Radiofarda – If E.U. countries take Iran’s nuclear case back to the U.N. Security Council, Tehran will withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or its nuclear deal with world powers, the spokesman of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) has warned. Speaking to the state-run English language channel, Press T.V., May 14 Behrouz Kamalvandi warned that Iran might …

Al-Arabia – Iran has officially stopped some commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers following an order from its national security council, an informed official in the country’s atomic energy body told the ISNA news agency on Wednesday.Last week, Iran notified China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom of its decision to halt some commitments under the …

Al-Arabia – The US-Iran tensions have now reached a new high. Following the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, its imposing of harsh sanctions on Tehran, and deploying the US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf region, the Islamic Republic has been isolated financially, militarily, and diplomatically. “Iran doesn’t have an economic, political, or diplomatic way to face the US or Europe, nor to …

RFL/RE = The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has urged authorities in Iran to lift the suspension of the reformist weekly magazine Seda and stop harassing critical media outlets. “Iranian authorities must allow Seda to resume its operation immediately and cease any more attempts to censor the media,” the New York-based media-freedom watchdog said in a statement on May 14, three days …

RFL/RE — Belarusian authorities have released from custody an Iranian man who has converted to Orthodox Christianity and is wanted by Tehran for alleged murder. Mehrdad Jamshidian (shown in December 2015) has lived in Belarus since 1993. However, the Department for Citizenship and Migration ruled on May 14 that Mehrdad Jamshidian must leave Belarus within three months. Jamshidian has lived …

VOA — The United States ordered its non-emergency employees to leave Iraq on Wednesday, a move that comes as the Trump administration warns of potential threats against American forces in the Middle East from Iran or Iranian-backed proxies. A statement posted by the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said the order applied both to staff there and at the U.S. Consulate …

VOA — When a young Middle Eastern woman contacted Saudi dissident Ali AlAhmed over Twitter last November, he was immediately suspicious. AlAhmed’s radar was up because he had previously been targeted by hackers posing as a female journalist. But this turned out to be part of a different operation.  FILE – Ali AlAhmed poses for a photograph in his office …

VOA — Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday Tehran does not seek war with the United States despite mounting tensions between the two arch-enemies over Iranian nuclear capabilities and its missile program. In comments to senior officials carried by state television, Khamenei also reiterated that the Islamic Republic would not negotiate with the United States on another …

Radiozamaneh – Fifteen Gonabadi Dervishes who are political prisoners in Iran have gone on strike inside the prison to object to prison conditions. Supporters of detained Gonabadi Dervishes outside Evin prison in Tehran, January 2018 The Gonabadi Dervishes are Muslims of the Sufi order who are a religious minority facing persecution in Iran. These prisoners of conscience are being held …

Iran-HRM – Student activist Parisa Rafiei published an open letter, condemning the recent arrests of labor activists and pressures exerted on female political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. In her letter published on May 9, 2019, the stuent activist Parisa Rafiei revealed how she was pressured to take a “virginity test” in prison and then blocked from lodging a complaint …