Al-Arabia – The Jiaman mosque in the city of Qira, in the far western Chinese region of Xinjiang, is hidden behind high walls and Communist Party propaganda signs, leaving passersby with no indication that it is home to a religious site.In late April, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, two ethnic Uyghur women sat behind a tiny mesh grate, …

Iranwire – A number of Sunni preachers in Kurdistan have openly backed a public call by jihadi extremists in the Iranian Kurdish city of Marivan for “blasphemers” to be killed. During Friday sermons on May 7, worshippers gathered in several mosques in Kurdistan were told that those who spoke against God deserved to be killed. The appalling remarks from several …

iranwire.com – On Monday, the acting governor of the port city of Mahshahr in Khuzestan sounded the alarm about new, more infectious strains coronavirus spreading to and from the city via water corridors. The lack of public awareness about vaccines, he said, was making the situation all the more dangerous. Speaking at a meeting of the Mahshahr Coronavirus Headquarters, Fereydoun …

Iranwire – On May 11, Iranian media reported that Brigadier General Saeed Mohammad, the former commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters, had put himself forward as a candidate for the country’s 13th presidential election on June 18. Saeed Mohammad’s ambitions to run for president have sparked controversy before, chiefly because they serve as a clear reminder that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is …

VOA – As the United States and Iran hold indirect talks about engaging in a rare exchange of prisoners, observers have shared new insights about the little-known Iranians under U.S. detention or prosecution who could be included in a swap. U.S. and Iranian officials have said the two sides have been discussing the prisoner issue through mediators in recent weeks, …

CHRI – A directive “ratified” by Iran’s Guardian Council, imposing new requirements for candidates to qualify to run in Iran’s June 2021 presidential election, has once again revealed the unconstitutional practices of the powerful unelected body. Accountable only to the supreme leader, the council of six clerics and six jurists is constitutionally mandated to vet laws and elections for conformity with the state’s …

republicanleader.senate.gov –U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Iran: “The attacks being directed at innocent Israeli citizens are coming from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Both those terrorist groups receive support from Iran. “The regime in Tehran is the most active state sponsor of terrorism in the world. The regime …

RFL/RE – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is urging Iran to stop its imprisonment and harassment of Kurdish journalists amid what human rights groups have denounced as a crackdown on members of the minority group. In a statement late on May 12, the New York-based media-freedom watchdog cited news reports and sources familiar with the cases as saying that Iranian authorities …

RFL/RE – The U.S. State Department has accused China of committing “genocide” against Muslim Uyghurs and other religious minorities in an annual report that also labeled Iran and Russia among the world’s worst offenders of religious freedom.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken used the release of the State Department’s annual International Religious Freedom Report on May 12 to name and shame the …

Iranwire – Yesterday Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s former president from 2005 to 2013, arrived flanked by his entourage and crowds of onlookers at the Ministry of Interior to register as a candidate in the country’s 13th presidential election. Just like his eight-year premiership, it was a headline-grabbing episode – particularly after some of his supporters scuffled with Ministry staff on not being …