RFL/RE – The British ambassador to Tehran has left Iran after being detained by Iranian authorities last week, state-run media reported on January 15. Rob Macaire was detained for three hours on January 11 after attending a candlelight vigil for the victims of the downing by Iran’s air defenses of a Ukrainian passenger plane.Iran’s official IRNA news agency said the …

RFL/RE- Chanting “Death to America” and trampling upon and burning U.S. flags have been part of state-sponsored, anti-American acts in Iran for the past 40 years. Students walk around, instead of across, U.S. and Israeli flags at the Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran on January 12. Yet people’s opposition to that mantra and disrespecting the flag of the United States …

RFL/RE — In the early hours of January 11, as the world awaited information about the tragic crash near Tehran of Ukrainian Airlines Flight PS752, Russia’s state-funded news agency RT published an article titled The Demonization Of Iran: How The West Blames Tehran For The Downing Of The Ukrainian Boeing 737.The leaders of several Western countries had already cited evidence …

VOA – Iran’s top diplomat acknowledged Wednesday that Iranians “were lied to” for days following the Islamic Republic accidentally shooting down a Ukrainian jetliner, killing 176 people, as the country’s president warned that European soldiers in the Mideast “could be in danger” after three nations challenged Tehran over breaking limits of its nuclear deal. The comments by Mohammad Javad Zarif …

HRW – Arbitrary Arrests, Use of Lethal force against Protests Show More ServicesPrint Iranian protesters gather around a burning car during a demonstration against an increase in gasoline prices in the capital Tehran, on November 16, 2019.  © 2019 AFP/Getty Images (Beirut) – Iranian authorities intensified their crackdown during 2019 against protests across the country, using mass arrests and lethal force, Human Rights …

CHRI – Addressing the Nuclear Deal is Not Enough; Rights Issues Are Central to Region’s Stability 28-Country Bloc Should Call on Iranian Authorities to Respect Right to Protest January 14, 2020 – As state security forces in Iran use potentially lethal force against civilian protestors for the second time in less than two months, the Center for Human Rights in …

CHRI – Hundreds of protesters and bystanders were killed in Iran last November when armed forces waged a violent crackdown on widespread demonstrations. Yet Iranians continued to risk their lives at demonstrations in January 2020 after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps admitted “unintentionally” shooting down a Ukrainian passenger plane. Iran Plane Crash Political Fallout: Protesters Face Deadly Force CHRI – Hundreds of …

gatestoneinstitute.org – [Many] Arabs have claimed that they cannot understand why Hamas and Islamic Jihad are mourning an Iranian general responsible for the killing and displacement of thousands of people in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Some Arabs scoffed at the two Palestinian groups for labeling Soleimani as the “martyr of Jerusalem” at a time “when most of his rockets and …

PayvandNews – All the facilities and capacities of the country have been mobilized to assist people in the flood-stricken province of Sistan-Baluchestan, IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday. Unprecedented heavy rainfall which began on January 10 has led to flash flooding in the southeastern province, as 145 stations have recorded rainfall, 95 of which have reported receiving more than 50 …

Radiofarda – In an unprecedented move Tehran Province Journalists Association (TPJA) has called on Iran’s state-controlled media not to be a mouthpiece of officials and refrain from self-censorship. Responding to the scandal surrounding the downing of a Ukrainian airliner that killed all 176 onboard, TPJA said in a statement on Monday, “We are mourning the death of public trust, and …