HRW – The execution of two children in southern Iran is an abhorrent violation of Iran’s human rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said today. On April 25, 2019, authorities in Adel Abad prison in Shiraz, Fars province executed two 17-year-old cousins, Mehdi Sohrabifar and Amin Sedaghat. Mehdi Sohrabifar (blue background) and Amin Sedaghat (white background) were executed on April 25, 2019.    © …

Amnesty – In the past year, since International Workers’ Day in 2018, Amnesty International has documented the arrests of hundreds of workers and other labour rights activists in the context of a campaign by the authorities to repress social unrest and public dissent. Courts have handed down prison sentences to dozens of workers, in at least 38 cases compounding these …

Al-Monitor – Over the past year or so, the technology arm of the Central Bank of Iran — the Informatics Services Corporation — has been developing prototypes for a comprehensive, nationwide blockchain platform. Named Borna, the platform aims to offer an integrated environment and common standards as well as reduce the costs of developing blockchain solutions and market entry for …

Al-Monitor – As part of a reshuffle inside Iran’s Foreign Ministry, veteran diplomat Bahram Ghassemi was recently appointed as the country’s new ambassador to France. Ghassemi’s mission is said to be focused on reinvigorating international diplomacy to save the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a deal that has been shaky ever since US President Donald Trump pulled the United States …

lobelog – In his conversations with American journalists during his recent visit to New York, as reported in The New Yorker, Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said that some of Iran’s regional rivals, especially Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, want its disintegration. He could have added a few others to the list, including Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and …

NYT – Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, an Iranian artist whose mirror-encrusted geometric compositions drew on both Islamic architecture and the abstractions of the postwar New York avant-garde, died on April 20 in Tehran. She was 96. The death was confirmed by a grandson, Aziz Isham. Ms. Farmanfarmaian (pronounced far-mahn-far-MY-ahn) emerged as a key actor in the worldwide development of abstract art …

foreignpolicy.com – On April 21, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) got a new leader: Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, who replaces Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari. The change of personnel was unexpected; Jafari’s tenure, which started in 2007, had just been extended by three years in 2017. He will now preside over the Hazrat Baqiatollah al-Azam Cultural and Social Headquarters, …

Reports from Tehran say police have violently dispersed a Labor Day demonstration in front of the Iranian Parliament (Majles) in Tehran on Wednesday May 1, arresting tens of workers. Workers in Tehran gather to start their protest at the Iranian parliament before security forces attacked the protesters. May 1, 2019 Eyewitnesses on the ground told Radio Farda that over 35 …

Radiofarda – Iran has reacted to the flare up of tensions and violence in Venezuela by reiterating its support for the embattled president Nicholas Maduro, but also calling for negotiations between the opposing sides. Earlier on Tuesday, opposition leader Juan Guaido called for a “final phase” to push out Maduro and called for the people and the military to support …

Radiofarda – The United States announced last week that it would not renew sanctions waivers it has granted countries that import Iranian oil. The current waivers will expire on May 2. Importers that would continue purchasing Iranian oil beyond that day will risk being penalized and lose access to U.S. financial markets. The U.S. would push to bring Iran’s oil …