TEHRAN: Iran’s new defense minister said Saturday the priority was to boost the country’s missile program and export weapons to shore up neighboring allies.

TEL AVIV — Palestinian journalist Abed al-Bary Atwan, editor-in-chief of the electronic publication Al Rai Al Youm, which maintains positive connections with senior Hamas figures and senior Iranian officials, has written an analysis in response to comments from Hamas’ leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, about Iran’s support for Hamas, saying that Hamas has decided on a political position, returning to the axis of resistance led by Iran.

TEL AVIV — Jordan and Israel have increased cooperation in recent days regarding the ceasefire in southern Syria to ensure against Iran filling the security vacuum in swaths of Syrian territory, an Arab intelligence official told Breitbart Jerusalem.

Iran on Monday signed a $5 billion agreement with France’s Total SA and a Chinese oil company to develop its massive offshore natural gas field, the first such deal with foreign companies since the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

TEL AVIV — Palestinian organizations, almost all of whom are recipients of Iranian financial support, were quick to condemn the attacks in the capital of Tehran on Wednesday.

Iran’s supreme leader hit out at the United States and Saudi Arabia during the funerals Friday for those slain in the first attacks in the country claimed by the Islamic State group.

Iranian MPs have criticized the arrests of journalists and social media organizers ahead of the presidential election in May, with one directly accusing the elite Revolutionary Guards in a letter published Saturday.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps arrested a Christian mother and her son on February 20, seizing their Bibles and other religious literature, as part of what Fox News calls “a brutal crackdown on Catholicism.”

The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps warned America would receive a “strong slap in the face” if it did “anything stupid” against the Shiite nation.

The United States should expect a “strong slap in the face” if it underestimates Iran’s defensive capabilities, a commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday, as Tehran concluded war games.

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard has launched several sophisticated rockets during military exercises, Iranian media reported on Monday.

A senior Iranian security official boasted over the weekend that it would only take an Iranian missile 7 minutes to reach Tel Aviv.

Seven fast-attack Iranian military vessels engaged in yet another provocative confrontation with the U.S vessel the USS Firebolt over the weekend, resulting in one Iranian boat coming to a halt in front of the U.S. coastal patrol ship.