Al-Arabia – The 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the easing of sanctions on Tehran did not curb or moderate Iranian-backed militancy, according to a new report from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) who warned that IRGC-manufactured militia groups are currently the greatest threat to regional stability. The latest report titled “ The View From Tehran: Iran’s Militia …

Iranwire – The two jailed brothers of Navid Afkari, the wrestler who was executed on September 12, 2020 amid international condemnation, have been banned from seeing their family. Iran International News Network reported that Vahid and Habib Afkari have been pressured into saying they are refusing visits as part of a protest. A source with close links to the Afkari family told the …

Iranwire – A leaked letter signed by Iran’s Vice President for Legal Affairs addressed to the Social Security Organization has found its way onto social media, and disturbed the sleep of workers up and down the country. The letter, which is dated January 27, 2021 and signed by Pejman Mohammadi, a coordination and planning deputy at the body’s Department of …

Iranwire – Parisa Rafiei, a University of Tehran labor activist turned political prisoner at Evin Prison, has just had another 15 months added to her prison sentence. Rafiei was among the students who were arrested after protests in January 2017, and she was later released on bail. But then in August 2018, she was sentenced to one year in prison …

VOA – Iran’s prolonged economic recession and increasing regional isolation as its Islamist rulers mark 42 years in power is largely a result of those rulers maintaining ideological adherence to their 1979 revolution through a discordant power structure, according to some Iranian analysts. Iranian authorities celebrated the anniversary of the revolution by mobilizing government supporters to stage a series of …

Amnesty – Three death row prisoners from Iran’s Ahwazi Arab minority, Ali Khasraji, Hossein Silawi and Jasem Heidary, have sewn their lips together and been on hunger strike since 23 January 2021 in Sheiban prison in Ahvaz, Khuzestan province, in protest at their prison conditions, denial of family visits, and the ongoing threat of execution. A fourth Ahwazi Arab prisoner, …

CHRI – Two imprisoned student activists continue to be persecuted for peacefully protesting unjust policies and practices in Iran, including so-called “virginity tests.” Charged with “assembly and collusion against national security” for peacefully participating in protests, Saha Mortezaei must now serve six years in prison after her sentence was upheld by Branch 54 of the Appeals Court in Tehran. “For a …

Al-Monitor According to an adviser to Iran’s parliament speaker, Amir Hussein Abdollahian, Iran’s supreme leader sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the need to strengthen ties and the status of the nuclear deal. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reached out to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a personal note about the nuclear deal and strengthening ties. Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf …

Shabtabnews – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today condemned Houthi authorities for summoning 19 members of Yemen’s Baha’i community to stand trial on spurious charges and risk lengthy prison sentences. The Houthis have persecuted Baha’is and other religious minorities in Yemen for years solely because of their beliefs. “We unequivocally condemn the Houthis’ latest targeting of Yemen’s Baha’i …

Al-Arabia – The United States will continue to put pressure on the Iran-backed Houthi militia in an effort to end the group’s “heinous” attacks in the region, a State Department spokesperson told the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat. The Biden administration is determined to reach a deal that puts an end to the war in Yemen, the spokesperson added.US President Joe …