rferl.org – An Iranian official has said that a rocket exploded on its launch pad at the Imam Khomeini Space Center ahead of a planned launch, the apparent third failed launch this year by Tehran. An Iranian official quoted by Reuters said the incident was caused by “some technical issues and it exploded but our young scientists are working to …

rferl.org – WASHINGTON — The United States has announced a set of sanctions in Lebanon and Oman targeting the financing of the Iran-backed Hizballah militant group, which opposes Israel.The Treasury Department on August 29 said it was sanctioning the Lebanon-based Jammal Trust Bank “for supporting Hizballah’s illicit financial and banking activities.”The action declared Jammal Trust a Specially Designated Global Terrorist …

iran-hrm – The Iranian regime has a history of cracking down on its opponents. Incommunicado detentions, arbitrary abductions, summary executions, torture and enforced disappearances are among practices commonly used against opponents. Dissident intellectuals and students, ethnic groups and religious minorities, and members and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) have always been targeted. With the brutal suppression …

iran-hrm – Eight inmates were collectively executed on August 29, in Raja’i Shahr Prison in the city of Karaj, near the capital, Tehran. The victims were identified as: Manouchehr Dehghani, Alireza Behrad, Ebrahim Yarmout Oghli, Ahmad Gharebalaei, Reza Mousavi Baraghani, Alireza Araei, Siavosh Inanlou and Mirzaei. All of them were transferred to solitary confinement on August 26 to be prepared …

iranhumanrights – Demonstrating the Iranian authorities’ continued intolerance for peaceful dissent, two open letters written since June 2019 by 28 political and civil rights activists urging Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to step down have led to the arrest of at least 13 of the signers by the security establishment. No information regarding the charges, their status or whereabouts is as …

iranhumanrights – After more than two weeks in detention, Iranian-British social anthropologist Kameel Ahmady has not had any contact with his family except three phone calls, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. His wife, Shafagh Rahmani, told CHRI on August 28 that she has not been given permission to visit him in Tehran’s Evin Prison and that …

radiofarda – DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A rocket at an Iranian space center that was to conduct a satellite launch criticized by the U.S. apparently exploded on its launch pad Thursday, satellite images show, suggesting the Islamic Republic suffered its third failed launch this year alone. State media and officials did not immediately acknowledge the incident at the …

radiofarda – Israel accused Iran on Thursday of stepping up efforts to provide its Hezbollah allies in Lebanon with precision-guided missile production facilities, a veiled warning to Beirut that Israeli counter-strikes could escalate. Israel and Hezbollah, which last fought a war in 2006, are on high alert after Israeli drones were used at the weekend to attack what a security …

radiofarda – The United States staged a secret cyberattack in June against a database used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to plot attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf, The New York Times reported. The newspaper, quoting senior US officials, said the June 20 attack had degraded the ability of Iran’s paramilitary force to target shipping in the Gulf. …

radiofarda – In an unprecedented remark Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi (Araghchi) has said that “Any U.S. president other than Trump would have also pulled out of the nuclear deal with Iran, the official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying Wednesday August 28. President Donald Trump withdrew from the landmark nuclear accord in May 2018, criticizing it as …