Al-Monitor – Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei likely approved Tehran’s effort to sway the 2020 presidential election in the United States, according to “high-confidence” US intelligence report released today. Tehran’s “multi-pronged” disinformation campaign sought to undercut the reelection of President Donald Trump largely via social media, according to the report compiled by the office of the national intelligence director, Avril Haines. Iranian cyberactors also launched a fake …

napavalleyregister.com – The New Year’s celebration of our Gregorian calendar makes no logical sense. Nothing new happens on January 1 — as January 1, 2021, demonstrated to our collective chagrin. Wouldn’t it make more sense to celebrate the start of the new year at the start of a new season? Preferably one with lots of tasty new foods popping up …

Iranwire – Due to a decline in rainfall this year, between 220 and 250 Iranian cities will face water shortages in the summer of 2021, according to the Water and Wastewater Company of Iran. The latest Energy Ministry statistics show that the amount of rainfall in Iran in 2020-2021 decreased by 38 percent compared to last year, and by 29 …

Iranwire – Eshagh Jahangiri, the Iranian president’s first deputy, has declared that Ghasem Soleimani, the late commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force, was circumventing sanctions to sell oil – and that he was the only one who could have done so. In an interview with IRNA on Sunday, March 14, 2021, Jahangiri explained that the Anti-Sanctions Headquarters and the Ministry …

Iranwire – “I was teaching in the first grade of middle school. I told one of the students to read a lesson from the book. He said nothing. I asked, ‘Why aren’t you reading?’. One of students them stood up and said, ‘Sir, he cannot read or write.’” These are the words of a sociology teacher working in south Tehran. …

Iranwire – Three years ago in Tabriz, Masoumeh Jalilpour, then 26 years old, was sprayed with acid on her face and body by a man known as Muhammad N after she rejected his marriage proposal. The burns severely disfigured Jalilpour and changed her life forever. Following media coverage of the incident, many officials and agencies promised to pay for her …

gatestoneinstitute.org – [T]he Houthis have also used the sophisticated weaponry they have received from Iran, such as drones and ballistic missiles, to broaden the conflict into neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which is leading the coalition military campaign to re-establish Yemen’s democratically-elected government. [US sanctions were] promptly denounced by humanitarian and aid agencies, which claimed that designating the Houthis as terrorists would …

newsweek.com – Something profound is taking shape inside Iran. Mere months from the country’s next presidential election, and in the midst of a U.S. push for reengagement with its clerical regime, recent days have seen new signs of life from—and coordination among—Iran’s notoriously fragmented opposition. blob:https://www.newsweek.com/7f2508bc-ed41-4f4d-b8ce-681fddbff5e9 As The Foreign Desk first reported, a new civic campaign launched by dissidents inside Iran has …

nypost.com – The 2022 Winter Olympic games are currently slated to be held in Beijing, China, next February. But the voices demanding that they be moved to a more freedom-friendly venue are growing louder.  Last September, a coalition of 160 human rights groups called for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to “reverse its mistake in awarding Beijing the honor of hosting the Winter Olympics.”  …

CHRI — Proceeds from museum-quality, collectible prints by three renowned Iranian-American artists will benefit the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) in the inaugural “Changemaker” series by the sponsor, Art for Change. “We’re honored to be chosen for this inspiring initiative by exceptional artists,” said CHRI Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi. “Art for Change’s dual mission of supporting great causes and …