Radiofarda – Several conservative contestants for the post of the Speaker of Iran’s Parliament (Majles) are trying to prevent Tehran’s former Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf from winning the position, says reformist newspaper Ebtekar in Tehran. Iranian media were gossiping about Qalibaf’s ambition to head the Majles even before the parliamentary elections in February. Among up to 11 contestants named by various media …

Radiofarda – The U.S. Department of Defense is considering awarding Purple Hearts to U.S. troops who suffered traumatic brain injuries (TBI) during the Iranian missile attack of January 8 on bases in Iraq hosting American troops. CNN’s Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr on Tuesday reported that the awards were in the final stages of review. The number of service members considered …

Radiofarda – The bipartisan United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has singled out Iran and several other countries for criticism in its annual report released on Tuesday, April 28. Referring to the continuing violations of religious freedom by the clergy-dominated Islamic Republic government, the report calls on the United States to sanction officials responsible for serious violations of religious freedom. …

Radiofarda – A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Monday introduced the Open Technology Fund Authorization Act to help fight social media and news censorship by “oppressive governments” such as Iran, North Korea, China and Russia and to improve Internet freedom globally. The bipartisan group is sponsoring legislation that would make the non-profit Open Technology Fund (OTF) an …

Radiofarda – Tanker tracking sources say Iran’s oil exports to Syria have increased substantially in recent weeks and currently several cargoes have reached the Baniyas port in Syria. Tanker Trackers reported on Tuesday April 28 that several Iranian vessels are near port in Syria and the Middle East Economic Survey (MEES) reports that these tankers are carrying 6.8 million barrels of oil. …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – With the execution of another man on April 28 in Sanandaj prison, the total number of executions in the prison during six days has reached five. The execution is carried out while the Islamic Republic’s authorities had usually been reluctant to execute people in the Muslims’ fasting month, Ramadan, during the past years. However, several people …

Iran Human Rights (IHR); April 29, 2020: Two men were hanged for murder charges on April 28 at the central prison of Urmia city, West Azerbaijan province. According to IHR sources, on the morning of Tuesday, April 29, two prisoners were hanged at Urmia prison. The prisoners are identified by the sources as Zarar Peyghami from the city of Oshnavieh …

Iran Human Rights (IHR); April 29, 2020: Three prisoners were executed at Isfahan central prison on April 22. According to IHR sources, three executions were carried out on Wednesday, April 22, at Isfahan central prison. Death row prisoner Ali Sheikhani had been sentenced to death on the charge of rape. Mojtaba Haeri and Jamal Jafari-Nasab had been sentenced to qisas …

CHRI – Iran’s Appeals Court upheld a one-year prison sentence against novelist Hamid Namjoo for the content of his writings and because he published work abroad, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. Namjoo’s prison sentence includes a two-year ban on him travelling outside the country and bans him from joining political groups, according to his brother, Mohsen Namjoo, a prominent Iranian …

gatestoneinstitute.org – One of the worst examples we can identify as a conscious distortion of reality is the way in which the UN Human Rights Council, in its February-March 2020 five-year report on the Islamic Republic of Iran, lavished praise on the despotic regime. Other extreme forms of punishment used in Iran are equally appalling: Execution by stoning, Execution by …