Radiofarda – Turkey’s top refiner, Tupras, is in talks with U.S. officials to obtain a waiver allowing it to keep buying Iranian oil after Washington reinstates sanctions on the Islamic Republic’s energy sector in November, industry sources said.

Shabtabnews – 50 days has past without any information about the physical and psychological condition of the eight Gonabadi Sufis, who were detained at the Fashafiyah Prison, before being  attacked and beaten last month by the prison authorities, who were then transferred to an unknown location. No one has heard from them since their transfer and there is a growing concerns …

Shabtabnews – The authorities of Fashafiyeh prison, attempted to break the hunger strike of five Sufi prisoners through their transfer to the Prison Disciplinary Committee, and harsh judicial threats.

Iran-HRM – New reports indicate the Iranian judiciary is resorting to issuing heavy sentences against protesters and political prisoners. The General Prosecutor of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province said that a court had sentenced six people to prison for writing slogans on walls and ripping up images of Iranian officials, according to the state-run ISNA news agency. 

RFL/RE – The United Nations envoy for Syria is stepping down after gains this year by Syrian, Russian, and Iranian forces in reasserting control over much of the country, eclipsing prospects for an international peace deal ending Syria’s seven-year civil war.

Radiofarda – A decision by Iranian authorities to allow a small group of selected women to watch an October 16 soccer match between Iran and Bolivia at Tehran’s Azadi (Freedom) Stadium was welcomed by the country’s reformist press as a step forward and a victory for Iranian women, who have been banned from men’s sports events.

VOA – senior Israeli minister says Israel will keep fighting to oust Iranian forces from Syria, even after Russia delivered an advanced air defense system to the country earlier this month.

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Before it could assemble for the first time in 12 months, the National Front of Iran again had to cancel a meeting due to threats of detainment from security forces, who have been impeding the group’s gatherings for the past three years.

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – In continued efforts to marginalize the Iranian Baha’i community, Yazd security officials put pressure on the administrator of a Samsung subsidiary to fire marketing representative Sahar Rouhani on the grounds of her faith.

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Six Arak residents arrested amid the January protests were sentenced to one year in prison and 74 lashes each for “disrupting the public peace through participation in an illegal gathering” in Arak’s Criminal Court No.2, Branch 102. The defendants’ sentences allow for detention already served to be counted towards their pending prison terms.