RFL/RE – Iranian authorities have detained several organizers of a gathering attended by thousands marking the birth of the pre-Islamic King Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Iranian media quote Fars Province prosecutor Ali Salehi as saying the activists were detained because of “norm-breaking and anti-values” slogans that were chanted during an October 28 gathering in the …
Read More »Monthly Archives: October 2016
Iran’s Kish Invex 2016 to host 30 foreign companies
PayvandNews – The 3rd Kish International Exhibition of Exchange, Banking, Insurance and Privatization and the 8th International Exhibition for Presenting Iran’s Investment Opportunities, are about to be held simultaneously in November under the title of Kish Invex 2016, IRNA reported on Saturday. According to Arya Hamidian, the event organizer, some 30 foreign companies as well as 150 Iranian companies will …
Read More »Iran unveils 4 biotechnology medicines expected to decrease outflow by $600M
PayvandNews – An Iranian pharmaceutical company has unveiled four domestically produced biotechnology medicines, leading to $600 million decrease in flow of money out of the country annually. Biotechnology medicines are developed through biological processes using living cells or organisms, rather than the traditional chemical synthesis approach. They are large molecules that are similar or identical to the proteins and other …
Read More »Iran death penalty: Justice minister calls for fewer executions
BBC – Iran’s justice minister is looking for an “effective punishment” for criminals instead of execution, according to local media. Mostafa Pourmohammadi said he thought the number of capital crimes should be revised, the Tasnim News Agency said. “In fact we want to find the most effective kind of punishment so that we are able to consider replacing execution,” Mr …
Read More »Afghan Taliban reveal relations with Iran
Al-Arabia – Mullah Zabihullah, the official spokesman of the “Afghan Taliban” and the second man in the movement revealed the presence of relations and new networks with Iran. “The movement is trying to benefit from all legitimate means to reach a regional agreement as part of the war against the American invasion; therefore, the Imara holds ongoing networks with a …
Read More »Europe Capitalizes on the Iran Deal
PayvandNews – As Washington think-tanks, with some notable exceptions, keep churning out papers advising the next American president to double down on containing Iran, the European Parliament adopted a report on October 25 that is strikingly different in tone and substance. Drafted by the UK Labour Party politician Richard Howitt , the motion received overwhelming support in the house: 459 votes in favor, with 174 against …
Read More »EU’s Mogherini discusses Syria crisis In Tehran: Iran rules out military solution
PayvandNews – President Hassan Rouhani has reiterated Iran’s stance that the crisis in Syria should be resolved through “political” means only. “All should know that the Syrian issue has no military solution and must be resolved through diplomatic means,” Rouhani said in a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in Tehran on Saturday October 29, 2016. President Hassan …
Read More »U.S. Prosecutors Charge Two With Smuggling Military Items To Iran
RFL/RE – U.S. prosecutors have charged two men in connection with a plot to smuggle millions of dollars of military aircraft parts and other items to Iran. The Justice Department said in a statement on October 28 that Zavik Zargarian and Vache Nayirian were arrested earlier in the week outside Los Angeles for allegedly violating laws barring such trading with …
Read More »Mother Who Founded Group Memorializing Massacred Political Prisoners of 1988 Summoned to Court After Flight Ban
Iranhumanrights.org – They are the ones who have to answer questions, not us.” Mansoureh Behkish has been banned from leaving Iran and summoned to court for her role in founding the “Mothers of Laleh Park,” also known as the “Mourning Mothers of Iran,” a group formed by mothers whose children were killed in the Islamic Republic’s massacre of political prisoners …
Read More »Call for Iran to Release Imprisoned British-Iranians Heats Up As Families and MPs Petition UK Government
Iranhumanrights.org – The families of two British-Iranian dual citizens who have been imprisoned in Iran without due process have delivered petitions to the British government urging it to seek their loved ones’ immediate release. The petitions were delivered on October 24, 2016 with a letter co-signed by 117 Members of Parliament (MPs) and members of the House of Lords calling …
Read More »