Radiofarda – London condemned Tehran’s seizure of a British-flagged tanker in the Persian Gulf and said it was operating legally in Omani territorial waters when it was seized by Iranian forces.The comments came on July 20 as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) released a video of its speedboats pulling alongside the oil tanker, followed by ski-mask clad troops rappelling …

Radiofarda – An Israeli Cabinet minister says Iran knows “who not to mess with” because Israel is the only country in the world that is killing Iranian operatives. Tzachi Hanegbi spoke to Israel Radio on Sunday after Iran’s seizure of a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. He was referring to Israel’s strikes on Iranian targets in Syria. …

Radiofarda – The chief of staff of Iran’s president has said in a letter that one billion euros ($1.12 billion) in hard currency allocated for importing medicines and essential goods “has disappeared”. Mahmoud Vaezi, President Hassan Rouhani’s chief of staff in a letter to ministers of industry, agriculture and public health demanded an explanation about what has happened to the …

Radiofarda – Iran’s intelligence organs deliberately separate political prisoners from each other, placing them beside criminals, endangering their lives, an outspoken dissident has told Radio Farda in an interview from prison. Taking the high risk of speaking to Radio Farda, Alireza Golipour asserts that the Islamic Republic’s intelligence agents insist on separating political prisoners to prevent them from a sense …

Al-Arabia – The seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was a response to Britain’s “maritime piracy,” said Iran’s Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani on Saturday. “[Britain] committed maritime piracy, so [the IRGC] gave them a response for it,” said Larijani, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported. Larijani’s accusation refers to the detention of …

Al-Arabia – Tehran is “firm and ready for all scenarios” after the British-operated tanker seizure in the Gulf, Iran’s ambassador to the UK, Hamid Baeidinejad, said on Sunday. On his official Twitter account, Baeidinejad said that there are “domestic forces” in the UK who want to escalate existing tensions between Iran and the UK. Hamid Baeidinejad@baeidinejad UK government should contain …

Al-Arabi – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Sunday that US National Security Adviser John Bolton is “turning his venom against the UK” after failing to “lure Trump into [the] War of the Century].” On his official Twitter account, he added that only “prudence and foresight” could alleviate tensions between his country and Britain after Tehran’s seizure of …

Al-Arabia – Iranian state TV says gunmen have killed two members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and wounded another two near the border with Pakistan. State TV blamed the attack late Saturday on “terrorists” without elaborating. The southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province has been the scene of past clashes involving Sunni militants and drug smugglers. In February, an …

Iran-HRM -Clampdown on civil liberties has been stepped up in Iran under various pretexts in the past few months. The new wave of suppression especially targets the women with the regime introducing new plans to deal with what it deems “unchaste” and “improper”. On July 18, Iran’s Chief of Police cited the “Observer One” plan, enforced against women who refuse …

Iran-HRM – Political prisoner Arzhang Davoudi has been on a hunger strike since May 21, 2019 in Zabol Prison in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, demanding to be returned to the political ward. Arzhang Davoudi, 66, has been locked up held in a ward with inmates convicted of violent crimes, in violation of Iran’s regulations on separation of …