Al-Monitor – Iranian government spokesperson Ali Rabiei said the Islamic Republic has now finalized its decision following six rounds of negotiations in Vienna over the revival of the Iran nuclear deal, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). “Our positions are absolutely clear to all the parties,” Rabiei declared at a virtual presser on June 29. According to him, Tehran is now …

Al-Monitor – Ebrahim Raisi’s election to the Iranian presidency has raised significant concern about the future direction of Iran’s domestic and foreign policy trajectory.  As a Principlist conservative with close ties to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Raisi is an Islamic religious nationalist who sees the preservation of the Islamic Republic’s security and stability as key to his tenure …

nufdiran.org – Article I of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights says  “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”  In 2016, the UN’s Human Rights Council went a step further and adopted a resolution on …

RFL/RE – U.S. President Joe Biden assured Israel on June 28 that Iran will never acquire a nuclear weapon, as he met with outgoing Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at the White House.“What I can say to you is that Iran will never get a nuclear weapon on my watch,” Biden said at the start of a meeting in the Oval …

Iranwire – Last week a rickety bus carrying environmental journalists on a tour of West Azerbaijan province, northwestern Iran, overturned after an apparent brake fault. Two young female reporters for ISNA and IRNA were killed instantly, and dozens of others were injured. In the aftermath of the tragedy, a video circulated on social media in which Zeinab Rahimi, a reporter for ISNA, spoke in …

Iranwire – A resident of the city of Amol in Mazandaran province has been arrested for calling on Instagram and Twitter for a boycott of the Iranian presidential election. Siavash Emami was arrested by intelligence agents on June 15, 2021 on the orders of the Revolutionary Court of Nur city. According to activists, he was charged with “conspiracy to act against …

Iranwire – Aram Fathi, a poet and civil society activist from Iran’s Kurdistan province, has been brutally tortured during his recent 11-day stint in custody, relatives have said. The scribe was arrested during a raid on his family home in Marivan on June 17 this year and taken away in handcuffs without a warrant, despite his mother’s pleas for clemency. Fathi …

Iranwire – “Iran’s non-oil exports in the first quarter of 2021-2022, compared to in the spring of 2020, have increased by 69 percent,” outgoing President of Iran Hassan Rouhani claimed at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, June 23. Have non-oil exports really jumped so significantly in 2021-2022, amid ongoing sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic? And would any increase in non-oil exports in 2021 be an …

Iran-HRM – Saeed Eghbali, a civil activist imprisoned in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj, lost part of his hearing due to an advanced ear infection which was left untreated in prison. Saeed Eghbali was transferred to Amir Alam Hospital in Tehran on Saturday, June 19, and was returned to prison after being examined by a doctor and prescribed medication. The authorities have …

WJS – President Biden’s decision to strike Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria over the weekend was a necessary tactical move. But his strategy of empowering Tehran through nuclear negotiations muddles the deterrence message. The early Monday morning strikes “targeted operational and weapons storage facilities” used by groups like Kataib Hezbollah that are targeting American personnel and facilities in Iraq, …