Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – For decades, the Islamic Republic has sought to silent civil society by repressing human rights defenders, writers, artists and civil rights activists. This has been escalating in recent months with mounting pressure on writers, artists and human rights defenders who are unjustly behind bars. Expressing its grave concern about the situation of imprisoned dissidents and …

Al-Arabia – Loud blasts heard in several parts of western Iran on early Sunday were caused by lightning, not foreign military attacks, a semi-official Iranian news agency reported on Sunday citing a military source. Loud blasts were heard in at least four of Iran’s western provinces – Hamadan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah and Ilam – at around midnight local time on Sunday, …

Al-Arabia – Twitter said Saturday it had permanently suspended an account linked to Iran’s supreme leader that posted a video calling for revenge for a top general’s assassination against former US president Donald Trump. “The account referenced has been permanently suspended for violating our ban evasion policy,” a Twitter spokesperson told AFP. The account, @KhameneiSite, this week posted an animated …

Al-Arabia – French-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah was jailed anew for “violating” house arrest limits, an official from the Islamic Republic’s judiciary authority said on Sunday. “Ms Adelkhah… has unfortunately knowingly violated the limits of house arrest dozens of times,” Kazem Gharibabadi, deputy head of the judiciary, was quoted as saying by Mizan Online, the authority’s news agency. “She has insisted …

Al-Arabia – Jordan’s top diplomat touched down in Washington last week, where he held meetings with nearly all the top US officials in the Biden administration, making him the first Arab foreign minister to do so this year. It was also his boss, King Abdullah II, who was the first Arab head of state to visit Washington and meet US President Joe Biden after …

VOA — China said Saturday it would begin implementing a strategic agreement with Iran, strengthening economic and political cooperation between the two countries as Beijing blasted Washington’s sanctions on Tehran. China and Iran signed the agreement last year after years of talks, with the wide-ranging partnership set to span areas including energy, security, infrastructure and communications. Chinese foreign minister Wang …

(Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin will host his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi for talks in Moscow next week as Russia tries to help salvage a nuclear deal between world powers and Tehran, state television channel Rossiya-1 reported on Sunday. Rossiya-1 did not disclose when precisely the meeting between the two leaders would take place, nor the issues they would discuss. …

Iran-HRM – Political prisoner Nejat Anvar Hamidi Karoun, who is serving a five-year sentence at the Sepidar Prison of Ahvaz, is at risk of losing her eyesight in prison. The Department of Intelligence of Ahvaz has prevented the 66 year old political prisoner, from going on medical leave despite her dire physical condition. Political prisoner Nejat Anvar Hamidi is suffering …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Political prisoners, Sadegh Omidi, Hamid Haj Jafar Kashani, Mahmoud Ali Naghi, Peyman Pourdad, Ali Asghar Hassanirad and Mehdi Darini are on a dry hunger strike in Ward 8 of Evin Prison in protest to “the role of prison officials in Baktash Abtin’s death.” According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, six political prisoners in Ward …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Mohammad Jafar Salehi and Abdolrahim Sargolzayi sentenced to death on drug-related charges and Shahin Khosravi, sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, have been executed in Isfahan Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, three men were executed in Isfahan Central Prison on the morning of January 13. Their identities have been established as Mohammad …