Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Fatemeh Aslani who was sentenced to qisas(retribution-in-kind) for murder, has been executed in Isfahan Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a woman was executed in Isfahan Central Prison on the morning of December 19. Her identity has been established as Fatemeh Aslani from Sehr Forouzan city and she was sentenced to qisas for murder. …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Kurdish political prisoner, Heydar Ghorbani who was sentenced to death on charges of baghy (armed rebellion), has been executed in Sanandaj Central Prison while according to his lawyer, Heydar “never confessed to being armed or using a weapon and there is no evidence to suggest otherwise.” Heydar was executed without notice to his family and lawyer, and …

gatestoneinstitute.org – Are economic relations and trade effective tools with which Western democracies could persuade totalitarian states to introduce reforms that could lead to democratization? [T]he question is back… to encourage the Biden administration to give Iranian mullahs what they want in the hope that they might mend their ways. These days one reads op-eds and pseudo-research papers presenting Iran …

gatestoneinstitute.org – For Ray Dalio, moral relativism is great for business. Bridgewater’s business is investment funds. Having more of those in China means more money for Bridgewater. It is really that simple. But in China business deals are not done with fellow capitalists who are dedicated to economic liberty and the free flow of capital to its most rational uses. …

RFL/RE – Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization has rejected that it is responsible for the loss of surveillance video from a centrifuge-parts-production site, suggesting that the data was lost due to an attack on the plant this summer. “The records were destroyed by an act of sabotage,” the agency said in December 18 press statement after the International Atomic Energy Agency …

AL-Arabia – The seventh round of indirect talks between the US and Iran on the 2015 nuclear deal was “better than it might have been, but worse than it should have been,” a senior State Department official said Friday. “But I also caution that we should curb enthusiasm because we’re now at best where we were last June,” the official, speaking on …

gatestoneinstitute.org – The conflict in Yemen means more to the Iranian regime than merely taunting its Gulf rivals. Rather, it seems to be an ideological crusade to unite the Muslim world under its own Islamist rule, one that will always see any attempts at peace as merely a delay in the process. One of the Iranian leaders’ main objectives in …

Iranwire – Members of the Iran-backed Kata’ib Hezbollah – otherwise known as the Hezbollah Brigades – in Iraq have replaced their uniforms with civilian clothes and stared dressing like Iraqi troops to avoid being targeted by US strikes, a source within the militia has confirmed. The Shia militant group is also using civilian cars and has taken down its flags at key buildings.  Kata’ib …

VOA – The U.S. says its indirect talks with Iran on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal made modest progress in the latest round that ended Friday, but it also says much work remains to be done to prevent what is left of the agreement between Tehran and world powers from quickly falling apart. In a phone briefing with reporters, a …

VOA – Shaghayegh Bapiri, an Iranian handball player who defected to Spain this week, told VOA Persian on Thursday that she saw no future for women handballers in Iran if conditions for players do not change. Bapiri, 30, has been a constant fixture on the Iranian women’s national handball team and at the Iranian government funded Sepahan Club since 2015 …