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Wednesday, May 20, 2026

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Kayhan.London

Tag: Ewan McGregor

Iranian-Australian Actor Mojean Aria Wins Heath Ledger Award

June 30, 2017

kayhanlife

An English-language digital media outlet with a spotlight on the global Iranian community. #kayhanlife

By Jana Choukeir and Humeyra Pamuk DUBAI/WASHINGTO

By Jana Choukeir and Humeyra Pamuk
DUBAI/WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that negotiations with Iran were “in the final stages”, while warning of further attacks unless Tehran agrees to a peace deal.

Six weeks since Trump paused Operation Epic Fury for a ceasefire, talks to end the war have shown little progress. Trump said this week he came close to ordering more attacks, but held off to allow time for negotiations.

in the final stages of Iran. We’ll see what happens. Either have a deal or we’re going to do some things that are a little bit nasty, but hopefully that won’t happen,” he told reporters.

“Ideally I’d like to see few people killed, as opposed to a lot. We can do it either way.”

Speaking later at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Trump reprised his either/or rhetoric – “We may have to hit them very hard… but maybe not” – and reiterated his determination not to allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.

Tehran, for its part, accused Trump of plotting to restart the war, and threatened to retaliate for any strikes with attacks beyond the Middle East.

“If aggression against Iran is repeated, the promised regional war will extend beyond the region this time,” the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Iran‘s top peace negotiator, said in an audio message on social media that “obvious and hidden moves by the enemy” showed the Americans were preparing new attacks.

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei later said the U.S. had to end its “piracy” against Iranian ships – a reference to the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.

“Despite the negative record of the other side over the past year and a half, Iran is pursuing the path of negotiations with seriousness and good faith, but it has strong and reasonable suspicion over America’s performance,” Baghaei said.

May 20 (Reuters) – Iran‘s newly created Persian Gu

May 20 (Reuters) – Iran‘s newly created Persian Gulf Strait Authority said in a post on X on Wednesday there will be a “controlled maritime zone” at the Strait of Hormuz.

The authority, which was set to manage the strait, set the zone as the “line connecting Kuh-e Mobarak in Iran and southern Fujairah in the UAE at the eastern side of the strait, to the line connecting the end of Qeshm Island in Iran and Umm Al Quwain in the UAE at the western side of the strait.”

It said transit through the area to pass through the strait would require coordination and authorization from the authority.

(Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din and Yomna Ehab; Editing by Chris Reese)

By Kayhan Life Staff May 20 - The Islamic Republic

By Kayhan Life Staff
May 20 - The Islamic Republic of Iran executed 2,159 people in 2025, pushing the total number of executions worldwide to its highest in 44 years, Amnesty International reported in an annual report titled “Death Sentences and Executions 2025.”

“Amnesty International’s monitoring of the global use of the death penalty recorded 2,707 executions in 2025, representing a 78 percent rise from 1,518 in 2024,” the report said. “Iranian authorities carried out more than 2,000 executions, the highest figure recorded in the country by Amnesty International since 1981, as the death penalty continues to be used as a tool of fear and repression.”

At least 2,707 individuals were executed across 17 countries last year — a roughly 80 percent increase from 2024. The figures do not include the thousands of executions believed to have taken place in China, which Amnesty International continues to identify as the world’s leading user of the death penalty.

The unprecedented rise in executions is largely attributed to Iran’s intensified implementation of death sentences.

In 2025 alone, Iran executed at least 2,159 people, more than double the number recorded in 2024. Executions in Iran accounted for roughly four-fifths of the total worldwide.

Other countries also reported higher execution numbers: Saudi Arabia executed at least 356 individuals, mainly for drug-related offenses, while Kuwait saw executions rise from six to 17, Egypt from 13 to 23, Singapore from nine to 17, and the United States from 25 to 47.

Amnesty International noted that the U.S., Iran, China, Somalia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Egypt, Vietnam, and Yemen maintained relatively consistent execution practices over the past five years.

Executions in Iran have accelerated sharply over the past 12 weeks. A nationwide internet blackout has made it difficult to collect prison data, but reports indicate that executions of political prisoners have reached levels unseen in three decades.

May 20 - FIFA has moved to prohibit the display of

May 20 - FIFA has moved to prohibit the display of Iran’s pre-revolutionary Lion and Sun flag and related apparel at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is set to kick off on June 11 across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

The governing body grounded its decision in its stadium code of conduct, which bars “banners, flags, apparel, and other paraphernalia that are of a political, offensive, and/or discriminatory nature” from venues.

The Lion and Sun motif, which has roots in Persian heraldry as far back as the 12th century, became Iran’s official national emblem after the Constitutional Revolution of 1906–1907, but was replaced by the Islamic Republic in 1980 with a new stylized emblem — turning both symbols into potent political markers.

Since 1979, the pre-revolutionary flag has served as a symbol of Iranians opposed to the current government, and unlike at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where enforcement was inconsistent, the 2026 ban is expected to be applied as a blanket policy.

The decision has drawn swift and fierce backlash from the Iranian diaspora and opposition figures, with critics arguing that FIFA is, in effect, covering for the Islamic Republic, whose government views the pre-revolutionary flag as an illegal symbol of the former monarchy.

#kayhanlife #worldcup2026

By Devjyot Ghoshal, Ahmed Rasheed, Parisa Hafezi,

By Devjyot Ghoshal, Ahmed Rasheed, Parisa Hafezi, Gavin Finch and Saurabh Sharma

DUBAI, May 20 (Reuters) – The tanker crew gathered their courage and carefully navigated along a route designated by Iran, hugging the coastline and maneuvering their hulking vessel between island checkpoints through the Strait of Hormuz.

The 330-metre-long Agios Fanourios I, laden with Iraqi crude oil and bound for Vietnam, had been bottled up off the coast of Dubai since late April. But on May 10 it set off for the strait after a direct deal with Iran overseen by Iraq’s prime minister.

Iran’s orders to the tanker were part of a complex, multi-tiered mechanism that the country has deployed for clearing vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. With Iran now in de facto control of the strait, the system can involve government-to-government arrangements, intense vetting by the Iranian government and sometimes fees in exchange for safe passage, Reuters has found.

Continues on kayhanlife.com as a free article.

May 20 (Reuters) – A magnitude 4.7 earthquake stru

May 20 (Reuters) – A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck near Southern Iran on Wednesday, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.

The quake was at a depth of 14 km (8.7 miles), EMSC said.

Iran‘s Fars News Agency reported that a 4.7 magnitude earthquake struck parts of Hormozgan province and was felt by residents of Qeshm and Hormoz cities, as well as in rural areas in Bandar Abbas. Fars said the epicentre was near Bandar Laft at a depth of 20 km.

The director general of crisis management at the Hormozgan governorate told Iranian media that no damage had been reported so far from the earthquake, but assessments were ongoing.

(Reporting by Fabiola Arámburo in Mexico City and Ahmed Tolba in Cairo; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Tom Hogue)

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