Shabtabnews – US state department in its annual Report on International Religious Freedom in Iran, once again highlighted Iranian Regime’s oppression of religious minorities especially towards the Bahai’s, Sufis and other religious minorities group. The report also highlighted The U.S. government continued call publicly and in multilateral forums for the Iranian government to respect religious freedom and continued to condemn …

Al-Arabia – The US will join European powers to submit a resolution calling on Iran to “fully cooperate” with the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a State Department official said Thursday. “We can confirm that we plan to join the UK, France and Germany in seeking a resolution to focus on the need for Iran to fully cooperate with the IAEA,” …

RFL/RE – Scores of Iranian filmmakers and artists who penned an open letter in support of anti-government protesters have been threatened by authorities, with some rescinding their signatures. The May 29 open letter came as residents of Iran’s southwestern city of Abadan staged rallies over the collapse of a 10-story building that killed at least 39 people.Authorities blamed the May …

RFL/RE – Tehran has threatened to punish Iranians who worked on the film Holy Spider, a movie inspired by the true story of an Iranian construction worker who killed 16 sex workers as part of an “Islamic cleansing of society.” Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Mehdi Ismaili said on June 2 that the film, directed by Danish-Iranian …

RFL/RE – The Writers’ Association of Iran and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have expressed concern over the arrest of poet and journalist Arash Ghaleh-Golab during a protest over the recent collapse of a building in the Iranian port city of Abadan that left at least 39 people dead. According to a statement from the Writers’ Association, Ghaleh-Golab was …

Al-Monitor – Iran hit out at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) after the latter underscored the need to tackle Tehran’s missile program and its regional activities as major challenges to regional security.   “At a moment that the [Gulf Cooperation] Council is serving as an arsenal for American and Western arms, it is in no position to make any comments on …

Al-Monitor – An Iranian official is calling out the United States for racism after a report on Black employees leaving the White House.  What happened: The US news outlet Politico reported on May 31 that at least 21 Black staffers have left the White House since late 2021 or are planning to leave. The employees noted a lack of support from their superiors …

RFL/RE – A prominent Iranian human rights advocate, Narges Mohammadi, and photojournalist Alieh Motalebzadeh have received death threats while in prison amid a worsening situation for political prisoners on the whole, a lawyer for one of the two women said. Mostafa Nili, Mohammadi’s lawyer, told Emtedad in an interview on May 31 that a prisoner convicted of murder in Qarchak …

RFL/RE – Iran’s currency, the rial, has continued to weaken as unrest in the country grows over an economy in shambles due to the effects of U.S. sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program. The value of one U.S. dollar rose on June 1 to as high as 31,500 rials, compared with 28,150 rials a month before, according to the foreign-exchange site …

Iranwire – For three days now, Iran’s conservatives and state-aligned media have been engaged in a relentless attack on Ali Abbasi’s 2022 film Holy Spider. The movie was scarcely on anyone’s radar before last week, when it received a standing ovation at Cannes, followed by the female lead Zar Amir Ebrahimi scooping the Best Actress award on Sunday. This was …