PayvandNews – Internationally-acclaimed Iranian virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor has won the WOMEX 19 Artist Award for “bringing the Persian classical music tradition to the ears of people all over the world.” Kalhor received the prestigious award on Sunday at the 25th jubilee edition of the World Music Expo (WOMEX) in Tampere, Finland. Kayhan Kalhor(photo by Azadeh Besharaty) “For the mastery and virtuosity of …

Radiofarda – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its Middle East and North Africa Regional Economic Outlook report says Iran needs $155 a barrel oil price this year to be able to balance its budget. The IMF also estimates that for next year Iran would need $195 a barrel oil to raise enough revenues for government operations. Currently prices for …

Radiofarda – Mohammad Hossein Rostami, a hardline activist in jail in Iran, has released an audio file in which he makes several claims about a network operating under IRGC Intelligence Chief Hossein Taeb that runs illegal businesses and frames high-profile potential opponents in corruption scandals. Rostami, the former editor of ultraconservative Ammaryoun website, was arrested in 2016 on charges of …

Security forces in Iran have closed major routes leading to historic Pasargadae, the site of Cyrus the Great’s tomb in anticipation of spontaneous gatherings of people to mark the annual commemoration of the first king of ancient Persian Empire. A gathering of an estimated 15,000 people at Pasargadae in 2016, on Cyrus Day. File photo In recent years as thousands …

Radiofarda – Hundreds of people suffering from respiratory problems have visited the medical centers in the city of Ahvaz in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan, southwest Iran, after first seasonal rains that were mixed with air pollutants. Hundreds of people rushed to hospitals to get help for respiratory problems caused by acid rains. October 2019 “Out of 480 nearly 380 …

Radiofarda – The spokesman of Iran’s foreign ministry on Monday said in an interview that killing Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi “was not a big deal” and the extremist group had already been defeated by Iran and other regional powers. Abbas Mousavi told Iran’s state broadcaster, “We don’t regard such noisy American actions as extraordinary”, adding that these …

Al-Arabia – US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Monday that the United States will increase economic pressure on Iran over its nuclear program. “We have executed on a maximum pressure campaign for sanctions. They have worked, they are working, they are cutting off the money,” Mnuchin said during a visit to Israel. He made the comments to reporters standing …

Iran-HRM – Iranian police have detained 52 men and women at a mixed-gender party in the northeastern city of Mashhad, the state-run ROKNA news agency has said. The party, illegal under Iranian law, was held on Thursday October 24, ROKNA reported. Chief Justice of Khorasan Razavi Gholam Ali Sadeghi was quoted as saying 29 men and 23 women were arrested. He said, “The women were …

Iran-HRM – Kurdish political prisoner Zeinab Jalalian who has been imprisoned for nearly 12 years, continues to be denied specialist medical treatment despite suffering from serious health issues, according to her father Ali Jalalian. Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) has not allowed a short furlough on medical grounds to Zeinab Jalalian, despite her family’s depositing of a bail …

RFL/RE – An Iranian lawyer representing two French researchers in custody in Tehran says that prosecutors have given no evidence to support the spying and security charges against them.The semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted lawyer Saeid Dehghan on October 28 as saying that Roland Marchal, a researcher at Sciences Po in Paris, was detained on security charges in June while …