Al-Monitor – “On victory day, everyone claps for a winner who acts with nonpartisanship. But they all keep a distance from him as the hard times come by,” said Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Jan. 10. These sarcastic remarks were apparently meant for some inside the Reformist camp who have recently criticized his performance.

Al-Monitor – Iran has for years had to get creative to conduct financial transactions and fight off increasing economic isolation stemming from sanctions. First there were multilateral restrictions imposed by world powers and now unilateral sanctions reimposed by the United States after President Donald Trump abandoned the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in May 2018. What Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has called the “art …

Radiofarda – The chairman of Iranian parliament’s economic commission says that $3.5 billion dollars of cheap foreign currency was handed out to importers, but nothing has been brought to the country.

Radiofarda – Amid the controversy over the fate of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers, an influential ayatollah says, “Ultimately, the deal should be burned.”

Radiofarda – Iran’s state-run English-language channel is reporting that its American anchorwoman detained in the U.S. will appear in court in Washington.

Radiofarda – The conviction of a city council chairman in Iran to flogging for supporting the legal election of a non-Muslim Zoroastrian as a council member in 2017 has led to criticism.

RFL/RE – OPEC says Iran’s crude oil production declined about 1.04 million barrels per day (mb/d) to 2.769 mb/d in December from early 2018.

RFL/RE – President Donald Trump has announced that the United States will develop new technologies — including in space — to acquire unrivaled missile-defense capabilities and maintain an advantage over adversaries such as Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.

HRANA – The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on January 17th, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

CHRI – Iran Must Re-Open an Independent and Impartial Investigation into Labor Activist’s Abuse