VOA – Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard acknowledged Sunday it had a tense encounter with U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf last week, but alleged without offering evidence that American forces sparked the incident.  The incident Wednesday saw the U.S. Navy release video of small Iranian fast boats coming close to American warships as they operated in the northern Persian Gulf …

Iran Human Rights – At least 10 prisoners were transferred to solitary confinement and are scheduled to be executed on Tuesday, April 21, or Wednesday. Iran is one of the few countries implementing executions despite the Coronavirus pandemic. According to Iran Human Rights (IHR) sources, 10-12 death row prisoners, mainly sentenced to death for murder charges, were transferred to solitary …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – Authorities in Iran have scheduled the execution of a juvenile offender identified as Shayan Saeedpour for Tuesday, April 21. IHR calls for the international community’s urgent reactions. IHR’s director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said, ”international pressure is the only means to stop Shayan Saeidpour’s execution.“ According to IHR sources, Iranian judicial authorities notified Shayan Saeedpour’s lawyer that …

gatestoneinstitute.org – How on earth it is in the US “national interest” to allow a regime that is kidnapping and killing Americans and their allies, and planning to attack US diplomatic facilities, to receive billions of dollars in aid? An additional problem, based on a pattern for which Iran has only itself to blame, is that there is no evidence …

Radiofarda – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has urged the United Nations Security Council to extend the international arms embargo on Iran, set to expire in October. In a tweet on Saturday, April 18, Pompeo asserted that lifting the sanctions imposed on Tehran may give rise to violence in the Middle East. “The arms embargo on Iran – the …

Radiofarda – The representative of a pro-Iran Shiite armed militia in Iraq has announced that members of the group are in Iran to help fight the coronavirus pandemic. Abbas Mousavi who represents the Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba (Movement of the Party of God’s Nobles) militia group in Iraq confirmed the presence of its members in the religious city of Qom, Iran’s …

Radiofarda – A pro-reform party in Iran has described the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the country as a “super crisis”, which got worse because information was withheld prior to February’s parliamentary elections. Hizb-i Ettehad Mellat Iran branded in English as “Union of Islamic Iran People Party” (UIIPP), was established in, 2015. Most members of the party are former …

Radiofarda – President Donald Trump questioned the coronavirus pandemic numbers announced by China and Iran in his daily press briefing on April 18, asking “Does anyone believe” these numbers? After more than a month from the acceleration of the pandemic in the West, the numbers China has officially announced are very low compared to countries such as Italy, Spain, France …

Al-Arabia – Iran will give a decisive response to any mistake by the United States in the Gulf, the Revolutionary Guards navy said in a statement published on the Guards’ news site Sepah News. The US military said on Wednesday that 11 vessels from the Revolutionary Guards navy had come dangerously close to US Navy and Coast Guard ships in …

Radiofarda – Alireza Zali, the official in charge of the task force to fight coronavirus in Tehran says one third of COVID-19 fatalities and infections in Iran is taking place in the capital. Meanwhile, speaking on the first day of re-opening most small businesses in Iran, Zali attributed many infection cases to the use of pubic transport. Deputy health minister …