RFL/RE – Reports from Tehran say Iran has requested a meeting of a commission that oversees the implementation of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers in response to Tehran’s claims that the United States has violated the agreement. Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported on December 17 that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif requested the meeting in a letter …

PayvandNews – During a visit to Tehran, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog has expressed satisfaction with Iran’s commitment to its obligations under the 2015 nuclear accord with world powers. “Iran has been committed to its obligations and this is an important matter,” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s Director General Yukiya Amano said on Sunday at a …

RFL/RE – U.S. President Barack Obama charged that Russia, Iran, and Syria have “blood on their hands” from their brutal takeover of Aleppo even as he lamented being unable to stop the bloodshed in Syria despite years of effort. “The world as we speak is united in horror at the savage assault by the Syrian regime and its Russian and …

Al-Arabia – Kuwait summoned Tehran’s envoy on Friday to demand the release of four Kuwaitis arrested in southwestern Iran, the foreign ministry said. The ministry said it was “following up closely with Iranian authorities” to secure the release of the four nationals detained in the Ahvaz area, according to a statement carried by KUNA state news agency. It said that …

AL-Arabia – The Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in the US House of Representatives, Ed Royce, rejected Tehran’s claims about the violation of the United States nuclear deal, saying that “Iran is the one who violated the agreement through its support to terrorism. Indeed, the quest to develop a missile capable of striking the United States is a direct …

Al-Arabia – The head of the atomic energy watchdog agency of the United Nations will travel to Iran on Sunday for meetings about the country’s implementation of its nuclear agreement with major powers, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Friday. IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano expressed “concerns” to Iran last month over its repeated testing of a limit under …

Al-Arabia – Yemeni armed forces have captured large number of militants including Iranian experts and Hezbollah members in al Jawf Governorate, northwest Yemen, according to a Yemeni official. Amin al Ikamai, Governor of the Jawf said in a press conference, Thursday: “During the recent military clashes in the governorate we have managed to capture a large number of militias including …

IRAN HUMAN RIGHTS – Six prisoners were executed for drug charges in Karaj (west of Tehran) Thursday morning Dcember 15. According to Iran Human Rights (IHR) sources, five of the prisoners were hanged in the Central Prison of Karaj. The prisoners are identified as Behzad Lazemi, Mostafa Gholami, Fardin Sabzi, Mehdi Kaeni and Saeed Faramarzi from the sections 4, 5, …

Iranhumanrights.org – Five dervishes of the Sufi Gonabadi Order were arrested in the southern Iranian city of Dezful on December 13, 2016 after obeying a summons to appear at the prosecutor’s office, their lawyer Kasra Nouri told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. Gholamreza Abarkar, Masoud Majdinasab, Hassan Diapour, Ghassem Manegari and Mohammad Maleki had been summoned for …

Iranhumanrights.org -The appointment of ultra-conservative hardliner Gholam-Hossein Gheibparvar as the new commander of Iran’s Basij, a volunteer militia under the authority of the Revolutionary Guards, has raised fears of increased intimidation and repression of anyone deemed guilty of political dissent. Brigadier General Gheibparvar believes, in contrast to the Constitution, that the Revolutionary Guards holds the authority to interfere in all aspects …