Iran-HRM – Alim Yarmohammadi, representative of Zahedan in the parliament, concluding with an implied statement given by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) journalist about the severe poverty and eating of cat’s meat in the villages of Zabul that 75 percent of the people in Sistan and Baluchestan province are in food poverty.

RFL/RE – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has raised the possibility of conflict between his army and U.S. forces in Syria if they do not withdraw from the country soon — prompting a warning from the Pentagon.

RFL/RE – Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman visited Moscow on May 31 for talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, on Israeli concerns about Iran’s military presence in Syria.

VOA – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has posted a video of himself praising Iranians in his latest bid to revive a historic friendship with Iran’s people while challenging and criticizing their Islamist rulers.

VOA – Iranian factory workers in northwestern Iran have staged a protest against mismanagement of a large industrial plant, saying the problem has brought the major local employer to the brink of closure.

CHRI – Fifteen negotiators representing protesting farmers in the southern Iranian province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad were arrested on May 29, 2018, as they showed up for talks over a water dispute. “This morning [May 29] about 200 people gathered in front of the governor’s office in Yasouj to protest the action by the city’s water and sewage authority [to …

Al-Monitor – Iran has long been faced with a wide range of environmental challenges. These include everything from drought leading to soil erosion and sandstorms to water shortages and air pollution in major cities. However, it has only been in recent years that officials and experts alike have publicly called for genuine measures to slow down the damage to the …

Al-Monitor – Ali Akbar Velayati, the foreign policy adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has outlined a number of steps Iran can take to strengthen its nuclear program in the face of the US exit from the three-year-old deal in which Iran reduced its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.