Al-Arabia – Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani referred to a photoshopped image from social media in a cabinet meeting on Saturday when comparing Iran’s response to coronavirus to the rest of the world. https://vid.alarabiya.net/2020/03/22/irnrphtig2220ba970c71/irnrphtig2220ba970c71___irnrphtig2220ba970c71_video.mp4 A photoshopped image of a British soldier and police officer with firearms standing in front of packs of toilet paper in a UK store was widely circulated …

Iran-HRM – Prisoners at risk of Coronavirus infection rebelled in two western Iranian prisons, some managing to escape. Friday night, March 20, 2020, prisoners in the Central Prison of Aligoudarz, in the western province of Lorestan, rebelled and disarmed some of prison guards, attempting to escape.  Clashes ensued between guards and prisoners at risk of Coronavirus infection, extending outside the …

Iran-HRM – Forty political prisoners in the Greater Tehran Penitentiary have started a hunger strike since Monday, March 16, 2020 to protest Judiciary officials’ rejection of granting leaves to political prisoners and prisoners of conscience after the spread of Coronavirus to prisons. Protesting inmates include those arrested in the protests in November 2019. The political prisoners announced their hunger strike in a …

VOA – Iran’s supreme leader refused U.S. assistance Sunday to fight the new coronavirus, citing an unfounded conspiracy theory that the virus could be man-made by America.  Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s comments come as Iran faces crushing U.S. sanctions blocking the country from selling its crude oil and accessing international financial markets.  But while Iranian civilian officials in recent days have …

RFL/RE – Two former detainees released in a prisoner swap between France and Iran have returned to their home countries after each having spent months in confinement.French researcher Roland Marchal arrived in Paris on March 21, with his support group releasing a short statement saying, “Roland has returned.”Meanwhile, Iranian engineer Jallal Rohollahnejad, who is wanted in the United States, arrived …

gatestoneinstitute.org – China has contributed to almost two decades of low inflation and economic growth that has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty in all continents. At the same time China has started to develop an appetite for playing big power. The European colonial powers of the Berlin Conference combined their quest for security abroad with democratization …

RFL/RE – Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has sent legislation to the former Soviet republic’s parliament that would impose a nationwide state of emergency in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Under Georgia’s constitution, lawmakers in Tbilisi have 24 hours to vote on whether to approve the declaration. Zurabishvili submitting the proposal to parliament just hours after Prime …

Radiofarad A physician turned “Islamic doctor” in Iran says dropping bitter gourd oil in ears in the morning before going out will prevent infection with coronavirus (COVID-19). Two more drops at night will even prevent those who have been infected from transmitting it to others, he claims. Many Iranians believe in traditional medical treatments and Islamic medicine, which under the …

Radiofarda – The governor of Aligudarz, a town in Iran’s Lorestan province says a riot in the local prison on Friday amid a coronavirus epidemic was put down by security forces. While the governor, Hamid Kashkuli claimed no prisoner escaped and the reason for the disturbance remains unknown, the coronavirus epidemic has put prisoners in grave danger and could have …

Shabtabnews – Yesterday, -– Ambassador Sam Brownback , the US Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom , stated in a Twitter message that he demanded in light of widespread epidemic in Iran all those imprisoned because of their religious faiths be released. Tweets by IRF_Ambassador