Kurdistan 24 – An Iranian official on Wednesday said women are better off swallowing plaster and dying from a shortness of breath than setting their bodies on fire. Mohammad Javad Fatemi, head of the Iranian Burn Patients Support Association, told state media that some 30,000 burn victims are currently hospitalized in Iran. He added that the real number is much …

Al-Arabia – As usual, the Iranian regime is in the spotlight for its intolerable behavior in the region. Make no mistake, Iran and its revolutionary guards (the IRGC) think they have it all figured out. After having secured a grip in Iraq and Syria, thanks to Mr. Obama’s hands off policy toward Iran, it is now ready to gain its …

politico – President Donald Trump allowed the Iran nuclear deal to survive through 2017, but the new year will offer him another chance to blow up the agreement — and critics and supporters alike believe he may take it. By mid-January, the president will face new legal deadlines to choose whether to slap U.S. sanctions back on Tehran. Senior lawmakers …

RFL/RE  – Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has lashed out at U.S. President Donald Trump and asserted that his policies will not “weaken” Tehran. In a series of tweets and a televised speech on December 27, Khamenei suggested that U.S. efforts to rein in Iran have been failing since Ronald Reagan was president three decades ago. “Reagan was more …

jpost – The Iranian Parliament bill is part of a double-urgency plan dealing with Jerusalem. The Iranian parliament voted to approve a plan on Wednesday that would require the government of Iran to recognize Jerusalem as the permanent capital of the Palestinian people, Iranian news agency Fars reported. The vote yielded 207 supporters and met with no opposition. On December …

Iran Human Rights –  Official sources reported the execution of a prisoner in Rajai Shahr Prison on multiple murder charges. Apparently he was one of the prisoners who were executed on Wednesday. At least eight prisoners were executed on Wednesday only two of which were reported by the official sources. According to Javanonline website, a prisoner was hanged at Rajai …

Iran human rights – Four prisoners who were transferred to solitary confinement from ward 5 of Rajai Shahr Prison were executed in an unknown site on Moharebeh charges. According to a close source, on Saturday December 16, four prisoners were transferred to solitary confinement from ward 5 of Rajai Shahr Prison. The prisoners, three of whom were identified as Moslem …

Al-Monitor  – Soil and water are natural resources pivotal to the survival of any country. They constitute the key elements of agriculture, which no one doubts is important. Experts say that soil is even more important than water because the latter is recoverable but the first is not. They argue that it is crucial to preserve soil, as the formation of each centimeter …

Al-Monitor – After months of verbal clashes in Iran between former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and judiciary chief Sadegh Amoli Larijani, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has given a speech harshly criticizing Ahmadinejad. In recent months, Ahmadinejad and conservative Amoli Larijani have been accusing each other of various things. Ahmadinejad has indirectly alleged that the daughter of Larijani is spying for …

independent – The Islamic Republic’s status as a pariah state must be restored – a boycott by travellers on human rights grounds could kick-start wider sanctions and a rethink on the nuclear deal Peyvand Khorsandi @PKTWICK Ahmadreza Djalali, right, is a Stockholm-based disaster medicine specialist accused of collaborating with Mossad to kill Iranian nuclear energy experts “We are sitting by …