It's no less than extraordinary that in last weekend's elections in Iran, Team Rouhani's opponents - especially the anti-nuclear deal hardliners - were giving a resounding "shellacking" (Obama's term) in Tehran.

They virtually vanished as representatives of the capital, not only at the Majlis (Parliament), but also at the slightly Orwellian-denominated 88-member Assembly of Experts, which will choose the next Supreme Leader and currently oversees Ayatollah Khamenei.

There's simply no ultra-conservative/hardliner featured among the 30 elected parliamentarian members in Tehran (their leader, Gholam Ali Adel, clocked at 31st). The winners were provided by the so-called 'List of Hope'; that's how former President Mohammad Khatami defined the pro-reform candidates.

Yes, never underestimate the wisdom of Iranian voters.

Forget the green movement, forget dissent, and calls for violence, Iranians today are expressing their yearning for change through the ballot box, confident that reforms will be debated, legislated and implemented in line with the general will.

Much can be said of the Islamic Republic's resilience in the face of adversity, whether it be political, economic or ideological. Rooted in religious tradition, and a faith whose strength too few observers have bothered to recognize (for it disturbs their own sense of political righteousness, and I would say republican correctness), Iran stands as a mirror of its people - the alliance of the religious and the worldly, a covenant of sort in between divine law and man-made laws.

Whether Western capitals are willing to admit it or not, Iran stands a democracy - maybe not a perfect one (what nation could claim such a feat), but a democracy nevertheless; one which through the decades has proven a rampart against many great attacks, and many great machinations (Iraq, US sanctions, oil embargo, worldwide defamation... the list goes on).

History will certainly remember how the Iranian nation was robbed decades of freedom for colonialists imagined Iran's riches belonged to the British Crown, and not its people. If not for the United Kingdom and the United States, Iran would have been spared the indignity of the Pahlavi House... hundreds and thousands of lives would have been spared the injustice of imperialism.

A NATO convoy under German leadership is to begin operations in the Aegean Sea in the next few days, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday.

The official goal of the mission is the complete closure of the Aegean to refugees, militarily strengthening "Fortress Europe" against refugees from the war zones in the Middle East. The dispatch of warships to the strategic Aegean Sea also heightens the risk of NATO intervention in the Syrian civil war and war with Russia.

Stoltenberg said in a press release that the goal of NATO was "the disruption of the routes used by smugglers and for illegal migration in the Aegean." He boasted that the ships of the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG 2) had already arrived in the mission area 48 hours after the decision of NATO defence ministers was taken two weeks ago. Now it was a matter of collectively finding "solutions" for the "crisis."

By "solutions" of the refugee crisis, Stoltenberg and NATO mean the military strengthening of the Greek and Turkish coast guard and the European border protection agency Frontex in order to detect and stop refugee boats, also possibly forcing them back.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin responded to the accusations against Russia from NATO commander in Europe, General Philip Breedlove, who talked about the inaccuracy of Russian airstrikes in Syria.

"From a sick head to a healthy one [Russian idiom - FR] - a specialist in bombing Afghan weddings talks about the accuracy of our bombing," - he wrote, with a link to Breedlove's statement.

NATO commander in Europe had earlier said in the Senate that Russia is using weapons in Syria, "which are not of high accuracy", which creates panic among the local population and leads to increased flow of migrants. In his opinion, the Syrian President and his allies deliberately turn migration into a weapon.

KK: Rogozin also commented on his post: "The number of stars on your hat - is that the number of precision strikes on a wedding? Right, Phillip?"

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter has warned China against militarizing the disputed island chain in the South China Sea and threatened "specific consequences" should Beijing not wind down its activities in the region.

Following China's deployment of surface-to-air missile systems on Woody Island last month, in addition to military aircraft, Carter stated that "China must not pursue militarization in the South China Sea" during a speech at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.

Woody Island is the biggest island in the Paracel chain in the South China Sea. China laid claim to the island in the 1950s, but the rights to the area, which is at the heart of economically important shipping routes in the South China Sea, are being contested by Taiwan, Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.

"Specific actions will have specific consequences," Carter stressed."These activities have the potential to increase the risk of miscalculation or conflict among claimant states."

During the month of February this year, marking the second anniversary of Maidan, the truth is starting to leak out. And it challenges the image of the coup as being a "revolution of dignity" conducted by peaceful protestors outraged by government corruption, united in a valiant struggle for a better European future in the face of a brutal police response, culminating in the deadly shooting of 100 protestors commemorated as the Heavenly Hundred.

That was a picture projected to the whole world, mesmerizing it for months. Whatever evidence was given by the opponents of Maidan, pointing to the aggression and violence of protestors against anyone who opposed them, including burning and torturing policemen, was ignored. Law-enforcement authorities were condemned as guilty of starting the massacre before there was any investigation. The investigation itself, launched under pressure from the West, has lasted two years and has failed to come across any evidence that favors police authorities.

But in what may seem like an ironic twist of fate, the original supporters and active participants of Maidan have been letting the cat out of the bag in spite of Kiev's best efforts to hide the truth of what happened on Maidan. On the eve of the second anniversary of the massacre in the capital of Ukraine, the Bird In Flight portal published on 19 February 2016 an interview with Ivan Bubenchik who admitted without remorse to being one of the snipers who killed police officers during Maidan, helping escalate the confrontation to a deadly level.

President Vladimir Putin has said Russia will freeze this year's oil output at January's production level. An agreement was reached during his meeting with the heads of the country's oil majors on Tuesday.

Putin said Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak is in constant talks with foreign oil exporters and has agreed with them that Russia will not increase oil exports.

"It's been proposed that the volume of oil production in Russia in 2016 will be based on the figures of January this year, but, of course, on average throughout the entire 2016," said the president.

On Tuesday, Novak said that over 15 countries have confirmed their readiness to freeze current output levels.

The Russian Energy Minister added that African, Latin American and Persian Gulf producers are optimistic about joining the deal which could be effective even without Iran's participation.

From a failed attempt to clear the Calais jungle to the appalling situation at the Greek-Macedonian border, the EU crumbles under the strain of a massive refugee crisis. Even the Kafkaesque Brussels Eurocrat construct admits it - off the record, because official EU must always project a mythical image of unity: "We are on the edge of an abyss".

Across the EU and amidst Russian intellectual elites, scenarios proliferate on the imminent collapse of Western civilization, as a huge number of refugees cannot be properly assimilated. In Russia, this process is examined with extreme concern because it happens not far from Russia's western borderlands, and involves what the Kremlin traditionally defines as «our partners».

But what if this European slow motion debacle was not enacted as a Mad Max dystopia, but rather brought about by a tsunami of Muslims ultimately displaced by Western-engineered wars?

The truce in Syria marked its fourth day. Numerous organizations of dubious reputation based in London are trying to convince the world that the Russian air force and the Syrian army are systematically violating the ceasefire and are calling on the international community to take measures in this regard.

A RIA Novosti correspondent visited the Russian Hmeymim airbase in Latakia where he learned of the changes that have occurred over the past three days. The conditions of the ceasefire, which were agreed with Russia, the United States and other international mediators, formally came into force throughout the territory of Syria, on Saturday night. Despite some serious disagreements and singular violations, all parties involved in the conflict respect the truce. The main question for the coming week is how responsibly all of the parties will implement this fragile agreement.

The correspondent's first observation after arriving at Hmeymim airbase was the unusual silence. For the first six months there were nonstop sorties at the air base and now there was no roar of the aircraft engines. All aircraft have been sheathed and are stationary.

February 27 was the first day off for the Russian pilots and technicians in months. The Defense Ministry stressed that Moscow is carrying out its obligations under the ceasefire completely, in spite of attempts by some parties to convince the world of the contrary.

As the correspondent noted, the Russians at the airbase are responding to such allegations with humor. "As you can see for yourself, we have reached a diplomatic pause," one of the officers said. "The silence weighs on the ears and getting used to it is much more difficult than to fall asleep to the roar of planes taking off."

Some of the aircraft are being repaired but on the whole the group is on a standby mode. "If need be, we are ready to take off on a combat mission within minutes," the representative of the air force said.

Six New Jersey newspapers have called for Chris Christie to step down as state governor in an editorial published Tuesday. Citing complaints over political hubris and failure as a public servant, editors accused him of opportunism and hypocrisy.

"We're fed up with Gov. Chris Christie's arrogance," the papers' editors wrote. "We're fed up with his opportunism. We're fed up with his hypocrisy. We're fed up with his sarcasm. We're fed up with his long neglect of the state to pursue his own selfish agenda."

The newspapers, all owned by newspaper conglomerate Gannett, made the call in an editorial released ahead of the polls closing on Super Tuesday.

The papers include Asbury Park Press, Bridgewater Courier-News, the Cherry Hill Courier-Post, East Brunswick Home News Tribune, Vineland Daily Journal, and the Morristown Daily Record.

The editorial cites a litany of complaints but the catalyst came at a press conference held in Trenton on Monday when Governor Christie announced his nomination of a state Supreme Court judge. During the announcement he refused to answer any questions, and when asked why this was, Christie replied, "because I don't want to."

The joint editorial admonished the governor for spending part of 261 days out of the state, using the state's "dime" for security and other expenses as he campaigned as a Republican presidential candidate. Then after abandoning his presidential run he endorsed Republican front-runner Donald Trump, and continued to stump for Trump in Arkansas and Tennessee.

"For the good of the state, it's time for Christie to do his long-neglected constituents a favor and resign as governor. If he refuses, citizens should initiate a recall effort," according to the editorial. The state has serious, complex problems. It is considering a state gas tax to help pay for crumbling roads and bridges. Its pension system for public workers is underfunded by $90 billion, and homeowners are straining under escalating property taxes.