PayvandNews – Legend has it that once upon a distant past juncture, ZaHawk a mythological, tyrannical, unjust, and cruel despot, ruled over Persia. Confiscating an ambivalent hiatus with his absolute power, he crowned himself on the Persian peacock throne as if he was immortal and anointed by an imaginary vengeful supreme. He reigned with iron fist, suffocating people with hegemony and heavy …

sciencemag – With the fates of eight conservationists jailed in Iran on espionage charges hanging in the balance, a campaign to win their freedom is picking up steam. For more than a year, colleagues and family members have been quietly lobbying Iran’s government and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for the detainees’ release. But now, with closed trials proceeding in Tehran, …

Reuters – Qassem Soleimani’s role in a political crisis in Iran highlights the influence of the leader of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, who has acquired celebrity status at home after being largely invisible for years.FILE PHOTO: A portrait of Quds Force Commander Major General Qassem Soleimani is held up during a demonstration in Baghdad, March 31, 2015. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani/File …

Al-Arabia – In an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya English, Prince Turki al-Faisal, Chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, said that the US administration’s decision to pullout troops from Syria could increase Iranian presence in the region. When asked about the imminent withdrawal of troops, Prince Turki responded that it could “create a vacuum that …

Radiofarda – A third round of nationwide teachers’ strikes in Iran entered its third day March 5, with teachers across the country holding sit-ins in their school principals’ offices to demand better pay, the right to form unions, and the freeing of all jailed teachers’ rights activists. The three-day strike was organized by the Coordinating Council of Teachers Syndicates in …

Radiofarda – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was not informed about Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s trip to Tehran last week and that was a reason why he submitted his resignation, the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) reported on Tuesday. The news agency cited foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi (Qassemi) as the source of the information in its report. President …

Radiofarda – Iran-EU trade turnover declined significantly in the second half of 2018 due to U.S. sanctions on Iran. The United States withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran in May last year and imposed financial and industrial sanctions on Tehran in August, followed by sanctions on its oil exports and banking sector in November. According to the European Commission’s …

Al-Arabia – Iran’s foreign ministry insisted Monday that Tehran’s ties with Moscow are “strong” and shrugged off reported Israeli-Russian coordination on a withdrawal of foreign forces from Syria. “Iran’s ties with Moscow are strong and we are always in touch and consult with each other,” ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told reporters in Tehran. On a visit last week to Moscow where …

Iran-HRM – Mostafa Pourmohammadi, former Iran’s Justice Minister in Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet, has acknowledged his involvement in the killings of dissidents during the horrendous 1988 massacre of over 30,000 political prisoners. Pourmohammadi was the Intelligence Ministry’s representative on one of the three-member committees in charge of interrogating political prisoners prior to the 1988 executions. The committee, dubbed the “death commission,” questioned …

RFL/RE – Iran’s Foreign Ministry has said that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wanted to resign in February because he had not been informed about a surprise visit to Tehran by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. President Hassan Rohani ultimately rejected Zarif’s resignation, throwing his full support behind the diplomat who had negotiated Tehran’s nuclear deal with six world powers. Zarif …