Radiofarda – Dangerous air pollution has shut down kindergartens, elementary and special-needs schools in Iran’s capital Tehran and surrounding towns on Wednesday. Tehran’s governor announced that air-pollution indicator in most of the city has crossed the danger line for vulnerable people and now stands at 133. Acceptable pollution levels must be under 50. However, in ten areas of the 10-million …

Radiofarda – Iranian parliament’s legal affairs commission has decided not to separate the country’s prison system from the Judiciary, a proposed reform that could have helped legal and humanitarian protection for prisoners. Iran’s Judiciary is only accountable to the Supreme Leader and has often violated even Iran’s laws and constitutional rights in dealing with detainees. The head of the Judiciary …

AFP – The Saudi cabinet on Tuesday condemned what it called its rival Iran’s “deception” over its nuclear program, after Tehran’s decision to re-start atomic activities at one of its key sites. A cabinet session chaired by King Salman expressed its “denunciation of Iran’s continued deception and delays in providing the required information on its nuclear program to the IAEA …

Radiofarda – A court in Singapore has given the owner of a tanker carrying Iranian liquid gas (LPG) a week to either come forward or it would place the vessel under the hammer. In July, Singapore port authorities had seized two oil tankers owned by the Chinese Kunlun Shipping Company carrying Iranian petroleum products. The two ships were registered under …

Al-Arabia – US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron on a phone call on Monday discussed Syria, Iran and trade according to a series of tweets posted by White House spokesman Judd Deere on Tuesday. “The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to continue coordination on Syria. They also voiced concern over Iran’s steps to advance its nuclear program,” …

Iran-HRM – Dozens of Arab-Iranians have been arrested during protests in southwestern Iran that started Sunday following news on the suspicious death of a local poet. Hassan Heydari, a dissident ethnic Arab poet died in Shafa hospital in Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan province.  Following his death, hundreds of Arab-Iranians, who blamed the regime for the death, took to the streets in …

Iran-HRM – The number of people who lost their lives following the Friday earthquake that struck Iran’s northwest provinces has risen due to lack of relief. At least five people were initially killed and hundreds more injured after a 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck East Azerbaijan province on Friday, according to Iran’s Seismological Center. One of the victims, 10-year-old Zahra Abedi was …

VOA – A local official for a Lebanese political party was shot dead by soldiers trying to open a road closed by protesters in southern Beirut late Tuesday, the army reported, marking the first death in 27 days of nationwide protests. An army statement said the man was shot in the Khaldeh neighborhood after an altercation during which a soldier …

Amnesty – Kurdish civil society activist Zahra Mohammadi, aged 29, has been arbitrarily detained since her arrest in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, Iran, on 23 May 2019. She is charged with national security offences in relation to her civil society work empowering marginalized members of Iran’s Kurdish minority. First UA: 156/19 Index: MDE 13/1390/2019 Iran Date: 13 November 2019 URGENT ACTION …

CHRI – Imprisoned civil rights activist Farhad Meysami was transferred from Evin Prison in Tehran to Rajaee Shahr Prison in Karaj (west of the capital) on November 9, 2019, as punishment for launching a peaceful protest, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. “After taking him away, Evin Prison officials gathered his personal belongings in Ward 4 and refused to answer …