested that Iran’s economy had halved since 2017.
The decline in Iran’s economy has been linked to crippling US sanctions imposed on Iran, internal economic mismanagement and a sharp drop in the value of the country’s national currency.
Quds Force commander Esmail Ghaani said Iran would continue to protect its interests in Afghanistan, following the country’s takeover by Sunni Muslim group, the Taliban.
Addressing Iran’s Parliament on Tuesday Ghaani said Iran, whose government is Shia Muslim, had several priorities in Afghanistan and that Tehran’s priority would be to avoid war and ensure that all groups in Afghanistan had a share of the country.
And several Iranian and Afghan protestors were arrested, including women’s rights activist Narges Mohammadi and journalist Vida Rabbani, during a peaceful demonstration outside the Pakistani embassy in Tehran.
The demonstration was held to protest the appointment of the Taliban as Afghanistan’s government.
