Iran-HRM – In connection with the peaceful rallies of Iranian teachers during Teacher’s Week, several activists have been summoned by security agencies and some have been arrested and detained since a month ago. On May 1, employed and retired teachers and educators gathered in front of education departments in more than 40 cities to protest the failure to address their …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Eight men who were sentenced to death for armed robbery and murder, were executed in Rajai Shahr Prison in one day. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, eight men were executed in Rajai Shahr Prison on the morning of May 25. Six of the men have been identified as Ramin Arab, Abbas Bitarafan, …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Death row Kurdish political prisoner, Mohiyedin Ebrahimi has been transferred to an unknown location, raising concerns that his execution may be imminent. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, Kurdish political prisoner Mohiyedin Ebrahimi was transferred from the political prisoners’ ward in Urmia Central Prison to an unknown location on May 23. He was …

Al-Monitor – In response to an unprecedented number of sandstorms disrupting daily life, officials from Iraq, Kuwait, Iran and Syria spoke on the need to collectively address this increasing problem.  According to Fars News, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian spoke on the phone with his counterparts from Syria, Kuwait and Iraq on the need to address the sandstorms blanketing parts of their …

Al-Monitor – US Iran Envoy Robert Malley told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today, Wednesday, May 25, that “as I speak to you today, we do not have a deal with Iran and prospects for reaching one are, at best, tenuous.” Elizabeth Hagedorn has the report on the hearing here. And nonetheless, the slight hedge continues to be that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), …

Al-Arabia – A subtle shift in official US statements suggests Washington believes reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal is better than the alternatives despite the advances in Iran’s nuclear program, diplomatic and other sources said. For months, the Biden administration argued there would soon come a point where the non-proliferation benefits of a revived deal – its ability to limit …

RFL/RE -Colonel Hassan Sayad Khodaei, a shadowy figure in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), was killed by gunmen outside his home in Tehran on May 22. Iranian media described Khodaei as a “defender of the shrine,” which refers to members of the IRGC’s overseas arm, the Quds Force. There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack. But …

Iranwire – In the city of Abadan in Khuzestan province, grief and shock are now giving way to anger. The collapse of the 10-storey Metropol building, the known death toll of which now stands at 14, is regarded as a collective tragedy. Hundreds of people flooded to the scene in Amiri Street within hours of hearing the news that one …

Iranwire – Baha’i woman Saeedeh Khozouei has been released after 44 days in detention, her son reported on Tuesday. Arsalan Yazdani wrote on Twitter that his mother had been released on a temporary bail of two billion tomans (US$66,000). He did not provide any further information as to her health or what had happened during her detention. Ms. Khozouei is the niece …

Iranwire – Iranian celebrities have been implored to stop taking selfies and recording videos at the scene of a fatal building collapse in the city of Abadan. In fewer than 24 hours several celebrities have made the journey to Khuzestan to film themselves in front of the wreckage of the Metropol complex, a vast planned commercial hub where the unfinished …