amnesty.org – Ali Khasraji, Hossein Silawi, Jasem Heidary and Naser Khafajian, from Iran’s Ahwazi Arab minority, were executed in secret in Sepidar prison on 28 February 2021. The Iranian authorities are concealing the full truth about their fate as well as the location of their graves and are refusing to return their bodies to their families, thereby committing the ongoing …

Al-Monitor – A Swedish-Iranian doctor detained by Iran is “near death” after months in solitary confinement and other “cruel mistreatment,” a group of United Nations experts said Thursday.  Ahmadreza Djalali “has been held in prolonged solitary confinement for over 100 days with the constant risk of his imminent execution laying over his head with prison officials shining bright lights in his …

share.america.gov – The People’s Republic of China is stepping up baseless prosecutions of Uyghur and other Muslim minorities, sentencing innocent people to years in prison, a new report says. In a February 24 report, Human Rights Watch says that the PRC’s judicial system in Xinjiang has sentenced 250,000 Uyghur and other ethnic minorities to prison, and that cases for which …

Al-Arabia – Iran has recently made significant advances in the development of its weapon arsenal, including precision-guided rockets and missiles, cruise missiles and drones, Israeli media reported Wednesday. According to Amos Harel, one of Israel’s leading experts on military and defense issues, Israeli intelligence has observed a rise in Iranian capabilities, which are now being extensively distributed across Iran’s radical axis …

Iranwire – Faezeh Hashemi has spoken out about the Asian Football Confederation’s ban on Iranian football clubs hosting matches, saying the ongoing behaviour of the Islamic Republic is to blame. In an audio file obtained by IranWire, the reformist ex-MP and daughter of former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani says the principal reason for the decision is Iran’s “serious …

Iranwire – Israeli warplanes launched air raids on the Syrian on Tuesday evening, targeting new weapons stores bound for Iranian militia groups inside the country. A military source in Syria told IranWire that the bombing targeted weapons shipments that had arrived at Damascus International Airport from Tehran in the preceding 24 hours. The arms and equipment had been conveyed to …

Iranwire – An Iranian Christian couple have been told to expect an imminent prison summons for belonging to a house-church. Convert Homayoun Zhaveh, 62, and Sara Ahmadi, 42, were arrested by intelligence agents in June 2019 while on holiday with several other Christian families in Amol, Mazandaran province. The pair were first held in Amol before being taken to Evin …

VOA – U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley has indicated that recent attacks by Iranian proxies on U.S. forces in Iraq are making it tougher for the Biden administration to build domestic support for its new diplomatic initiative to resolve U.S.-Iran tensions. U.S. troops and bases in Iraq have come under rocket attack several times since last month, causing …

CHRI – An Interview with Internet Freedom and Security Expert Amir Rashidi Key Points: Iranians are largely unable to use international communications tools and services because companies won’t sell their products to them or allow them to use their free services due to fears of violating U.S. sanctions.This undermines the right to access information and digital security because it means …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – In a statement issued earlier today, UN Human Rights experts demanded the immediate release of Iranian-Swedish scientist Ahmadreza Djalali.  Full text below: GENEVA (18 March 2021) — UN human rights experts today demanded that Iranian authorities immediately release arbitrarily detained Iranian-Swedish academic Ahmadreza Djalali who is reportedly in a critical condition and near death after months of …