• 5.2-magnitude earthquake rattles southern Iran
TEHRAN, Iran — A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck a remote, mountainous region in southern Iran on Wednesday, injuring at least 31 people and disrupting power and communication lines, state media reported.
It says the temblor rocked the town of Sisakht, some 700 kilometers (430 miles) south of Tehran, causing people to rush out into the streets. The town has a population of 10,000. Footage showed cracks in the walls of buildings.
The semi-official ISNA news agency quoted Jalal Pouranfard, the head of provincial emergency services, as saying 18 people were transferred to medical centers and another 13 received treatment.
Iran is prone to near-daily earthquakes as it sits on major fault lines. In November, a magnitude 7.2 quake hit western Iran, killing more than 600. In 2003, a magnitude 6.6 quake flattened the historic city of Bam, killing 26,000 people. Source: The Associated Press
• Security forces use tear gas on protesters demanding their savings
Investors of the Alborz Credit Institute in Karaj, west of Tehran in Iran are rallying outside the “Mellat House” in this city demanding their savings.
State security forces are resorting to tear gas in an attempt to disperse the growing crowd. Protesters are standing up to these measures and chanting: “Shame on you, shame on you”
A number of protesters are reportedly injured as a result of this attack.
• Morocco severs ties with Iran over alleged ties with Polisario Front
Morocco will sever diplomatic ties with Iran over Tehran’s support for the Polisario Front, a Sahara independence movement, the Moroccan foreign minister said on Tuesday.
Morocco will close its embassy in Tehran and will expel the Iranian ambassador in Rabat, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita told reporters.
He said that Iran and its Lebanese Shiite ally Hezbollah were supporting the Polisario by training and arming its fighters. Source: Reuters
• Saudi Arabia ‘stands by’ Morocco ‘against all threats to its security’
An official source at Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry expressed the Kingdom’s stance by Morocco in all that threatens its security, stability and territorial integrity.
“The source added that the Saudi government strongly condemns the Iranian interference in Morocco’s internal affairs through its tool, Hezbollah’s terrorist militia.” Source: AL Arabiya
• US says files on Iran nuclear program are ‘new and authentic’
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, until last week director of the CIA, said Monday that Israel’s newly released package of intelligence on an Iranian nuclear weapons program was authentic and much of it was new to US experts.
Pompeo met Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday at Israeli military headquarters and was briefed on the material, which was released as Washington’s new top diplomat flew home.
• France: New information on Iran could prompt long-term monitoring
France’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that information provided by Israel of Iran’s past nuclear weapons program could be a basis for long-term monitoring of Tehran’s nuclear activities.
France said Tuesday that new claims about Iran’s nuclear program presented by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reinforced the importance of a 2015 deal that imposes controls on the Islamic republic.
