AL-monitor – According to Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, the spokesman for Iran’s judiciary, former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his former Vice President Hamid Baghaei still have open legal cases. During an April 16 press conference, Mohseni-Ejei did not talk about the nature of the case or what the charges are. Ahmadinejad shocked Iranians when he registered April 12 for the Iranian presidential election. He told …

PayvandNews – The ecotourism market in Iran has witnessed a growth over the past couple of years, drawing more domestic and foreign backpackers to the pristine and relatively undisturbed natural areas of the country. Tourists in Amoo Norooz native style resort in Tabas, northwestern Iran Some 530 ecotourism projects have been implemented since the current administration took office in 2013, Cultural Heritage, …

PayvandNews – Iran has hashed out price differences with China to receive counselling on redesigning its only heavy water nuclear reactor, signing a deal on the project with the Chinese side, Iranian Foreign Ministry has said in a written briefing to parliament. Arak heavy-water reactor “The contract to receive counselling on the redesign was negotiated and signed in Beijing on …

Telegraph – UK firms are cautiously eying opportunities in Iran ahead of an expected $600bn boom in trade and infrastructure investment over the next ten years.

PavyvandNews – Iran has officially inaugurated several mega projects in its natural gas hub of South Pars – projects that can put the country in the lead over production from a giant field that it shares with Qatar.  The projects included South Pars Phases 17 and 18, Phase 19, as well as Phases 21 and 22. They were inaugurated by …

PayvandNews – More than 1,600 candidates have filed to run in the Iranian presidential election as the official registration period ended. Among the last-minute entrants for the May 19 election was 55-year-old Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who arrived at the Interior Ministry just before the deadline on April 15. Ebrahim Raisi (L) against Hassan Rohani (R) Record number of …

PayvandNews – The Iranian Defense Ministry has showcased its recent technological achievements, including a jet designed indigenously for training purposes and other items that were being made public for the first time. The achievements were displayed during an exhibition at the Iranian Helicopter Support and Renewal Company (IHSRC) in Tehran on Saturday. Mohajer-6 drone Iranian President Hassan Rouhani paid a …

PayvandNews – Severe flood and landslide in western and northwestern parts of Iran have so far claimed 35 lives and left 8 missing. Heavy rain which started on Friday morning caused flood in the afternoon and unfortunately the northwestern cities of Azarshahr and Ajabshir hit the hardest by the flood, ISNA quoted Ismail Najjar, head of the Crisis Management Organization …

RFL/RE – Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line cleric close to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on April 14 filed to run in the May presidential election. Raisi, 56, a professor of Islamic law, is viewed as incumbent President Hassan Rohani’s main rival for the presidency. Rohani, a politically moderate cleric, also filed for re-election earlier on April 14. While Rohani …

Iranhumanrights.org –The candidacy in Iran’s upcoming presidential election of Ebrahim Raisi, who played a leading role in crimes against humanity during the 1980s, is a serious setback for a country striving to rejoin the international community. In 1988, Raisi was part of a four-man commission that implemented the extrajudicial executions of thousands of political prisoners. Current President Hassan Rouhani, Raisi, …