thedispatch.com – Europe’s willingness to accommodate the Islamic Republic continues, and cold geopolitical and economic calculations go far to explain the motivations of its leaders.    European officials seem eager to buttress the regime’s position while turning a blind eye toward the Iranian democracy movement, even in the wake of the election of Ebrahim Raisi, a hardliner involved in the execution of thousands …

Al-Arabia – A network of alleged Iranian intelligence operatives charged by US prosecutors with plotting to kidnap prominent Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad had targeted at least four other activists in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, according to the prosecutors. US prosecutors charged four Iranians, alleged to be intelligence operatives for Tehran, with plotting to kidnap Alinejad, …

Al-Arabia – The recent plot to kidnap Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad has reopened the case of Iran’s targeting of opposition members and dissidents living abroad. Alinejad said on Wednesday that she was shocked by an Iranian plot to kidnap her from her New York home, as Tehran stiffly denied the allegations contained in a US Justice Department indictment. For the …

RFL/RE – Masih Alinejad’s harsh criticism of Iran’s clerical establishment, her campaign against the compulsory hijab, and efforts to highlight Tehran’s rights abuses, have angered Iranian officials who have tried to silence her through intimidation, smearing her name, and pressuring her family. But an alleged plot to kidnap Alinejad — an activist and journalist who hosts a weekly television show …

Iranwire – Sara Pour-Azima, a member of Iran’s national Under-17 National Equestrian Team, was stood at the airport, backs packed and already checked onto the flight, when she was told her father had barred her from leaving Iran. The 12-year-old had an official letter from the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) inviting her to personally take part in the Eurasian Championships …

Iranwire – In a first incident of its kind even for the Islamic Republic, the US Department of Justice this week announced the foiling of a plot to kidnap an Iranian-born activist on American soil. Five people – four of them said to be Iranian intelligence agents – were indicted for their part in a plan to abduct Alinejad from New …

VOA – Protesters angry over water shortages marched through streets late Thursday in an oil-rich, restive province in southwestern Iran and police apparently fire weapons to disperse the crowds, online videos showed. It wasn’t immediately clear if anyone had been wounded or arrested in the protests across multiple cities in Khuzestan province, including its capital, Ahvaz. Iranian state media had …

Iran-HRM – Political prisoners Afshin Baymani and Abolghasem Fouladvand have been denied access to medical treatment in Rajai Shahr Prison.Iranian prison authorities have denied the two prisoners access to adequate medical treatment and transfer to a hospital. Abolghasem Fouladvand was taken to Madani Hospital on Saturday night due to his deteriorating condition and showing symptoms of a heart attack. But …

iranhr- .Association for the Human Rights of Azerbaijani People in Iran (AHRAZ) has been informed that authorities in Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary (also known as Fashafouyeh prison) have been subjecting the Azerbaijani Turks’ human and civil rights activist Mr. Alireza Farshi to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatments and are currently denying him access to the medical care he needs. According …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – Afshin Gheidar who had been sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, was executed in Rajai Shahr Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least one prisoner was executed in Rajai Shahr Prison on the morning of July 14. His identity has been established as Afshin Gheidar, who had been sentenced to qisas on murder charges. The …