Reuters -Iran and Russia should increase their cooperation in the fight against the new coronavirus outbreak and continue to trade with each other, President Hassan Rouhani told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Iranian presidency website said. Iran is one of the Middle Eastern countries hardest hit by the outbreak and Russia has seen a recent surge in infections. …
Read More »Monthly Archives: April 2020
Iran’s Judiciary Dismisses UN Experts’ Demand To Furlough Political Prisoners
Radiofarda – The Islamic Republic’s Judiciary spokesman has dismissed as “politically motivated” a United Nations human rights report that all political prisoners must be granted furloughs during the coronavirus outbreak. Iran’s performance in dealing with the issue — compared with that of the West — has been “exemplary”, Gholam Hossein Esmaili told reporters on Tuesday, April 21. Giving the local …
Read More »Iran Among Worst Violators Of Journalists’ Rights, Reporters Without Borders Says
Radiofarda – Iran’s media freedom rank is 173 out of the 180 countries in the latest press freedom index of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released on Tuesday. The Islamic Republic’s rank has dropped three points from 170 in 2019. The RSF report says Iran has been one of the world’s most repressive countries for journalists for the past 40 years with …
Read More »Inmates in Urmia and Qezelhessar prisons commit suicide due to pressure
Iran-HRM – Increased physical and mental pressure on prisoners compelled two inmates in the prisons of Urmia and Qezelhessar in Karaj to take their own lives. Sunday, April 19, 2020, inmate Majid Keshvari committed suicide in Qezelhesar Prison, in Karaj, west of Tehran. Mr. Keshvari took his own life after he heard that prison guards were going to take him for a second …
Read More »Iran Claims It ‘Successfully’ Launched Military Satellite
RFL/RE – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on April 22 that it launched a military satellite into orbit, after months of failed attempts.State television and the Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the IRGC, reported the launch on April 22, calling it “successful.”There was no immediate independent confirmation of the launch of the satellite but analysts said …
Read More »Russia, Turkey, and Iran To Meet On Syria
RFL/RE – The foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey, and Iran will hold a video conference on April 22 to discuss Syria and a de-escalation deal in the last rebel-held enclave in Idlib. Turkey and Russia, which back opposing sides in the conflict, brokered a March 5 cease-fire in rebel-controlled Idlib Province following a monthslong Russia-backed offensive by Syrian forces that …
Read More »U.S. And Iran Trade Barbs, Memes On Social Media Over Deadly Coronavirus Pandemic
RFL/RE – In an image shared on Twitter recently by the U.S. State Department, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is seen sitting next to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while between them is a small table with a large pile of cash on it. There is also a pile of cash on Assad’s lap as well as an Iranian banknote …
Read More »Imprisoned Human Rights Defender, Narges Mohammadi: Poor Health Condition and Life Threats in Prison
Iran Human Rights (IHR) – Imprisoned human rights defender, Narges Mohammadi, has been threatened to death by inmates with criminal background in Zanjan prison. She was exiled from Tehran’s Evin prison to Zanjan prison, 300 kilometres far from the capital, over raising her voice in jail against killing hundreds of protesters in Iran in November 2019. Narges Mohammadi who was arrested …
Read More »Iran: Execution of young man ‘vengeful and cruel’
Amnesty – The execution of Shayan Saeedpour today in Iran for a crime committed as a child is further proof of the authorities’ total disregard for the right to life, said Amnesty International. Iranian officials executed Shayan Saeedpour, 21, this morning in the central prison in Saqez, Kurdistan province. A criminal court in Kurdistan province had sentenced him to death …
Read More »UN Rights Experts Appalled by Iran’s Execution of Child Offender
IHR- UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Javaid Rehman, and UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard, condemned the execution of Juvenile offender Shayan Saeedpoour by the Islamic Republic of Iran earlier today. Full text here: GENEVA (21 April 2020) – Two UN human rights experts today expressed their dismay that …
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