Radiofarda – One year after popular messaging service Telegram was banned in Iran in the aftermath of early 2018 mass protests, social media users have been returning to the popular platform. The government suspected that Telegram, and social media in general, were used to mobilize crowds and organize protests in late 2017 and early 2018 in over 100 Iranian cities. …

Iran-HRM – Civil rights activist Yasaman Aryani, was arrested for unknown reasons on April 10, 2019 after the state security forces raided her home in Tehran, her mother announced in a video clip posted on social media. In a short call to her family on the same day Yasaman Aryani informed them that she was detained on a complaint filed …

Iran-HRM – Political prisoner Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee was freed on bail from Evin Prison, on April 8, 2019 but she may have to serve more time behind bars depending on the outcome of another case against her. Ebrahimi Iraee was arrested on September 6, 2014 by the IRGC for writing against stoning to death; She had been serving a six-year …

Al-Monitor – Given that Iran’s alliance with Sudan came to an abrupt end in 2016, Iranian officials have opted for a diplomatic silence when it came to protests in the country over the last four months. However, among Iranian journalists and on social media, there has been a spectrum of reactions to the Sudanese military’s announcement that President Omar al-Bashir, …

Al-Monitor – While rotations and replacements of diplomats and ambassadors are usually routine administrative procedures, they sometimes can signify important policy shifts. The latter may be the case in Iran, where the country’s Foreign Ministry has in the past four months been replacing several heads of mission and representatives abroad. Tensions between Iran and the United States have in particular …

gatestoneinstitute – “The Yemeni revolution will not be confined to Yemen alone. It will extend, following its success, into Saudi territories.” — Iranian Lawmaker Ali Reza Zakani, trusted adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “If the Shia rebels gain control of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Iran can attain a foothold in this sensitive region giving access to the …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A prisoner was executed at Iranian northern city of Gorgan for murder charges last Sunday. According to HRANA website, prisoner Davoud Mohebzadeh, 36, was hanged on Sunday, April 7, at Gorgan prison. He was sentenced to death for murdering a person during a fight three years ago. The aforementioned execution has not been reported by …

Radiofarda – Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio has once again defended eight Iranian environmentalists who have been in detention for more than a year, charged with vague accusations. Last February, DiCaprio called for international support and circulated a petition for the release of the Iranian environmentalists who were arrested by the intelligence organization of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, IRGC. In …

CNBC – Just one month ago, President Donald Trump’s top envoy for Iran told a major energy conference that oil market conditions are making it easier to choke off the Islamic Republic’s crude exports without causing a price spike. “When you have a better supplied oil market, it allows us to accelerate our path to zero,” U.S. Special Representative for …

PayvandNews – Recent severe flooding damaged 110,000 houses in provinces of Lorestan, Golestan and Mazandaran, ISNA reported on Wednesday. Following heavy rainfalls in the country particularly in provinces of Golestan, Mazandaran, Lorestan, and Khuzestan as well as other provinces in western, southwestern, and northeastern Iran severe flood struck many cities and villages. Aftermath of floods in Pol-e Dokhtar, Iran’s Lorestan …