Al-monitor – A powerful financial watchdog group meeting in Valencia, Spain, this week will take actions that could bolster the Iran nuclear deal — or put it in further jeopardy. AUTHOR Barbara Slavin In the aftermath of the 2015 agreement, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) — a Paris-based intergovernmental organization that sets standards for banks worldwide — agreed last year to suspend so-called countermeasures …

Al-monitor – On June 21, Iranians woke up to the news that Mohammed bin Salman, a man notorious in Tehran for his anti-Iran remarks, had been appointed crown prince of Saudi Arabia, replacing Mohammed bin Nayef. AUTHOR Rohollah Faghihi Since King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud ascended to the throne, Iran and Saudi Arabia’s relationship has deteriorated, and many in Iran see …

PayvandNews – Iran’s growth of gross domestic product (GDP), including oil sector, hit 12.5 percent in the previous Iranian calendar year 1395 (ended on March 20, 2017), the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) reported.  Iran’s GDP stood at 6.691 quadrillion rials (about $178.5 billion) last year, based on the market prices in fiscal year 2011-12. GDP real growth rates for 2016 See: Gross …

Guardian – Even the gentle references to sexuality in Fereshteh Ahmadi’s short story Harry Is Always Lost meant it was hit by the censors. The female protagonist is late catching a flight. In a frantic taxi journey to the airport, she is with a man, but it is not clear if they are dating or are husband and wife. On …

RFL/RE – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned Iraq’s leader against weakening Shi’ite paramilitary groups and relying on the United States in the battle against the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.. At a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi in Tehran, Khamenei said the Shi’ite militias were the main forces pushing back against the Sunni extremist group …

RFL/RE – Pakistani officials say an air force jet has shot down an unmanned Iranian drone that was “deep inside the Pakistani airspace.” Pakistani media quoted two unnamed officials on June 20 as saying the unmanned aircraft was shot down in the Panjgur district of southwestern Balochistan Province over the weekend. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they …

VOA – U.S. officials told VOA they were close to confirming that the Iranian-made drone shot down by an American fighter jet early Tuesday was being operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, multiple U.S. sources told VOA that the drone was being operated from an IRGC ground control station inside Syria. The station …

CHRI – Works by prominent Iranian-American artists were showcased to a packed house on June 14, the opening night of the “Beyond the Ban” art exhibition, a collaboration between the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) and the Susan Eley Fine Art gallery in New York City.

Al-monitor – In the aftermath of the June 7 terrorist attacks in Tehran claimed by the Islamic State (IS), Iranian Reformists and moderates have sought to overcome the heightened factional divisions lingering from the recent presidential elections. Indeed, Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Mohammad Reza Aref and Mostafa Tajzadeh among many other Reformist politicians have called for national unity. In contrast, conservative and hard-line politicians have not missed …

Al-monitor – On June 14, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke of support for a “peaceful transition of government” in Iran, a controversial statement interpreted in Tehran as meaning that US policy is reverting to regime change. AUTHOR Rohollah Faghihi Prominent Reformist figures, including those who have been imprisoned, protested the apparent new policy of the US government toward Iran. In a …