Radiofarda – Three weeks ahead of Iran’s new parliament starting work, an outspoken conservative pundit and a prominent journalist, Mohammad Mohajeri, has shed light on the political makeup of the new Majles where conservatives of various shades have nearly taken all 290 seats. However, the victory was the outcome of an engineered election that left out most reform-minded candidates in …

Iran-HRM – In a letter sent out from Qarchak Prison in Varamin, Golrokh Iraee revealed that the Iranian regime has been greater pressure on political prisoners by transferring them to the notorious prison for women. Golrokh Iraee wrote that two Kurdish political prisoners, Zeinab Jalalian who was transferred from Khoy Prison on April 28, and Sakineh Parvaneh who has been taken to a mental …

Iran-HRM – Distressed families of Sheiban Prison inmates gathered Saturday outside the prison gates to demand news on the fate of their loved ones. A video shared on social media shows the mother of poltical prisoners Jaber and MokhtarAlboshokeh, sobbing and bewailing among the protesters. Ahvaz, SW #Iran The mother and family of 2 political prisoners at Sheiban Prison demand …

RFL/RE – Iran is ready for a full prisoner exchange with the United States, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei says, adding that Washington has yet to respond to Iran’s call for a prisoner swap. Michael White poses with his mother, Joanne, in Washington in this undated photo. “We have announced that we are ready without any preconditions to exchange all …

VOA – Iraq’s new prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, chaired his first cabinet meeting Saturday after being sworn in earlier in the week. Kadhimi had meetings with U.S. Ambassador Matthew H. Tueller and Iranian Ambassador Iraj Masjedi. His meeting with the Iranian envoy comes as tensions between the United States and Iran have escalated following the assassination of Iranian Revolutionary Guard …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – Iranian lawyer Payam Derafshan is sentenced to two years prison terms and two years ban from practicing as a lawyer, at a court of the first instance for “insulting the Supreme Leader” in a private chat. He has represented several political prisoners and civil activists during the last few years.  Lawyer Payam Derafshan is sentenced …

gatestoneinstitute.org – It may be a cliché to suggest that Lebanon is meant to be a Middle Eastern Switzerland, just as Uruguay is a haven of peace in South America, Singapore in Asia and Austria in Central Europe. Whenever Lebanon played that role it thrived. Whenever it diverged from that role, or was pushed out of it by foreign powers, …

Al-Monitor – While many residents in Iran’s capital are taking advantage of loosened COVID-19 controls, some worry about a new spike in infections in what remains the Middle East’s deadliest virus epicentre. “The line of fools,” muttered shopkeeper Manouchehr, peering disdainfully at a queue of customers outside a foreign currency dealer in the Sadeghieh district of western Tehran. Many in …

christianpost.com – The vicious oppression of the Muslim population in China is known the world over. Today, there are about 1.8 million Weegers in internment/concentration camps in China. With such an oppressive policy toward its Muslim population, it begs the question why the Chinese government, for weeks prior to making the news of its COVID-19 epidemic public, had been sending …

Al-Arabia – Iran warned Saturday that coronavirus infections were rising in the southwest despite falls in other regions, as it announced more than 1,500 new confirmed cases. “All provinces are showing a gradual drop in new infections… except for Khuzestan, where the situation is still concerning,” health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in televised remarks. The health ministry stopped publishing …