Iranwire – The question of whether women should be allowed to stand as presidential candidates in the Islamic Republic of Iran has come up sporadically, and always controversially, ever since the mid-1990s. It has now resurfaced again in debates about the upcoming vote in June. Women were granted suffrage in Iran in 1962, in a bill that also theoretically granted …

Iranwire – Registration for candidates in the upcoming Iranian presidential election opens today, Tuesday, May 11. Five days from now, the Ministry of Interior will submit the names of would-be runners to the Secretariat of the Guardian Council to begin the process of reviewing their qualifications for the country’s top executive role. The Guardian Council is in turn expected to …

Iranwire – The beautiful port city of Abadan, southwest Iran, was once a beacon of modernity in both Iran and the Middle East. Its history goes back to the Seleucid Empire in around 300BC, with its city’s name changing several times down the centuries before acquiring its present one – by degrees –  some time after the advent of Islam. …

Iranwire – “The fight against corruption sits at the heart of the Islamic Revolution,” claimed Ebrahim Raeesi, the head of Iran’s judiciary, during a meeting to assess the matter on April 29. “Fighting corruption is not and has never been separate from the revolution,” he added. According to him, it is clear that the pure and holy system of the Islamic Republic has the will …

VOA – Iran opened registration Tuesday for potential candidates in the country’s June presidential election, kicking off the race as uncertainty looms over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers and tensions remain high with the West.President Hassan Rouhani can’t run again due to term limits, yet with the poll just a month away no immediate favorite has emerged among …

Iran-HRM – Anti-narcotic forces kill innocent child in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan Province A five-year-old Baluch boy was killed during a police chase in the southeastern city of Iranshahr on May 10, 2021.Narcotics forces fatally shot a 5-year-old Baluch boy identified as Meisam Narouie. A short video of his lifeless body in the arms of his mother, who was crying …

Al-Monitor – The crew of a US Coast Guard cutter fired multiple bursts of warning shots as two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fast-attack boats came too close to a formation of US Navy ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. Thirteen IRGC boats approached the group of six US vessels as they escorted the surfaced USS Georgia submarine through …

RFL/RE – Tehran says it “strongly condemns” a weekend attack on the Iranian Consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Karbala following the killing of a prominent activist. A “letter of protest” has been handed over to the Iraqi Embassy in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters on May 10. “It is the international duty of the …

RFL/RE – In a recent letter from prison, Iranian dervish Mohammad Sharifi Moghadami asked his countrymen, including writers and publishers, to send books to Iran’s largest detention facility. Within days of its circulation, some 7,000 books had arrived at Great Tehran Penitentiary, also known as Fashafouyeh Prison, from every corner of the country, including the northern city of Rasht and …

RFL/RE – The U.S. Navy said it has seized an arms shipment hidden aboard a vessel in the Arabian Sea. The U.S. Navy has previously seized weapons in the Arabian Sea believed to be from Iran and intended for Huthi rebels in Yemen. In a statement on May 9, the U.S. Navy said the source and intended destination of the …