Iranwire – A statue in honor of legendary Iranian wrestler Gholamreza Takhti were unveiled on Tuesday of June 22, 2021 by the National Olympic Committee. It immediately became the subject of a critical report by the Revolutionary Guards-aligned Fars News Agency. In the report, Fars criticized Reza Saleh Amiri, a former intelligence official who became president of the National Olympic …

Iranwire – In his first press conference as president-elect of the Islamic Republic of Iran, outgoing chief justice Ebrahim Raisi spoke of making the necessary provisions for his fellow “dear Iranians” to return to the country. The comments were met with widespread revulsion.  Among the “dear Iranians” Raisi invoked were journalists, information activists, artists, political dissidents, and tens of thousands of ordinary …

JPost – A sabotage operation against one of the buildings of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) caused major damage – despite Iranian denials, The Jerusalem Post learned on Wednesday night.Although Iran has claimed throughout the day that the sabotage failed and caused no damage or casualties, the Post has been given strong indications otherwise, though it has no way to independently confirm.The Post also reported that the attacked …

Iran-HRM – Peaceful prisoners of conscience Mohammad Hossein Sepehri and Kamal Yazdi were beaten on JUne 20 and 21 by prison authorities. Fatemeh Sepehri, the sister of Mohammad Hossein Sepehri published a video announcing the beating of the activists while they have been on hunger strike since one month ago to protest being denied phone calls. The two dissidents who are …

Al-Monitor – Serious gaps remain between Iran and the United States amid nuclear talks in Vienna, a senior State Department official said Thursday, pushing back on reports that a deal was in reach.  “We still have serious differences that have not been bridged” over issues that include Iran’s willingness to come back into compliance, the sanctions relief offered by the United States and …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani blamed “parliamentary bureaucracy” for the delay in the lifting of US sanctions that have almost brought the Iranian economy to its knees over the course of the past three years. “My government has done the job with regard to the sanctions removal, [but] we are kept waiting by this or that parliamentary committee,” he declared at an oil project inauguration ceremony on June 24. The comments were …

(Reuters) – The U.N. nuclear watchdog and Iran have a temporary agreement on monitoring Iran’s atomic activities that expires on Thursday. If it is not extended, wider negotiations on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal would plunge into crisis, diplomats say. Struck on Feb. 21, the interim monitoring deal was valid for three months, then extended by a month on …

Al-Arabia – Iran said on Wednesday the United States had agreed to remove all sanctions on Iran’s oil and shipping but Washington said “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed” in talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The remarks by outgoing President Hassan Rouhani’s chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi echoed previous assertions by officials in Rouhani’s pragmatist camp …

Iranwire – Late on Wednesday, June 23, one of the most horrific incidents in recent Iranian journalistic history took place in West Azerbaijan province. Earlier that day, about 20 environment reporters had gone on a tour of the Lake Urmia restoration project. While on a visit to the Kani Sib dam, their bus overturned on the road. Reyhaneh Yasini, of …

Iranwire – The National Olympic Committee of Iran has selected Samad Nikkhah Bahrami, the captain of the Iranian national basketball team, to be the flag bearer for the Iranian team at the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony. According to a Mehr News Agency report on Monday, June 21, four male athletes made the final shortlist to lead the Olympic team: Basketball captain Samad Nikkhah …