CHRI – A Kurdish man who has been sentenced to death in Iran despite serious concerns about how his case was handled has been transferred hundreds of miles to a prison near Tehran for unknown reasons, raising fears he could soon be executed.

CHRI – Prominent Human Rights Attorney Facing Five-Year Prison Sentence and Three Other Charge Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh once defended political prisoners but she is now trying to avoid becoming one herself as she wades through the complicated case Iran’s judiciary has built against her.

Al-Arabia – The future of some Iranian newspapers is in limbo as they can’t afford paper, a new phenomenon stemming in part from US sanctions.

PayvandNews – Some 50 kilometers north of Yazd, central Iran, lies the sprawling mud-brick city of Meybod, whose tourism officials are planning to internationally promote it as the “city of watermills”. Meybod seeks UNESCO status for long being a cradle of watermills and for its cultural evolution of water supply through the millennia, ISNA reported.

lobelog – As Iran’s domestic tensions in some regions are on the rise over water shortages and persistent drought, the country has another challenge to overcome: a dispute over transboundary waters with its South Asian neighbor, Afghanistan.

Al-Monitor – The United States is increasing its pressure on Iran at a time when the country’s Reform movement appears to be on its deathbed. Increasingly, the Reformist camp’s attempts to help overcome the national crises related to the failing economy and external pressure are deemed meaningless by many Iranians who have been responding to such efforts with anger and scorn.

Radiofarda – The United States says it is “closely monitoring” reports of human rights abuses in Iran, the State Department confirmed Wednesday, August 15.

Radiofarda – Iranian media is buzzing over a photo taken of President Hassan Rouhani at a meeting with the heads of Iran’s legislative and judiciary branches August 14. Some say Rouhani looks angry in the photo, and commentators are taking turns speculating what might be the cause of his ire.

Radiofarda – German rail operator Deutsche Bahn and Deutsche Telekom are ending projects in Iran after Washington imposed new sanctions against Tehran and said firms doing business with Iran would be barred from doing business with the United States.

RFL/RE – India, the second biggest crude oil customer for Iran, may cut its imports from the Islamic Republic by half to secure a waiver from the U.S. to continue with shipments, Bloomberg has cited “people familiar with the matter” as saying.