Al-Monitor – The Biden administration on Tuesday slapped travel restrictions on two Iranian officials accused of “gross violations of human rights” in their roles as interrogators for Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Ali Hemmatian and Masoud Safdari and their immediate families are barred from entering the United States for their alleged involvement in “torture and/or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” of …

PayvandNews – UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azulay has expressed delight over the 1,750th anniversary of the University of Gundi-Shapur, which has long been a major forum for science. “Since its creation, this university, the intellectual capital of the Sassanid Empire, has been a major center for producing knowledge, a truly universal forum for science. It is this idea that we celebrate today,” …

atlanticcouncil.org – For Iranians, the upcoming spring solstice marks not just a new year, Nowruz, but also the beginning of a new century on their calendar—the year 1400. Despite significant advances in education, modernization, territorial cohesiveness, and purported regional influence, many of Iran’s old trials and tribulations remain. These include dysfunctional politics and gridlock and economic insecurity and inequality for a …

indiewire.com – Jafar Panahi, the Iranian filmmaker behind 2015’s “Taxi,” recorded a message in support of imprisoned human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh. Jafar Panahi, the outspoken Iranian filmmaker behind 2015’s acclaimed “Taxi,” has recorded an International Women’s Day message in support of imprisoned lawyer and human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh. IndieWire is exclusively premiering Panahi’s message to Sotoudeh, which can be …

Shabtabnews – A group of of Iranian civil, political and human rights activists have written a letter to the President and members of the UN Human Rights Council urging them to immediately address the dire situation of political and ideological prisoners in the prisons of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The letter states that “it should be abundantly clear is …

RFL/E – In a further move away from the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Iran has started enriching uranium with a third cascade, or cluster, of advanced IR-2m centrifuges at its underground plant at Natanz, Reuters reported on March 8, citing a report by the UN nuclear watchdog. Monitors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on March 7 …

gatestoneinstitute.org – If the Western leaders know anything about the theocratic establishment of Iran, they would be able to see that the regime has used the Shia religion of Islam to justify repressing its population, killing, executing and sponsoring terror groups across the region. So, what would stop the mullahs from issuing a fake religious ruling if it is going …

Iranwire – “The working women who heard shed tears like a spring cloud. ‘Take us on Saturday,’ they said, ‘to talk to the judge.’ But I said the judge wouldn’t listen to us either. These women will become unemployed; their children will join the garbage collectors and child laborers, and others will drop out of school.” This was the gut-wrenching testimony ofSima Hashemi, …

Iranwire – Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been granted freedom of movement in Tehran after five years in detention, but is facing a new summons to court next Sunday in the latest political move by the Iranian regime. The British-Iranian charity worker, 42, was arrested at Tehran airport in March 2016 and jailed on spurious “espionage” charges. The case has drawn international condemnation, spurred by the …

Iranwire – Statistics from around the world show that more women than men have lost their jobs during the pandemic. Iran is no exception. A report by the Statistical Center of Iran shows the majority of jobs lost after the coronavirus outbreak a year ago belonged to women and especially to women laborers. But in this report IranWire talks to women workers who have …