Reuters – Like many Iranians, Mahnaz left Iran and settled in a western country 10 years ago after political restrictions in the Islamic Republic made it difficult for her to live and work there.An Iranian woman wears a protective face mask, amid fear of coronavirus disease, as she buys flowers, ahead of the Iranian New Year Nowruz, March 20, in …

Radiofarda – With 149 new deaths in the past 24 hours, Iran’s death toll from coronavirus (COVID-19) rose to 1,284 on Thursday. According to the latest official announcement by the Health Ministry, there are now 18,407 cases of confirmed coronavirus infection in the Islamic Republic. The new numbers were announced by Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raeesi. According to him a …

Radiofarda – On Wednesday the President of Iran Medical Council said that the number of people infected by coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iran is “definitely” much higher than what the country’s Ministry of Health announces. Dr. Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi who heads the licensing and regulatory body for Iranian healthcare professionals also dismissed the authorities’ claim that coronavirus infection has reached its …

Radiofarda – On Thursday the Spokesman of Iran’s Judiciary said Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will pardon about 10,000 prisoners “more than half of who are serving security-related jail terms”. Iranian media on Wednesday reported that Khamenei had agreed with the request of the Chief Justice Ebrahim Reesi to pardon some prisoners excluding those serving terms of more than five years …

Radifarda – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters on Tuesday March 17 that Tehran may be considering releasing some Americans it has been keeping in jail for several years. Iran has still not officially reacted to Pompeo’s statement. Nevertheless, there may be indications that the Americans in jail may see the light of the day outside prisons sooner rather than …

Radiofarda – In a video message on the occasion of the Iranian New Year (Nowrouz) on March 21, the exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi has said that he considers the Islamic Republic the “primary impediment in remediation and containing the [coronavirus] crisis”. Coronavirus has claimed at least 1,135 lives and infected more than 17,000 so far. Many believe that the numbers …

Al-Arabia – Iranian airline pilot Asghar Loran has died from coronavirus, state media reported on Wednesday. Loran flew for Mahan Air, a Tehran-based airline believed to operate under the direct control of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Mahan Air has been accused of smuggling weapons to Iran’s proxies in the region on behalf of the Quds Force, the overseas …

Al-Arabia – A senior Iranian cleric who recently died of coronavirus had previously blamed the US for the outbreak of the virus in a speech captured on video. https://vid.alarabiya.net/2020/03/19/irancleric14f1ef7ba/irancleric14f1ef7ba___irancleric14f1ef7ba_video.mp4 Ayatollah Hashem Bathaei-Golpaygani died from coronavirus on Monday. He was a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts – the clerical body that supervises, appoints and in theory, can sack the Supreme Leader. …

RFL/RE – The United States has imposed sanctions on nine companies and three individuals for allegedly doing business with Iran’s petrochemical industry. Three Chinese and three Hong-Kong-based companies, two interrelated South African firms, and the Iranian Armed Forces Social Security Investment Company are suspected of “knowingly engaging in a significant transaction for the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or marketing of …

RFL/RE – The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) says that at least three political activists in Tehran’s Evin prison have joined imprisoned human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh’s hunger strike demanding freedom for all political prisoners. Sotoudeh’s hunger strike was launched after Iranian judicial officials announced the temporary release of 85,000 inmates to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, which …