VOA – The family of retired FBI agent Robert Levinson, who disappeared in Iran after being abducted in 2007, says it is encouraged by the Biden administration’s latest vow to press Tehran for answers on his fate, but also wants U.S. officials to do more than make public appeals for Iranian authorities to act. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken …

(HRW) – The Iranian government should overturn a court ruling to dissolve one of the country’s largest nongovernmental groups that works to alleviate poverty, 15 human rights and civil society organizations, including Human Rights Watch, said today in a joint statement. A court ordered the shutdown at the government’s request in apparent coordination with Iran’s abusive intelligence and security apparatus. On March 5, …

Iran Human Rights – Following pensioners’ protests across 19 cities in Iran, security forces violently attacked and arrested protesters in Tehran on Sunday. An informed source told IHR that “Nine people including seven men and two women were arrested at the pensioners’ protest outside the Ministry of Labour building.” According to the source, all detainees except journalist Kamyar Fakour, have …

Al-Monitor – Saudi Arabia will take measures to protect its oil infrastructure and supply, the country’s top diplomat said following last weekend’s failed drone attack on the kingdom’s — and the world’s — largest oil storage facility at Ras Taruna. “The kingdom will take necessary deterrent measures to protect its national resources,” Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said in Riyadh on …

axios.com – Iran’s elections in June are not a factor in the Biden administration’s decision-making for how to proceed with nuclear talks, State Department Iran envoy Rob Malley told me in his first interview since taking office. Why it matters: Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who pushed for the 2015 nuclear deal and supported engagement with …

hoover.org – The Islamic Republic of Iran remains one of the world’s worst human right abusers: it has the highest executions per capita; it constantly crushes peaceful assembly and freedom of expression; and it harshly persecutes human rights defenders and civil society activists. From the perspective of the Iranian regime, what the West defines as Iran’s “human rights” problem is …

Al-Arabia – Almost 150 members of Congress – Republicans and Democrats – have signed a letter imploring President Joe Biden not to ignore Iran’s militias and ballistic missile program in any new deal with Tehran. The letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken comes amid increased efforts by the Biden administration to negotiate the failed JCPOA, an acronym for the Iran nuclear deal, with Iran. …

Iranwire – The United States is calling on the Iranian government to provide “credible answers” to what happened to a former FBI agent who was “abducted” while traveling in Iran in 2007. “The United States will never forget Bob Levinson,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a March 9 statement marking the 14th anniversary of his disappearance.Blinken also called on Iran …

Iranwire – Kylie Moore-Gilbert has said she had suicidal thoughts while being held in solitary confinement as a hostage in Iran. The British-Australian academic spent 804 days behind bars in the Islamic Republic after being jailed in September 2018 on fabricated spying charges. During her confinement last summer, she was moved from Evin Prison to the notoriously dangerous and unsanitary …

Iranwire – Even those political pundits who support the regime in Iran do not foresee a high turnout in the June 2021 presidential election. Nevertheless, the upcoming vote is a hot topic among conservative analysts. Currently, their favorite candidates are all either members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) or are publicly supported by the Guards. In recent days, …