ISIL Claims Responsibility for Killing of Iranian General in Iraq

The Islamic State has claimed the killing of Brig. Gen. Hamid Taghvai, an IRGC commander, according to images posted on ISIL’s forums on Monday. (AFP, 29 December)

The IRGC announced the death of Gen. Taghvai on Sunday, saying he was killed in the city of Samarra by a sniper bullet. His funeral was held in Tehran on Monday.

Photo credit: Iranians carry the coffin of IRGC Brigadier General Hamid Taghvai killed in Samarra region in Iraq during his funeral in Tehran; 29 December 2014 (AFP)

IAEA Delegation Arriving in Tehran Ahead of New Far-Reaching Sanctions

IAEA delegation is to arrive in Tehran on Wednesday to strike a deal on the inspection regime of the country’s nuclear facilities only three weeks before the full force of U.S. sanctions against Iran goes into effect. Reporting on the subject, Christian Science Monitor’s Roshanak Taghavi writes that as the result of the new sanctions billions of dollars worth of Iranian money could end up permanently out of Tehran's reach.

To read Taghavi’s report, please click here.

Photo credit: Herman Nackaerts, center, deputy director of IAEA, speaks to the press before his flight to Iran at Vienna's Schwechat airport, Austria. Tuesday, 15 January. (Ronald Zak/AP/CSM)