CHRI – Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi has expressed doubt that a commission created by President Hassan Rouhani would shed light on the recent death in state custody of Iranian-Canadian academic and environmentalist Kavous Seyed-Emami. “I hope the commission will be successful,” Ebadi told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on February 24, 2018. “But the past trend …

Al-Monitor – As Iranian security agencies have been arresting a number of environmentalists, officials from President Hassan Rouhani’s administration are pushing back against the agencies’ ability to charge that those arrested are spies.                         In an interview with Iran Newspaper, which is published by the administration, presidential adviser Ali …

Al-Monitor – A senior military adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called Feb. 27 for talks with Iraq and Afghanistan on water resources. At a two-day conference in Tehran, “National Water Diplomacy and Opportunities for Hydropolitics in West Asia,” former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Yahya Rahim Safavi said, “The issue of the scarcity of water resources may …

Iran-HRM – There have reports that a number of Security forces attacked Gonabadi Dervish protesters who were arrested in Golestan Haftom are in critical condition. Amir Nouri, who suffered injuries in his hand had one of his fingers amputated due to the severity of the injury. He also has a fractured head and bruises. Mr. Nouri and 30 other people …

Iran-HRM – The Police have announced that “encouraging people not to wear the hijab is subject to the second paragraph of Article 639, which carries 1 to 10 years of prison and cannot be converted into a substitute penalty”.

RFL/RE – Iranian officials have revealed new details on a recent embezzlement case in the country’s Oil Ministry. The spokesperson for the judiciary reported February 25 that 15 people have been indicted, including three Oil Ministry managers, who have been arrested. Iranian MP Asadollah Gharakhani claimed a day later that a total of $60 million had been embezzled by the …

RFL/RE – Russia has vetoed a UN Security Council draft resolution on Yemen which would have called out Iran for failing to stop the supply of Iranian-made missiles to Huthi rebels.

RFL/RE – U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley has released a statement condemning a scheduled appearance at the U.N. Human Rights Council by an Iranian official tied to serious human rights violations.

RFL/RE – Iran’s Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani has lashed out at President Hassan Rouhani for a recent speech in which he said the Iranian government’s attempts to Islamize sciences has failed, calling Rouhani’s argument “vulgar.” In a February 24 speech at the Kharazmi Science Festival in Tehran, broadcast live on Iran’s state-run news channel IRINN, Rouhani said spending …

RFL/RE – The United States is negotiating with Saudi Arabia over a nuclear power deal that might allow Riyadh to enrich and reprocess uranium in exchange for choosing U.S. companies to build reactors in the kingdom, media are reporting. The Associated Press, Bloomberg, and other media reported on February 26 that the Saudis are pressing to include such advanced nuclear …