Iran-HRM – Internet filtering in Iran has been ramped up ahead of the imminent presidential elections. In the past month, the Iranian authorities have warned social media users and media activists that they would severely deal with those calling for a boycott of the elections. It comes when Iranians are calling for a massive boycott of the elections. On May …

gatestoneinstitute.org – The unelected Guardian Council has a history of arbitrarily disqualifying reform-minded candidates, women and those who are perceived as disloyal to the principles of the state and the Islamic revolution, from running for office. Out of 592 individuals who registered to run as candidates in the Iranian regime’s 13th presidential election, the unelected Guardian Council only approved seven …

Al-Arabia – Britain, France, Germany and the United States will not push for a resolution against Iran at next week’s meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog’s board despite Tehran’s failure to explain uranium traces found at three sites, diplomats said on Friday. A resolution could have prompted an escalation between Tehran and the West that would have jeopardized talks on reviving the …

Al-Arabia – The Iran-backed Houthi militia continues to block progress towards reaching a ceasefire in Yemen, the US State Department said Friday after its top diplomat for the war-torn country returned to Washington. “The Houthis continue a devastating offensive on Marib that is condemned by the international community and leaves the Houthis increasingly isolated,” the State Department said in a statement following Special Envoy …

Iranwire – The National Coronavirus Taskforce has sought to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in Iran through one week of restrictions and a travel ban. But the latter only applies to private vehicles moving between provinces, meaning that would-be travellers have inevitably been mobbing bus terminals instead. Meanwhile, Iran’s vaccination campaign in Iran is still progressing too slowly. According to …

Iranwire – The armed forces in Iran entered the country’s economic sphere after the end of the Iran-Iraq war, with the assent of Ali Khamenei. Since then the military has gained considerable wealth and an array of private companies; by owning weapons, it has become a mafia in its own right in the Islamic Republic. The commercial activities of Iran’s …

Iranwire – The Iranian warship Kharg, which caught fire and sank in the port of Jask earlier this week, was the country’s largest naval vessel and one of the last ever military acquisitions of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the former Shah of Iran. Efforts to recover the stricken vessel were pronounced over on Wednesday, June 2 and the ship finally sank beneath the …

Bloomberg – As he prepares to raise the curtains on his democratic theatrics, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appears anxious about turnout. Having taken a gamble with the casting, he’s now doing some eleventh-hour tinkering to attract an audience. On Wednesday Iranian state TV announced a change in dates for the three debates leading up to the presidential election on June 18. Why? Because …

nationalinterest.org – In Vienna, the American negotiating team is busy snatching defeat from the jaws of victory as the Islamic Republic demands concession after concession from Washington in exchange for Tehran’s return to the 2015 nuclear deal. In a stark shift from just a few months ago, when the Islamic Republic was under extraordinary economic pressure, the regime is once again confident on …

politico – With the U.S. moving at an astonishingly fast pace to re-enter the complex 2015 Iran nuclear deal, it is time for wiser heads to prevail. As negotiators hit pause on the talks this week, over unresolved points of contention, it is time for the American negotiators in Vienna to take a timeout to evaluate recent European intelligence findings …