HRW – Iranian authorities should release and quash the convictions of all activists who have been prosecuted for peacefully protesting the country’s compulsory hijab laws, Human Rights Watch said today. In the past week, the authorities arrested two activists – a mother and daughter – for protesting compulsory hijab laws. Iranian officials have prosecuted at least half a dozen activists for …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – Three prisoners were executed for murder charges at Iranian western city of Ilam’s Central Prison yesterday. According to Rokna, on the morning of Thursday, April 18, three prisoners were executed at Ilam prison. All were sentenced to death for murder charges. More details have not been revealed by Iranian authorities or media so far. According to …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A prisoner was hanged for murder charges at Zanjan prison last Tuesday. According to IHR sources, Hedayat Mehrabi, 37, was hanged for murder charges on the morning of April 19. A well-informed source told IHR, “Hedayat was arrested around five years ago in the city of Kermanshah for murder a person. He was sentenced to …

Al-Monitor – Iran and Turkey have set up a special transaction channel in order to bypass US sanctions on Iran, according to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Zarif, who was in Ankara meeting with Turkish officials, spoke on April 18 to Iranian reporters afterward. “It must be said that — regarding bilateral relations — our friends in Turkey have always opposed anti-Iranian sanctions,” Zarif said. He added, …

Al-Monitor – The most famous face of Iranian comedy has courted controversy again by ridiculing the government’s efforts to help the victims of the flood that struck more than 25 provinces and resulted in dozens of deaths. “Nothing is more painful for the people of the country than seeing their leaders in wet pants,” said Mehran Modiri, mocking state officials visiting flooded cities and explaining …

CHRI – Some Iranian officials have responded to Instagram’s decision to remove accounts it has associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) by pushing for a nationwide ban on the popular social media app. Many Iranians have responded by calling not only for Instagram to remain unblocked but also for the government to rescind bans on other widely used …

CHRI – Twelve of the 20 environmental conservationists arrested in Iran’s Kurdistan Province in January and February 2019 remain in detention centers run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Ministry of Intelligence in the city of Sanandaj, the provincial capital, without access to legal counsel. A local conservationist identified the detainees as Farhad Mohammadi, Hadi Kamangar, Issa …

PayvandNews – The University of Tehran’s science and technology park will host a conference on the role of technology in natural disasters relief on May 1, ISNA reported. Visit conference’s website The establishment of relief startup network, the role of science and technology parks and universities in natural disaster will be discussed during the conference and some new emerging technologies will …

Radiofarda – A new Trump administration report on international compliance with arms control accords provoked a dispute with U.S. intelligence agencies and some State Department officials concerned that the document politicizes and slants assessments about Iran, five sources with knowledge of the matter said. U.S. President Donald Trump is intensifying a drive to contain Iran’s power in the Middle East, …

Radiofarda – Washington should have suspended its sanctions against Tehran for one year because of the flood disaster, the Islamic Republic President Hassan Rouhani bemoaned on Wednesday, April 17. Although Tehran has repeatedly insisted that it could single-handedly tackle the dire consequences of the recent devastating floods in Iran, Rouhani lamented, “The heads of the U.S. regime showed their true …