Iranwire – The closest comparable experience Iranians have to what millions of besieged Ukrainians are currently dealing with is the eight-year war with Iraq, from 1980 to 1988. But many Iranians also harbor a historic fear of Russia: one largely not articulated by officials, except behind closed doors. Why has that fear been revived now, in light of a conflict …

VOA – Iran will continue to enrich uranium to 20% purity even after sanctions on it are lifted and a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers is revived, Iranian news agencies quoted the country’s nuclear chief as saying on Friday. “(Uranium) enrichment … continues with a maximum ceiling of 60%, which led Westerners to rush to negotiations, and it will …

Iran-HRM – Political prisoner Maryam Akbari Monfared is serving her 13th year in exile in Semnan prison. She is suffering from fatty liver disease and is deprived of minimal facilities in Semnan prison. “Maryam Akbari is unable to provide the food needed to maintain her minimum health as the doctor has set,” an informed source said. “Because there are no …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – In a statement published today, Impact Iran which is a coalition of 14 human rights organisations, including Iran Human Rights, calls on the EU and the US to be consistent with its human rights values and policies while negotiating political deals with Iran, and warned against lifting any human rights related sanctions to secure a nuclear …

Al-Monitor – As negotiators in Vienna work to revive the landmark nuclear agreement, the US and Iran are also holding indirect discussions over the possible release of several Americans held by the Islamic Republic.  The Biden administration has stressed that the nuclear deal and prisoner issue are separate, but in January, US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley told Reuters it is …

Al-Monitor – Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi traveled to Islamabad last week to discuss a series of attacks on Pakistani security posts along the Pakistan-Iran border. The first attack happened Jan. 25 at Kech, not far from Gwadar port, followed by two more Feb. 2 at Panjgur and Noshki. As usual, the Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility. The insurgents were highly trained, …

Al-Monitor – Middle Eastern sunflower oil imports could soon be affected by the Russian attack on Ukraine. Ukraine was the largest exporter of sunflower seed and the related safflower oil in 2019, accounting for 45.8% of global exports. Russia was second with 23.4% of the market. Iran was the fourth-largest importer of sunflower seed or safflower oil that year, accounting for 6.25% …

Iranwire – In the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, several high-profile officials of the Islamic Republic sought to publicly justify Vladimir Putin’s aggression. Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian tweeted that the “Ukraine crisis” was “rooted in NATO’s provocations”: sentiments echoed by Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh. State-controlled media have recycled the same line, with the official narrative so tightly …

Iranwire – Iran’s Tasnim News Agency has called the behavior of three Iranian karate athletes, at the Karate-1 Premier League competition in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, last week, “unfortunate” and “strange” and called on Iran’s top sports directors to discipline the athletes. Saleh Abazari, Mehdi Khodabakhshi and Keyvan Baban are top karatekas for Iran’s national team; but they were not …

Iranwire – In an audio file received by IranWire, Faezeh Hashemi, an outspoken political activist inside Iran and daughter of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, has slammed the Islamic Republic’s capitulating stance toward Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. In the recording, Hashemi can be heard apparently speaking to a small crowd, calling the Islamic Republic’s overall policy stance “tumbling into the …