CHRI – Ahmadreza Djajali, an Iranian-born Swedish resident who was sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran in October 2017 for alleged espionage charges, wrote in a letter from Evin Prison that he was imprisoned during a trip to Iran for refusing to spy for Iran’s Intelligence Ministry. The date of the letter, a copy of which was obtained by the …

Al-Monitor – The US Treasury Department’s recent move to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) under terrorism authority has put the military organization back in the spotlight. The subsequent tweet by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in which he declared that “all Iranians are IRGC” ready to defend their homeland in response to US pressure, gave rise to spirited debate on social media about the …

Al-Monitor — For now, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has pushed the separatist Kurds back and extended the power of the federal government once again to the areas considered disputed under the Iraqi Constitution. The Kurds are beaten. But the key question is how long this equilibrium will last. The Kurds in Kirkuk and other disputed areas are disillusioned with the Kurdish parties, including …

Al-Monitor- Once again, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has emphasized that Tehran will not negotiate with the West over Iran’s ballistic missile program. At a joint graduation, inauguration and epaulet-granting ceremony for cadets of Iran’s Army Academies on Oct. 25, Ayatollah Khamenei refused any negotiation over Iran’s “defense” power. While the US administration has signaled ambivalence about Iran’s implementation of the Joint Comprehensive …

PayvandNews – Former Iran national football team and Persepolis defender Ebrahim Ashtiani passed away at the age of 71 in Tehran’s Shahid Rajaei Hospital on Tuesday.  He died as a result of a preexisting heart disease.

RFL/RE – A senior Iranian official on Monday expressed concern that foreign powers may interfere in the country’s elections through social media. Social media tools, such as the messaging application Telegram could control and analyze the behavior of a society and estimate the election results with 97% accuracy, the head of Iran’s Civil Defense Organization, Gholam Reza Jalali said in a …

PayvandNews – The latest market figures show that Iran’s exports of crude oil to China in September saw a whopping increase of 59 percent compared to the same period last year.   Figures released by Reuters showed that Iran exported as much as 3.22 million tonnes – or 784,000 barrels per day (bpd) – to Asia’s largest and world’s second top consumer …

Reuters – Iran opened a border crossing with the Kurdistan region of Iraq Wednesday after having closed it following last month’s vote in favour of independence in the Kurdish area, Iranian state media reported. Iran backs the Shi’ite-led central government in Baghdad in its opposition to Kurdish secession, and Iranian-backed militias assisted government forces when they seized a number of Kurdish …

RFL/RE – Getting a minister approved in Iran is not a perfect science; finding the right formula for the sensitive post of science minister is particularly difficult. More than two months after beginning his second term in office, President Hassan Rohani is still looking to complete his cabinet. The position of science minister, which has been scrutinized by Supreme Leader Ayatollah …

RFL/RE – The U.S. government announced it will start admitting refugees from most countries again after a 120-day ban, but will impose new restrictions on refugees from Iran and 10 other countries where it sees security risks. While the government allowed its temporary refugee ban to expire as scheduled on October 24, it was replaced with a restrictive new executive order …