irannewsupdate -According to informed sources, which track executions in the Islamic Republic of Iran, at least three inmates were hanged on Sunday alone, suggesting that the high rate of executions is continuing from the previous two months, during which approximately 200 people were put to death. Iran has long maintained the highest per-capita rate of executions in the world, but …

arabnews -Iran has shifted policy from covertly advancing its military programs to publicly announcing progress on that front. This week, Iran’s state-owned newspapers praised its “remarkable” military advancements. Keyhan’s front page boasted about the country’s unveiling of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) base, saying it is a warning to “enemies.” Quoting air defense chief Farzad Esmaili, Press TV reported that …

RFL/RE – The Turkish-born head of a U.S. metals company was sentenced to 57 months in prison on September 7 for conspiring to illegally export missile-grade metallic powder to Iran. Erdal Kuyumcu, 45, was sentenced by a U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, after pleading guilty in June 2016 to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, court …

RFL/RE – Turkey’s economy minister on September 7 dismissed a case brought by U.S. prosecutors against his predecessor for allegedly taking bribes and helping Iran violate U.S. sanctions law. Zafer Caglayan, the former Turkish economy minister named in a U.S. indictment on September 6, was the highest-ranking of several former officials in the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who …

RFL/RE — U.S. President Donald Trump says nations in the Middle East must confront parties “such as the Iranian regime” as part of efforts to defeat “murderous” terror groups and radical militias in the region. “Every responsible nation must work to strip these [terror] groups of their territory, their financing, and the false allure of their evil ideology,” Trump told a …

CHRI – The government of President Hassan Rouhani continues to avoid taking the initiative to resolve the six-and-a-half-year extrajudicial house arrests of ailing opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard. “This issue arose during the previous government, not the current one,” Rouhani government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht told reporters at a press conference in Tehran on …

CHRI – A protest was met with tear gas in the city of Baneh in northwestern Iran on September 5, 2017, after people gathered in front of the local governor’s office to demonstrate against the killing by Iranian border guards of two “kulbars,” the Farsi word for border-crossing couriers. Ghader Bahrami (45) and Heydar Faraji (21) were transporting goods by foot through …

Al-monitor  — Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is planning to implement some structural changes in the Iranian Foreign Ministry as he begins his second term in office — and it is not clear how successful these changes will be. A great part of Zarif’s first four years as foreign minister was spent resolving Iran’s nuclear file, a task that also engaged two of …

Al-Arabia – United States prosecutors have charged a former Turkish economy minister and the former head of a Turkish state bank with conspiring to evade US sanctions against Iran, widening an investigation that has fueled tension between Washington and Ankara. The indictment is the first time a former member of the Turkish government with close ties to President Tayyip Erdogan has …

HRANA News Agency – An estimated number of 50 political prisoners held in Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj have been transferred to a new and security hall in recent weeks. There are the deprivations which have been imposed on prisoners in this hall where even the toilets are equipped with CCTV cameras. The situation has prompted political prisoners to protest. At …