Al-Arabia – US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he has fired National Security Advisor John Bolton, after he “disagreed strongly” with many of Bolton’s suggestions. Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he told Bolton that his services were no longer needed at the White House. “I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration,” …

RFL/RE – President Donald Trump has issued an executive order making it easier for the U.S. administration to impose sanctions on suspected terrorists, their financiers, and their supporters. “Today’s executive order by President Trump adds further muscle to U.S. counterterrorism efforts,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a briefing to reporters late on September 10. The order came out …

RFL/RE – The Australian government has confirmed reports that two British-Australian women and an Australian man have been detained in Iran and that the families of the three are receiving assistance.Citing privacy concerns, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade didn’t provide additional information.However, several Australian and British media reports said the three have been behind bars in Iran for …

RFL/RE – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused Tehran of not fully cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saying that Iran’s behavior “raises questions about possible undeclared nuclear material or activities.” Pompeo tweeted on September 10 that Tehran’s “lack of cooperation” with the United Nations nuclear watchdog “fits into Iran’s 40-year pattern of lies.” “The world won’t fall …

VOA – Britain’s foreign minister on Tuesday said Iranian tanker Adrian Darya 1 had sold its crude oil to the Assad regime in Syria, breaking assurances it had given not to sell crude to the country. The vessel, formerly named Grace 1, was seized by British Royal Marine commandos on July 4 on suspicion of being en route to Syria. …

Amnesty – Responding to reports that a young woman who set herself on fire after being summoned to court to face charges after trying to enter a football stadium in Tehran has died from her injuries in hospital, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Research and Advocacy Director, Philip Luther, said:What happened to Sahar Khodayari is heart-breaking and exposes …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A prisoner was executed almost a month ago at a prison in Lorestan province, Iran. The execution has not been announced by the Iranian authorities or media so far.  According to IHR sources, on the morning of August 7, 2019, a prisoner hanged at the central prison of the Iranian city of Borujerd, Lorestan province. His …

CHRI – No More Empty Promises: FIFA Should Call on Iran to Lift Ban Once and For All The death of Sahar Khodayari, a woman who set herself on fire in Tehran because she thought she would have to serve jail time for trying to watch a soccer match, has put the spotlight on the costs of a discriminatory state policy …

Al-Monitor – Over the past few months, Iran’s national currency has regained some of the value it lost in 2018. In fact, compared with its lowest point against the US dollar (146,000 rials in November 2018), the currency has regained about 30% of its value. Nonetheless, the high inflation that was brought about by the collapse of the national currency has not eased yet …

Radiofarda – Iran’s Statistical Center says from mid-2018 to mid-2019 prices of imported goods in Iran increased by 150 percent. Iran’s currency rial began losing value at the beginning of 2018, as the United States signaled its intention to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear agreement. The devaluation picked up steam in March 2018 and by September of that year reached …