Al-Monitor – In the ongoing battle with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, Iran has told the International Atomic Energy Agency that it will allow access to its nuclear facilities once attacks targeting them stop. According to Tasnim News Agency, Khazem Garibadadi, Iran’s representative to international organizations in Vienna, said, “If the agency wants to conduct inspections, it has to act …

Iranwire – In what might be one of the most expensive incidences of nepotism in the history of the Islamic Republic, a little-known developer and restauranteur named Arash Adibnia has abruptly been made an “advisor” to the president of Iran’s Football Federation. The appointment has cost the treasury more than 52 billion tomans, or around US$12.5m. Adibnia’s football credentials are anyone’s …

Iranwire – Fallout continues over a pro-Israel conference held by Iraqi Kurds in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, last Friday. The Conference of Peace and Reclamation, organized by US think tank the Center for Peace Communications, amplified Iraqi tribal leaders’ calls for a normalization of relations with Israel. It was attended by more than 300 Sunni and Shia community leaders from …

Iranwire – Yesterday the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammad Eslami, made the surprise announcement that Russia has agreed to continue developing two new reactors at the Buhshehr Nuclear Power Plant after a 22-month hiatus. Eslami had travelled to Moscow earlier in the week and made the disclosure on Wednesday after meeting with his Russian counterpart. The fact that the project …

VOA – Mehdi Dolatyari watched with dread in recent months as once-affordable goods at his central Tehran supermarket soared out of reach for his customers. Iranians who previously bought sacks of staple foods at the store now struggle to scrape together enough for meals, as the country’s currency sinks to new lows against the dollar. “Rice is awfully expensive,” Dolatyari …

Iran-HRM – Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of a political prisoner detained in Urmia, northwestern Iran. Branch 31 of the Supreme Court in Qom, upheld the death sentence of Kurdish political prisoner Shaker Behrouz. The sentence was notified to Mr. Behrouz in Urmia Prison. Shaker Behrouzi, 32, is single and comes from Dizej of Urmia. He was …

CHRI – The Iranian government’s nontolerance of dissent has resulted in systemic suppression of freedom of expression. To prevent the free flow of information and views, Iranian courts work with the intelligence-security establishment to identify civil rights activists, writers, journalists, artists, and intellectuals and accuse them of trying to undermine the state through “propaganda.” In a statement published on September 27, 2021–marking …

Al-Monitor – The European Union’s foreign policy chief said Thursday that he expected Iran and world powers would “soon” resume talks over reviving the landmark nuclear agreement. During a press conference in Doha on Thursday, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, said negotiations aimed at salvaging the 2015 accord would resume “within an acceptable period of time.” …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered a strict ban on the imports of South Korean-made home appliances, a directive that has renewed debates on his micromanagement of the Iranian economy. In his brief note to President Ebrahim Raisi, the Iranian supreme leader ordered the hard-line cleric to “firmly block” such imports. Without naming Samsung and LG, Khamenei said the …