RFL/RE – Iran has summoned the British ambassador in Tehran over the “illegal seizure” of an Iranian oil tanker in Gibraltar, the official government news agency IRNA quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Musavi as saying on July 4. Britain’s Foreign Office confirmed the move and said the ambassador will reiterate Britain’s support for Gibraltar’s seizure of the ship, which was …

VOA – Iran’s intelligence minister has said Tehran and Washington could hold talks only if the United States ended its sanctions and Iran’s top authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, gave his approval, state news agency IRNA reported on Thursday.“Holding talks with America can be reviewed by Iran only If [U.S. President Donald] Trump lifts the sanctions and our supreme leader gives …

Radiozamaneh – Two Iranian journalists arrested related to coverage of labor protests in Iran, launched a hunger strike to protest their “unfair” detention. Amirhossein Mohammadifar, and his partner Sanaz Allahyari, members of the editorial board of Gaam Magazine have demanded to be released with other activists and journalists arrested in connection with protests in an industrial complex in the Southwest …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – At least two prisoners were hanged at Rajai-Shahr prison yesterday. According to IHR sources, on the early morning of Wednesday, July 3, at least two prisoners were hanged at the Iranian city of Karaj’s Rajai-Shahr prison. IHR sources have identified them as Mehdi Assadi and Hassan Baradaran. Iranian website Rokna has also reported about the executions without …

PayvandNews – Tirgan also known as Jashn-e Tirgan (The feast of Tiregan) is an ancient Iranian festival coinciding with the mid summer festivals. The feast of Tirgan is an ancient Iranian celebration, which is still celebrated among Iranian Zoroastrians, Parsis of India and some Iranian Muslims in various parts of Iran. The celebration is widely attested by historians such as Abu …

Rdiofarda – The deputy commander of the Islamic Republic police, Ayoub Soleimani, has denied the existence of hectares of opium poppy farms in Iran that was revealed by one of President Hassan Rouhani’s ministers. On January 27, Information and Communications Technology Minister Mohammed Azari Jahromi, the youngest member of the cabinet, first broke the news on Twitter, despite the social …

Radiofarda – A man who killed the Friday Prayer Imam (leader) of the city of Kazeroun, southern Iran, has been sentenced to public hanging at the murder scene. The killer of a Friday Prayer Imam in Iran during his single-session trial on July 3, 2019. Hamid Reza Derakhshandeh, 47, was tried on Wednesday morning, July 3, at a court in …

RFL/RE — U.S. President Donald Trump lashed back at Iran after it said it would soon exceed maximum allowed uranium-enrichment levels, telling Tehran that such threats can “come back to bite you.”“Be careful with the threats, Iran,” he wrote in a tweet on July 3.“They can come back to bite you like nobody has been bitten before!” he added.Trump’s tweet came …

Reuters – Iran will gain nothing by departing from the terms of its nuclear agreement, the French foreign ministry said on Wednesday, responding to Tehran’s announcement that it will boost the enrichment level of its uranium. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani earlier said Iran would raise its uranium enrichment after July 7 to whatever levels it needs beyond the 3.67% purity …

Radiofarda – Iranian Minister of Oil, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, says Tehran is striving day and night to sell its crude oil, despite U.S. sanctions. In a Bloomberg Television interview in Vienna, on Tuesday, July 2, Namdar Zanganeh reiterated that the Islamic Republic is working “day and night” to find ways to export its crude. President Donald Trump’s administration has repeatedly …