Iranhumanrights.org – Shahriar Siroos, an Iranian Baha’i artist who was sentenced to five years in prison for the charge of establishing a group to “perturb the security of the country” for teaching art classes in his home, is awaiting a decision on his appeal. A legal analyst, who asked not to be identified, told the International Campaign for Human Rights …

Al-monitor – Iran’s parliament clarified its position toward the moderate government of President Hassan Rouhani on Nov. 1, giving its vote of confidence to each of the president’s three proposed new ministers. AUTHOR Rohollah Faghihi Following the Feb. 26 parliamentary elections, both hard-liners and supporters of Rouhani claimed victory. Amid the contradictory reports on the outcome of the vote, hard-line …

PayvandNews – US President Barack Obama has extended the country’s national emergency with respect to Iran despite last year’s nuclear agreement with Tehran and the P5+1 to lift sanctions. In a letter sent to Congress on Thursday, Obama told lawmakers that US relations with Iran have not returned to normal, and that it’s necessary to maintain the status quo. “Our …

RFL/RE – The Iranian soccer federation was also cited for using a drone during the ceremony and for “improper conduct among spectators” for their display of a banner that had religious content on it. FIFA has fined Iran and warned the country’s soccer body for allowing “several religious manifestations” during a recent World Cup qualifying game in Tehran. Soccer’s world …

Guardian – Prosecutors say computer equipment at Geneva venue was infected with espionage malware but they had to close case A number of computers at a five-star Geneva hotel that has hosted sensitive talks, including Iranian nuclear negotiations, were found to be infected with malware used for espionage, Swiss prosecutors have revealed. But the state prosecutor’s office, OAD, has had …

RFL/RE – Iran has sentenced to prison terms an undisclosed number of people accused of storming Saudi diplomatic missions earlier this year. Iran’s semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted lawyer Mostafa Shabani as saying on November 4 that some of the defendants were handed sentences of three months or six months in jail, while others were acquitted. The report did not …

RFL/RE – Thousands of Iranians burned the U.S. flag and celebrated the “decline of America” as they marked the anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by militant students 37 years ago. “America is no longer No. 1 and the first power of the world,” the deputy head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Hossein Salami, told …

alarabiya -A senior Iranian military official welcomed Thursday what he said was the “strong decline” of the United States, during celebrations marking the start of the 1979 US embassy siege. “America is no longer number one and the first power of the world,” deputy Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami told thousands gathered outside the former US mission in Tehran. “America’s …

alarabiya -Iran’s judiciary acquitted more than 40 defendants charged over the January attack on the Saudi mission in Tehran, according to news report. ‘ILNA’ or the Iran labor news agency announced that the Clerical and Government Employees’ Courts cleared all 45 defendants – 20 members of Basij militia and 25 clerics – of the charges of storming and ransacking the …

Amnesty – Prisoner of conscience Maryam Akbari Monfared, who is serving a 15-year sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison, is being denied access to medical treatment. She is facing reprisals after filing a formal complaint that seeks an official investigation into the mass killings of political prisoners, including her siblings, in the summer of 1988. Download the report: https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1350902016ENGLISH.pdf