RFL/RE – Iran has closed all schools and adopted a series of other new measures as it battles the worst outbreak of coronavirus outside of China.Health Minister Saeed Namaki told a news conference on March 5 that all schools and universities will remain closed until the end of the Iranian calendar year on March 20, and that checkpoints will be …

RFL/RE – The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Iran keeps growing amid criticism of what is seen as a belated state response and concerns about the real scale of the outbreak in the country, which has left dozens dead, including a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Health Ministry said on March 4 that the …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – At least one death-row prisoner was hanged on Sunday, March 1, at Urmia prison, West Azerbaijan province. According to IHR sources, death-row prisoner Amir Mohammadpour was hanged on Sunday, March 1, 2020, at Urmia Central Prison (also known as Darya prison). He was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder charges.  HRANA, which first published the …

Al-Monitor – Iran has dragged its feet on providing access to three sites suspected of past possible involvement in Iran’s nuclear program, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a new report today. If not resolved, the development could eventually lead to Iran’s nuclear file being referred back to the UN Security Council, adding new …

Al-Monitor – Ankara’s defiant reaction to the Syrian army’s advances in the northwestern province of Idlib has led the Syrian crisis toward one of its most critical phases in the past several years, pushing Ankara and Damascus to the verge of a full-scale war. The latest round of escalation began Feb. 27, when at least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed …

CNN – Iran will temporarily release 54,000 people from prisons and deploy hundreds of thousands of health workers as officials announced a slew of measures to contain the world’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak outside China.Pressure has been mounting on Iranian officials to take action against the virus as the death toll and number of cases rapidly shoots up. Iran has reported 92 deaths, as …

PayvandNews – The South Khorasan Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department (SKCHTHD) has selected dotar maker Zolfaqar Beitaneh as a Living Human Treasure. The 58-year-old master, who lives in Ferdows, South Khorasan Province, has also skills in crafting a kind of reed flute, which is used in the folk music of Khorasan. Zolfaqar Beitaneh performing(undated photo) “Zolfaqar Beitaneh is the …

Radiofarda – With 586 new patients tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19) during the past day, the total number of those identified with the virus in Iran has reached 2922, the Iranian Health Ministry announced on Wednesday March 4. At least 15 of the new patients tested positive for the virus have died. Dr. Kianush Jahanpur, a spokesman for the virus …

Shabtabnews – Yesterday, there was a committee meeting in US senate chaired by  Ambassador Sam Brownback , the US Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom , on human rights of religious minorities. Ambassador Sam Brownback (left) Dr Gharagozloo (Right) In this meeting which was attended by the representative fromInternational Organisation to Preserve Human Rights (IOPHR) ,Dr Hamid Gharagozloo , the violations of …

AFP – Tehran has no obligation to grant the UN’s nuclear watchdog access to sites in Iran when it deems that requests are based on “fabricated information”, Iran’s UN ambassador in Vienna said Wednesday. “Intelligence services’ fabricated information… creates no obligation for Iran to consider such requests,” said a statement from Iran’s ambassador to the UN in Vienna Kazem Gharib …