Al-monitor – Two weeks ahead of the Iranian presidential election, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has increased his criticisms of the policies endorsed by President Hassan Rouhani. A week after indirectly criticizing the president for suggesting that diplomacy had averted war, Khamenei criticized a United Nations education program that some conservative Iranian detractors say promotes gender equality. AUTHOR Arash Karami “These are not things the Islamic …

Source: FIFA.com – Iran’s third-place finish is best ever for Asian Football Confederation Watch video Iran’s third-place finish is best ever for Asian Football Confederation Italy finishes in fourth place for second consecutive FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Gabriele Gori scores the most goals in a single tournament since Madjer in 2006 Iran ended their Bahamas 2017 campaign on a high with …

PayvandNews – The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization has registered Iran’s southern Qeshm Island in the Persian Gulf on its Global Geoparks list.  “The Qeshm Island has been granted the designation of UNESCO Global Geopark for a four-year period from May 5, 2017 to May 4, 2021. And the first revalidation will take place in 2020,” the UNESCO official website …

PayvandNews – President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that those who are found guilty in a coal mine incident should face trial.  An explosion on Wednesday at the Azad-Shahr coal mine in northeastern Golestan province left 35 people dead. President Rouhani among the coal miners (photo by Islamic Republic News Agency) Visiting the site of the coal mine, the president called …

CHRI – Presidential candidate Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf played a key role in major human rights violations as commander-in-chief of the Iranian police, Mehrangiz Kar, a lawyer who defended human rights in the Islamic Republic, told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). “Mr. Ghalibaf was insistent on torturing, imprisoning and ruining the careers of journalists as well as artists …

CHRI – For the second week in a row, the staff at the campaign headquarters of incumbent President Hassan Rouhani in north Tehran has been prevented from campaigning in the run-up to Iran’s May 19, 2017 elections for president and local councils. “Several people, some wearing police uniforms and others in civilian clothes, prevented us from leaving the building after …

RFL/RE – Iran says it would hit back at nearly all of regional rival Saudi Arabia’s territory with the exception of Islam’s holiest places if the Saudis do anything “ignorant.” Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan’s comments on May 7 came after the Saudi deputy crown prince made what Tehran said were “unlawful and inflammatory” remarks accusing Tehran of attempting to …

Al-Arabia – The head of the Iranian armed forces warned Islamabad on Monday that Tehran would hit bases inside Pakistan if the government does not confront militants who carry out cross-border attacks. Ten Iranian border guards were killed by militants last month. Iran said Jaish al Adl, a militant group, had shot the guards with long-range guns, fired from inside …

Radiozamaneh – Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, condemned the Iranian government of Hassan Rouhani for supporting a UNESCO education agreement. Khamenei stated that the Rouhani administration has been ratifying this agreement in secret and that the agreement is against Islamic teachings. On 7 May 2017 Khamenei in a meeting with Iranian teachers and university professors, rendered an agenda proposed …

Al-monitor – Iran’s second presidential debate May 5 injected optimism among supporters of President Hassan Rouhani, who changed his tactic of staying relatively quiet. AUTHOR Rohollah Faghihi In the first debate, broadcast live April 28, the moderate incumbent did not appear engaged and kept his silence in the face of his conservative rivals’ attacks and criticisms. Rather, first Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, who is believed to have …