RFL/RE – Turkey has slammed the conviction of a Turkish banker found guilty in a federal court in New York of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions, calling it a “legal disgrace.”

RFL/RE – A U.S. federal jury in Manhattan has found a Turkish banker guilty of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions, convicting him on five of the six charges he faced. The jury on January 3 found Mehmet Hakan Atilla, an executive at Turkish state-owned bank Halkbank, guilty of bank fraud and conspiracy, but he was found not guilty on a …

VOA – U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is calling on young Iranians involved in street protests against the government in Tehran to view the United States as a “natural ally” in their quest for freedom and democracy.

VOA – The Iranian government has taken a lesson from the Arab Spring in responding to the worst anti-government protests the country has seen in nearly a decade. Heavy-handed tactics by Arab governments against popular uprisings in 2011 led to the overthrow of regimes in Egypt and Libya and sparked a civil war in Syria. Iran had its own Arab …

VOA — Iranian Americans are closely watching protests in Iran, where a government crackdown on demonstrators has led to the deaths of 21 people and the arrest of more than 400 over the past week. Thousands of counter demonstrators have marched to support the regime. Many in the Iranian community of Southern California, the largest outside Iran, are hoping for a …

VOA – Wednesday in Iran brought demonstrations both against and in support of the government, while the United States promised new support for the Iranian people and Iran’s representative to the United Nations accused the United States of “flagrant acts of intervention.”

Iran Human Rights –  Official sources reported that the number of executions at Mashhad Central Prison on Sunday has risen to two. According to Mashregh News, a young man who was arrested and sentenced to death for murder at the age of 19 was hanged at Mashhad Central Prison on the morning of Sunday December 31. The boy was an …

Iran Human Rights –  The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Wednesday urged the Iranian authorities “to handle the wave of protests that have taken place around the country with great care so as not to further inflame violence and unrest,” and to investigate all deaths and serious injuries that have occurred so far. I …

Iran Human Rights – A 30-year-old prisoner was hanged at Mashhad Central Prison on murder charges. According to Rokna News Agency, on the morning of Sunday December 31, a prisoner was hanged at Mashhad Central Prison. The prisoner was identified as Ali H., 30. He was sentenced to death on the charge of murdering his own father in Jimabad Valley …

Al-Monitor – In a style typical of state television, a young interviewer stands on a sidewalk in a busy area and asks passersby their opinions about the recent outpouring of protests across Iran. A man in his 60s with tired eyes responds, “I have three children. They’re doctors and engineers. And all three are unemployed.” A veteran of the 1980-88 …