RFL/RE – A federal judge in Argentina has indicted former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner for treason and called for her arrest for allegedly covering up Iran’s involvement in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center that killed 85 people. Judge Claudio Bonadio on December 7 in his 491-page ruling called on Argentina’s Senate to strip Fernandez of her …

RFL/RE – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after a recent meeting of foreign ministers from the Caspian Sea littoral states that after more than 20 years of talks, an agreement on the legal status of the Caspian was “practically ready” for signing. Lavrov met in Moscow with the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan on December 4-5. …

CHRI – Iranian officials are beginning to broach the previously taboo topic of religious discrimination in Iran. On the same day, two government officials publicly discussed discriminatory policies against Baha’is, one of Iran’s most severely persecuted minority faiths. “Today we have students being illegally denied entry into universities for belonging to a different religion,” said member of Parliament Mahmoud Sadeghi …

CHRI – Seven months into President Hassan Rouhani’s second term, his Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi has introduced a new pricing scheme for internet usage that violates net neutrality while improving state censorship capabilities. Net neutrality is the principle that internet service providers (ISPs) should treat all online data the same, and provide the conditions for unfettered access. In …

Al-Monitor – A recent devaluation of the rial on the so-called free market in Iran has raised concerns that the country’s economy will experience another collapse of the value of its national currency similar to what happened in 2012. The free market rate of the US dollar surpassed the psychological mark of 40,000 rials in early October. In early December …

Al-Monitor — The Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi, widely known for its tourist attractions, has recently turned into a diplomatic hub, with dialogue over the Syrian crisis now serving as its main international attraction. On Nov. 22, the presidents of Russia, Iran and Turkey attended a trilateral summit in Sochi to coordinate their efforts on the future of …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani have both condemned US President Donald Trump’s move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Their condemnations were to be expected. However, they did not offer a window into how Iran would likely respond to such a move. At moments like these, it is helpful to study the reaction …

PayvandNews – Iran’s men weightlifting national team has clinched its first ever world champion title, after collecting a total of 509 points at the 2017 World Weightlifting Championships in the United States. The competitions were held in Anaheim, California, from November 28 to December 5. Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani congratulated the Iranian …

RFL/RE – Student protests in Iran this week were propelled by different grievances and demands. Some were concrete issues related to financial issues and others were the result of constant pressures and interference by security organs in universities. One hotspot has been the Petroleum Industry University (Sana’ate Naft), where student protests began even earlier. Iranian students protesting in the Petroleum …

CHRI – Students accused of engaging in peaceful activism continue to be banned from attending university in Iran despite President Hassan Rouhani’s election campaign promise that he would lift the ban. On November 30, 2017, the reformist newspaper Jame-e Farda reported that between 150 and 200 graduate and PhD-level students were blocked from enrolling in Iranian universities in the current …