HRANA News Agency – After one week since the arrest of 5 Christians in Firoozkooh, there is no information about the place that they are being detained at. Their names has not been registered in any of Tehran’s prisons and efforts made by their families and lawyers had no result. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency …

Iran Human Rights – Eight new executions reported in Iran by official and unofficial sources. All eight prisoners were reportedly executed on drug related charges. Seven prisoners were executed at Bandar Abbas Central Prison (Hormozgan province, southern Iran) on drug related charges, reports Iranian state-run media Tabnkak. The hangings were reportedly carried out on Saturday September 10. According to the unofficial …

PayvandNews – Iran has welcomed a Russia-US mediated ceasefire agreement in Syria aimed at putting an end to more than five years of deadly conflict gripping the Arab country. “The Islamic Republic of Iran always welcomes a ceasefire in Syria and the facilitation of the access of all the country’s people to humanitarian aid,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Qassemi, …

RFL/RE – Iran has begun building a second nuclear power plant with Russian help, Iranian and Russian media are reporting. The project, known as Busherh-2, was officially launched on September 10 in the southern port city of Bushehr. The project will cost around $10 billion and produce 1,057 megawatts of electricity. The project is expected to be completed in 10 …

RFL/RE – U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump vowed to “shoot out of the water” any Iranian vessels that harass the U.S. Navy, if he is elected. At a rally in Florida on September 9, Trump said he would make the U.S. military “so strong that nobody’s going to mess with us,” and cited recent incidents where the Pentagon said …

PayvandNews – Russian banks have announced readiness to enter Iran’s banking sector at a time that their Western rivals are failing to do so over fear of the impacts of remaining US sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Russian banks say they are ready to enter Iran’s banking sector and help facilitate the country’s overseas transactions particularly now that Western financial …

PayvandNews – The conductor of Iran’s National Orchestra Farhad Fakhreddini resigned from his position on Tuesday over a lack of cooperation from officials. Farhad Fakhreddini at a concert performance in June 2015 (photo by Islamic Republic News Agency) “Last year, I spent one of the best periods of my career and I had the honor to accompany a group of …

Al-monitor — In the middle of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Iranians thought a referee made a bad call against an Iranian wrestler that caused Iran to lose the chance of winning another medal. Soon afterward, the online hate began. It is unclear how or from where these attacks originated, but it appears that Iranian netizens know how …

Iranhumanrights.org —Iran’s Judiciary must halt the prosecution of media outlets which carried out their journalist duty in publishing reports on alleged corruption in the Tehran Municipality and City Council, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said in a statement today. Unless they are found guilty of a crime in court, the websites of these news organizations should be …

VOA – More than 1.5 million Muslims from across the globe have converged on Saudi Arabia for the annual five-day Hajj. The pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam, and all able-bodied Muslims who can afford to do so are expected to take part in the Hajj at least once in their lifetimes. Iran is boycotting this year’s …