Radiofarda – France’s Minister for Armed Forces Florence Parly has given a forceful speech Saturday warning of the dangers of U.S. disengagement from the Middle East and not responding to attacks. Parly made the comments Saturday, addressing the annual Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, where she said “gradual U.S. disengagement” in the Middle East was worrisome and its failure to respond …

Radiofarda – Friday Prayer Imams in Tehran and Mashhad have called on the government not to restore internet service to citizens in Iran that have been blocked to conceal the violent suppression of anti-government protest during this week. Most Friday Prayer Imams in Iranian cities mildly criticized President Hassan Rouhani for “shocking the people” by increasing the price of gasoline …

Radiofarda – Deputy Commander of Iran’s revolutionary guards, IRGC, Ali Fadavi says Iranian security forces put an end to recent anti-government demonstrations in Iran within 48 hours. He made the statement even though the protests which started on Friday November 15 still continued Thursday in some locations. With almost a full internet blackout, there was little unofficial news on Friday. …

Al-Arabia – Iranian Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri on Saturday warned regional countries of unspecified dire consequences if it is proven that they meddled to stoke unrest in Iran, the semi-official news agency Fars reported.“Some countries in the region should know that they will be not have an easy life in the region if clues are found that show they intervened to …

Al-Arabia – Iranian troops and members of the Revolutionary Guards helped police quell violent unrest in Kermanshah province this week, Iranian officials said on Saturday, accusing “US agents” of being among the protesters.Rights group Amnesty International said at least 30 people were killed in the western province, making it the worst hit by days of protests over gasoline prices rises …

Al-Arabia – Iraqi security forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse crowds of protesters Saturday, killing one person, in a third day of fierce clashes in central Baghdad, security and hospital officials said. A protester was struck with a rubber bullet and died instantly, and 12 others were wounded in the fighting on Rasheed Street, a famous avenue …

RFL/RE – A U.S. court has ordered Iran pay a Washington Post reporter and his family nearly $180 million in damages for jailing the Iranian-American journalist on espionage charges in 2014.A U.S. District Court judge on November 22 ruled that the damages be paid to reporter Jason Rezaian and his family to compensate for pain and suffering as well as …

RFL/RE – Germany’s most senior human rights official has expressed “shock” at the recent sentencing in Iran of six members of a local wildlife conservation group to lengthy prison terms on charges of espionage. Baerbel Kofler, a lawmaker and the German federal government’s commissioner for human rights policy and humanitarian aid, also called for the activists’ immediate release. “I am …

VOA – Iran has extended a major shutdown of internet access into a seventh day to suppress domestic opposition to the government, prompting the United States to sanction the Iranian official overseeing the outage. NetBlocks.org✔@netblocks The #Iran internet shutdown is now in its 144th hour, keeping friends and family out of touch and limiting the basic rights of IraniansSubscribe to …

HRW – An Iranian revolutionary court has sentenced at least six environmental experts detained since January 2018 after an unfair trial where the defendants apparently could not see the full dossier of evidence against them, Human Rights Watch said today. The court informed the detainees on November 20, 2019 that they had been convicted of “collaborating with the enemy state of the …