Radiofarda – Iran’s annual inflation rate has reached 38.6 percent in the last 12 months compared with the previous 12-month period, the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) announced on Tuesday, January 21. The figure shows a 1.4 percent decline compared with a month earlier when annual inflation stood at 40 percent. However, the drop does not mean prices for goods …

Radiofarda – A high-ranking official of the Supreme Leader’s Office announced January 21 that conglomerates controlled by military and religious entities under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s direct supervision are taking steps to be listed on Tehran’s stock exchange. Mohammad-Javad Iravani who is the Deputy of Supervision and Auditing of Leader’s Office was referring to what is believed to be the …

Radiofarda – In what pro-Rouhani Entekhab news website described as a “rare event in several decades” Iran’s state TV suspended three live talk shows known for their criticism of the Rouhani administration’s policies. ‌‌Meanwhile, Mashreghnews, a website close to Iranian intelligence organs reported that these programs, namely Jahanara, Soraya and Asraneh, will resume broadcasting but will no longer be live. …

Al-Arabia – Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir called on the international community to continue its pressure on the Iranian regime to change its destructive behavior in the region, branding the Islamic Republic as “the largest sponsor of terrorism in the world.” During a session hosted by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament in …

Al-Arabia – Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia was open to talks with Tehran “but it is really up to Iran.”He also said, in an interview with Reuters at Davos, that Iran would have to accept it “cannot further its regional agenda through violence” as a condition for any talks. Prince Faisal …

Iran-HRM – Political prisoner Soheil Arabi has been transferred from Evin Prison to the Great Tehran Penitentiary, 20 miles southeast of Tehran. Iran’s Intelligence Ministry is deliberately trying to place him in a perilous condition after he, along with 10 inmates, condemned the Iranian regime for downing a Ukrainian passenger plane by missiles. Prison authorities told Soheil Arabi that he …

Iran-HRM – Tehran’s Chief of Police announced the arrest of a teenager in Tehran for tearing down an image of Qassem Soleimani the now-dead commander of the Quds Force. Quoted by the state run ISNA news agency Hossein Rahimi said on Wednesday, “A person who insulted the image of Qassem Soleimani a few days ago and kicked a poster of …

RFL/RE – A senior U.S. diplomat has called an Iranian lawmaker’s offer of a reward to anyone who killed U.S. President Donald Trump “ridiculous,” saying it pointed to the “terrorist underpinnings” of Iran’s establishment.Robert Wood, the U.S. permanent representative to the Conference on Disarmament, made the comments on January 21 after lawmaker Ahmad Hamzeh announced the $3-million reward to avenge …

VOA – U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday did not rule out future sanctions against Iraq, but cited what he called “a very good relationship” when asked about potential plans for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. “We’ll see what happens, because we do have to do things on our terms,” Trump told reporters in Davos, Switzerland as he met with …

VOA – “Militias kidnapped my son,” shouts Umm Mohammad, a 43-year-old mother of two, under a tent awning in central Baghdad. “Why isn’t anyone doing anything?” Businesses around here have been closed for months as full-time protest camps occupy Tahrir Square and the surrounding area. Roads are shut down, and a tower of Iraqi flags resembling a Christmas tree blows in …