PayvandNews – Iran has discovered about a dozen new oil fields with in-place reserves of 30 billion barrels, head of exploration at National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) says. Some 4.7 billion barrels of these reserves are recoverable, said Seyyed Saleh Hendi who also announced the discovery of 128 trillion cubic feet of gas. New discoveries, which happened over the past …

PayvandNews – Cello virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma and his ensemble ‘Silk Road’ of which Iranian Kamancheh virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor is also a member won the Grammy for Best World Music Album for ‘Sing Me Home‘ on Sunday. ‘Sing Me Home’ (watch videos) The 59th Annual Grammy Awards were held Sunday 12 February 2017 at the Staples Center in Los Angele during which top musical …

washingtonpost — Iran’s official IRNA news agency is reporting that a 62-year-old man has been sentenced to a 10-year prison term on espionage charges. The Monday report quotes Hassan Heidari, a judiciary official in the northeastern city of Mashhad, as saying the accused person was arrested five months ago. The report does not identify the man. The verdict comes after …

BBC – The Swedish government has defended its decision to have its officials wear headscarves during a trip to Iran, saying that failing to do so would have broken the law. Trade Minister Ann Linde led a business team last week and faced criticism for wearing a headscarf, or hijab. Sweden says it has the world’s first “feminist government”. A …

RFL/RE – Iran’s Intelligence Minister Mahmud Alavi says security forces have arrested eight hard-line Sunni Islamists who were suspected of planning attacks to disrupt celebrations marking the anniversary of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Alavi said on February 11 that the eight suspects were all foreigners and that some were linked to a Sunni militant leader who had been killed in …

VOA – The son of Iran’s last monarch is appealing to U.S. President Donald Trump to distinguish between the Iranian people and their Islamist rulers as the president considers whether to impose new restrictions on immigration to the United States. In an exclusive studio interview with VOA’s Persian Service, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi said Iranians are sensitive to being “confused” …

RFL/RE – Iran’s supreme leader has told Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven that Sweden has a good reputation among Iranians and is seen by Tehran as a reliable economic partner. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the remarks to Lofven during a meeting in Tehran on February 11. Left to Right: Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven President Hassan Rohani Supreme Leader Ali …

PayvandNews – Iranian oil minister has said that considering oil prices at $55 per barrels, the country’s revenues from oil and gas condensate exports will reach $45-$50 billion in the next Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2017-March 20, 2018), IRNA reported on Saturday. According to Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, the country’s oil and gas condensate’s exports stand near 2.8 million barrels …

VOA – The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan says Russia, Pakistan and Iran are pursuing their own agendas with regard to the fragile country, complicating the fight against terrorism and extremism. “We’re concerned about outside actors,” General John Nicholson told VOA’s Afghan service in an interview. VOA’s Exclusive Interview With General John Nicholson Russia, which had an ill-fated intervention into …

Guardian – Fifty years after Forough Farrokhzad’s death, Ebrahim Golestan talks about his affair with the giant of Persian literature Forough Farrokhzad Forty miles south of London, in a quiet West Sussex village, lives a 94-year-old Iranian intellectual who has for half a century kept silent about his former lover, a giant of modern Persian literature who was killed in …