CHRI – “They Buried Him Like He Was a Criminal” Hassan Shahin Tarkashvand, a 24-year-old man from the city of Karaj, has been identified as another victim of the state-repressed protests in Iran that began in late December 2017. A family member who asked not to be identified told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on January 24 …

Al-Monitor – Less than a month after the biggest street protests since 2009 rocked Iran, seemingly out of nowhere and under no official organizational banner, officials and analysts are still trying to figure out the makeup and motivations of the demonstrators. Now the Interior Ministry deputy for security and law enforcement, Hossein Zolfaghari, has made an attempt at drawing conclusions …

PayvandNews – The exchange rate of the U.S. dollar against Iran’s tuman has had another hike, rising from 3,700 tumans to the dollar in March 2017 to 4,700 tumans to the dollar in January this year. As in the past when there was a marked drop in the value of the national currency, Central Bank Governor Valiollah Seyf tried to …

Payvand.com – World Premiere of the film “Taq Kasra: Wonder of Architecture” will take place at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London on 1 February 2018. The film – which is the first-ever documentary on this iconic monument – is directed by Pejman Akbarzadeh, based in the Netherlands. Taq Kasra, Symbol of Persian Empire in …

RFL/RE – With some Iranians still hopping mad about state spending on religious institutions and foreign military ventures, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has green-lighted the siphoning of $2.5 billion from a currency-reserve fund to boost military spending.

RFL/RE – Amnesty International is calling on Iranian authorities to “immediately and unconditionally” release a woman who was arrested in Tehran last month for apparently protesting peacefully against the country’s mandatory Islamic dress code. In a January 24 statement, the London-based rights group also reiterated its calls on the authorities to “end the persecution of women who speak out against …

VOA – Gulf Arab officials used the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday to slam Iran for what they said was its destabilizing behavior in the region, taking advantage of Tehran’s conspicuous absence at the annual event. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had been a regular presence at the annual forum that brings together top politicians, CEOs and …

Iran Human Rights –  Hedayat Abdollahpour is sentenced to death on the charge of providing shelter and food as well as spreading propaganda. According to a close source, a few days ago, Hedayat Abdollahpour was sentenced to death once again. First, he was arrested on June 15, 2016, along with six other people. They were charged with providing the Kurdish …

Amnesty – The Iranian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release a woman arrested on 27 December 2017 in Tehran for engaging in a peaceful protest against compulsory veiling (hijab), Amnesty International said today. The organization renewed its calls on the Iranian authorities to end the persecution of women who speak out against compulsory veiling, and abolish this discriminatory and humiliating …

CHRI – “I am a professional Iranian singer but I am only allowed to work if I perform with a man, which is something I have never wanted to do,” female vocalist Sepideh Jandaghi told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) in an interview. A vocalist with 12 years of training in traditional Iranian music, Jandaghi spoke to …