iranwire.com – On the suggestion of the Prisons Organization, May 25 has been designated the national day of support for prisoners’ families, known as Nasim-e Mehr [Breeze of Love]. The families and loved ones of people in prison, according to Iranian government officials, are not criminals and should be supported by wider society. In October this year the 18th General Assembly of …

iranwire.com – A child who drowned at the fishing port of Bandar Deir has been identified as seven-year-old Ali Asghar Mousavizadeh, whose 11-year-old brother Mohammad Mousavizadeh committed suicide in October. The Young Journalists Club, which is linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting state media, reported that Mohammad Mousavizadeh had killed himself due to “poverty, not having a phone …

Al-Arabia – The US Justice Department has seized a website belonging to Iraq’s paramilitary Badr Organization in what one expert said is part of a broader US attempt to pressure Iran-backed groups in the country. “There’s been much more pressure on the groups as a whole,” Phillip Smyth, an analyst at the Washington Institute told Al Arabiya English. The latest …

Radiofarda – In a criticism of President Hassan Rouhani’s government, a member of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s office, Rasool Sanaei Rad, said that those seeking “a resumption of negotiations with the United States” had “partisan and electoral goals.” Speaking to the state-run Mehr News Agency (MNA) on Friday, Rad, the deputy of the “Political Ideological Bureau of the Commander-in-Chief” for …

Radiofarda – The Iranian Writers Association announced on Sunday that Iranian intelligence agents detained Amin Moradi, a poet and member of the organization. The statement says the security forces stormed Moradi’s home on Saturday morning. They ransacked the place for two hours, confiscated Moradi’s belongings, including two laptops, a computer, a cellphone and an unknown number of books, and transferred …

RFL/RE – Iranian lawmakers have proposed new legislation that would impose severe prison terms on undocumented migrants and allow security officers to shoot at vehicles suspected of carrying them. The move would affect members of Iran’s estimated 3.5 million-strong Afghan community, many of whom have no legal status or basic rights.Observers say Iranian authorities are keen to prevent a new …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – According to Ahmadreza Djalali’s family, he is due to be transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison at 5pm today. Last week he was informed that he would be transferred to the prison to carry out his death sentence. Iran Human Rights Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “Ahmadreza Djalali is at imminent risk of execution and only a …

gatestoneinstitute.org – Those who trade with China, invest in it, or promote ties with Beijing — in other words, strengthen or legitimize the ruling regime — have to know they are enabling the Party and are therefore complicit in its crimes against humanity. “The world could have and would have been different if captains of industry as well as cultural …

Al-Monitor – ​Iranian lawmakers who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” voted for the general outlines of a draft bill that would require the government of President Hassan Rouhani to dramatically reduce its commitments to the already fragile nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The bill has yet to be adopted in a second session; it then …

Al-Arabia – The US State Department backed Israel’s right to self-defense on Tuesday following Iranian threats to attack Israel’s port city of Haifa. On Sunday, Iranian newspaper Kayhan – run by a representative of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei – suggested Iran attack Haifa to destroy facilities and cause “heavy human casualties” in retaliation for the killing of prominent Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. …