February 7, 2025
Politics
Europe Iran MENA News Middle East Opinion Politics

The Italy/Islamists files: File 2. The Sala/Abedini exchange and the relations between Italy and the Iranian regime – December 2024/January 2025

by Giovanni Giacalone Mohamad Abedini Najafabadi’s arrest On December 16th 2024, Iranian citizen Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi was arrested by the Italian authorities on US request after landing at Milan’s Malpensa airport. As indicated in the press release of the DOJ, Abedini and his colleague Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi (who was arrested in Massachusetts) have been charged […]

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Europe Iran MENA News Middle East Opinion Politics

The Italy/Islamists files: File 1. Najeem Almasri and the GNA connection – January 2025

by Giovanni Giacalone On January 19th, 2025, Libyan police chief and director of Tripoli’s infamous Mitiga detention center, Najeem Almasri, was arrested by Italian authorities on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Libya from February 2015 onwards. On January 21st, three judges of […]

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North America Opinion Politics

How Trump 2.0 May Be Shaping Up to Be Different from Trump 1.0

by Scott Morgan The second Trump Administration is well underway with the contrasts to the previous four years very noticeable. There are several crucial reasons for this. First off has to be the term of former President Joe Biden. Although Mr. Biden campaigned as a moderate and pledged to unify the country after the COVID […]

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Europe Iran News North America Opinion Politics

Everything you need to know about the Abedini/Sala deal

by Giovanni Giacalone The Sala-Abedini negotiation fiasco, certainly not a “diplomatic success” for Italy Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi (38), the Iranian engineer arrested on December 16th in Milan on US request was released shortly after 9 am on Sunday January 12th, 2025, at the request of the Italian Minister of Justice, Caro Nordio. The judges of […]

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Europe Iran Israel MENA News Middle East News North America Opinion Politics

Italian journalist apprehended in retaliation for Abedini’s arrest. Italy must not negotiate with a terrorist regime.

by Giovanni Giacalone On December 19th, 2024, at around noon, Italian journalist and reporter, Cecilia Sala was apprehended from her hotel in Teheran and placed under arrest, without any clear reason, by the Iranian authorities. Sala left Rome for Iran on December 12th, with a regular visa, to conduct interviews and record some episodes for […]

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News North America Opinion Politics

From Washington to Astana: Lessons in Power and Justice from Hunter Biden’s Pardon

by Damir Zaidullayev U.S. President Joe Biden cleared his son Hunter Biden of all federal gun and tax charges in a move that stunned political analysts around the world. The lines separating public duty from personal devotion have been hotly debated since this contentious ruling, which was presented as a reaction to politically motivated prosecution. […]

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Europe Israel Middle East Politics

In Italy, there is an increasingly strong link between pro-Hamas groups and the far left.

by Stefano Piazza In Italy, the link between pro-Hamas groups and the far left is increasingly strong with leftist political forces remaining silent or nearly silent. It was a Friday of very high tension in 30 Italian cities where thousands of students took to the streets for “No Meloni day’: slogans, placards, burned mannequins, photos […]

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Europe Iran Politics

Iran’s troubling infiltration into Germany and France.

by Stefano Piazza Germany’s intelligence agencies are investigating some 700 individuals linked to the Berlin-based “Mustafa Institute” for possible espionage and terrorist recruitment on behalf of Iran, according to German media. The institute, a branch of Iran’s Mustafa University, serves as a recruitment platform for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Quds Force, which supports terrorist groups such […]

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Africa Europe News North America Opinion Politics Russia

A Strange New Romance between Hungary and Chad

by Scott Morgan There has been some interest in recent moves by Hungary to solidify a defense relationship with the Central African Country of Chad. There are several interesting questions regarding why this is happening. Let’s start with some simple data points. The basic question to be asked first is whether or not if there […]

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Europe GCC Israel MENA News Middle East Opinion Politics

The Italy-Qatar defense agreement: Italy is once again siding with the “wrong crowd”

by Giovanni Giacalone The Italian firm Fincantieri recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Qatari Barzan Holdings to jointly develop a short-range anti-drone radar. The program deal, named “Omega 360”, is worth approximately $108 million, with the first units expected to be produced by the end of 2026. The signed deal follows a recent meeting […]

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