Guardian – Conservationists sound alarm over unprecedented slaughter of rare and endangered species by hunters at three lagoons Robin McKie The Siberian crane is among species that inhabit or visit Iran’s Fereydunkenar wetlands, where as many as one half – a million birds – are now hunted every year. Photograph: Arterra/UIG via Getty Images A million wild birds a year …

RFL/RE – After days of bloody clashes between dervishes and security services, a dervish leader has implored his followers to remain calm despite continued threats from authorities.

RFL/RE – The protests of individual women in Iran against compulsory veil continues, as more women remove their head-scarfs in public as a sign of defiance. http://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-women-protesting-hijab-arrested/29058545.html Authorities also continue their crackdown against these protesters. Radio Farda has learned that from Wednesday to Thursday, two more women who have come to be known as “women of Revolution Street” were detained. …

Reuters – Oil that reached islands in southern Japan earlier this month is highly likely to have come from the sunken Iranian tanker Sanchi, the Japan Coast Guard said on Thursday.

RFL/RE – Iran remains in compliance with the 2015 nuclear accord signed with six world powers, the United Nations atomic watchdog says.

CHRI – Rights Violations Continue Under President Rouhani’s Watch Iran’s deteriorating human rights record requires the UN Human Rights Council to renew the mandate of the special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic to maintain constructive pressure on the government and magnify the voices of activists inside the country. “Renewing the mandate of the special rapporteur …

Al-Monitor – The downing of an Israeli F-16 by the Syrian military on Feb. 10 has once again triggered speculations about a possible direct confrontation between Iran and Israel. Shortly after the incident, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Iran “violated our sovereignty, and infiltrated its drone into Israeli airspace from Syria.” Referring to his previous “warnings” about Iran’s presence in …

Al-Monitor – The world’s financial watchdog is poised to continue suspending punitive measures against Iran for six more months to avoid creating a new crisis at a time of political fragility inside the country and uncertainty over the fate of the landmark nuclear deal.

Al-Monitor – Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose contested re-election plunged Iran into its largest street protests since the 1979 revolution, has written an open letter addressed to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for free elections. Ahmadinejad said the letter, published on his website Dolat-e Bahar on Feb. 21, was in response to a Feb. 18 speech by Khamenei in …

PayvandNews – Iran says it is preparing to launch its own digital currency in a move that many believe can help reduce the country’s vulnerability to the impacts of US-led sanctions. Iran’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Azari Jahromi was quoted by the domestic media as saying that a plan was already on agenda to develop a platform …