responsiblestatecraft.org – China’s relationship with the Middle East has been fraught with contradictions since the end of World War II. Initially the Middle East was of peripheral importance to China. Now the region ranks higher in Beijing’s strategic calculations. Beijing’s role there has the potential to produce a strategic shift in the region’s political, economic, and military orientation. The path …

theguardian.com I vividly remember the first time I met Mohammad Reza Shajarian on a summer afternoon in Berlin in 2011. He was touring Europe, along with his daughter Mojgan and an ensemble of young musicians. For Iranians, this was – along with North America – the only place they could experience their great idol on stage, given that the outspoken …

(AP) — For the second day in a row, Iran shattered its single-day record for new deaths and infections from the coronavirus, with 272 people confirmed dead among more than 4,200 new cases on Monday. Like in many other countries, the spiraling outbreak in Iran reflects the government’s contradictory virus response. This month, as the daily recorded death toll reached …

Shabtabnews – Today, 12th October 2020, on the anniversary of the birth of Dr Noor Ali Tabandeh, the IOPHR has received a report concerning the last two years of Dr Noor Ali Tabandeh’s life when he was under house arrest. The report highlights the circumstances surrounding his death written by a group of medical experts within the “Committee to discover …

shabtabnews – In a statement IOPHR sheds light on the disturbing record of juvenile executions in Iran by declaring “The regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran, not only has the highest number of executions in the world relative to its population, but according to some reports, the regime is also responsible for more than seventy-five percent of the global …

Al-Arabia – This month marks the one-year anniversary of the outbreak of protests in Iraq known as the “October Revolution.” Throughout the year, Iraqis have taken to the streets across the country. They have been met with force – with an estimated 600 people being killed as security forces and militia fire upon the crowds. Despite two changes in prime …

“Many people” in Israel have “a lot of motives” to cooperate with Tehran, said a top commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Mohammad Reza Naghdi, on a TV show on Friday. Naqdi expressed his claim nearly two years after a former Israeli minister was convicted of “espionage” for Iran. Naqdi went even further by boasting that the clergy-dominated …

Iran-HRM – The Iranian Judiciary is working through an experienced drug-trafficking mafia to make drug addicts of young protesters detained in prisons. It is well-known that narcotic drugs are abundantly available in Iranian prisons. This is because prison authorities, themselves, are in charge of drug-trafficking gangs inside prisons. Iran Human Rights Monitor has recently received reports indicating that this is indeed a …

Shabtabnews – USCIRF Releases New Report about Attacks against Houses of Worship and Religious Leaders in Burkina Faso  Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following new report on attacks against houses of worship and religious leaders in Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso Factsheet– In the context of the upcoming presidential election in Burkina Faso …

gatestoneinstitute.org – General Hussein Salami, commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is equally sanguine about his claim that, far from hurting, the Islamic Republic is on course to become a global power. “We have already reached the Mediterranean and prepare to go even further,” he said in a recent speech. “We are now in a position to occupy and …