Al-Arabia – US President Donald Trump on Monday spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron about Iran’s threat to ramp up the enrichment of uranium, the White House said. “They discussed ongoing efforts to ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon and to end Iran’s destabilizing behavior in the Middle East,” a White House spokesman said in a statement. …

Al-Arabia – The European Union on Tuesday urged Iran to reverse its scaled up uranium enrichment that breaches a nuclear arms control deal it signed in 2015.“We continue to urge Iran not take further measures that undermine the nuclear deal to stop and to reverse all activities that are inconsistent with the JCPOA, including the production of low-enriched uranium,” an …

Iran-HRM – An Iranian Labor activist arrested during a Labor Day protest on May 1, 2019 was beaten twice in one day by prison guards in the notorious Qarchak Prison near Tehran. According to a tweet posted by the husband of Neda Naji, she was beaten once by a prisoner and once by prison guards in the span of 24 …

Iran-HRM – Iranian authorities executed a prisoner in Kashan Prison on Wednesday, July 3, according to judicial authorities. Rouhollah Dehqani, deputy prosecutor for criminal affairs of Kashan said the victim was sentenced to Qisas (retaliation in Kind) on a murder charge. According to an informed source, the victim who was identified as Majid Sadr was tortured to confess to the …

HRANA – On July 8, 2019, Maryam Mohammadi, women’s rights activist, was arrested by security forces and was transferred to an unknown place. She was earlier summoned to the Evin prison’s prosecutor’s office in June when security forces had searched her residence and confiscated some of her belongings. There has been no report on the reason of her arrest and …

VOA — The United Nations’ atomic energy agency has confirmed Iran has surpassed the uranium enrichment limits spelled out in the 2015 nuclear deal. The International Atomic Energy Agency said its inspectors verified Monday that Iran has surpassed the 3.67% enrichment limit set in the accord, aimed at restraining Tehran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons in return for sanctions relief. …

VOA – Aficionados of Western classical music have carved out a niche for themselves in Iran, where cultural expression remains tightly controlled by strict rules imposed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. And perhaps surprisingly, musicians in their 20s and 30s perform for overwhelmingly young audiences. Last week, the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, including female musicians in burgundy headscarves on cello, horn …

gatestoneinstitute.org – US, British, French and other Western bases in the region are the most likely targets for future terrorist attacks, and a number of Western governments are understood to have responded by ordering their military and diplomatic missions in the region to upgrade security arrangements. The discovery of the African network follows recent revelations of Iran’s attempts to expand …

CHRI – One month after political prisoner Alireza Shirmohammadali was murdered in the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary (GTCP) after being unlawfully held in a ward with inmates convicted of violent crimes, two prison officials have been fired while the unofficial policy that precipitated the tragedy remains in place. The results of a judicial investigation into his death have not been made public. But …

After gunmen killed 12 staff members of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo for the paper’s content in 2015, Iranian-American comedian Maz Jobrani joined colleagues in a video produced by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) to express solidarity with the victims and defend free speech. Born in Iran seven years before a revolution turned his country into an Islamic Republic in …