VOA —Iran formally opened a secondary market for hard currency Tuesday, abandoning after three months an effort to dictate a single exchange rate for the rial against the dollar as the threat of U.S. sanctions pressures the Iranian currency. The new market will cater to small exporters and importers from the private sector, the Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported. …

CHRI – Attorney Hossein Ahmadiniaz, the defense counsel in several cases involving human and political rights in Iran, has been summoned by Branch 4 of the Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan Province.

Al-Monitor – The Finnish capital of Helsinki will host a summit July 16 between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Amid preparations for the meeting, speculation has been raised about the topics that may be discussed by the two presidents. Although the formal agenda has yet to be announced, one thing is certain: The Syrian crisis …

Al-Monitor – The reinstatement of Sepanta Niknam, who won nearly 22,000 votes in May 2017 for a seat on the city council of Yazd in central Iran, could be just around the corner. The controversial case, protracted for months, has not ceased to grip the attention of Iranian media.

PayvandNews – The US government says it has sanctioned a Malaysia-based tourism agent for Iranian private airline Mahan Air which is already under American sanctions. The blockade comes as the US prepares to unleash “the strongest sanctions in history” on Iran after President Donald Trump decided to withdraw Washington from a landmark nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic.

Radiofarda – Former supporter and now opposition figure Abolfazl Qadiani says Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali “Khamenei should step down as a final solution to the Islamic republic’s problems.”

Radiofarda – Renowned conservative cleric Mohsen Gharavian has called on the Iranian government July 9 to abolish compulsory hijab regulations for foreign tourists in the country’s free trade zones.

Radiofarda – The U.S. ambassador to Germany has called on Berlin to block an Iranian bid to withdraw large sums of cash from bank accounts in Germany to offset the effect of new U.S. financial sanctions imposed after Washington withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran-HRM – Mostafa Daneshju, lawyer of Gunabadi Dervishes who was arrested on July 7, was taken to Ward 209 of the notorious Evin prison. Seven state security forces conducted a ‘no-knock’ raid on the early morning hours of Saturday, breaking down the door of his apartment with their guns drawn. They arrested the lawyer before his famliy members.

Iran-HRM – The state security forces arrested five Kurd caultural activists on July 5, 2018, ahead of a poetry reading they had sponsored. They had been allowed by the Department of Culture and Guidance to hold the poetry night in Ilam province, western Iran.