Al-Arabia – To negotiate with the US would be “idiotic,” said the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Wednesday. “Negotiating with an individual who does not stand by any of his commitments is idiotic and a sign of weakness and helplessness,” said Shamkhani, presumably referring to US President Donald Trump. …

Al-Arabia – Iran terminated Britain’s “empire over the seas” by seizing a British-flagged oil tanker, a senior Iranian military commander said on Tuesday, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported. “Iran’s retaliatory action put an end to England’s empire over the seas,” said Brig. Gen. Gholamreza Jalali, the head of Iran’s Passive Defense Organization, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ …

VOA – French authorities in a meeting Tuesday with an Iranian envoy stressed the need for Tehran to quickly respect the 2015 nuclear accord it has breached and “make the needed gestures” to deescalate mounting tensions in the Persian Gulf region. A statement by the French Foreign Ministry said Seyed Abbas Araghchi gave a message to President Emmanuel Macron from …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – Two women were executed at Urmia prison for murder charges this morning. According to IHR sources, on the morning of Tuesday, July 23, two women were hanged for murder charges at Urmia prison (also called as Darya prison). IHR could identify them as Arasteh Ranjbar and Nazdar Vatankhah. They were held in prison for 15 …

CHRI – “We have to pay a price, and every person will pay some price,” says acclaimed filmmaker The sentencing of award-winning filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof to one year in prison for the content of his films has highlighted the perilous political landscape independent artists must navigate in Iran. “Iranian cinema has won international acclaim despite stifling censorship and the ongoing persecution …

Al-Monitor – Ali Rabei, spokesman for the Hassan Rouhani administration, said the crisis involving the oil tankers belonging to the United Kingdom and Iran could be solved diplomatically.  The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) recently seized the British oil tanker the Stena Impero in the Persian Gulf. The IRGC not only released video of the seizure, in which men dropped from a helicopter onto the …

Al-Monitor – Home prices in Tehran more than doubled in the quarter that ended June 21 compared with a year earlier, after a prolonged period of relative price stability in the properties market. Extreme fluctuations in the markets for alternative assets like gold coins and currency also caused residential property prices to skyrocket, as investors looked to hedge their capital against …

Radiofarda – The Rouhani Administration’s Economic Commission has legalized cryptocurrency mining, Iranian media reported on Tuesday July 23, quoting Economy Minister Farhad Dejpasand. Dejpasand told reporters that the administration recognizes cryptocurrency mining and allows the import of bitcoin mining machines. However, the matter needs to be discussed at a cabinet meeting, he said. Earlier in July, the Iranian Judiciary had …

Reuters- Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China will meet Iran in Vienna on July 28 to discuss how to save the 2015 nuclear deal, the EU’s foreign policy service said in a statement on Tuesday. “The meeting has been convened at the request of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Iran, and will examine issues linked to the implementation of …

Radiofarda – Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has appointed chief paymasters for the key parts of his $90 billion financial conglomerate, namely the Mostazafan Foundation and the Relief Committee. Both organizations were meant to be charities for the underprivileged, but they are known to be Khamenei’s treasury, where cash is channeled to militant groups in the region or spent …