VOA – Iranian state media reported Wednesday the largest warship in the country’s navy caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Oman.  The reports said the support ship Kharg went down near the port of Jask, and that all of the crew members on board were safely evacuated.  There was no word on how the fire started.  The Kharg was one of Iran’s few ships capable of …

Iran-HRM – In May 2021, the persecution of Iran’s religious minorities continued; Members of religious minorities were sentenced to long prison terms on trumped-up charges and in some cases were summoned and detained. The clerical regime has particularly stepped-up pressure on the Baha’i community in Iran, making many arrests, handing down heavy sentences, and imprisoning others. Fourteen Baha’i citizens were sentenced to …

Al-Arabia – An Iranian fighter jet on Tuesday developed a “technical problem” that killed both of the aircraft’s pilots, state TV reported. For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app. The report said the incident happened in the country’s southwest, in the city of Dezful, 444 kilometers (270 miles) from the capital, Tehran …

RFL/RE – Prosecutors in Iran have arrested a Chinese national after he posted pictures on social media of local women he met online. The public prosecutor of the city of Kashan said the man, who has not been named, placed the pictures of the women on the Internet without their consent, the semioffficial YJC news agency reported on June 1. Prosecutor Ruhollah …

timesofisrael – Israel managed to infiltrate into the “heart” of Iran, the head of the Mossad said Monday as he bade farewell to the legendary spy agency. Cohen’s comments came at the end of a five-year term as spy chief that is thought to have seen a significant expansion of covert actions against Iran, particularly its nuclear program. That included …

Iranwire – A group of 24 political prisoners in Greater Tehran Penitentiary, who were arrested and sentenced over the bloody protests of November 2019, have sent a letter to IranWire stating that they will not participate in the 2021 presidential election. The group has also urged the wider public to boycott the vote as they consider participation to be an …

Iranwire – Ebrahim Raeesi, the presidential candidate and the current head of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s judiciary, is directly implicated in the extrajudicial killings of thousands of people in summer 1988. From an international legal perspective, he could easily stand accused of crimes against humanity.   If Raeesi becomes the winner of the 2020-21 presidential election, would he also …

Iranwire – The first decade of the 21st century saw the seemingly-unstoppable rise of Ebrahim Raeesi stratospheric rise up the ranks of Iran’s judiciary. By the end of the second decade, he had reached the very top. It might have happened earlier, had it not been for the fact that previous incumbent Sadegh Larijani had long been a favourite on …

VOA – The United Nations’ atomic watchdog hasn’t been able to access data important to monitoring Iran’s nuclear program since late February when the Islamic Republic started restricting international inspections of its facilities, the agency said Monday.   The International Atomic Energy Agency reported in a confidential document distributed to member countries and seen by The Associated Press that it …

Iran-HRM – Over May 2021, Iranian authorities continued executions, torture, the suppression of minority groups, arrest and conviction of civil and political activists and the internet censorship. Group arrests at private parties, summonses, interrogations, and detentions of religious and ethnic minorities also continued. The following report is a summary of the human rights situation in Iran over the past month. …