Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on March 15 inaugurated a new underground facility designated for missile storage, state television reported.

The report quotes General Hossein Salami, the IRGC commander, as saying that cruise and ballistic missiles will empower the paramilitary force's navy even more.

The TV report showed footage of scores of missiles but it did not say where the facility is located nor how many missiles are stored there.

Since 2011, Tehran has claimed it has underground facilities across the country as well as along the southern coast near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Iran says its missiles have a 2,000-kilometer range, placing much of the Middle East, including Israel, within striking distance.

The United States and its Western allies regard Iran’s missile program as a threat, along with the country’s nuclear program.

In July 2020, the IRGC launched underground ballistic missiles as part of an exercise involving a dummy U.S. aircraft carrier in the Strait of Hormuz, highlighting its network of subterranean missile sites.

With reporting by AP

MINSK -- A court in Belarus has sentenced RFE/RL freelancer Liza Hancharova and her father, Alyaksandr Hancharou, to 15 days in jail on charges of taking part in an unsanctioned demonstration.

On March 15, the Central District Court in Minsk found the two guilty of taking part in an unsanctioned rally on March 13.

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Both have rejected the charges, saying they were not taking part in the protest but had been arrested by police while they were nearby by chance.

Hancharova was also found guilty of planning to shoot video of the rally for unspecified "extremist Telegram channels," a charge which she also rejected.

“RFE/RL deplores the jailing of Liza Hancharova, a graphic designer with Radio Svaboda, our Belarusian service, in Minsk. For the simple act of watching a protest take place, Liza was brutally attacked on the street by police and jailed for 15 days. She should be released immediately," said RFE/RL President Jamie Fly.

Hancharova told the court that police brutally threw her onto the asphalt pavement several times during her arrest and used "suffocating methods" against her.

Hancharova and her father were among about a dozen people detained in different parts of Minsk on March 13 amid an ongoing police crackdown against people protesting against the official results of an August 9, 2020, presidential election.

Sixth Term

The official results handed a sixth term to Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who has run the country since 1994.

Thousands of people, including dozens of journalists who've covered the protest rallies, have been arrested.

Crisis In Belarus

Read our coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election.

Some have been given lengthy prison sentences. Leading opposition figures have been pushed out of the country.

Some human rights organizations say there is credible evidence of Belarusian security officials torturing detainees.

Lukashenka denies allegations that the election results were fraudulently altered in his favor. He refuses to negotiate with the opposition over their demands that he step down from power and conduct a new election that is free and fair.

The European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and governments in other countries have refused to recognize Lukashenka as the legitimate leader of Belarus.

They've also imposed sanctions against him and other senior Belarusian officials in response to what they call the “falsification” of the election results and brutal crackdowns against peaceful demonstrators following the vote.

BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has praised constitutional changes he initiated saying they are needed to create a strong central branch of government to "establish order" in the Central Asian country, despite concerns by some groups they will create an authoritarian ruler if accepted in a referendum next month.

Kyrgyzstan was rocked by crisis after parliamentary elections in October 2020 led to protests that triggered the toppling the government and the resignation of then-President Sooronbai Jeenbekov -- the third time since 2005 that a Kyrgyz president and his government had been ousted by protests.

In an interview with RFE/RL on March 15, Japarov said that after trying a parliamentary system over the past decade and a mixed parliamentary-presidential system before that, Kyrgyzstan was now at a point where there must be one strong branch of power in the country.

"I think that this constitution will be a constitution that will bring the country forward. I believe this constitution will establish order in the country," Japarov said of the amendments that are expected to be approved at a referendum on April 11.

Japarov was among several prominent politicians freed from prison by protesters during the October unrest. He had been serving a 10-year prison sentence for hostage taking during a protest against a mining operation in northeast Kyrgyzstan in October 2013. He has denied the charge.

He proposed drafting a new constitution in November 2020 when he was acting president following the turmoil that brought down the previous administration.

In January, he easily won an election while a referendum held in tandem saw voters opt for a presidential system that will be the centerpiece of the proposed constitutional amendments.

Under the changes, presidential powers would be strengthened and the current law allowing a president only one term would be scrapped in favor of opening the post up for reelection to a second term.

The amendments also envision the creation of a so-called People's Kurultai (Assembly), described as "a consultative and coordinating organ" that would be controlled by the president.

A Constitutional Council will also be created, while the number of lawmakers will be cut to 90 from 120.

Last week, Kyrgyz lawmakers approved the bill on constitutional amendments and set April 11 as the date to hold the referendum to approve the new constitution.

Many in the Central Asian nation have criticized Japarov, saying that he is looking to impose a more authoritarian system of rule by changing the constitution and concentrating power into his own hands.

Criticism From Abroad

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the government to withdraw the draft constitution, submitted to lawmakers in February, saying it undermines human rights norms and weakens the checks and balances necessary to prevent abuses of power.

“The current draft constitution does not reflect the high human rights standards Kyrgyzstan says it aspires to,” Syinat Sultanalieva, Central Asia researcher at the New York-based human rights watchdog, said in a statement on March 5.

Meanwhile, Freedom House said in its Freedom in the World 2021 report that Kyrgyzstan dropped 11 points and is in the “not free” category with the rest of the Central Asian region.

SEE ALSO:

Justice Or Revenge? The Case Of Kyrgyzstan's Abdil Segizbaev

The proposed constitutional changes, it said, reintroduce a super-presidential system while shrinking the size and role of the parliament, and also would allow the government to censor material that violates “generally recognized moral values,” without defining those values or offering an avenue for appealing such decisions.

"Kyrgyzstan’s status declined from Partly Free to Not Free because the aftermath of deeply flawed parliamentary elections featured significant political violence and intimidation that culminated in the irregular seizure of power by a nationalist leader and convicted felon who had been freed from prison by supporters," Freedom House said in the report.

But in the interview with RFE/RL, Japarov rejected those concerns saying Kyrgyzstan will "remain a democratic country" and added that there will be no persecution of politicians and journalists "as was the case before."

"We haven't persecuted anybody. We haven't prosecuted any journalists, and that wasn't the case in the past. In the past, [journalist] Syrgak Abdyldaev was stabbed, there was a case when a person was thrown from a high-rise building with his hands and legs bound, there were people jailed. Nothing like that is taking place now," Japarov said.

Politician Jenish Moldokmatov, however, would beg to differ.

He said on March 15 that one of the organizers of a rally in Bishkek against the constitutional amendments, Tilekmat Kurenov, was detained in Bishkek. The report has not been officially confirmed.

There are also questions surrounding the recent release from pretrial detention of a Kyrgyz organized-crime figure Kamchy Kolbaev, for whom Washington has offered a $1 million reward saying he is a “transnational organized-crime boss” and a “convicted murderer whose criminal network engages in drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms trafficking, and other dangerous criminal activity.”

Japarov told RFE Kolbaev "did not kill anyone" and noted that Kyrgyzstan does not extradite its citizens to foreign countries.

“I have asked, via the Foreign Ministry, for the U.S. Embassy to give us the case against [Kolbaev]. I have asked them to present facts, evidence, so that we can try him openly. I said that embassy representatives can be present at the trial. [Kolbaev] was initially detained on the charge of illegal enrichment. He paid some cash [to the State Treasury.] And he is paying more cash now after his release. He did not kill anyone," Japarov said.

Japarov also said that Kyrgyzstan is doing well in terms of paying its international debts off and denied that his government agreed to give up some disputed territories to neighboring Uzbekistan.

International observers said the 52-year-old's landslide victory in the January election "generally respected" fundamental freedoms even though the vote was not "fully fair."

KHABAROVSK, Russia -- Journalists in Russia's Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk, where demonstrations in support of the region's jailed former governor have been held since July last year, have started so-called "silent broadcasts" to avoid prosecution.

Many journalists in Khabarovsk were detained while covering the protests in recent months, although they say they had all of the documents needed to prove that they were doing their jobs. Some were either fined or jailed for several days for what local courts judged as the "participation in unsanctioned rallies."

Tatyana Khlestunova, a reporter at Prosto Gazeta (Just A Newspaper) who spent several days in jail over her coverage of the rallies, told RFE/RL over the weekend that the silent broadcast entails coverage of rallies without any commentary from reporters.

"The first 'silent broadcast' was conducted by reporter Kristina Gritsayenko of Zanaves Khabarovsk (Curtains Khabarovsk), a YouTube channel, from...the city center on March 12. Such coverage is our symbolic answer to the repressive environment faced by journalists," Khlestunova said, adding that such coverage had an even greater impact on the public.

According to Khlestunova, the last straw that prompted journalists to start silent broadcasts was a decision by a Khabarovsk district court on March 10 to sentence an Orthodox archpriest, Andrei Vinarsky, to 20 days in jail for publicly supporting the protesters. Vinarsky is currently on a hunger strike to protest his incarceration.

Journalist Yekaterina Biyak of the Activatica.or online newspaper told RFE/RL that she fears authorities may start convicting reporters for the "silent broadcasts."

The arrest in July 2020 of Sergei Furgal, who was the governor of the Khabarovsk region at the time, on charges of being involved in alleged murders more than a decade ago sparked large-scale protests in the city

Furgal has denied the charges.

Opposition factions in Armenia's parliament have called for an end to martial law after it was declared following the outbreak of war with Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2020.

During a March 15 session of the parliament’s defense committee, the Prosperous Armenia and Bright Armenia factions accused the government of maintaining the measure for political purposes amid the opposition calls for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to resign over his handling of the war.

A Moscow-brokered cease-fire deal with Azerbaijan took effect on November 10, 2020, ending six weeks of fierce fighting in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.

Under the agreement, a chunk of contested region and all seven districts around it were placed under Azerbaijani administration after almost 30 years of control by Armenians.

Prosperous Armenia lawmaker Arman Abovian said martial law, imposed on September 27, “does not correspond to the current situation and is a serious obstacle to political developments.”

Abovian pointed out one provision of the law under which the prime minister cannot be impeached as a possible reason Pashinian has not moved to withdraw the measure.

Opposition Complaints

Bright Armenia head Edmon Marukian also complained that the parliamentary opposition “cannot start a no-confidence motion during martial law.”

“In the Yerevan municipality, the assembly of lawmakers cannot start a no-confidence vote against the mayor and so on. Elections that were scheduled in the town of Ijevan and some other communities have been postponed because martial law has not been lifted yet,” Marukian said.

Pro-government lawmakers who sit on parliament’s Defense Committee said they were in favor of ending martial law but only in due time.

They said that most restrictions regarding freedom of assembly and speech were lifted in December 2020.

“If all the grounds for martial law are eliminated, of course, this martial law will be lifted as early as possible,” said Armen Khachatrian, a member of the majority My Step faction.

Khachatrian said he expected the government to initiate a bill to lift martial law “within the next seven or 10 days.”

The committee’s pro-government head Andranik Kocharian tied the lifting of martial law to the ongoing political discussions surrounding snap parliamentary elections.

“The sooner we create harmonious political conditions or reach consensus, the sooner martial law will be lifted, because there will be snap elections, and there can be no elections during the effect of martial law,” Kocharian said.

A coalition uniting 16 opposition parties has been holding anti-government demonstrations in Yerevan and other parts of the country in a bid to force Pashinian to hand over power to an interim government.

Pashinian, whose My Step faction dominates parliament, has refused to step down but has hinted at accepting early parliamentary elections under certain conditions.

Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but the ethnic Armenians who make up most of the region's population reject Azerbaijani rule.

They had been governing their own affairs, with support from Armenia, since Azerbaijan's troops and Azeri civilians were pushed out of the region and seven adjacent districts in a war that ended in a cease-fire in 1994.

A Bosnian war film and a Romanian documentary have been nominated in the best international film category for next month's Academy Awards, while a Bulgarian actress was nominated for an Oscar in a supporting role.

Quo Vadis, Aida?, directed by Jasmila Zbanic, tells the story of a translator for the United Nations in the town of Srebrenica, the scene of the Bosnian war's worst atrocity when 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed by Serb forces in July 1995.

Collective, by Romanian-German director Alexander Nanau, follows a group of Romanian investigative journalists in their arduous journey of uncovering public health-care fraud and corruption in the aftermath of a fire in a Bucharest nightclub that killed more than 60 people.

Collective was also nominated in the best documentary category -- the second time in as many years that a documentary from Southeastern Europe has been nominated in both categories after last year's Macedonian film Honeyland.

“This is a win for independent investigative journalists and whistle-blowers, guardians of our societies, who can hold corrupt authorities accountable," Nanau said about the nomination.

Quo Vadis, Aida? director Zbanic won a Golden Bear award in Berlin in 2006 for her feature Grbavica.

"I am just so happy. This is a huge success for Bosnia," actor Boris Ler, a member of the film's cast, told RFE/RL.

Quo Vadis, Aida? and Collective will compete for the best foreign movie accolade along with films from Denmark, Hong Kong, and Tunisia, the academy announced on March 15.

Bulgaria's Maria Bakalova secured a nomination for best supporting actress for her role in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, the sequel to Sacha Baron Cohen's 2006 hit mockumentary Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation.

“Wa Wa Wee Wa!" Bakalova, said, mocking Borat's signature exclamation. "Thank you to the academy for this honor! I really can't believe this -- to hear my name in the company of these remarkable women and their breathtaking performances is a dream come true!"

David Fincher’s Mank, the black-and-white drama starring Gary Oldman as Citizen Kane writer Herman Mankiewicz, led the overall field for the Academy Awards with 10 nominations.

For the first time in the 93-year history of the awards, two women -- Chloe Zhao and Emerald Fennell -- were nominated for best director.

The Academy Awards would typically have happened by now but this year were postponed by two months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

They will instead be telecast on April 25.

Based on reporting by the BBC, AFP, and AP

ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Police in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, have dispersed a peaceful picket by several protesters demanding release of their relatives "illegally" held in China, the first time law enforcement has intervened since the daily rallies started more than a month ago.

Protester Baibolat Kunbolat told RFE/RL that when police started forcibly pushing the picketers out of the site on March 15, one of the protesters, an elderly woman, felt unwell and an ambulance was called.

Kunbolat said that after the health scare for the woman, the participants decided not to resist police and left the site.

No reason was given by the police for their intervention after weeks of allowing the protests.

Dozens of ethnic Kazakhs from China have picketed the Chinese Consulate in Almaty since early February, saying their relatives, many of whom were naturalized Kazakh citizens or permanent residents of Kazakhstan, are being held in penitentiaries, including so-called reeducation camps, in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang.

The Kazakh Foreign Ministry said on March 15 that the Chinese ambassador to Kazakhstan, Zhang Xiao, stated in a conversation with a Kazakh Foreign Ministry official that "all ethnic Kazakhs held in Xinjiang are serving prison terms for violating Chinese laws."

Earlier, on March 12, the ministry's spokesman, Mukhtar Karibai, told journalists that Kazakh officials had "asked China for help solving issues" raised by the picketers violating "sanitary regulations to prevent the spread of the coronavirus."

Karibai's statement came one day after the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan posted an interview on Facebook with Sairagul Sauytbay, an ethnic Kazakh from Xinjiang, who was one of the first individuals to speak publicly about "reeducation camps" for Xinjiang's indigenous, mostly Muslim ethnic groups.

Sauytbay, who fled China in April 2018 and is currently living in Sweden, repeated his claim that thousands of ethnic Kazakhs, Uyghurs, and other Muslims in Xinjiang were undergoing "political indoctrination" at a network of "reeducation camps," facing "torture and humiliation" there.

U.S. Embassy officials met last week with other ethnic Kazakhs who fled Xinjiang and are currently in Kazakhstan to discuss their ordeals in China.

The U.S. State Department has said that as many as 2 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and members of Xinjiang's other indigenous, mostly Muslim, ethnic groups have been taken to detention centers.

China denies that the facilities are internment camps.

Kazakhs are the second-largest Turkic-speaking indigenous community in Xinjiang after Uyghurs. The region is also home to ethnic Kyrgyz, Tajiks, and Hui, also known as Dungans.

Han, China's largest ethnicity, is the second-largest community in Xinjiang.

The independent Russian investigative newspaper Novaya gazeta says it believes the entrance to the building in Moscow that houses its offices has been targeted in a "chemical attack."

The periodical, which shares the premises with several other companies, said on March 15 that there was a strong chemical odor in the building detected by all employees and visitors to the newspaper's offices.

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Officials and teams from the Emergency Situations Ministry, Interior Ministry, and the Federal Security Service are at the site and working to find the source of the smell, the newspaper said. So far, there has been no official confirmation of any chemical substance in the building.

Novaya gazeta's staff members say that the odor is very similar to one that was present when the home and car of correspondent Yulia Latynina was sprinkled with an unknown chemical in 2017.

That same year, the newspaper received a letter with an unknown white powder inside, which later was shown to be harmless.

In October 2018, unknown people brought three cages with sheep wearing vests with the inscription PRESS on them. Several days before that, unknown individuals threw a funeral wreath in front of the publication’s building with notes threatening Denis Korotkov, a correspondent for the newspaper. Days later, a sheep's head was found near the office with a note threatening all reporters at Novaya gazeta.

Six of the publication's journalists, including well-known reporters Yury Shchekochikhin, Anna Politkovskaya, and Anastasia Baburova, have been killed since 2001.

TBILISI – Georgian authorities have launched a national coronavirus vaccine rollout by inoculating medical workers with the shot produced by Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca, rejecting rising concerns over side effects.

Several European countries, including Bulgaria, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Norway, have paused inoculations with the vaccine after reports of serious blood clotting in some recipients.

AstraZeneca and the World Health Organization last week said there was no evidence linking the vaccine with clotting. The European Union's drug regulator has said that European countries can continue using the vaccine even though there were 30 cases of so-called thromboembolic events among 5 million people who had received the jab in Europe.

After being inoculated with the vaccine on March 15, the deputy director of Georgia's national center for disease control, Paata Imnadze, expressed confidence that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and rejected the “rumors” surrounding it.

Among Georgia's 70,000 healthcare workers, only 2,492 had signed up to be vaccinated as of 11 a.m. local time on March 15.

Georgia received the first batch of 43,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines at the end of last week, and it expects batches of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine by March 22.

The South Caucasus nation of some 3.7 million people has reported more than 268,000 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic and 3,650 related deaths.

Opposition politician Aleksei Navalny has confirmed his relocation to a notorious penitentiary in the city of Pokrov, likening the institution to "a friendly concentration camp."

In a sometimes lighthearted message posted on his Instagram account on March 15, Navalny said he was fine after his move three days earlier to the IK-2 prison, noting his daily routine, like that of the other prisoners, was guided by the "literal fulfillment of endless rules."

"I have to admit that the Russian prison system was able to surprise me. I had no idea that it was possible to arrange a real concentration camp 100 kilometers from Moscow," he said in the post.

"That's what I call my new home: our friendly concentration camp.”

On March 3, Navalny was moved to Detention Center No. 3 in the town of Kolchugino, though it was expected that eventually he would be moved to a penal colony in Pokrov. The colony has been known as one of the toughest in the European part of the Russian Federation.

Navalny said he had seen no violence in his new surroundings, "or even a hint of it," joking that he was shocked by a rule prohibiting swearing, though he noted an underlying tense atmosphere in the prison which made it "easy to believe the numerous stories that here, in IK-2 Pokrov, people have been beaten half to death with wooden hammers."

"Three things never cease to amaze me. The starry sky above us, the categorical imperative within us, and the amazing feeling when you run your palm over your freshly shaven head. Greetings to all from the Sector of Enhanced Control A," Navalny wrote on March 15, attaching an old photo showing his shaven head.

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5 Things To Know About Russian Opposition Leader Aleksei Navalny

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As news of his transfer broke, dozens of countries, including the United States, called for his immediate release and an investigation into his poisoning last year with a military-grade nerve agent.

Navalny was detained at a Moscow airport in January immediately upon returning from Berlin, where he was recovering from what several Western labs determined was a poisoning attempt using a Novichok-type nerve agent that saw him fall ill on a flight in Siberia in August 2020.

Russia has denied involvement but Navalny has said the assassination attempt was ordered by Putin.

A Moscow court in February ruled that, while in Germany, Navalny had violated the terms of parole from an older embezzlement case that is widely considered to be politically motivated.

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Navalny Fined, Prison Sentence Upheld In Two Legal Losses

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His suspended 3 1/2 year sentence was converted into jail time, though the court reduced that amount to 2 1/2 years for time already served in detention.

Navalny’s incarceration set off a wave of national protests and a crackdown against his supporters.

On March 2, the European Union and the United States imposed fresh sanctions against Russia over the Navalny case.

On March 12, the representative for Poland read out a statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council that said the actions against Navalny by Russian authorities were "unacceptable and politically motivated."

With reporting by TASS

The head of Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund says it has reached "agreements with companies from Italy, Spain, France, and Germany to launch production" of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.

Kirill Dmitriev, whose organization has funded the vaccine and is responsible for selling it globally, said the deals would allow for the supply of Sputnik to the European market "once the approval is granted" by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

The EMA launched a rolling review of Sputnik V earlier this month, but EU member Hungary has begun using it as part of its vaccine rollout, even though it lacks approval by the European agency.

The Czech Republic and Slovakia have also ordered doses and said they would not wait for EMA approval.

According to the RDIF, Sputnik V has been registered in more than 50 countries.

Dmitriev said on March 15 that 3.5 million people in Russia had received both shots of the vaccine.

Based on reporting by AFP

The Russian Football Union says FIFA has launched disciplinary cases against three Russian soccer players who are suspected of violating anti-doping rules in 2013.

The union said in a statement on March 15 that it had received information from world soccer's governing body on the opening of disciplinary cases against two male players and one female player, according to Russian news agencies.

The statement did not identify the players but said they had not played for Russia's senior national teams.

Russian sport has been dogged by doping allegations in recent years.

In 2015, a report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) outlined evidence of systematic, state-backed doping in the country. Russian officials have denied that.

Another report documented more than 1,000 doping cases across dozens of sports, most notably at the Winter Olympics, which Russia hosted in Sochi in 2014.

Russia is banned from competing as a nation at major sporting events for two years, including this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, for doctoring data given to WADA that was meant to help identify drug cheats.

However, Russian athletes are able to compete under a neutral flag if they prove they have no connection with doping.

Based on reporting by Reuters, TASS, and Interfax

The lawyer for a French tourist who was arrested in Iran some 10 months ago says his client faces charges of espionage and "spreading propaganda against the system."

Saeid Dehghan tweeted on March 15 that Benjamin Briere, 35, has been accused of taking pictures in "forbidden areas" and of "raising the question in [social] media" about why wearing the headscarf, or hijab, is mandatory in Iran but optional in other Islamic countries.

Under Iranians law, a spying conviction can lead to a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

"My colleagues and I believe that these charges are false and baseless, but we have to wait for the judge to conduct a full investigation in the next few days and announce his verdict," Dehghan told Reuters.

Iran's judiciary was not available for comment.

A spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry said on March 15 that Briere was "benefitting from (French) consular protection" and that its embassy in Tehran was in "regular contact" with him.

Last month, the ministry confirmed that a French citizen was arrested in May 2020 on vague security-related charges, adding that it was monitoring the situation.

Iran's security agencies regularly detain foreigners or dual nationals, mostly on espionage charges.

Critics say Iran uses such arbitrary detentions as part of hostage diplomacy to extract political concessions from Western countries, something which Tehran denies.

Dehghan told Reuters that Briere was being held in Vakilabad prison in the northeastern city of Mashhad.

"His health is good and he has access to his lawyers and he benefits from consular protection and the French Embassy officials have been in regular contact with him," the lawyer said.

According to him, the French tourist was arrested after flying a helicam, a remote-controlled mini-helicopter used to take video or pictures, in the desert near the Turkmenistan-Iran border.

On March 14, British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe reappeared before a Tehran court to face accusations of spreading propaganda after completing a five-year prison sentence on charges of plotting to overthrow Iran's clerical government.

The cases come as the United States and European signatories to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal, including France and Britain, are trying to restore the accord that was abandoned in 2018 by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Tehran has gradually rolled back its commitment under the accord in response to the U.S. pullout from the pact and its reinstatement of sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.

The new administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has signaled its readiness to revive the deal but insists that Iran first return to all its nuclear commitments.

Tehran says Washington should first lift its sanctions against Iran.

Addressing a conference organized by the European Policy Center think tank in Paris, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned that time is running out for Washington to revive the 2015 deal because of Iran's upcoming June presidential election.

Once the election period kicks off, Zarif said, it is unlikely much will happen until later this year.

"The Europeans are used to compromise. Iran and the United States are not. The Americans are used to imposing, and we are used to resisting," the Iranian minister said.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

A 20-year-old Kazakh DJ and record producer has won a 2021 Grammy award, becoming the first Central Asian recipient of the prestigious musical accolade.

Imanbek Zeykenov from Kazakhstan's northern region of Pavlodar won the award on March 14 at the 63rd Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in the category of the best remixed recording, nonclassical, for his version of Roses by the rapper Saint Jhn.

"[The] best thing for [a] musician is to get a Grammy, [and] we made it!" Zeykenov wrote on Instagram after his victory was announced.

After graduating from high school in the town of Aqsu, Zeykenov studied at a school for railways and was employed by a rail company.

Music was his hobby. His remix of Saint Jhn's "Roses" became extremely popular on YouTube and was a top-five hit on the U.S, Billboard Hot 100.. Last May the remix also topped the charts in Britain.

After the initial success of the song, Zeykenov worked with Russia's Effective records and agreed with Saint Jhn, whose real name is Carlos St. John Phillips, to issue an official single.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the award ceremony had many pretaped performances, while host Trevor Noah officiated the four-hour show live from downtown Los Angeles. Attendees wore masks and sat socially distanced at small round tables.

Four women won the top four prizes, including Taylor Swift, who became the first female performer to win album of the year three times. Beyoncé — with her 28th win — became the most-decorated woman in Grammy history.

H.E.R. won song of the year and Billie Eilish picked up her second consecutive record of the year honor, telling the audience that best new artist winner Megan Thee Stallion deserved the award.

Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya has called on three jailed Belarusians to stop hunger strikes they started to protest their incarceration as part of a crackdown on those speaking out against authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

In a video statement issued on YouTube on March 14, Tsikhanouskaya tells journalist Ihar Losik, musician Ihar Bantser, and activist Dzmitry Furmanau that Belarus cannot risk losing them.

"You are now risking your lives by expressing your protest through a hunger strike. But, we, Belarusians, are not ready to risk you....Your loved ones, parents and children need you. Belarus needs you," Tsikhanouskaya said in the statement.

Tsikhanouskaya also said that she was "doing her best" to secure the release of "hundreds of other [innocent[ Belarusians who are locked up."

Tsikhanouskaya added that she had met officials across Europe last week and asked them to impose additional sanctions on Belarusian officials over the jailing of activists across Belarus who have been protesting the official results of an August 9 presidential election they say was rigged to hand Lukashenka a landslide victory.

"As early as next week, the UN should launch a mechanism to bring to justice those who carried out illegal detentions and passed verdicts imposed from above," Tsikhianouskaya said. "But I don't know if you still have a week."

Losik, a consultant for RFE/RL on new-media technologies, tried to slit his wrists in front of an investigator and a lawyer and restarted a hunger strike on March 11 after new unspecified charges were filed against him.

This came less than two months after he ended a six-week hunger strike to protest the original charges that he allegedly used his video blog to help organize riots to protest the election results.

SEE ALSO:

U.S. Congressional Commission Joins Calls For Belarusian Blogger's Release

News of the new charges against the 28-year-old father of a 2-year-old daughter prompted RFE/RL President Jamie Fly to urge Lukashenka to release Losik immediately so he can be reunited with his family.

“Journalism is not a crime and Ihar has been unjustly detained for far too long. Ihar and his family should not be tortured in this way,” Fly wrote, adding that RFE/RL was "deeply distressed" by the new charges and Losik's deteriorating health situation.

SEE ALSO:

U.S. Media Agency Demands Release Of Belarus Blogger Held On 'False Charges'

Bantser, a musician from the western city of Hrodna, was detained on October 20 over his participation in an anti-Lukashenka rally and charged with hooliganism. Bantser started his hunger strike on March 3, protesting his arrest and the charge filed against him.

Furmanau was arrested in Hrodna in late May when taking part in an event on collecting signatures to endorse Tsikhanouskaya as a presidential candidate. He was charged with organizing activities that disrupt social order. Furmanau started his hunger strike on March 11.

Tsikhanouskaya is currently in Lithuania, where she relocated for security reasons after the presidential election that she and her supporters say she won.

She ran in the vote after the candidacy of her husband, vlogger Syarhey Tsikhanouski, was rejected by election officials and he was arrested in May last year.

Last week, Tsikhanouski was served with final charges -- impeding election officials' work, organizing mass disorders, and activities to disrupt social order -- that could see him imprisoned for up to 15 years.

The EU, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada have refused to recognize Lukashenka as the legitimate president of Belarus.

Lukashenka has overseen a violent crackdown on the protesters which has seen thousands -- including members of the media -- detained and scores injured.

Overall, more than 1,800 criminal cases have been launched over the protests against the official results of the presidential election.

Three nongovernmental organizations based in France, Syria, and Russia have announced a legal case in Moscow against the Vagner Group, a Russian military contractor with indirect ties to the country's political elite, over the 2017 torture of a detainee in Syria.

"This litigation is a first-ever attempt by the family of a Syrian victim to hold Russian suspects accountable for serious crimes committed in Syria," the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, and the Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center said in a joint statement on March 15.

They said that the brother of a Syrian citizen who was "tortured, killed, and had his corpse mutilated by six individuals in 2017 in Homs Governorate" filed the criminal complaint before Russia's Investigative Committee on March 11.

The complaint, which was facilitated by the FIDH, the SCM, and Memorial, "demands the initiation of criminal proceedings on the basis of murder committed with extreme cruelty, with a view to establishing the alleged perpetrators' responsibility for this and other crimes, including war crimes," the statement said.

The case not expected to lead to any convictions since the Vagner Group is believed to be headed by Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close associate of President Vladimir Putin.

Although private military companies are illegal in Russia, observers say Vagner has in recent years played an increasingly important role in buttressing the Kremlin's ambitions abroad.

The group has been active for several years in combat operations in different regions, including in Syria, Libya, and other parts of Africa.

SEE ALSO:

In Syria, A Mutilated Corpse, Video Evidence, And New Scrutiny For Russian Mercenaries

In their statement, the three NGOs cited "numerous reports of serious human rights violations committed by the group against civilians, at times with extreme cruelty."

"The ambiguous legal status of [Vagner] under Russian law and the denial of factual links pointing to its complete dependence on the Russian authorities, is a way for Russia to shirk its international responsibility for the crimes committed" by members of the military contractor, they added.

The statement cited one of the lawyers for the Syrian plaintiff as saying that Russian law "contains an obligation for the State to investigate crimes committed by Russian citizens abroad."

'Chain Of Impunity'

The Investigative Committee "has not, to date, initiated any investigation of the crime in question, even though all of the necessary information was officially communicated to the Russian authorities over a year ago,” said the lawyer, Ilya Novikov.

Memorial’s chairman Aleksandr Cherkasov said a complaint submitted by the Moscow-based Novaya Gazeta newspaper one year ago was "ignored."

“This has forced us, human rights defenders, to turn to Russian investigative authorities. Indeed, this is a repeat of what happened 20 years ago, when enforced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial executions committed during the armed conflict in the Northern Caucasus were likewise not investigated. Today, we see another link in this chain of impunity," Cherkasov added.

Along with Iran, Russia has provided crucial military support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during Syria’s civil war, which began with a crackdown on anti-government protesters in March 2011. More than 400,000 people have since been killed and millions displaced.

The United States have hit Prigozhin with sanctions for meddling in the U.S. presidential elections in 2016 and in connection with Russia’s role in Libya's civil war.

International deliveries of arms were flat from 2016 through 2020 compared with the previous five-year period, but they were still close to the highest level since the end of the Cold War, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a report released on March 15.

Three of the top five arms exporters -- the United States, France, and Germany -- increased deliveries from 2016 to 2020, but a decline in exports from Russia and China offset the rise, SIPRI said in its latest review of global arms transfers.

It was the first time since the 2001-05 period that the volume of deliveries of major arms between countries did not increase from the previous five years, SIPRI said.

The United States remained the top exporter, accounting for 37 percent of global arms transfers during the period, SIPRI said. Half of U.S. transfers were made to the Middle East.

Russia, the world's second-largest exporter, accounted for one-fifth of global arms deliveries, but its sales declined by 22 per cent compared to the 2011-15 period, mainly due to a sizeable drop in imports by India, SIPRI said.

SIPRI senior researcher Pieter Wezeman said it was too early to tell whether the slowdown in arms deliveries would continue.

Impact Of Pandemic

"The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could see some countries reassessing their arms imports in the coming years," Wezeman said. "However, at the same time, even at the height of the pandemic in 2020, several countries signed large contracts for major arms."

The United Arab Emirates, for example, recently signed an agreement with the United States to purchase 50 F-35 jets and up to 18 armed drones as part of a $23 billion package.

Middle Eastern countries accounted for the biggest increase in arms imports, up 25 percent in 2016–20 from 2011–15.

Saudi Arabia was the world's largest arms importer, accounting for 11 per cent of global imports during the period. Other top importers were India, Egypt, Australia, and China.

Asia and Oceania were the largest importing regions for major arms, receiving 42 percent of global arms transfers in 2016–20. India, Australia, China, South Korea, and Pakistan were the biggest importers in the region.

France, the third largest exporter, with 8 percent, recorded several large deals, most notably with India, Egypt, and Qatar, the institute said.

Germany and China completed the list of top five exporters.

The SIPRI arms transfers database does not include small arms and is based on public sources, including newspapers, specialized international journals, and government and industry reports.

With reporting by Reuters and dpa

PRISTINA -- Kosovo has officially opened its new embassy in Jerusalem, six week after it formally established diplomatic relations with Israel.

"The Embassy of the Republic of Kosovo in Jerusalem will be strongly committed to increasing bilateral cooperation and strengthening the international profile of the state of Kosovo," Kosovo's Foreign Ministry said in a press statement on March 14.

The new embassy was opened by Ines Demiri, Kosovo's charge d'affaires in Israel, because representatives from Kosovo were unable to attend due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In September 2020, former U.S. President Donald Trump gathered the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia at a White House summit meant to work toward the long-stalled normalization of ties between the neighbors.

The summit was somewhat overshadowed by a White House announcement that Kosovo had agreed to recognize Israel.

At the meeting, Belgrade also agreed to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, something it hasn't yet done.

The Trump administration recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in late 2017 and moved the U.S. Embassy there in May 2018.

That decision prompted criticism from the Palestinians, most Muslim-majority countries, and many states in Europe, concerned that it would undermine prospects for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Last year, Trump brokered a series of deals to establish diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab states, including Bahrain, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates.

However, the Arab parties to the accords have all maintained that their diplomatic missions in Israel will be in Tel Aviv.

Most Western countries have recognized Kosovo's independence, but Serbia and its allies Russia and China have not.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, nine years after NATO conducted a 78-day air campaign against Serbia to stop a bloody crackdown against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

With reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters

A lawyer for British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has said that her trial on charges of "propaganda against the system" was held in Tehran.

Lawyer Hojjat Kermani told an Iranian website that the March 14 trial "was held in a calm atmosphere with the presence of my client."

"The legal defense was made," he added. "I am very hopeful that she will be acquitted."

He said he expected the verdict within the next week.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab described the new trial as "unacceptable."

"She has been put through a cruel and disgraceful ordeal by the calculating behavior of the Iranian government," Raab said in a statement. "This must end."

Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, who has campaigned to secure his wife's release, said in a statement that "at present, Nazanin's future remains uncertain, and her detention effectively open ended."

"The charges are not particularly relevant since the point of reviving this case again last week was simply to hold Nazanin for leverage as negotiations with the U.K. have intensified," Ratcliffe said.

Antonio Zappulla, CEO of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, said in a statement that the second trial was a deliberate move to prolong her ordeal and her suffering.

"It is incomprehensible that she faces further trauma as punishment for crimes that she did not commit," he said.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested in Tehran in April 2016. She was later sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of plotting to overthrow Iran's clerical government.

She served most of her sentence in Tehran's Evin prison, but was released to house arrest in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 7, Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 42, was released from house arrest at the end of her term but was immediately summoned to court again to face the new charge.

She has been barred from leaving the country.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe has denied all the accusations against her.

Iran has arrested dozens of foreigners and dual nationals in recent years on espionage charges that they and their governments say are groundless.

Critics say Iran uses arbitrary detentions as a form of hostage diplomacy to extract concessions from Western governments, which Tehran denies.

On March 10, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Zaghari-Ratcliffe's "continued confinement remains completely unacceptable" and called for her immediate release.

With reporting by Reuters

The bipartisan Human Rights Commission of the U.S. House of Representatives has urged the government of Belarus to immediately release jailed blogger and RFE/RL consultant Ihar Losik and other "political prisoners."

"We are deeply troubled by the Belarusian government's decision to file new charges against Ihar, after having kept him behind bars and away from his young family for the past nine months," the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission co-chairs, Representatives James McGovern (Democrat) and Christopher Smith (Republican), wrote in a March 13 statement.

"We condemn the brutal crackdowns and sham charges leveled at the press in Belarus for reporting on the repressive actions of the government of [Alyaksandr Lukashenka]," the statement continued. "Ihar and other political prisoners must be released immediately."

The day before, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees RFE/RL and other U.S international broadcasters, called the "false charges" against Losik "unacceptable."

"Belarusian authorities should drop all charges against Ihar and immediately release him," acting USAGM Chief Executive Officer Kelu Chao said in a statement.

Losik was detained in June 2020 and accused of using his Telegram channel to "prepare to disrupt public order" and "preparation for participation in riots" ahead of a presidential vote in August that the opposition has said was rigged for Lukashenka.

Months of unprecedented protests have ensued and been met by thousands of arrests, brutal treatment of detainees, and a ruthless crackdown on media and journalists.

Losik's wife, Darya, said on March 11, citing a lawyer, that her husband had slit his wrists in front of an investigator and lawyer and restarted a hunger strike after learning of the new charges this week.

She said the precise wording of the new charges was unknown and demanded that Lukashenka explain why her husband had been in prison for nine months.

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Losik, a 28-year-old consultant for RFE/RL on new-media technologies and a father of a 2-year-old daughter, ended a six-week hunger strike less than two months ago.

RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said after learning of the new charges that "All of us at RFE/RL are deeply distressed by today's new charges against Ihar, and his deteriorating health situation."

Crisis In Belarus

Read our coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election.

He added: "Journalism is not a crime and Ihar has been unjustly detained for far too long. Ihar and his family should not be tortured in this way."

Losik was slapped with charges in December 2020 that could result in an eight-year prison term.

In protest, Losik, who has been recognized as a political prisoner by rights activists, launched his initial hunger strike.

After ending that action in late January, a handwritten letter from Losik appeared in mid-February following news of a two-year jail sentence given to two journalists from Belsat, a Polish-funded news organization.

"I have no illusions. I think it'll be about five more years, and by that time I will have died. I no longer have any desire to do anything," Losik wrote. "So much has already been done, and all for naught: Nothing influences anybody. I'll say it honestly: I doubt anything will change."

Western governments have refused to acknowledge Lukashenka as the winner of the August 9 vote, and imposed sanctions on him and his allies, citing election rigging and the police crackdown.

Lukashenka has refused to step down and says he will not negotiate with the opposition.

The de facto parliament of Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia has approved a new figure to lead the next government, ending nearly six months of political deadlock and an opposition boycott.

South Ossetia's de facto president, Anatoly Bibilov, issued a decree on March 12 making Gennady Bekoyev the region's prime minister after a majority of lawmakers agreed to his candidacy.

The Moscow-backed breakaway region of Georgia has been in political crisis since the previous government resigned in August in the wake of protests over the death of a 28-year-old man from injuries sustained while in police custody.

The death led some in the opposition to demand Bibilov's resignation.

Opposition lawmakers began boycotting the de facto parliament in September, depriving it of a quorum to approve a new government. That deadlock was resolved on March 12, when 14 boycotting lawmakers attended the session.

In a secret vote, 19 deputies voted for Bekoyev, 11 voted against him, and one deputy abstained.

The 39-year-old Bekoyev was previously de facto deputy prime minister and economic development minister.

Russia recognized South Ossetia and Georgia's other breakaway region, Abkhazia, as independent states after Russia and Georgia fought a brief war in August 2008.

Only a handful of other countries, however, have followed the Kremlin's lead, which has kept Russian forces in both regions since.

With reporting by Interfax

New York Rangers star forward Artemi Panarin has returned to the rink after a brief hiatus from professional ice hockey, helping his team defeat the Boston Bruins 4-0.

The New York Rangers announced on February 22 that Panarin, 29, one of several Russians playing in the National Hockey League (NHL), was taking a leave of absence because of a Russian tabloid report alleging he assaulted a woman almost a decade ago.

Panarin, who has spoken out against Russian President Vladimir Putin, denied the allegations.

The Rangers called the story about Panarin fabricated and designed as an "intimidation tactic" due to his political views.

The source of the story, Andrei Nazarov, is a former NHL player who briefly coached Panarin in Russia.

Nazarov told Komsomolskaya pravda in a story published on February 20 that Panarin knocked the woman to the floor with "several powerful blows" in a hotel bar in Riga, Latvia, following a game in December 2011.

Nazarov added that he later heard that Latvian authorities took no action after "authoritative" locals negotiated with the police not to pursue the case, alleging that money had changed hands.

Nazarov said he was motivated to speak out because he disagreed with Panarin's criticism of the Russian government. Panarin played for Nazarov with Vityaz Chekhov of the Kontinental Hockey League in 2010-12.

Panarin has a long history of criticizing the Russian government.

In some of his more recent comments, he showed support for Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny, who was imprisoned in Russia following his return in January from Germany, where
he had been recovering from a nerve-agent poisoning that he and his supporters say Putin ordered. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied any involvement.

Panarin has played in the NHL since 2015. He signed an $81.5 million, seven-year contract with the New York team in 2019.

Based on reporting by AP

Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka said his country may submit a new entry to the Eurovision Song Contest after the first one was rejected for being political.

The song I'll Teach You by the band Galasy ZMesta sparked a backlash for singing the praises of Lukashenka with lyrics such as, "I'll teach you how to dance to the tune, I'll teach you to take the bait, I'll teach you to walk the line."

Eurovision organizers on March 11 rejected Minsk’s entry and threatened Belarus with disqualification if it did not submit a modified version of the song or a new entry.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said the song would put the “nonpolitical nature” of the contest in question, and that “recent reactions to the proposed entry risk bringing the reputation of the ESC into disrepute.”

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Lukashenka has faced nearly daily protests to step down since the country's presidential election on August 9 handed him another term despite charges the election was rigged.

More than 30,000 people have been arrested, hundreds beaten, and several people killed in the government crackdown on protesters.

Crisis In Belarus

Read our coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election.

Calls to kick out Belarus's entrant to the annual Eurovision Song Contest had been growing in the run-up to the event in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam on May 18-22.

"They are starting to press us on all fronts,” Lukashenka said on March 13 in his first remarks on the row. “Even at Eurovision, I see.”

"We'll make another song," he added, according to the presidential press service.

Belarus's national broadcaster, BTRC, on February 9 announced it had selected Galasy ZMesta to represent the country at the contest.

Galasy ZMesta has slammed the country's pro-democracy movement, writing on its website that the group could not stay "indifferent" while "political battles try to break the country we love and in which we are living."

The five-member group has backed Lukashenka, and its front man, Dzmitry Butakou, openly laments the breakup of the Soviet Union.

With reporting by Reuters

Opposition supporters have rallied in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

Demonstrators shouting "Nikol, you traitor!" and "Nikol, go away!" surrounded the Foreign Ministry building where Pashinian had a meeting on March 13.

Later in the day, protesters rallied outside the residence of Armenia's largely ceremonial president, Armen Sarkisian, where Pashinian also held talks over ways to defuse the political crisis that has gripped the Caucasus country since a war with neighboring Azerbaijan last year.

Pashinian, whose My Step faction dominates parliament, has refused opposition demands to resign but has hinted at accepting early parliamentary elections under certain conditions.

Pashinian, who swept to power amid nationwide protests in 2018, has come under fire since agreeing to a Moscow-brokered deal with Azerbaijan that took effect on November 10, 2020, ending six weeks of fierce fighting in and around the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh that saw ethnic Armenian forces suffer battlefield defeat.

Under the cease-fire, a chunk of Nagorno-Karabakh and all seven districts around it were placed under Azerbaijani administration after almost 30 years of control by Armenians.

Joint Opposition Candidate

Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but the ethnic Armenians who make up most of the region's population reject Azerbaijani rule.

They had been governing their own affairs, with support from Armenia, since Azerbaijan's troops and Azeri civilians were pushed out of the region and seven adjacent districts in a war that ended in a cease-fire in 1994.

A coalition uniting 16 opposition parties has been holding anti-government demonstrations in Yerevan and other parts of the country in a bid to force Pashinian to hand over power to an interim government.

Opposition forces want their joint candidate, Vazgen Manukian, to become transitional prime minister to oversee fresh elections.

Sarkisian and Pashinian discussed "the situation in the country [and] ways of resolving it and overcoming the internal political crisis," the president's office said on March 13.

"In this context, they discussed holding early parliamentary elections as a solution," the presidential office said, adding that Sarkisian had called for the meeting.

The leaders of My Step and one of the two opposition groups, Bright Armenia, also accepted Sarkisian's invitation to the March 13 talks, and held meetings with the president later in the day.

The talks included Lilit Makunts, the parliamentary leader of My Step, and Manukian, the former prime minister and ex-defense minister.

The opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) and the Homeland Salvation Movement, an alliance of about a dozen political parties and groups, including the BHK, demanding Pashinian's resignation, would not participate, the president's office said.

Opposition activist Ishkhan Saghatelian said the opposition would only discuss its participation in snap elections if Pashinian stepped down and parliament was dissolved.