radiofarda – The provincial intelligence department in Mashhad in north-eastern Iran says 14 activists who had called on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to resign are advocates of regime change and wanted to bring about insecurity. According to the latest report from Mashhad, 12 of the 14 political activists who demanded Khamenei’s resignation in July have been arrested. However, the intelligence …

radiofarda – Prosecutors in Iran have detained a sugar factory general manager on charges of corruption, in the latest episode of what officials say is an anti-corruption drive. Siamak Soltani who leads Isfahan’s Nakshe Qand (Ghand) publicly traded company was arrested August 22 for “disrupting the economic system”, Mehr news agency in Iran quoted the local prosecutor telling the media. …

radiofarda – As an Iranian supertanker wanders in the Mediterranean after a five-week detention by Gibraltar, the United States kept warned possible private-sector actors willing to assist the vessel. A state Department official said Thursday the U.S. will aggressively enforce its sanctions to prevent the private sector from rendering assistance the Adrian Darya-1, formerly called Grace-1, a tanker loaded with …

rferl.org – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says talks with French President Emanuel Macron aimed at rescuing a 2015 international deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear program were “productive.” “France had presented some suggestions and we presented some suggestions about how to implement [the nuclear deal] and the steps that both sides need to take,” Zarif was quoted by Iranian …

iranhumanrights – The 10-year prison sentence issued against British Council employee Aras Amiri was upheld on August 18, 2019, without a hearing, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. “In order to expedite cases, [Judiciary Chief] Ebrahim Raisi has decided that there is no longer a need for the Appeals Court to hold hearings,” Amiri’s cousin Mohsen …

payvand – Four women arrested by agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on August 17, 2019, for trying to enter Azadi Stadium in Tehran to watch a men’s soccer game were released on bail from Gharchak Prison, south of the capital, two days later. But the ban on women in sports arenas-condemned as discriminatory by FIFA and human rights groups-remains …

radiofarda – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will host his Russian and Iranian counterparts for a summit on Syria in Ankara on September 16, the presidential spokesman said. Despite being on opposing sides in the Syrian conflict, Syria regime backers Iran and Russia have worked closely with rebel supporter Turkey to find a political solution. “The president will host a …

rferl.org – An Iranian supertanker at the center of a diplomatic row between Tehran and Washington “is not headed for Greece,” Greek Prime Minister Kyrikos Mitsotakis has said. “We have not received a request for it to dock in a Greek port,” Mitsotakis, who was in Paris for a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron, told France-24 TV on August 22. …

rferl.org – Iran has debuted a new, locally built long-range missile system as it continues its defiant stance against the United States amid heightened tensions between the two countries. Iranian President Hassan Rohani said in a speech on August 22 during the unveiling of the mobile air-to-surface missile system that since Iran’s “enemies don’t accept logic, we cannot respond with …

rferl.org – French President Emmanuel Macron will meet with Iranian officials before this weekend’s summit of the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies to offer proposals on reducing tension between Washington and Tehran, Reuters reported. Three European powers, including France, have been trying to salvage Iran’s 2015 international accord that curbed the nation’s nuclear ambitions while reducing sanctions on Tehran. …