RFL/RE – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have discussed the situation in Ukraine’s east, where Russia-backed separatists continue to control some part of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.Ukraine’s presidential website said on January 15 that Zelenskiy thanked Merkel for Germany’s participation in the Normandy peace format summit in Paris on December 9.Zelenskiy expressed concern about the failure to …

RFL/RE 0 Albania has ordered the expulsion of two Iranian diplomats for activities “not in line with their status.”Foreign Minister Gent Cakaj said on Facebook on January 15 that the two diplomats, Mohammad Ali Arz Peimanemati and Seyed Ahmad Hosseini Alast, were declared persona non grata and asked to “immediately” leave Albania.No further information was immediately available.Albania in December 2018 expelled two …

VOA – Days of protests against Iranian leaders over the accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner appear to indicate public anger has been redirected away from America’s targeted killing of a top Iranian general.  But foreign policy analysts say it is too early to tell if this is the beginning of a broader popular movement. “My expectation is that the …

CHRI – Protesters were physically attacked and arrested at universities in Tehran and other Iranian cities on January 14, 2019, the fourth consecutive day of protests that had erupted in the country after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) admitted to accidentally downing a Ukrainian passenger plane. “The front entrance of the University of Tehran was full of security agents,” one eyewitness who requested anonymity …

Shabtannews -– Ambassador Sam Brownback , the US Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom , stated in a Twitter message that he is watching the the treatment of Gonabadi Sufi’s by the Iranian regime, after the recent passing of the Sufi’s spiritual leader, Dr Noor Ali Tabandeh. Tweets by IRF_Ambassador Tweets by IRF_Ambassador Tweets by USAdarFarsi

Radiofarda – Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday the United States believes international sanctions on Iran will be swiftly reimposed now that France, Britain and Germany have formally triggered a mechanism to help enforce Iran’s nuclear agreement. European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell on Tuesday announced that Germany, France and the UK have launched action under the Iran nuclear …

Radiofarda – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has once again sent mixed messages to the West, reiterating that the reductions in Tehran’s obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal are reversible but indirectly threatening Europe. Rouhani on January 15 called on Western forces to leave the Middle East and warned that “the Middle East could become unsafe for European soldiers in the …

Radiofarda – The Spokesman of Iran’s election watchdog on Wednesday blasted President Hassan Rouhani for criticizing its mass disqualification of would-be candidates for the February 2020 parliament elections. Iran’s Guardian Council which must approve the all candidates running for parliament, has rejected thousands of applicants, including 90 members of the current parliament. “Brawling to [force the Council to] qualify the …

Shabtabnews – The International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights (IOPHR) in a statement called for ” international committee to be set up which consists of impartial experts, to investigate all aspects of this tragedy and in particular any  violation of Human rights that has occurred due to the actions of the Iranian regime by shooting down the Ukraine airliner “ …

Amnesty – Verified video footage, photographs and testimonies from victims and eyewitnesses on the ground obtained by Amnesty International confirm that Iranian security forces used unlawful force against peaceful protesters who gathered across Iran following the authorities’ admission that they had shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane on 8 January. The evidence indicates that on 11 and 12 January security …