VOA – Saudi Arabia and Iran are rethinking their rivalry and a highly tentative, as well as a deniable, courtship is underway, say analysts. But it is fraught pitfalls and last week in London Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister dismissed talk of a possible thaw as “laughable,” saying Iran would have to change its policies dramatically for that to happen. Even so, …

CHRI – An Iranian man imprisoned for his social media postings could face several more years behind bars if he is convicted of new charges brought against him by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). His wife may also be imprisoned. Soheil Arabi, who has been serving a seven and a half year prison sentence since 2013 for criticizing the Islamic …

CHRI – Zakka Pressured to Sign Farsi-Language Documents The director of Evin Prison in Tehran, Ali Chaharmahali, is refusing to allow outside medical treatment for imprisoned US permanent resident Nizar Zakka, his US-based lawyer told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on September 7, 2017. “The prison director two or three days ago was yelling in front of Nizar himself …

PayvandNews – Digital service distributor Google Play has followed Apple’s lead in removing Iranian apps from its store, citing US sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Companies such as Google and Apple were hosting Iranian apps reportedly under a license issued by former President Barack Obama’s administration in 2014 but it is not clear why they have stopped those services now. View …

PayvandNews – The only short film festival celebrating Iranian cinema and culture returns for ninth year with red carpet awards ceremony September 30 in new venue Press Release by Farhang Foundation www.farhangfilmfest.org Event: 9th Annual Farhang Foundation Short Film Festival Date: September 30, 6 p.m. Location: UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall, 445 Charles E Young Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90095 Tickets: $45, available online via Ticketmaster.com and in person at the //www.google.com/maps/place/UCLA+Central+Ticket+Office/@34.070159,-118.4456222,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xde1611dee0c9918e?sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwju64jfiY3WAhVIRyYKHb1tAugQ_BIIeTAN” href=”https://www.google.com/maps/place/UCLA+Central+Ticket+Office/@34.070159,-118.4456222,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xde1611dee0c9918e?sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwju64jfiY3WAhVIRyYKHb1tAugQ_BIIeTAN” …

CHRI – Forty days after more than 15 political prisoners went on a mass hunger strike in Iran’s Rajaee Shahr Prison, the authorities are preventing some of the strikers in the poorest physical condition from receiving outside medical treatment and punishing the protesters by restricting family visitations. Ailing hunger strikers Saeed Masouri, Reza Shahabi, Abolghasem Fouladvand, Shahin Zoghitabar, Mohammad Nazari and Mohammad Banazadeh Amirkhizi …

CHRI – Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has expressed opposition to “discrimination and inequality” against Iranian minorities in response to a plea from the country’s most senior Sunni cleric. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei with Sunni cleric Molavi Abdolhamid Ismaeelzahi Read coverage (in Persian) by Ghanoon daily “In accordance with religious teachings and the Constitution, all the institutions of the Islamic Republic have a duty to refrain …

RFL/RE – U.S. President Donald Trump on September 8 urged Saudi Arabia and other Arab states to resolve their differences with Qatar and present a united front against Iran, the White House said. Trump spoke separately with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) Crown Prince Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed al-Nahyan, and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin …

PayvandNews – Eurofer had proposed plans to levy tariffs of up to 33 percent on imports of hot-rolled steel from Iran, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine. Steel factory in Ahvaz, Iran (file photo by ISNA) Iran’s steel exports to Europe are now safe from punitive measures after EU governments reject hitting imports from the Middle Eastern country with trade tariffs. The European Commission, …

RFL/RE – Iran says it has warned off an American warship during the rescue of a boat in the Gulf of Oman, while the U.S. Navy denied any direct contact with Iranian forces. The hard-line Tasnim news agency reported on September 10 that the U.S. vessel turned away after the warning from a rocket-bearing Iranian military ship. The Iranian vessel then …