HRW – Detained for 9 Months; No Access to a Lawyer

Al-Monitor – Increasing reports of academic and cultural exchanges between China and Iran indicate that China is pursuing an active public diplomacy in Iran.

Al-Monitor – Millions of Shiite Muslims make a pilgrimage every year to the Hussein ibn Ali shrine in Karbala, Iraq, to commemorate the battle in which the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad was killed. Under Saddam Hussein’s rule, Arbaeen — meaning the “40th” day — commemorations were subdued. With the fall of Saddam and closer Iran-Iraq relations, Arbaeen pilgrimages have become important not only for millions of …

Al-Monitor – With crippling sanctions set to resume next month, the Donald Trump administration is debating how far to go in cutting off Iran from the global financial system. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has told foreign governments that Washington is backing off its push to force the Belgium-based financial messaging network SWIFT to kick out sanctioned Iranian banks, the Wall Street …

iran-hrm – Three months into his hunger strike, detained human rights defender Farhad Meysami is in dire conditions. Since Meysami began his hunger strike, he has lost approximately 18kg in weight and is reported to be very frail.

iran-hrm – Revolutionary Court of Sardash, handed down out prison sentences to 15 porters after convicting them of “carrying smuggled goods.”

iranhumanrights – Iranian authorities have refused to allow the family of a teacher’s rights activist any access to him or provide them with any information about his condition or case after he was arrested and admitted to a psychiatric

iranhumanrights – Peaceful Prisoner, Convicted Without Due Process, Has Been Denied Furlough for Past 10 Years. October 26, 2018 – A Canadian resident imprisoned in Iran for the last 10 years should be released on medical grounds given his deteriorating health status, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said in a statement today.

radiofarda – France has expelled an Iranian diplomat in response to a failed plot to carry out a bomb attack at a rally near Paris organized by an exiled Iranian opposition group, diplomatic and security sources say.

rferl.org – UN inspectors are examining more than 2,500 AK-47 rifles and other guns seized by the crew of a U.S. destroyer off the coast of Yemen to determine whether the weapons originated in Iran or Somalia.