RFL/RE – Iranian journalist Nejat Bahrami has started serving a one-year prison sentence this week, in what the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called another step by authorities to “muzzle” the press. Bahrami arrived at Tehran’s Evin Prison on May 18 to begin serving his sentence, according to the Persian service of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). It said Bahrami, a …

RFL/RE – Iranian authorities have again extended the temporary release of jailed British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, her family and lawyer say. In mid-March, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was temporarily released from Tehran’s Evin prison, where she was serving of a five-year sentence for “plotting to topple the Iranian government,” a charge she has denied. The furlough has been extended until May 27, …

VOA – The wife of an Iranian dissident recently jailed for 16 years has denounced Iran’s Islamist rulers for rejecting her appeals to furlough her sick husband as the coronavirus plagues the nation’s prisons. In a Tuesday phone interview with VOA Persian from her home in Mashhad, Sedigheh Maliki-Fard said she had written repeatedly to the northeastern city’s Revolutionary Court …

VOA – The U.S. government has imposed sanctions on Iran’s interior minister, senior police officials and a military commander for human rights abuses, including killing peaceful protesters. “The Iranian regime violently suppresses dissent of the Iranian people, including peaceful protests, through physical and psychological abuse,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday. “The United States will continue to hold accountable …

gatestoneinstitute.org – Recently, Iran’s parliament, the Islamic Consultative Assembly, unanimously approved an “urgent bill” directed against Israel. We are therefore to assume, it would seem, that passing a bill against the State of Israel was more “urgent” for the Iranian regime than concentrating on protecting the lives of the Iranian population during this public health crisis. Although the traditional anti-Israel …

PayvandNews –An official with the Iranian Medical Council has said that 107 healthcare workers have so far lost their lives in the country in fighting the coronavirus. Names of 107 medical staff printed on front page of Iran daily “We are gathering precise data from all over the country in order to know how many people from among medical staff have been …

PayvandNews – A music video inspired by Persian poet Sadi’s famous poem “The Sons of Adam Are Limbs of Each Other” has been released with the voice of Iranian vocalist Alireza Qorbani in collaboration with several Italian singers and overseas musicians during the pandemic. The music video has been released to promote the message of peace and friendship, the Italian …

Radiofarda – In a statement released on May 18 the Baha’i International Community (BIC) warned about the increased persecution of Baha’is in Iran despite the coronavirus health crisis. “In recent days, two Baha’is in Isfahan have been arbitrarily arrested, seven Baha’is in Shiraz have been sentenced to long prison terms ranging from one to thirteen years,” the statement said adding other persecution …

Radiofarda – A court of appeals in Tehran has upheld the verdict against ten citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran sentenced to more than 100 years in prison for reportedly supporting monarchy. Iranian judges Mohammad Moghiseh (L) and Abolghasem Salavati is the head of the 15th branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran. Combo FILE PHOTO Documents exclusively …

Radiofarda – Iran’s hardliner media have launched an orchestrated attack on Oil Minister Bijan Namdar-Zanganeh for employing lawmakers who have not made it to the next parliament, allegedly to show new lawmakers that supporting his ministry can have personal benefits for them in the future. Javan newspaper which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard on Monday alleged that a number …