news.un.org – An 18-year-old environmental campaigner from the United States has told UN News how she wants to “turn apathetic people into climate activists”. Sophia Kianni, whose family originally comes from Iran, is one of seven young people from across the world who have been selected to participate in the UN Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change. The group …

Radiofarda – In a statement on Tuesday, the Australian Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said Ambassador Lyndall Sachs had been allowed to visit jailed academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert at Tehran’s notorious Qarchak prison on Sunday and found that she is well. “Dr. Moore-Gilbert is well and has access to food, medical facilities and books,” the DFAT statement said. “We …

Radiofarda -The Democratic Party’s recently released policy platform was greeted warmly by certain newspapers in Iran. Media outlets associated with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani praised the party’s rejection of “regime change” as U.S. policy. They also welcomed its proposal for a return to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deal from which President Donald Trump withdrew in May …

Al-Arabia – Iran’s coronavirus death toll rose by 212 in the past 24 hours to 17,617, a health ministry official said on Tuesday. With 2,751 new infections, the total number of infections in Iran reached 314,786, health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said. Authorities in Iran have divided the country into white, yellow, and red zones, depending on the severity …

(AP) — Israeli fighter jets and attack helicopters struck military targets in southern Syria belonging to the Syrian army Monday night, hours after thwarting an infiltration attempt from Syria by suspected militants trying to plant explosives, the Israeli military said. In a rare statement acknowledging strikes in neighboring Syria, the army said the targets included “observation posts and intelligence collection …

Radiofarda – The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) announced on Monday, August 3, that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) had launched a drone and missile attack on its bases in Iran-Iraq border areas. “The Peshmerga forces did not suffer any casualties in the attacks,” the anti-Islamic Republic party tweeted. A website that disseminates Kurdish-related news cited the head …

Radiofarda – Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani, a former Friday Prayer Imam and a member of the Assembly of Experts says Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was the only choice for the Islamic Republic’s next leader when Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeyni died in June 1989. “We had no other choice,” says Emami Kashani, adding that “We could have chosen a group of clerics to …

Radiofarda – The son-in-law of former industries minister who was on trial in a 6.6 billion euro corruption case has used a “different passport” to flee the country, a judge announced in court on Monday. Judge Assadollah Masoudi-Moqaddam had announced in the previous session of the trial that the court was in possession of evidence against Ali-Ashraf Riahi and that …

Iran Human Rights (IHR); August 4, 2020: The kidnapping of Iranian dissidents from neighbouring countries is becoming a regular occurrence. Failure by the international community to respond adequately to these unlawful acts will lead to its normalisation/legitimisation. The kidnapping of Jamshid Sharmahd, an Iranian-German citizen from neighbouring soil is the latest case in this trend. He has been accused by …

Amnesty – Arsalan Khodkam, from Iran’s Kurdish minority, is at risk of execution in West Azerbaijan province. He was sentenced to death for “spying” after a grossly unfair trial that lasted about 30 minutes and relied on “confessions” he says were obtained under torture. He has never been allowed access to a lawyer of his own choosing. The use of …