CHRI – Golnar Samsami was on her way home after work when she was struck in the head by a bullet on Vali Asr St. in the city of Shahriar, Tehran Province, on November 17, 2019, her family member told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). According to the source who spoke on the condition of anonymity for …

Al-Monitor – “Without this Quran manuscript, darkness would prevail and bitterness would replace blessing,” said Tawfiq, who has spent his entire life in Negel, a Sunni Muslim village of some 4,000 residents in Iran’s Kurdistan province. Sitting at a high altitude overlooking a deep valley less than 60 miles from the Iraqi border, Negel connects the provincial capital of Sanandaj to the border …

PayvandNews – Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Monday that transactions within INSTEX barter mechanism is entering its final phase. INSTEX – the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges – is designed to circumvent U.S. sanctions against trade with Iran by avoiding the use of the dollar. It was introduced by the European trio of France, Germany, and …

Radiofarda – The Basij paramilitary force under the command of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards plans to increase its presence in every “neighborhood”, in the wake of widespread protests in November when hundreds of protesters were killed and thousands arrested. The Basij plays a major role in suppressing demonstrations and its larger presence in urban areas will help it gather intelligence and …

Radiofarda – The U.S. Justice Department charged an Indonesian Tuesday with violating sanctions on Iran in supplying millions of dollars worth of new and refurbished aircraft parts to Iran’s blacklisted Mahan Air. Sunakro Kuntjoro, the president-director of PT MS Aero Support, exported US-made aircraft parts to Mahan Air in violation of sanctions between 2011 and 2018, according to an indictment …

Radiofarda – Iranian deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi (Araghchi) says that there is no possibility for talks at any level between Tehran and Washington. Speaking to a Chinese TV network, Araqchi reiterated that in the present situation, there was no room for talks between the two sides. Referring to recent speculations that President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to Tokyo might pave …

Radiofarda – A blackout caused by lightning and the failure of the hospital’s emergency power system claimed the lives of four elderly women in the intensive care unit of Khomeini hospital of Ahwaz, the capital of the oil-rich Khuzestan Province. The women had been hospitalized for respiratory problems caused by air pollution, another problem the province has been plagued with. …

Radiofarda – Referring to the unprecedented air pollution in the past few days the Mayor of Tehran on Tuesday said the capital would have had to be evacuated if it had not rained last night. Speaking at a meeting of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce Tuesday, Pirouz Hanachi said the average concentration of hazardous airborne particles hit 200 micrograms per …

Radiofarda – Three reformist lawmakers on Tuesday harshly criticized top offcials of the country including the President and the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council for “shedding the blood of the youth” and calling the protests “enemy conspiracies”. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei himself has also called the November protests “a security [attack] rather than popular protests”, and claimed …

Al-Arabia – The US is providing Iran with “good, within reach targets” by sending forces to the region, a former Iranian defense minister and current military advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Monday. Iran does not view the deployment of US forces in the region as a threat, said Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan, adding: “By bringing forces to …