Radiofarda – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s Chief of Staff, Mahmoud Vaezi, denied several reports on Wednesday, September 30, that Iran is assisting Armenia in its war with the neighboring Republic of Azerbaijan. Vaezi dismissed the reports as “baseless rumors” aimed at disrupting Tehran-Baku relations. In a phone call with Azerbaijan’s Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev today, Vaezi stressed that the …

(Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Thursday refused to dismiss an indictment accusing state-owned Turkish lender Halkbank of helping Iran evade American sanctions. U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan rejected Halkbank’s claim that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act shielded it from prosecution, saying that law did not appear to grant immunity in criminal proceedings. He also said an exception …

Radiofarda – According to data collected from TankerTrackers, Iran has managed to increase its oil exports significantly in September despite U.S. sanctions, Reuters reports. The independent online service reported that, “Iranian oil exports have risen sharply in September in defiance of U.S. sanctions, three assessments based on tanker tracking showed, throwing a lifeline to the Islamic Republic and its collapsing …

Radiofarda – Faramarz Tofiqi, the chairman of Iran’s Wage Committee of the Supreme Labor Council, says that the minimum rate of the “subsistence basket” in Iran increased from seventy-five million rials (about $1,780) in August to nearly eighty million rials (roughly $1900) in September. The subsistence basket is the Iranian version of a model the USSR Institute of Nutrition developed …

RFL/RE – A Belarusian pro-democracy campaigner and an imprisoned Iranian human rights lawyer have been awarded the Right Livelihood Award, a prize sometimes called the “alternative Nobel,” along with activists from the United States and Nicaragua. The Stockholm-based Right Livelihood Foundation on October 1 cited human rights activist Ales Byalyatski and his Vyasna (Spring) nongovernmental organization “for their resolute struggle for the …

Iran-HRM – September saw the third wave of the coronavirus sweeping across Iran. The scale of the disaster is such that the regime is no longer able to deny it. The Iranian regime’s deputy Minister of Health asserted: “The situation we have is beyond the wave. We are engulfed in a stormy sea. It is meaningless to speak of different …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A prisoner who had been sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder has been executed at Aligoudarz Prison. According to Iran Human Rights, on the morning of October 30, a male prisoner was executed at Aligoudarz Prison. His identity has been established as Saeed Bolouri, a Lorestan native who had been sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for …

Al-Monitor – In an effort to slow down the third wave of the coronavirus in Iran, President Hassan Rouhani said the country would fine those not following the health guidelines that have been recommended by the Health Ministry. Rouhani announced the fines Oct. 1 at a meeting of the National Headquarters for Combatting Coronavirus. He said the fines would be applicable to offices, private …

Twitter said this week that it has removed accounts purportedly originating in Iran that sought to influence the US presidential election. Other social media giants have also taken action recently against Iranian information operations. Twitter announced Wednesday that it had removed around 130 accounts Tuesday night from its platform that “appeared to originate in Iran.” The information on the accounts …

Al-Monitor – Held in solitary without a formal charge for nearly 100 days, Sharmin Meymandi-Nejad, the founder of a reputable Iranian charity, is facing deteriorating health as interrogators protract his indefinite detention. Members of Iran’s civil society have raised serious concerns about the prolonged detention and worsening health condition of Sharmin Meymandi-Nejad, a prominent activist, outspoken government critic and founder of one of …