CHRI – In interviews conducted by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) ahead of this year’s World Refugee Day, June 20, 2018, several Afghan refugees in Iran described difficulties accessing basic services including health care and child education.

Al-Monitor – Last month, Iran’s education minister said he intends to create a two-week “winter holiday”before the new Iranian school year starts this fall. In exchange, students will start their academic year two weeks earlier. The goal is to create a new holiday period that could boost local tourism at a time of year when business is usually slow.

Bloomberg – The U.S. has asked Japan to completely halt oil imports from Iran, going beyond the reductions that were demanded when sanctions were imposed earlier this decade, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

PyavanNews – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering a state visit to Iran in July as Tokyo is seeking to strengthen economic ties with Tehran, government sources have said.

washingtonpost – When  ROUHANI ran for president of Iran in 2013, he campaigned on the promise of promoting human rights and individual freedoms in a country that retained a strong authoritarian bent. Five years after his election, it is becoming clear that Mr. Rouhani has failed to deliver on these promises. Last week’s arrest of prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh is …

Radiofarda – German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on Europe to “urgently” take measures to counter Iran’s “aggressive” activities in the Middle East.

RFL/RE  – Iran’s oil minister has walked away from negotiations with other major oil producers over a significant increase in oil production advocated by Russia and Tehran’s archrival, Saudi Arabia.

Iran-HRM – Mohammad Habibi, a member of the board of directors of the Teacher’s Trade Association of Tehran, has been denied access adequate medical treatment at the Great Tehran Penitentiary.

Iran Human Rights – Iran Human Rights warns that the execution of the Kurdish political prisoner, Ramin Hossein Panahi, may be carried out in the next few days. IHR asks the judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran to stop the execution immediately and overturn this inhumane verdict.

Al-Monitor – Providing landlocked Central Asia with shipping access through Iran’s southeastern Chabahar port has been a hot topic since the fall of the Soviet Union. With China’s One Belt One Road initiative in recent years and investment by Central Asian countries in the new transit routes, Iran faces more challenges than ever to utilize the potential of Chabahar.