Al-Arabia – Abolfazl Sarlak, a commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has been killed in Syria, Iranian state media reported. Iran’s state news agencies have given conflicting reports on how Sarlak was killed. The semi-official Mehr news agency said he was killed by an explosive trap set up by ISIS in eastern Aleppo on Sunday, while the semi-official …

Al-Arabia – Iran has sentenced a young Christian woman to 10 lashes and three months in prison for allegedly demonstrating against the military’s downing of a Ukrainian airplane in January. Mary Mohammadi, 21, was arrested in Tehran on January 12 and charged with “disrupting public order by participating in an illegal rally,” according to nonprofit Christian watchdog Article 18. Mohammadi said she …

Iran-HRM – Amnesty International has called on the Iranian authorities to immediately reveal the truth about the fate and whereabouts four death row prisoners who have been transferred to an unknown locations. “The authorities’ refusal to provide the families of the men with information has sparked fears that they are at risk of being tortured or executed in secret”, the London-based rights …

Iran-HRM – The family of prisoners of conscience Ali Mojadam has not heard from him since he went on hunger strike on April 23, in Sheiban prison in Ahvaz, Khuzestan province.Ali Mojadam has been crammed into solitary confinement in section 5, after joining jail protests over the authorities’ failure to address concerns related to the COVID-19 protests in the prison.The …

Iran-HRM – At least five municipality workers were arrested after one of the authorities of Kut Abdullah Municipality in Ahvaz filed a complaint against them for holding a protest gathering, demanding to receive their wages and past-due fees. Pictures of the arrested workers were published in the media. Karim Bavi, one of the protesters who works for the Kut Abdullah …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – According to informed sources, several cases of Coronavirus infection (COVID-19) have been identified in Ward 7 of Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj. The authorities have claimed that the prisoners are infected with tuberculosis and have transferred them to unknown locations. One of the three halls in Ward 7 is dedicated to tuberculosis and HIV prisoners, …

lrb.co.uk – Laurel and Hardy reruns often played on Iranian television when I visited as a child. Wholesome, black-and-white slapstick didn’t need to be censored. In the Kurdish version, Oliver Hardy’s voice was dubbed by my uncle, Hashim Shahvisi, who was for decades a popular radio presenter. A year ago, he was in hospital in Tehran with an unspecified illness. My …

PayvandNews – Iranian authorities should release journalist Hassan Fathi from prison and cease arbitrarily jailing members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.  On May 6, Fathi, a freelance columnist and former editor of the Iranian daily Ettelaat, began an 18-month prison term in Tehran’s Evin Prison after his appeal in a 2018 criminal case for speaking with …

Radiofarda – The Iranian parliament has disclosed in a report that 95 percent of smuggling into the country is done through legal ports of entry and procedures, using 31 different techniques. The report covering a long period of more than a decade was read in the open session of the Iranian parliament on May 12. According to the report, contrary …

Radiofarda – An official of the Iranian Customs Organization on Thursday confirmed that a consignment of medical equipment purchased from Germany worth around 749,000 euros (about $800,000) has been delivered to Iran. Speaking to the Islamic Republic News Agency, the Director-General of Customs Office Sadeq Namdar at the Turkish border said the equipment delivered from Germany consists of haematology testing …