RFL/RE – Britain, France, and Germany have called on Iran to reverse its decision to restart uranium enrichment at the 20 percent level, describing the move as “a serious negative development” in violation of a 2015 nuclear accord.“This action, which has no credible civil justification and carries very significant proliferation-related risks, is in clear violation of Iran’s commitments…and further hollows …

Radiofarda – Referring to the increasing robbery cases in Iran, a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly’s presidium has called for issuing verdicts to amputate petty thieves’ hands. “Sadly, we are nowadays witnessing an increase in the number of robberies in the community. The cases of petty thefts have particularly increased because there is heavy inflation in the country and …

Iran Human Rights (IHR)- A prisoner sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, has been transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for his execution at Ardebil Central Prison. According to Iran Human Rights, a death row prisoner was transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for his execution in the afternoon of Tuesday, January 5. His identity has been established as Taher Bagheri, …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said those involved in last year’s missile attack that brought down a Ukraine passenger plane outside Tehran should face justice. “There is no doubt that the judiciary will prosecute all the perpetrators,” Rouhani said in a Cabinet meeting Jan. 6, two days ahead of the one-year anniversary of the tragedy. “Light must be shed” on all aspects …

theguardian.com – A three-year boycott of Qatar by four other Middle Eastern countries that disfigured Gulf cooperation and raised concerns in the west about a strengthened regional role for Iran and Turkey has come to a stuttering close. “The kingdom is happy to welcome you,” Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman said as he greeted Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad …

aljazeera.com -The announcement came the day Iran’s health ministry reported the country, the hardest hit by the coronavirus in the Middle East, had recorded its lowest daily death toll in nearly seven months. “Unfortunately, we found the first case of the mutated British COVID-19 from a dear compatriot who had returned from England … and who was admitted to one …

Al-Arabia – Iran has the capability to enrich uranium from 40 percent to 60 percent, the semi-official Fars News Agency quoted the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Agency of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi as saying on Tuesday. “Yesterday we started 20 percent enrichment at Fordow [nuclear facility] after 6 years,” Kamalvandi said on Tuesday, adding, “We have the capacity in …

Iranwire.com – On the morning of Sunday, January 3, two Baluch prisoners, Hassan Dehvari and Elias Qalandarzehi, were executed along with another prisoner, Omid Mahmoudzehi. IranWire spoke with Elias Qalandarzehi’s sister, a neighbor of the two men, and with their lawyer about the events leading up to their execution. *** Traveling the 335 kilometers from Saravan to Zahedan Central Prison on short notice, …

Radiofarda – On January 5, 2020, two days after A U.S. drone killed Qassem Soleimani outside Baghdad Airport, websites close to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) published a poster headlined, “Qaani, the same as Soleimani.” The Friday Prayer Imams across Iran immediately echoed the slogan that “Qaani is another Soleimani,” maintaining that eliminating the charismatic Chief Commander of the …

VOA – The United States has sanctioned entities and individuals associated with Iran’s steel industry, the U.S. Treasury Department said Tuesday, the latest move in a U.S. pressure campaign against Tehran in the waning days of Donald Trump’s presidency.The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement that it blacklisted more than a dozen entities and one person.The sanctions were imposed …