Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – 23 human rights organisations have signed a joint letter demanding the immediate release of health rights defenders Mehdi Mahmoudian, Arash Keykhosravi, and Mostafa Nili. They have been arbitrarily detained by the Iranian authorities since August 14, 2021. We, the undersigned civil society and human rights organizations, call for the immediate release of prominent human rights defenders Mehdi …

gatestoneinstitute.org – Iran has been insisting on its conditions and demands, including that Washington and the Western powers release frozen Iranian funds before reaching an agreement, according to Tariq Alhomayed, a Saudi journalist and former editor-in-chief of the Arabic-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat. He added that Iran was refusing to discuss ballistic missiles, drones and its terrorist militias in the Middle East as the …

Al-Monitor – The Biden administration will send a senior delegation to the United Arab Emirates next week to ramp up economic pressure on entities doing business with Iran.  Reuters reports that US officials will warn banks that are not in compliance with American sanctions on the Islamic Republic that they could be sanctioned or penalized for their transactions. A State Department spokesperson …

Al-Monitor – Caution, or perhaps a lack of optimism, filled the atmosphere in Vienna’s Coburg Hotel as representatives from Iran and world powers convened for a fresh round of talks on resurrecting the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). On the eve of the new meetings, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian did not appear overoptimistic in …

RFL/RE – Talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal have resumed after a few days’ pause and amid fresh tensions after Tehran made demands last week that European countries strongly criticized. A meeting of all the deal’s remaining signatories — Iran, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China — was being chaired in Vienna on December 9 by European Union …

RFL/RE – British Foreign Minister Liz Truss has urged Iran to agree to return to the stalled nuclear deal worked out with world powers in 2015, saying it is the “last chance” to do so. “This is really the last chance for Iran to sign up, and I strongly urge them to do that because we are determined to work …

Iranwire – The names of three Iranians accused of playing a key role in state-sponsored hostage-taking have been read out by British parliamentarians as part of a drive to see them sanctioned in the UK. Evin Prison official Ali Ghanaatkar, former prison director Gholamreza Ziaei and state TV producer Ali Rezvani were identified among a list of 13 human rights abusers from around …

Iranwire – Former hostages and political prisoners have accused Ali Ghanaatkar Mavardiani, an official formerly based at Evin Prison, of playing a key role in their detention. He was one of three Iranians named for their part in state-sponsored hostage-taking during a debate in the UK parliament on Wednesday. Ali Ghanaatkar has been variously described as a judge at Branch 33 (Sub-Branch …

Iranwire – Some call him a ghoulish “adventurer”, others the “wrong man for the job”. Both and a great deal more may be true. Gholamreza Ziaei was named in the UK parliament on Wednesday as a key accomplice to state-sanctioned hostage-taking in Iran. MPs and campaigners want him and others to be subject to Magnitsky sanctions in a bid to hold them accountable …

Iranwire – “FIFA insists the match between the Iranian national football team and Iraq at Azadi Stadium, which could become a celebration of [Iran] reaching the World Cup, be attended by both men and women.” So writes the Iranian state-controlled ISNA news agency of a forthcoming 2022 Qatar World Cup qualifying match set to be hosted by Iran on January …