Al-Arabia – Iran plans to announce the appointment of a new ambassador in Yemen after the death of previous envoy Hasan Irlu, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday. Tehran said on December 21 that Irlu, its envoy in the Yemeni capital Sanaa that is controlled by the Iran-aligned Houthi group, died of COVID-19 after being repatriated in …

RFL/RE – Talks to salvage the 2015 Iran nuclear deal are set to resume on December 27 in Vienna, with the chief EU negotiator calling for the pace of the talks to pick up and U.S. and Iranian officials expressing frustrations over substance.EU diplomat Enrique Mora last week announced the date for the resumption of the talks on Twitter.“Vienna talks …

RFL/RE – There’s a problem with the remote and sprawling network of pipelines and pumping stations that helps Russia move its vast oil resources, making it the world’s second largest exporter of crude. People are stealing the oil. And it’s not just ordinary citizens: It’s sophisticated organized crime groups, operating under the protection of law enforcement officers, including Russia’s main …

RFL/RE – Iran’s judiciary has granted Christian prisoners 10 days’ leave to spend the holidays at home with their families, in a rare move toward members of the Islamic republic’s Christian minority. “The decision is to mark the New Year 2022 and the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said on December 26. The …

Iran-HRM – In 2021, two officials who have committed tremendous rights violations for decades, the mullah’s President Ebrahim Raisi and Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’I, ascended to top positions of power in Iran. By appointing major human rights violators, which obviously threat Iran’s civil society, Khamenei is using all his power to crush protests, restrict activists, and stifle any dissent. Suppression …

Iran-HRM – A Baluch child was killed on December 24 in Saravan, southeast Sisran and Baluchestan Province. Osman Bameri was transferring fuel on his motorcycle when he was shot and killed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which effectively controls local economic and military operations. The city of Saravan lies 270 kilometers to the south of the provincial capital …

Iran-HRM – Two Iranian girls murdered in honor killings promoted by misogynist laws In a recent case of honor killing in Iran, two girls were shot dead by their family members in a village in Sistan and Baluchestan, southeast Iran. A video posted on social media in recent days shows locals finding the bodies of two girls on desert roads …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Pursuant to the airing of Ali Younesi and Amirhossein Moradi’s forced confessions by state media, Iran Human Rights expresses its grave concern again of the impending heavy and baseless sentences against the two elite Sharif University students who have been held in pre-trial detention since their arrests on 10 April 2020. Iran Human Rights previously warned of Ali …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) –  Ardavan Falahvand and Hossein Mirakarami who were sentenced to death for moharebeh (enmity against god) and qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder in the same case, have been executed in Khorramabad Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Khorramabad Central Prison on the morning of December 21. Their identities have been established as …

iranintl – A conservative newspaper in Tehran warned on Sunday that if the government’s proposed new budget is adopted it might lead to a “major social explosion.” “If the government’s budget bill for the next Iranian year, [starting late March] is implemented, it will create a lot of problems for the people and might lead to a major social explosion …