CHRI – Held Almost Six Months, Over Two Months Incommunicado, Even As Family Has Posted Bail Kurdish language teacher Zahra Mohammadi has been in detention in Sanandaj, the capital of Iran’s Kurdistan Province, since May 23, 2019, falsely accused of “propaganda against the state,” and “acting against national security” because of alleged contacts with opposition parties, her sister told the Center for …

Al-Monitor – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani once again shrugged off criticism from his hard-line critics at home by throwing his full weight behind the 2015 nuclear deal, which is hanging by a thread due to the US pullout in May 2018. Addressing a meeting of local officials in the southeastern city of Kerman Nov. 12, Rouhani said the phased reduction of commitments …

Al-Monitor – In the past few weeks, Iran’s moderate president, Hassan Rouhani, has sought to defy hard-liners by bringing up controversial issues in his speeches. During the past two years, Rouhani has disillusioned his fans and supporters who assumed that he would be committed to his promises: increasing social and political freedom and solving the long-standing dilemmas the country faces, …

Reuters – Iraq’s ruling parties appear to have rallied behind a strategy, blessed by Iran, to try to survive a mass anti-government uprising by containing protests on the streets of Baghdad while offering a package of political reforms and elections next year. But the proposed solution involves keeping in power a ruling elite that Iran has cultivated for years – …

Radiofarda – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani says his country’s situation has never been as “difficult and complicated” as it is today. Rouhani admitted that U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil exports are making it difficult to run the affairs of the country. The remarks are in sharp contrast to Rouhani’s previous statements in which he portrayed a promising picture of the …

Radiofarda – Another Iranian war veteran injured in the deadly eight-year war with Iraq (1980-88) set himself on fire and died, Qom News website reported. He is the fourth victim of self-immolation in less than three months in the Shi’ites’ holy city of Qom, 150 kilometers (approximately 93 miles) south of the capital, Tehran. “The victim, who was suffering from …

Radiofarda – Israel killed a top commander from the Iranian-backed Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in a rare targeted strike in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, while militants responded by firing rockets at Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv.In the most serious escalation in months, an Israeli missile attack also targeted the home of an Islamic Jihad official in Damascus, killing …

Radiofarda – President Emmanuel Macron of France says he had an “excellent telephone discussion” with the U.S. President Donald Trump, concerning Iran, Syria and other issues. Macron tweeted early on November 12, saying that he and Trump have agreed to meet before the NATO summit in December. He also underlined they have agreed on many issues. Since at least July …

Radiofarda – Protests in southwestern Iran that started Sunday evening because of a local poet’s death in hospital, continued Monday during his funeral services. Hassan Haydary (Heydary) a dissident ethnic Arab poet died in Ahvaz, the capital of the oil-rich Khuzestan province. He was renowned among the region’s Arab population for his fiery poems demanding identity recognition for his kinsmen. …

Radiofarda – The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog says its monitors have detected “natural uranium particles of anthropogenic origin” at an undeclared site in Iran.The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) does not identify the site in a confidential quarterly report distributed to IAEA member states and seen by Western news agencies on November 11.Israel has accused Iran of conducting atomic activities …