AlArabia – Young Iranians accused of breaking their country’s moral codes have been uploading photos on social media of injuries sustained from lashings by police. The Facebook page My Stealthy Freedom, which usually known for posting photos of Iranian women without their headscarf, showed photos of the harsh punishments after young Iranians were caught in mixed-gendered parties. A party where …

AlAarabia – A dual citizen of Iran and the United States was found guilty on Tuesday on charges that he tried to help acquire surface-to-air missiles and aircraft components for the government of Iran in violation of US sanctions. Reza Olangian, 56, was convicted by a federal jury in Manhattan on all four counts he faced, including conspiring to acquire …

Iranhumanrights.org – Following the abrupt cancellation of his speech by a prosecutor, the Iranian Parliament’s Deputy Speaker Ali Motahhari has written to the president calling for an investigation into the incident, while comparing it to the tactics used by the Arab terrorist group the Islamic State, which Iranians refer to as Daesh. “I wonder whether these Daesh-type actions are carried …

Al-monitor – On Nov. 22, Jame-Jam daily published a photo on its front page of an Iranian warship along with the headline “Iranian destroyers enter Atlantic Ocean for first time.” Iranian Navy Commander Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari announced the news, detailing that the 44th fleet of the Iranian navy is now docked at the Port of Durban in South Africa. …

Al-monitor – Heated debate continues in Iran over the Guardian Council — the arbiter of candidates qualified to run in parliamentary elections — which appears to be seeking the power to determine who can continue serving in the legislature by supervising members throughout their time in office. AUTHOR Saeid Jafari Controversy first erupted in late March after the council disqualified …

VOA – Republicans and other long-time opponents of an international nuclear agreement with Iran have walked back calls to scrap the deal and are now urging the incoming Trump administration to stiffen it rather than unravel what President-elect Trump once termed as “the worst deal ever negotiated.” With Iran and European allies imploring the new administration to honor the accord …

AlArabia – Iran reported two outbreaks of the highly contagious H5N8 bird flu virus at farms located in the Tehran region, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said on Monday, citing a report from the Iranian agriculture ministry. The outbreaks killed some 5,600 birds out of a total of nearly 283,500 on the farms, the OIE said in a …

Iranhumanrights.org – Prominent rights activist Parastou Forouhar, whose parents were slain by agents of the Iranian government during a series of murders of dissidents beginning in the late 1980s, has been summoned without a given reason to appear in court at Evin Prison on November 22, 2016. “I have no idea why I’ve been summoned,” Forouhar told the International Campaign for …

Iranhumanrights.org – Hamed Ataee, a news editor from northwestern Iran who has been sentenced to four months in prison for posting a rumor online, says he was actually convicted for posting a video of a member of Parliament (MP) disparaging the presence of women in politics. Ataee has denied posting the video, which shows MP Nader Ghazipour, who was running …

Al-monotor – Religious singers, “maddahan,” occupy a unique place in Iran’s political landscape. They serve as eulogists and are called upon to perform at religious gatherings, such as those during the month of Muharram, when Shiite Muslims mourn the martyrdom of Hussein, their third imam and Prophet Muhammad’s grandson. Of interest, maddahan have increasingly become a powerful political class of …