Iran-HRM – Iranian Christian convert Ebrahim Firoozi has gone on hunger strike since Feb. 13, demanding a ‘complete acquittal’ of what he calls the ‘false allegations’ made by the Ministry of Intelligence against him. He had previously announced that he would go on a hunger strike to protest continued confiscation of his mobile phone and laptop by the Ministry of …

Iran Human Rights (IHR)- Branch 54 of the Tehran Court of Appeals has upheld a six-year prison sentence for Soha Mortezaei, a doctoral candidate banned from education and former Secretary of the Central Student Council of the University of Tehran, who was arrested as part of the nationwide November 2019 protests. Soha Mortezaei was sentenced to six years in prison …

Iran Human Rights – Kurdish language teacher and human rights defender, Zara Mohammadi, has been notified by text of her five-year prison sentence for charges of “forming a group against national security,” being upheld by Branch 4 of the Provincial Court of Appeals. According to Iran Human Rights, on February 13, Zara Mohammadi received a text informing her that Branch 4 …

Iran Human Rights (IHR)- Saeed Ali-Mohammadi, a prisoner sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, has been executed at Nour Prison, Mazandaran. According to Rokna, a male prisoner was executed at Nour Prison on the morning of Sunday, February 14. The identity of the prisoner who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in kind) for murder, has only been reported as S.A by Rokna. Iran Human Rights’ …

gatestoneinstitute.org – The slogan “diplomacy is back” is equally meaningless…. Diplomacy is a method of pursuing the goals of a policy. So if those goals are wrong and unjust, pursuing them through diplomacy would be a way of paving the road to hell. The key question is whether Biden regards China as an enemy or just a competitor that breaks …

Amnesty – The Iranian authorities must immediately end the unlawful and arbitrary detention of former presidential candidates Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Mir Hossein Mousavi’s wife, Zahra Rahnavard, and provide them with adequate reparation for the violation of their right to liberty and other harm suffered, Amnesty International said on the tenth anniversary of the dissidents’ house arrest. …

RFL/RE — A fuel tanker exploded on the Afghan-Iranian border on February 13, causing a massive fire and a chain reaction that destroyed more than 500 trucks carrying natural gas and fuel. Afghan officials and Iranian state media said the blast occurred on the Afghan side of the border in the western Afghan province of Herat at the Islam Qala …

VOA – Iran’s health minister warned Saturday of a fourth COVID-19 surge with the possible spread of a mutated virus in the worst-hit country in the Middle East. President Hassan Rouhani told state television “alarm bells were ringing for a fourth coronavirus wave” as at least nine cities and towns in Iran’s southwest were declared high-risk “red” zones after a …

Al-Arabia – Two people were killed and 14 others were injured in a gas explosion at a residential complex in the city of Ardabil, northwest of Iran, the UK-based Iran International reported on Saturday. Two buildings were completely destroyed and several others were damaged in the explosion, the director of the Ardabil Fire Department, Mahmoud Reza Yaghoubi, told Iran International. …

Al-Arabia – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani warned Saturday of a Covid-19 “fourth wave” as cases rise in certain areas of the Middle Eastern country hardest hit by the pandemic. For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page. “This is a warning for all of us,” Rouhani said in televised remarks. He said some cities in the southwestern province of Khuzestan were now …