Iran’s Lake Urmia has been greatly replenished and revived as a result of sustained and at times heavy rains in the past two months, with its water surpassing 5 billion cubic meters or 1.32 trillion U.S. gallons. An official in West Azerbaijan province told Tasnim news agency, the surface area of the lake has expanded to 3,180 square kilometers, or …

Iran-HRM – A young woman identified only as Soudabeh was executed on October 26, 2018, the Iranian state-run ROKNA news agency reported Thursday. It is not clear in which city and prison the execution took place.She had been imprisoned for 12 years on death row on the charge of deliberate murder. The is the 88th woman who is hanged during Hassan …

RFL/RE – Reports from western Yemen say Iranian-backed Huthi rebels have begun withdrawing from two of the three Red Sea port facilities they’ve vowed to evacuate under a peace deal negotiated in Stockholm in December.The United Nations was monitoring the withdrawal from the Red Sea port facilities of Saleef and Ras Isa on May 11.The UN says the Huthi rebels …

RFL/RE – Iran is facing a major crisis: Its kids enjoy frolicking to banned music despite years of state indoctrination and denunciation.Amateur video posted online showing Iranian schoolchildren dancing to a song by a U.S.-based underground rap singer has angered conservatives.The critics include a deputy speaker of parliament, Ali Motahari, who has said the schools’ principals should be fired and the …

VOA – U.S. sanctions are biting harder into the Iranian economy, with new signs that Iran’s key oil exports are faltering, while its trade figures with Europe’s biggest economy and with the United States are shrinking. U.S. news service Bloomberg said it has compiled tanker tracking data showing that no oil tankers had been seen leaving Iran’s oil terminals for foreign ports …

VOA – The United States military is once again increasing its arsenal in the Middle East to counter Iranian threats, announcing Friday the movement of a Patriot missile battery and the USS Arlington landing platform dock ship used in amphibious assaults. The move comes a day after The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and four B-52 bombers arrived …

VOA – Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency has quoted a top commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as saying Tehran will not negotiate with the United States. The statement follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s indirect invitation to Iranian leaders to give him a call. Worshippers chant slogans against the United States and Israel during a rally after Friday prayers in Tehran, …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – Four prisoners were executed for drug-related charges at Arak prison on April 29, 2019. IHR can confirm the execution of four prisoners at Arak Central Prison for drug-related charges on April 29, 2019. The news first published by Javaneha Website and IHR could independently confirm it. The four executed prisoners have been identified as Hamidreza …

CHRI – Authorities’ Focus on Political Activists while Violent Individuals Go Unnoticed on Social Media Following the killing of Mostafa Ghasemi, a cleric in the city of Hamedan, by an individual who had displayed his violent intentions on his Instagram account, Iran’s security and military establishments have expressed support for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s demand to impose greater restrictions on the Internet …

CHRI – On May 5, 2019, the Iranian Parliament’s Judicial and Legal Affairs Committee approved a problematic proposal that would allow detainees accused of national security crimes to choose their own lawyer rather than one from a court-approved list. But the proposal, which would have to make it through two other stages before it could become law, would allow the authorities …