RFL/RE – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will skip the World Economic Forum which kicks off in the Swiss resort of Davos on January 21, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Musavi told a news conference on January 20.The annual gathering has been overshadowed by escalating tensions between Iran and the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to attend …

VOA – Dozens of Iraqi protesters were wounded in Baghdad and other cities on Monday in clashes with security forces who were trying to clear blocked roads, security and medical sources said, as anti-government unrest resumed after a lull of several weeks. In Baghdad’s Tayaran Square overnight, protesters threw petrol bombs and stones at police who responded with tear gas …

gatestoneinstitute.org – “It’s unlikely that the parties will be able to reach a serious resolution, and the EU knows it….” — Tom Rogan, Washington Examiner, January 17, 2020. “Trump has distinguished himself from his predecessor. The world’s most famous dealmaker appears not to be angling for a deal, and for good reason — there’s no deal to be had because there’s …

gatestoneinstitute.org – Before 1979, Iranian women had freedom. They want it back. If Iranian feminists who refuse to wear the hijab are brave, their Western counterparts, who wear pink hats, have wretchedly abandoned them. Why is Iranian barbarism so easily condoned in the West? Thirty years ago, the Berlin Wall was torn down by ordinary citizens who wanted to reclaim …

gatestoneinstitute.org The latest protests, however, are clearly focused on a demand for regime change, even by some former “reform-seekers”. All this means that the regime’s classical recipe for survival isn’t working as before. For the first time, more and more Iranians are beginning to contemplate regime change not as merely a desirable slogan but as a practical strategy to lead …

iranhr.net – A woman was hanged at Shiraz city’s central prison (Adel-Abad Prison) on January 14. She was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder charges around three years ago. According to Iran Human Rights (IHR) sources, prisoner Maliheh Haji-Hosseini (29) was hanged at Shiraz city’s central prison (Adel-Abad Prison) on January 14, 2020. She was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for …

radiofarda – The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Department of Environment (DoE) chief, Issa Kalantari has admitted that mazut, an environmentally harmful fuel is used for power stations in the country. Mazut is a heavy, low quality fuel oil with an obnoxious smell that highly pollutes the air. The cheap product is usually used in massive industrial plants and for ships. …

radiofarda – Amnesty International has received “shocking reports” about sexual assault of a woman, recently detained in Iran for participating in protests following the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane near the capital city, Tehran. Thousands of Iranians protested January 11-13 after the military belatedly admitted it had shot down the airliner “by mistake”. Security forces confronted the demonstrators with …

rferl.org – The coffins of 11 Ukrainians killed when Iran’s military mistakenly shot down a passenger airliner after takeoff from Tehran international airport arrived in Kyiv on January 19 as new questions emerged over Iranian officials’ cooperation in ongoing investigations into the tragedy. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk, and other senior Ukrainian officials participated in a solemn ceremony …

rferl.org – The influential speaker of Iran’s parliament has warned European powers against “for any reason” taking an “unfair” approach to the dispute mechanism in the 4-year-old nuclear deal that has been in the balance since a U.S. pullout in 2018. Tehran would “seriously reconsider our cooperation” with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as a result, the speaker, Ali …