CHRI – In the six months since she was released from a three-week detention, Iranian Kurdish children and women’s rights activist Farzaneh Jalali has been repeatedly called in for questioning by the Intelligence Ministry. “My client has been under various kinds of pressure, but by law I cannot speak about them,” Jalali’s attorney, Mostafa Ahmadian, told the Center for Human Rights …

CHRI – The spokesman for Iran’s judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, has publicly rejected a report that security agents will leave detained opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi’s home in northern Tehran as “total lies.” “Mr. Ejei is confusing the issue,” Karrobi’s son, Mohammad Taghi Karroubi, told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on August 20, 2017. “Yes, the agents have not …

CHRI – Maryam (Nasim) Naghash Zargaran, who was released from Evin Prison on August 1, 2017 after serving more than four years for allegedly engaging in Christian missionary activities, has been banned from leaving Iran for six months, she told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). “With the completion of my sentence, there’s no reason for me to be …

Al-monitor – In an unprecedented move that surprised many observers around the world, Tajikistan’s state TV on Aug. 8 aired a documentary accusing Iran of involvement in the murder of several Tajik social and political figures as well as 20 Russian military officers in the country during the 1990s Tajik civil war. The documentary further claimed that at the time, Iran had organized a plot to …

PayvandNews – To experience Isfahan, a vibrant tourist city in central Iran, it is most magical to walk across Pol-e Khaju at sunset when the 17th-century bridge is lit by glorious colors.  A total of 23 arches, decorative motifs and tiles, adjoining arcades and an octagonal pavilion embedded right in the middle are amongst main features of the picturesque bridge that spans Zayandeh-Rood, …

PayvandNews – In a symbolic gesture to safeguard the environment a young bride from the western province of Ilam made the groom to pledge to plant 1372 trees as her “mahr” – a mandatory payment paid or promised to pay by the groom under Islamic law. A mahr (or mahriyeh) is typically specified in the marriage contract. While the mahr is …

RFL/RE – The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization has said that the country would need only five days to resume high-level uranium enrichment. The August 22 comments by Ali Akbar Salehi follow accusations by the U.S. administration that Tehran is not abiding by the spirit of the 2015 agreement with world powers, which placed curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in …

Al-Arabia – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued a decree appointing Brigadier General Sayed Abdul Rahim Mousavi as Commander-in-Chief of the Army Forces after his promotion to the rank of Major General, replacing General Attaullah Salehi. According to Khamenei’s official website, the decision included the appointment of Alwaa Salehi as deputy chairman of the General Staff of the Armed …

VOA — Yemen’s foreign minister blamed Iran and its support for Houthi Shiite rebels on Monday for causing the country’s civil war and said it can’t be part of the solution. Abdulmalik Al-Mekhlafi said at a press conference that Iranian weapons are still being smuggled into Yemen. Saudi Arabia’s U.N. ambassador, Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, whose country supports Yemen’s internationally recognized government, …

HRANA News Agency – A prisoner with drug related charges who had been kept in solitary confinement in Birjand prison since several months ago, committed suicide and died due to mental pressure of solitary confinement. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), A Baluch prisoner with drug related charges, committed suicide about two weeks ago and died …