Al-monitor – Iran’s incumbent moderate president, Hassan Rouhani — who is seeking a second term — has changed his approach ahead of the May 19 presidential elections. In the past few days, Rouhani has become unprecedentedly straight and clear in his speeches, injecting more hope in his supporters. AUTHOR Rohollah Faghihi Since the beginning of the presidential election campaigns, conservative candidates — namely Ebrahim Raisi, Mohammad …

Al-monitor – The Iranian capital played host to the four-day FINEX 2017 exhibition April 15-18. The annual event gathered more than 250 Iranian entities involved in banking and finance. While organizers dubbed it an international expo, only three foreign firms took part. AUTHOR Alireza Ramezani One of the driving factors behind the reluctance of foreign companies to engage with FINEX 2017 was …

PayvandNews – Reigning champions Iran thrashed Thailand in thrilling three sets 25-22, 25-19, 25-20 to pawe their way to the final showdown at the 2nd Asian Men’s U23 Championship at the 6,000-seater Rezazadeh Indoor Stadium and book a berth for the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Men’s 23 World Championship in Egypt. Powerhouses Iran, having lost a match to their respective rivals …

PayvandNews – Iran exported the first cargo of crude oil to the tune of 700,000 barrels from the South Pars oil layer last week. Hamid Bovard, the managing director of Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC), made the remarks in a press conference on the sidelines of Iran Oil Show 2017 in Tehran. A platform in Iran’s South Pars field in …

Amnesty – Following 31 days of hunger strike in Tehran’s Evin prison, Iranian human rights defender Atena Daemi is in poor health, and requires immediate hospitalization. She has been unjustly imprisoned for her human rights activities since November 2016. Download report: http://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1361892017ENGLISH.pdf

AL-Arabia – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani launched a scathing attack on his conservative election rivals on Monday, saying their era of “violence and extremism” was over. “The people of Iran shall once again announce that they don’t approve of those who only called for executions and jail throughout the last 38 years,” he told a packed stadium in the western …

Al-Arabia – Adel al-Shuja, a member of the General People’s Congress which was the party of ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh, accused the Houthis of selling Yemen to Iran for a cheap price. Shuja said on his Facebook page that the Houthis are linked to Iran as their statements scandalize them, adding that the slogan “death to America” is an …

CHRI – Political prisoner Hamid Babaei is being refused hospital treatment by the authorities of Rajaee Shahr Prison in Karaj, west of Tehran, an informed source told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). “Hamid’s chest pains started two weeks ago for unknown reasons,” the source told CHRI on May 5, 2017. “The prison clinic prescribed pain killers and …

CHRI – Hengameh Shahidi Held Without Charge or Legal Counsel Since March 2017 More than 50 days into her hunger strike in Evin Prison in Tehran, reformist political activist Hengameh Shahidi fainted in front of her family on May 4, 2017, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). Nahid Kermanshahi said her daughter, held in Ward 241 under the control of …

Al-monitor – Iran is in the midst of an intense election campaign with six presidential candidates pledging how they would address the country’s economic issues through their respective policies. While incumbent Hassan Rouhani and First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri are focused on justifying a continuation of their government’s economic policies, the other four candidates are presenting economic remedies that need to be …