Radiofarda – The representatives of the nations that lost citizens when Iran shot down a civilian plane on January 8 over Tehran have called upon the Islamic Republic to hand over the black boxes for expert analysis. Victims of the crash included 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, eleven Ukrainians, ten Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans, and three Britons. Canada, Ukraine, Germany, …

Radiofarda – While the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, insists that Tehran and Riyadh have exchanged messages, his Saudi counterpart says that there is no direct contacts between the Islamic Republic and the Persian Gulf kingdom. Zarif also asserted on Saturday that countries such as Saudi Arabia do not seek the de-escalation of tensions in the region. “If there …

Radiofarda – Lebanon’s Hezbollah Saturday unveiled a statue of Iran’s slain Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani near the Israeli border, to mark the 40th day of his killing by the United States. Soleimani who was dubbed as the “worst terrorist” by U.S. officials was killed by a drone as he was leaving the Baghdad International airport in the early hours …

Al-Arabia – Iran will never hold talks with its longtime foe, the United States, under pressure, President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised news conference on Sunday, adding that Tehran’s help was essential to establish security in the Middle East.“Iran will never negotiate under pressure … We will never yield to America’s pressure and we will not negotiate from a …

Al-Arabia – Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said no “private messages,” or “direct contact” had taken place to ease tensions with Iran, saying that Tehran first needed to change its behavior before talks can happen. “Our message to Iran is to change its behavior first before anything is to be discussed,” Prince Faisal said on …

RFL/RE – Eighteen movies are set to compete for the top prize next week as the Berlin Film Festival celebrates its 70th anniversary. One of the most highly anticipated films for the Golden Bear award for the competition – which runs February 20-March 1 — is German-Afghan director Burhan Qurbani’s Berlin Alexanderplatz, which transforms Alfred Doeblin’s 1929 German classic into …

Radiozmaneh – Iranian users take to twitter demanding the release of Student Activist Bahareh Hedayat, who is among a dozen journalists and activists targeted by security forces in the months of February as campaigns are ongoing for the parliamentary elections in Iran. Bahareh Hedayat, a prisoner of conscience in Iran, has been in and out of prison in the past …

Radiozmaneh – The 10th bimonthly Labor Rights Newsletter of Zamaneh Media has been published in both Persian and English. This issue covers labor news and workers’ issues in the approximate range of December 2019 and January 2020. According to the Statistical Center of Iran, point to point inflation rate rose 0.8 percent towards the 21 December 2019 as compared to …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A death-row prisoner hanged at Isfahan prison on February 13, 2020. According to IHR sources, death-row prisoner Hassan Saraei (36) was hanged on Thursday, February 13, 2020, at Isfahan prison. “He was sentenced to death for murdering his friend four years ago,” a well-informed source told IHR.  In 2019, most of the executions in Iran …

gatestoneinstitute.org – For four decades, Ouyar Hassan has put up with an ochlocracy disguised as a theocracy. Wearing an Anatolian smile, he has seen Iran become the only country in the world, perhaps with the exception of Zimbabwe, poorer than it was 40 years ago. He has seen Iran top the list of infamy in the word for the number …