Radiofarda – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei says the November protests in Iran have been “deep-rooted, widespread and very dangerous”. Khamenei was addressing the IRGC-linked Basij militia members and commanders who have played a substantial part in the violent suppression of the protests. He said the protests that broke out on November 15, following a sudden hike in gasoline prices, …

Radiofarda – A member of Iranian parliament’s Commission on National Security and Foreign Policy has said “more than 7,000 people” were arrested during recent protests. This is the first time any governmental source in Iran announces a figure on the number of arrests. Etemad newspaper says Hossein Naqavi Hosseini made the remark on November 25 in a meeting of two …

Radiofarda – The Islamic Republic Minister of Interior says that the recent protests across Iran turned into “special” cases of intense unrest in five provinces of the country. One hundred spots in the capital city, Tehran, were also the scene of intense protests. Speaking to the state-run monopolized Channel One TV on Tuesday evening November 26, Abdol Reza Rahmani Fazli …

Radiofarda – In a statement released on November 26 on its official website Reporters Without Borders condemned Hamid Baeidinejad, Iran’s ambassador in the UK, for his role in relaying the threats of Iranian intelligence organs against Iranian journalists based abroad, especially in Britain, and against their families in Iran. “Ever since Hamid Baeidinejad, the Iranian foreign ministry’s former director of …

Radiofarda – An Iranian official has confirmed a major leak off an oil rig near Kharq Island in the Persian Gulf and said considering the spread of the contamination more equipment and reinforcement is required for the clean-up operation. The leak started at least a week ago but neither the Iranian Oil Ministry nor the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) …

Al-Arabia – Approximately 731 banks and 140 government sites were torched in recent unrest in Iran, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said in remarks published by the official IRNA news agency on Wednesday.More than 50 bases used by security forces were attacked and approximately 70 gas stations were also burned, he said, without specifying where the attacks took place.According to …

Iran-HRM – Latest reports from Iran indicate the death toll from Iran protests has reached to 450. Investigative reports by Iran Human Rights Monitor put the number of those arrested since November 15, at over 10,000, adding that at least 450 Iran protesters have been killed by the state security forces during the past days. At least 4,000 have been …

RFL/RE — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Washington has received nearly 20,000 “messages, videos, pictures, notes” from Iranians depicting what he called “human rights abuses” in Tehran’s response to an outbreak of anti-government protests in the country.In a briefing on November 26, Pompeo told reporters that the United States would continue to sanction Iranian officials responsible for their actions related …

RFL/RE – Iran says it has imposed punitive measures on individuals associated with a London-based, Persian-language TV channel that Iranian officials have accused of bias in its coverage of anti-government protests that erupted across the country last week. The Iranian judiciary’s website said on November 26 it had imposed “judicial and legal restrictions” on property held by individuals associated with Iran International …

VOA – Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has hosted leaders of Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgency and discussed efforts aimed at finding a negotiated settlement to the Afghan war. A Taliban spokesman said Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the political deputy chief and head of the insurgent group’s Qatar-based office, led the visiting delegation at the meeting. FILE – Members of a Taliban …