Radiofarda – France summoned Iran’s ambassador on Friday to demand the release of two French citizens being held in Iranian jails after one of them, Franco-Iranian researcher Fariba Adelkhah, began a hunger strike. “As the president and foreign minister have underlined on multiple occasions, their imprisonment is intolerable,” the French Foreign Ministry said in a daily online press briefing. Iran …

Radiofarda – Australian scholar Dr. Kylie Moore-Gilbert who had been on hunger strike at Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison since December 24 announced two days later she would resume her hunger strike if not taken out of solitary confinement by New Year’s Eve. The Australian scholar’s message was relayed by Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliff, a dual British-Iranian citizen also in prison in Iran, …

Radiofarda – In a joint statement 135 Iranian documentary film makers have vowed to commemorate the victims of the recent deadly protests in Iran by documenting their lives and the protests. Sympathizing with the families of mid-November anti-regime demonstrations, the directors have insisted that they would not close their eyes to the realities of Iran’s current situation and will document …

Reuters -A federal judge in Manhattan on Thursday rejected a request by Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank to put on hold a federal prosecution accusing it of helping Iran evade U.S. economic sanctions. U.S. District Judge Richard Berman said Halkbank would not face irreparable harm if the case proceeded, and that limiting its economic and reputational damage “may best be assured by …

AP — Iraq’s president refused on Thursday to designate a prime minister candidate nominated by the Iran-backed parliamentary bloc, plunging the country into further political uncertainty amid nearly three months of unprecedented mass protests. President Barham Saleh said in a statement issued by his office that he would not name the governor of the southern Basra province, Asaad al-Eidani, as …

Al-Arabia – Iranian protesters chanted political slogans under the eye of security forces during a memorial on Thursday for a man killed in demonstrations last month, videos on social media showed.The images, which could not be verified by Reuters, showed one woman shouting “Death to the dictator” as people around her ran in the cemetery in the city of Karaj. …

Iran-HRM – The crime against humanity, which began with the massacre of defenseless protesters in November, is continuing with mass and arbitrary arrests and torture of detained Iran protesters. Reports indicate that the regime is torturing the detained protesters into forced confessions. The victims are being pressured to say they received money from the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) …

VOA – A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck southern Iran early Friday near the Islamic Republic’s only nuclear power plant. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. “No damage has been reported to us so far based on the checks by the Red Crescent Society, village councilors and officials in the area,” Jahangir Dehqan, the head of the provincial …

Al-Monitor – There was a high security presence in the streets of Iran due to government fears over the commemoration of the November protests. Family members had invited protesters to the grave sites of those killed in the protests to mark the passage of 40 days, which has a particularly important significance in Shiite Islam. The first sign that the government had …

Radiofarda – A labor and rights activist who in her tweets yesterday said she was suing one of the state-run broadcaster’s reporters for forcing her to make televised confession has had to deactivate her account. In several tweets on December 25 Sepideh Gholian (Qolyan) said she had sued the reporter for her role in the production of a so-called documentary …