RRFL/RE – Across the globe, the number of reported confirmed cases of the coronavirus is always higher than the day before, topping 1 million as of April 2. But what if the true numbers are actually even higher? Experts say data — and how it is reported, or not reported — can give us an incomplete portrait of the problem. …

VOA – Recent intelligence suggesting Iranian-backed forces in Iraq are actively plotting to hit U.S. troops may have stirred a new war of words between Washington and Tehran on social media, but it has done little to shock U.S. defense officials.  U.S. President Donald Trump first shared word of the latest intelligence in a tweet Wednesday, warning of a “sneak …

CHRI – As inmates in Iran continue to be killed or injured in “prison disturbances” amid the country’s devastating COVID-19 outbreak, two defense attorneys in Tehran have joined the growing chorus of domestic and international voices that has been calling on Iranian authorities to release all eligible prisoners before it’s too late. The following statement was written by human rights lawyers Arash Keykhosravi and Saeid Dehghan, who both represented the family of Kavous Seyed-Emami, …

Al-Monitor – While the Iranian government is busy managing the public health fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, there are increasing calls to pay attention to the needs of the country’s economy and to develop a stimulus plan. But what can the Hassan Rouhani administration do in its current financial position? Not only does it face major financial shortcomings, it also cannot access its …

AP — A top Iranian general arrived in Baghdad this week to try and unify Iraq’s fractured political leaders, Iraqi officials said Wednesday, as stiff opposition by one major bloc thwarts chances the country’s latest prime minister-designate can form a government. Meanwhile, revenues from oil exports were slashed by nearly half due to plummeting oil prices in March, according to …

Reuters -In February, an Iraqi militia commander trained by Iran took over the empty office of his slain superior, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, killed weeks before alongside Iranian military mastermind Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike. Many pro-Iran militiamen hoped this was the answer to their problems: the experienced commander Abdul Aziz al-Mohammedawi might replace Muhandis as overall leader of …

RFL/RE – A senior U.S. official has told Reuters that Washington believes agents under the direction of Tehran were “directly involved” in the killing of an Iranian dissident in November in Turkey. Masud Molavi Vardanjani, a former intelligence operative for Iran before he began exposing corruption involving Iranian officials, was shot and killed in Istanbul on November 14.“Given Iran’s history …

Iran-HRM – An Iranian appeals court has has sentences four activists to a total of 40 years and six months in prison for calling for the resignation of the country’s Supreme Leader. They have been banned from leaving the country for two years and face a two-year exile. According to the sentence, Hashem Khastar, a prominent teachers’ rights activist in …

 Iran-HRM – A prison riot in two prisons in Ahvaz on Monday left 18 prisoners dead, human rights activists say, as detainees protested sanitary conditions and being denied furlough amid coronavirus outbreak. Local reports indicate 18 inmates in Sepidar Prison of Ahvaz, the capital of southwest Khuzestan province, were killed March 30 when security forces opened direct fire at prisoners …

RFL/RE – Kamal Foroughi, an 80-year-old British-Iranian businessman who was arrested in Iran nine years ago, has returned to Britain, the U.K. Foreign Office said. Foroughi was working as a business consultant when he was arrested in 2011 and convicted of espionage and possessing alcohol.“I am pleased and very relieved that Kamal Foroughi has been able to return to the …