Radiofarda – In Iran police is investigating the explosion of a gas tank and a fire at an industrial complex in the country’s northeast, local news agencies reported. There were several condensate gas tanks at the location. Javad Jahandoust, the fire chief at the Kavian Fariman industrial complex, some 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Iran’s second largest city, Mashhad, …

Al-Arabia- Iran has dramatically increased the depth, funding and sophistication of its propaganda and disinformation activities amid the coronavirus pandemic, a new report has found. Iranian authorities have repeatedly sought to pass blame for COVID-19 onto the United States, claiming coronavirus was a “biological weapon,” while simultaneously worked to preserve ties with its ally China. Iran quickly emerged as the …

Al-Arabia – An Iranian man frustrated by the economic hardships in Iran was seen angrily criticizing the government while lying on the ground in front of a vehicle in a video circulating on social media. https://vid.alarabiya.net/2020/07/13/iran8857c117/iran8857c117___iran8857c117_video.mp4 “Tell the Supreme Leader to come here,” the man is heard saying in the video. “They have been taking what is ours for 40 …

RFL/RE – Iran’s judiciary says a a former defense ministry worker convicted of selling information to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been executed. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said on July 14 that Reza Asgari had been in touch with the CIA during his last years serving at the Defense Ministry and sold the agency information about Iran’s missile …

VOA – A Lebanese businessman, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to violating U.S. sanctions, was released from U.S. federal prison last month and is now back in Lebanon, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons said in a report by Reuters.  Kassim Tajideen, 65, was accused of financing Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite group classified as a terrorist group by the U.S.   In 2009, Tajideen was designated an important financial supporter of Hezbollah — something he denies. He was extradited to …

Amnesty – Imprisoned Iranian human rights defender Narges Mohammadi, who suffers from serious pre-existing health conditions, is showing suspected COVID-19 symptoms. The authorities are putting her health and life at risk by denying her health care and holding her in inhumane conditions. She is held solely for her peaceful human rights work and must be released immediately and unconditionally. View …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A spokesperson for the Judiciary disclosed that Reza Askari, a prisoner on death-row for “espionage” has been executed. 13 people have been executed the past 14 days, including three on so-called “security” charges. Mizan, the judiciary’s online news agency, quoted Gholamhossein Esmaili, a spokesperson for the judiciary as saying that a prisoner was executed in …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – Two Kurdish political prisoners, Diako Rasoulzadeh and Saber Sheikh-Abdullah, were executed in Urmia Central Prison this morning. The two men were executed on charges of collaborating with the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan and “bombing the anniversary parade of the Iran-Iraq war”, which both men had consistently denied. According to Iran Human rights, the death …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – The sentence of a prisoner who was sentenced to retribution in kind (execution) on charges of “premeditated murder” was carried out in Kermanshah Central Prison (Dizel Abad). According to Iran Human Rights (IHR), a prisoner on death row was executed in Kermanshah Central Prison on the morning of Sunday, July 12th. The identity of this …

Al-Monitor – Police in Iran are investigating the cause of a fire that broke out at an industrial complex in northeast Iran, state news reported on Monday. Citing the semi-official Mehr news agency, Reuters quoted Javad Jahandoust, fire chief at the Kavian Fariman industrial complex, who said the fire was under control after a storage tank exploded. He said the incident at the …