Al-Monitor – The top commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, earlier this week declared that Iran has trained 100,000 voluntary forces to share experiences and know-how with the Iraqi and Syrian militaries. In this vein, Jafari also asserted that Iran’s strategy in the region has been far more effective in containing the Islamic State’s …

VOA – At least 94 people were killed when an overloaded ferry capsized on the Tigris River near the Iraqi city of Mosul Thursday.  Officials said more than 180 people were on board, celebrating the Kurdish New Year, Norooz, and Mother’s Day. Most of the victims were women and children struggling to swim in the fast-moving current. TRT World✔@trtworld UPDATE: …

PayvandNews – At the end of the Iranian year on March 20, inflation figures heralded a tough time ahead for ordinary Iranians, as price rises neared 50 percent in the last 12 months. From March 2018 to March 2019, goods and services became 47.5 percent more expensive, in what is the worse inflation number in the past five years, Iran …

CHRI – The family of two political prisoners is facing homelessness now that they’ve received notice that their family home and only remaining property will be confiscated by the Iranian government, their son Iman Sadeghi informed the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on March 15, 2019. “In addition to our house in Kashan, the authorities have confiscated our …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A prisoner was executed at Shirvan Prison for murder charges last Saturday. According to the IHR sources, on the morning of Saturday, March 13, a prisoner identified as Salman Azarpanah, was executed at Shirvan Prison. Shirvan is a city in North Khorasan Province of Iran. A well-informed source told IHR, “Salman was in prison since …

Al-Monitor – Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has declared the upcoming Iranian New Year “Pickup in Production.” This means at the very least that future speeches and slogans will have a heightened focus on the state of the economy, which is currently struggling in part due to US sanctions that were reimposed after the Donald Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive …

Al-Arabia – The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Iran provides not only resources but also missiles to Houthis, adding that he hopes pressure on Iran will convince Houthis to return to the political table, in an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya on Thursday. During his time in Jerusalem, Pompeo told Al Arabiya: “We’re very hopeful that this …

Radiofarda – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Europe has practically pulled out of the nuclear agreement with Iran, and he expects only “backstabbing and treason” from Western European countries. Criticizing Western countries in his annual speech in Mashad, north-eastern Iran, on the first day of the Iranian New Year March 21, Khamenei said, “The Europeans have practically left …

Radiofarda – France told Iran on Thursday that European efforts to keep a nuclear deal alive did not mean Tehran had a blank check to violate the human rights of its citizens, after lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh received a long prison sentence. An internationally renowned human rights lawyer jailed in Iran, Sotoudeh was handed a new sentence on Monday that her …

CHRI – Another Labour Activist Appeals Flogging Sentence Labor activist As’ad Behnam Ebrahimzadeh has been sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to copy three books by hand for engaging in peaceful activities including attending protests by sugar mill workers in southwestern Iran. Labor activist As’ad Behnam Ebrahimzadeh has been sentenced to six years in prison without due process. Ebrahimzadeh told …