Iran-HRM – A Tehran Appeals Court upheld without a hearing the verdict for an Iran protester. Ali Nanvaei, a Tehran University student, was arrested by Intelligence Ministry agents on November 18, 2019 as he was leaving school and taken to an undisclosed location. The preliminary court examined Mr. Nanvaei’s case on February 4, 2020 on the charge of “disruption of …

gatestoneinstitute.org – It is clear that Beijing is frightened of the contagion of democracy not only from Hong Kong but also from Taiwan, which has shown that a highly prosperous and reasonably democratic “China” need not remain a pipedream. Trouble is that the US does not have a coherent, strategically meaningful, policy towards China…. Imposing largely symbolic sanctions is like …

Radiofarda – Iranian human rights news agencies on Friday reported that police security department agents of Ahvaz arrested at least thirty citizens in the town of Shooshtar, Khuzestan Province on May 28. According to Human Rights in Iran (HRI), the detained citizens including at least two teenagers were taken from their homes in Shooshtar in the early hours of Thursday …

Radiofarda – The Chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has suggested that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s tweets violate Twitter rules about glorifying violence. In a tweet on Friday Ajit Pai posed the question to Twitter and posted several examples of Khamenei’s tweets deemed as “glorifying violence” by him. The tweets quoted by the FCC Chairman are all about …

Radiofarda – A man whose son was shot dead by the Islamic Republic security forces during last November’s widespread anti-regime protests says his tomb has been desecrated. In a video message posted on his Instagram page, Manouchehr Bakhtiari said on Friday, May 29, “Our message for seeking justice has frightened the establishment. They (Islamic Republic agents) visited my Pouya’s shrine …

Reuters – Seeking to deter further shipments of Iranian fuel to Venezuela, the Trump administration has quietly warned foreign governments, seaports, shipping companies and insurers that they could face stiff U.S. sanctions if they aid the tanker flotilla, the U.S. envoy on Venezuela told Reuters on Friday. Elliott Abrams, Washington’s special representative on Venezuela, said the pressure campaign targeting heavily …

Radiofarda – A day after a wildfire broke out in the Khaeiz protected area in southwest Iran, local officials declared “emergency crisis alert” on Friday, May 29 and asked for much needed help, having little equipment to confront the fires. The deputy governor has called on the “National Crisis Management” to step in to contain the blaze in the province …

Radiofarda – The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appointed outgoing Majles Speaker Ali Larijani as his adviser and a member of the Expediency Council, demoting his status to a not-so-influential politician who has to spend his life at a not-so-significant advisory council. Ali Larijani’s rise to power as Majles Speaker was a symbol of the rising power …

Al-Arabia – Government employees went back to work in Iran on Saturday and President Hassan Rouhani said mosques are to resume daily prayers throughout the country, even though some areas are seeing high levels of coronavirus infections. Read the latest coronavirus updates in our dedicated section.Rouhani also said on state television that the hours of shopping malls, which had been allowed …

Iran-RHM – Civil activist Rouhollah Mirzaei turned himself in to the Evin Prison in Tehran on May 5, 2020, to serve his sentence. He was initially admitted to the quarantine ward and is presently detained in Ward 8 of Evin Prison. He had been summoned in March at the height of the Coronavirus outbreak. Mr. Mirzaei’s relatives say he had been threatened …