RFL/RE – Iran has denied that a U.S. warship downed an Iranian drone in the strategic Strait of Hormuz after it threatened the ship. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi tweeted on July 19 that Tehran has “not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else.”A spokesman for Iran’s armed forces said on July 19 that all …

HRW – Iran’s judiciary has just confirmed the arrest of Fariba Adelkhah, a French-Iranian anthropologist, in Tehran. Media sources had earlier reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Intelligence Organization arrested Adelkhah, a researcher at the Paris-based academic institute Sciences Po, at her home on June 7. She has been detained ever since. The accusations against her remain unclear, …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A man was hanged at the southern Iranian city of Mahshahr’s Central prison Wednesday. According to Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), a man was hanged at the southern Iranian city of Mahshahr’s Central prison on Wednesday, July 17. He reportedly killed his tenant with the assistance of his wife by a firearm. IRNA has not mentioned …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A woman was hanged at Mahabad prison on Tuesday. According to IHR sources, a woman was hanged at Mahabad prison on Tuesday, July 16, for murder charges. She is identified by IHR sources as Maliheh Salehian, from a village near the Iranian city of Miandoab. “Her execution was carried out with strict security measures. It …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A woman was hanged at the Iranian northern city of Nowshahr’s prison this morning. According to Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), a woman was hanged at the Iranian northern city of Nowshahr’s prison on Wednesday.  IHR sources revealed the identity of the woman as Zahra Safari-Moghaddam. She was sentenced to death for murdering a five-year-old boy …

CHRI – In an open letter calling on the people of Iran to support their demands, six political prisoners in Ward 4 of Tehran’s Evin Prison have announced that they’ve gone on hunger strike to protest the judiciary’s treatment of political prisoners. The undated letter was posted July 14, 2019, on the official Facebook page of imprisoned human rights lawyer Nasrin …

CHRI – Aras Amiri is Serving a 10-Year Prison Sentence Says She Was Imprisoned for Association with British Council Was Not Allowed to Use Chosen Lawyer, Only Met Appointed Lawyer Once Calls on Chief Justice to Investigate “Unlawful Actions” in Case Processing In a letter from Evin Prison, imprisoned British Council employee Aras Amiri wrote that she had refused to spy for …

Al-Monitor – Defense officials said Wednesday that the Pentagon plans to send 500 more troops to the Middle East in an effort to ease tensions with Iran, CNN reported.   Why it matters:  The move, which will place American units in Saudi Arabia, where their presence could be controversial, is the latest effort to ease rising tensions in the Gulf that have escalated …

CNBC – Tehran faces rising food prices and food shortages. Iran’s government is running out of options to help stem the costs. A local cook estimates prices have increased by 50% to 100% in the last year. The cost of beef has gone from 380,000 rials a kilo three months ago to nearly 1.2 million rials per kilo, pricing out …

Shabtabnews – On 17th July , on the second day of the annual Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom conference, the conference discussed the widespread crackdown on religious freedom around the world , including the suppression of Yazdis, Bahia’s, Christians and Sufis. The representative of the International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights (IOPHR), Dr Hamid Gharagozloo and Mrs Shahrareh Afshari in …