Reuters – Weary negotiators appear increasingly unlikely to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers before the Islamic Republic’s June presidential election, but an extension of talks could reap political gains at home for the supreme leader. The man who ultimately matters in the Iranian nuclear question, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would like the negotiations between …

Iranwire – On April 6, 2021, Sweden’s security police arrested a woman and a man known only as Salma K. and Fouad M. Salma and Fouad had come to Europe during the refugee crisis in 2015 and presented themselves as Afghan nationals, respectively aged 22 and 24. Six years on, they were charged with planning an act of terror on …

Iranwire – In an audio file sent to IranWire, a young man imprisoned over the November 2019 protests has described how he was interrogated and tortured at the Gisha Security Police detention center in Tehran. The 22-year-old was arrested at home a few months after the protests and is currently being held as a political prisoner in Greater Tehran Penitentiary. …

VOA – Iran and the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog have agreed to extend an agreement for monitoring of Iran’s nuclear activities for one month.  “The equipment and the verification and the monitoring activities that we agreed will continue as they are now for one month expiring on June 24th, 2021,” International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi told reporters Monday.  The …

VOA – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Monday that the lifting of U.S. sanctions imposed under former President Donald Trump’s administration is “a legal and moral obligation,” not something to be used as leverage in negotiations as the two sides consider returning to an agreement involving Iran’s nuclear program.  “Didn’t work for Trump — won’t work for you,” Zarif tweeted.  …

Iran-HRM – Jailed Iranian protester Hossein Hashemi detailed the poor conditions of the Greater Tehran Penitentiary (GTP) in a letter published on May 21. Hossein Hashemi, who has been imprisoned for taking part in the nationwide protests in November 2019, wrote that while adequate drinking water was scarce at the GTP or Fashafuyeh Prison, drugs could easily be acquired in the section …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A woman sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, has been executed in Yazd Central Prison. According to Iran Human Rights, a woman was executed in Yazd Central Prison in the early hours of May 23. Her identity has been established 41-year-old Kobra Fatemi who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder. An informed source told IHR: “Kobra Fatemi was …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – In a new trumped-up case, human rights defender Narges Mohammadi, who was released from prison in October, has been sentenced to a further 30 months’ imprisonment, 80 lashes and a fine. Iran Human Rights condemns the ruling in the strongest terms and calls on the international community to react and act. “Narges Mohammadi has continued …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – Saleh Shariati, a juvenile offender arrested at 16 and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) based on a qassameh despite witness testimonies of his innocence, has been acquitted after spending eight years on death row. According to Iran Human Rights, juvenile offender Saleh Shariati who has been on death row for murder in Shiraz Central Prison since being arrested at 16, has …

gatestoneinstitute.org – With Iran arguably stuck in its deepest crisis in decades while economic meltdown, rampant corruption and Covid-19 chaos wreak havoc on an unprecedented scale, the Khomeinist regime is in dire need of reasserting its legitimacy. The terms “Russophile” and “Americanophile” may need to be explained. Neither means any actual sympathy for either Russian or American ways of life …