VOA – Iran launched exercises featuring a wide array of domestically produced drones on Tuesday, Iranian media reported, days after the anniversary of the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general by a drone strike in Iraq. Iran and the regional forces it backs have increasingly relied in recent years on drones in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and the Strait of Hormuz …

VOA – The European Union Tuesday expressed grave concern about reports from the U.N. nuclear watchdog that Iran had resumed enriching uranium and said it would continue working to salvage the multi-national nuclear deal that restricted such activities.  Speaking to reporters in Brussels, EU spokesman Peter Stano said that Iran’s actions “will have serious implications when it comes to nuclear …

CHRI – New Fact Sheet Highlights Women’s Issues for Journalists and Researchers January 6, 2020—Women in Iran are among the Middle East’s most educated and accomplished, yet they continue to face severe rights violations and discrimination in all walks of life, in both law and practice. In a new Women’s Rights Fact Sheet published by the Center for Human Rights in Iran …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A prisoner sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, was executed with juvenile offender, Hassan Rezaei, in Rasht Central Prison on New Year’s Eve. Another prisoner committed suicide after his brother was transferred for execution. According to Hrana News Agency, on the morning of 31 December 2020, a male prisoner was executed in Rasht Central Prison. The prisoner …

The more we hear about the awful and abhorrent executions taking place in Iran the clearer it becomes how similar their so-called trials are to the Stalinist trials. In the recent case of Ruhollah Zam, who was convicted of “corruption on earth” for running a news website, we are reminded of this similarity. Ruhollah Zam convicted of “corruption on earth”. …

Shabtabnews – In a statement IOPHR condemned the recent Unrestrained Execution of Sunni Prisoners . IOPHR in the statement stated: “The executions took place, despite the fact that all the judicial officials of the province were aware of filing of request for retrial. Yet, all three people were hastily executed on Sunday in order to avoid the possibility of postponing …

Iranwire.com – A new report by the Center for Strategic Studies, the research arm of the Iranian president’s office, has castigated Iran’s official response to the threat of coronavirus. The government of the Islamic Republic, it says, acted inefficiently and unsuccessfully in the face of the threat posed by Covid-19. Pointing out that Iran is one of the worst-hit countries …

gatestoneinstitute.org – More than 100 Congressmen recently signed a letter expressing their support and urging presumptive President-Elect Joe Biden to rejoin the nuclear deal, which, incidentally, Iran never signed. Biden… also appears to be on board with the lawmakers to appease the mullahs: “I will offer Tehran a credible path back to diplomacy. If Iran returns to strict compliance with …

RFL/RE – South Korea says it will dispatch a government delegation to Iran “at the earliest possible date” to try secure the release of a tanker seized by Iran amid tensions over Iranian funds frozen in Seoul because of U.S. sanctions. A Foreign Ministry spokesman made the announcement on January 5, a day after the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) …

RadioFarda – South Korea and the United States have demanded the release of a South Korean-flagged oil tanker seized by Iranian authorities in the Strait of Hormuz. South Korea and the United States have demanded the release of a South Korean-flagged oil tanker seized by Iranian authorities in the Strait of Hormuz.The MT Hankuk Chemi and its crew of 20 …