Al-Arabia – Iran will destroy US warships if its security is threatened in the Gulf, the head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards told state TV on Thursday, a day after US President Donald Trump warned Tehran over “harassment” of US vessels. “I have ordered our naval forces to destroy any American terrorist force in the Persian Gulf that threatens security …

Iran-HRM – Iranian authorities have executed at least 11 prisoners in the past two days in Raja’i Shahr, Kermanshah, Sanandaj, Dastgerd prisons. Seven prisoners were hanged On Wednesday, April 22, in Raja’i Shahr Prison in Karaj, near the capital Tehran.All of them were taken to solitary confinement on Sunday. Six of the victims are identified as, Mohsen Rezaian, Alireza Aryaei, …

RFL/RE — EU monitors have identified a “trilateral convergence of disinformation narratives” being promoted by China, Iran, and Russia on the coronavirus pandemic and say they are being “multiplied” in a coordinated manner, according to an internal document seen by RFE/RL. The document, which is dated 20 April, says common themes are that the coronavirus is a biological weapon created …

RFL/RE – U.S. President Donald Trump says he has ordered the Navy to attack and destroy any Iranian vessel that harasses U.S. ships after Iranian ships appeared to harass U.S. vessels last week in the Persian Gulf. “I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at …

Iran Human Rights (IHR); – IHR calls for Iran to immediately release its imprisoned women leaders in an open letter co-signed by 20 other international and Iranian human rights organizations as well as the Vice President of the European Parliament. Here are the letter, names of Iranian female prisoners of conscience, and the signatories: In this COVID-19 pandemic, Iran is suffering …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – Two students from Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology and former national and international Olympiad winners were beaten up and detained by Revolutionary Guards on April 10.  On 10 April 2020, the Revolutionary Guards arrested Ali Younesi, a second-year Computer Engineering student, and Amir Hossein Moradi, second-year Physics student. The agents confiscated their personal belongings such …

gatestoneinstitute.org – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has tried to put a brave face on the latest setback to hit the regime, claiming that Iran is unlikely to suffer as much as other countries from the oil price drop because it is less reliant than others on crude exports. If that were truly the case, then Tehran would not be asking …

Al-Monitor – Iran is faced with very difficult choices in its current struggle to contain the health and economic fallout from COVID-19. There’s no doubt that unemployment remains the government’s key concern, and to get people back to work, authorities are prepared to accept public health risks. In fact, to underline the dimensions of the challenge, on April 11 government …

Shabtabnews – Yesterday in a virtual meeting attended by various speakers including – Ambassador Sam Brownback , the US Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom , the role of Iranian regime and Chinese goverment in spreading the Covid-19 emidemic was discussed. During this meeting which was attended by Dr Hamid Gharagozloo the representative of IOPHR (International organisation for preservation of human rights), made …

Radiofarda – Medical officials in several Iranian provinces have expressed concern about the second wave of coronavirus outbreak following the lifting of some restrictions. The president of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Abbas Mousavi, says, “lifting intercity traffic restrictions” and increased number of travelers has deepened “concerns about the second wave of the deadly virus outbreak. Speaking to the state-run …