PayvandNews – An international congress with the theme of “women, the architects of peace” was held here on Sunday on the occasion of the World Peace Day, which is annually marked on September 21.  The congress was held with the cooperation of the Institute for Protection of Women’s Rights (IPWR), The UNESCO Chair for Human Rights, Peace and Democracy (UNESCO CHRPD) of …

RFL/RE – A United Nations human rights group has called on Iran to immediately release two Iranian-Americans, Siamak Namazi and his 81-year-old father Baguer Namazi, describing their imprisonment as a violation of international law. The two are serving 10-year prison sentences on spying charges. Siamak Namazi with his father, Baquer Namazi The call came in an 11-page opinion by the United …

RFL/RE – French President Emmanuel Macron in talks with his U.S. and Iranian counterparts has raised the possibility of renegotiating provisions of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal after their scheduled expiration in 2025, French officials said. French and Iranian Presidents Emmanuel Macron & Hassan Rohani meet at UN. September 18, 2017 photo by Islamic Republic News Agency The possibility was raised in separate …

PayvandNews – Nasser Meshkin Azarian took a careful nibble, letting the salty, grainy texture roll across his tongue. He smiled and washed it down with a sip of cool water. “I give it an 82 or 83” out of 100, Azarian said. At the retail price of $80 an ounce in Iran, it was an expensive bite. But beluga caviar is …

RFL/RE – U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to use his first address to the UN General Assembly to call for a harder line on North Korea and Iran. Trump “will speak in extremely tough terms about the North Korean menace and the threat it poses to our security and the security of all the nations in that room,” a senior …

Iran Human Rights – A prisoner by the name of Samir Deivband was hanged in public in the city of Ilam in front of a crowd of people. According to a report by the state-run media IRIB, the prisoner was sentenced to death on murder charges and was hanged in public on the morning of Sunday September 17. The IRIB report …

Amnesty – Iranian trade unionist Reza Shahabi was forced to return to prison on 9 August, prompting him to go on hunger strike in protest. After over 40 days on hunger strike, his health has seriously deteriorated and he is in need of urgent specialized medical care. He is a prisoner of conscience and must be released immediately and unconditionally. http://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1371042017ENGLISH.pdf

CHRI – Iranian-British dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sentenced to 5 YEARS in prison in Tehran in a secret trial without due process. This is her story.

CHRI —The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) welcomes the release of the Baha’i leader, Mahvash Sabet, who was unjustly imprisoned in Iran for 10 years on the sole basis of her religion. CHRI calls for the immediate release of the six other Baha’i leaders, who have all been imprisoned in Iran since 2008, and an end to the …

CHRI – Iranian President Rouhani is scheduled to speak this week at the 2017 UNGA in New York, but he won’t mention his Broken Promises.