RFL/RE – The U.S. special envoy for Iran says Washington has started to question whether Tehran is still willing to return to full compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal, which imposed significant restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for relief from crippling sanctions. “We don’t know if Iran’s intent remains to come back into compliance with the JCPOA as …

iranwire – The Iranian regime has been openly supportive of Bashar al-Assad’s despotic regime in Syria ever since the outset of the Syrian uprisings in 2011. It has dispatched militants to the battlefield in untold numbers, stood by Al-Assad in global propaganda drives and set up cultural organizations in a bid to influence public opinion inside Syria. Nevertheless, the regime has always denied trying to affect …

RFL/RE – Iran has reported a record daily 709 deaths from COVID-19 as the country struggled with yet another surge in infections, this time fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant. The new Health Ministry figures, cited by state-run ISNA news agency on August 24, add to the woes for Iran, which has long been the worst-hit country in the Middle …

Iranwire – President Ebrahim Raisi starts his presidency this month as Iran’s inflation rate has exceeded 45 percent – a record over the past year according to the Statistics Center. If the Central Bank had published its own data, perhaps the figure would have been even higher; but Iran’s Central Bank stopped publishing inflation reports almost three years ago, and the Statistics …

Iranwire – The Minister of Health of Hassan Rouhani’s former government, Saeed Namaki, said in a letter on his last day in office that his ministry had only a “minimal” and “ineffective” role in Iran’s delayed Covid-19 vaccine rollout, limited to providing the infrastructure to administer doses. But he added that he would explain other reasons for the delay only …

VOA – Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is expected to urge his American counterpart to take a hard-line stance on Iran in the first meeting between the two leaders Thursday.  Bennett, elected to office two months ago, is making his first visit to Washington this week. Before he left Israel, he reiterated that he would push President Joe Biden on …

amnesty.org – Leaked surveillance footage from Evin prison showing appalling abuse of prisoners serves as a chilling reminder of the impunity granted to prison officials in Iran who subject those in their custody to torture and other cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment, Amnesty International said today. The organization has analysed 16 leaked video clips, obtained from Iranian independent media outlets, …

CHRI —In a new LGBTQ Fact Sheet published today by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), the extreme rights violations and deadly violence perpetrated by both the state and society against the LGBTQ community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer) in Iran are highlighted in a concise, accessible format for researchers, journalists, and policymakers. Download CHRI’s LGBTQ Fact Sheet Among …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly, or parliament, will consider President Ebrahim Raisi’s Cabinet on Aug. 25. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the nominee for foreign minister and the only deputy minister from President Hassan Rouhani’s administration to remain to be considered for Raisi’s Cabinet, has been nominated to replace his former boss, outgoing Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Amir-Abdollahian, a career diplomat who is …

RFL/RE – In a rare admission by Iranian authorities, the head of the country’s prisons apologized for “unacceptable behavior” in Tehran’s Evin prison after videos purportedly obtained by hackers showed abuse of prisoners. A hacking group calling itself Edalat-e Ali (Ali’s Justice) shared with Radio Farda and some other Persian media videos that appear to be from the prison’s surveillance …