Radiofarda – A significant number of individuals related to the “network” founded by a Paris-based dissident have already been identified in Iran, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) spokesman, Ramezan Sharif has claimed. Rouhollah Zam, 46, is the founder of AMAD (Persian acronym for Awareness, Struggle, And Democracy) news, later renamed as Seda-ye Mardom (Voice of the People) that disseminated …

Radiofarda – Since 2013, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been spending an unusual amount of time, money, energy and manpower on a hitherto low-key religious ritual: Arbaeen. The Occasion marks the anniversary of the 40th day after the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the third Shiite Imam in Iraq in the year 680 AD in Karbala, Iraq. Iran’s investment turned the relatively silent ritual …

Radiofarda – Hours after Iran’s presidency announced the approval of internationally mandated anti-corruption and anti-money laundering bills, the hardliner Judiciary denied any agreement between the three branches of power. On Wednesday, Rouhani’s chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi announced that a special council headed by the president, speaker of parliament and the head of the Judiciary have approved the long-debated bills …

Radiozmaneh – Iran’s interior ministry has confirmed reports in a conservative newspaper that instruction was issued to male managers in the government to “preferably” choose male secretaries. Khorasan newspaper published a report on October 22 saying that based on directives from “important state bodies” advised government officials to segregate workers spaces into male and female sections and employ male secretaries …

Al-Arabia – Albanian police said on Wednesday they have discovered an Iranian paramilitary network that allegedly planned attacks in Albania against exiled members of an Iranian group seeking to overthrow the government in Tehran. Mujahedin-e Khalq honor guard stand guard during a conference “120 Years of Struggle for Freedom Iran” at the Ashraf-3 camp, which is a base for MEK …

Iran-HRM – Iranian authorities have amputated the hand of a man convicted of theft in Sari Prison in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran, the state-run media reported Wednesday. The judiciary’s official news website, Mizan said after several cases of theft in the northern cities of Mahmoud Abad and Nour, the hand amputation sentence was carried out in Sari prison in the presence of judicial authorities. …

VOA – Iran executed seven child offenders last year and two so far this year even though human rights law prohibits the death penalty for anyone under age 18, a U.N. independent human rights expert said Wednesday.  Javaid Rehman also told the U.N. General Assembly’s human rights committee that he has “credible information” there are at least 90 child offenders …

CHRI – Political prisoner Arash Sadeghi is dangerously ill yet Iranian authorities continue to prevent his transfer to a hospital, his wife told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). “Arash’s right hand has gotten infected and become completely paralyzed and he needs to receive treatment from a doctor outside prison,” said Golrokh Iraee Ebrahimi on October 18, 2019. “Since June [2019] the …

Al-Monitor – Iran has offered what seems to be a cautious welcome to the memorandum of understanding signed between Moscow and Ankara over the conflict in Syria’s formerly Kurdish-controlled north. “The agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey, aimed at ending the violence in northern Syria, is a positive step toward restoring stability and calm to the region,” said Abbas …

lobelog – President Trump said this week that he may have to start a new war, specifically singling out Iran. “I’m trying to get out of wars. But we may have to get in wars, too. OK? We may have to get in wars,” he said. “We’re better prepared than we’ve ever been. If Iran does something, they’ll be hit like …