Al-monitor – When Ebrahim Raisi, the custodian of Iran’s largest religious endowment, announced his entrance into the 2017 presidential election, he stressed that he would run as an independent for all Iranians and “apart from the current political groupings.” Even before the announcement, Raisi had gone to great lengths to not get involved in partisan bickering and avoided directly attacking incumbent President Hassan …

PayvandNews – U.S. officials who have been toughening their stance toward Iran in recent weeks have said almost nothing about its presidential election, now less than one month away.  And, some Iran observers say the silence regarding the May 19 vote could be a reflection of broad skepticism about its significance. The 6 approved candidates competing in Iran’s presidential election Left …

PayvandNews – Two major knowledge-based products including a humanoid robot dubbed ‘Surena Mini’ and a small animal imaging device have been unveiled today at the 5th laboratory equipment & chemicals exhibition (Iran Lab 2017). Iranian humanoid robot ‘Surena Mini’ and an imaging device for small animals were among the knowledge-based productions that were unveiled Monday during the opening of the …

aljazeera – Presidential election is going to determine whether the rationalisation and normalisation of Iran is going to continue. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani registers to run for a second four-year term in the May election, in Tehran, Iran, April 14, 2017 [Reuters]bySaeid GolkarSaeid Golkar is a lecturer at the Middle East and North African Studies Program at Northwestern University.The upcoming …

HRANA News Agency – Ali Kab Aamir, 17, from Kian Abad in Ahvaz was arrested by the Ahvaz intelligence office at his house. The hand of the teenager broke while being arrested as a result of his resistance and protest of his family. It is said that his mother was shocked and is hospitalized due to her critical condition. According …

HRANA News Agency – Vahid Sayad Nasiri, political prisoner of Evin prison, has started a hunger strike, in protest to violation of separation of prisoners based on their crimes. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Vahid Sayad Nasiri, political prisoner of section 4 of Evin prison is on hunger strike since February 15. A close …

HRANA News Agency – Arash Sadeghi, civil rights activist, who is imprisoned in ward 350 of Evin prison, and was suffering from Asthma and stomach bleeding, following his long hunger strike, is diagnosed with intestinal colitis as well. Despite approval of the prosecutor, the IRGC still prevent him from being transferred to a hospital and deny his medical furlough. According …

Radiozamaneh – The recent arrest of a number of administrators of Telegram social networking Channels continues to fuel tensions between Iran’s administration and the judiciary. Telegram is a cloud-based instant messaging application popular in Iran in which Channels are used as a group platform where members can receive content from. A total of 12 administrators that were running pro Rohani and …

Radiozamaneh – Iranian parliament’s Judicial Commission spokesperson has announced that this commission has agreed with a proposal to reduce death penalty to 30 years in prison for a number of drug-related offences. Meanwhile the number of arrests for drug related charges are increasing in the country. A female officer searches a women arrested for possession Hassan Nourouzi an MP and …

VOA – A British-Iranian woman detained in Iran while on a trip with her toddler daughter has exhausted all chance of having her five-year prison sentence overturned in court, her family said on Monday. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is one of several dual nationals held in Iran by hard-liners in the country’s judiciary and security services on espionage charges, likely to be …