RFL/RE – Iran’s leading reformist coalition has called for the release of prominent reformist politician Mostafa Tajzadeh, who was arrested last month over accusations of undermining national security. In an open letter to the judiciary, Behzad Nabavi, head of the Reform of Iran coalition, called for Tajzadeh’s case to be “examined in an open court session” by an “impartial” prosecutor. …

gatestoneinstitute.org – “If only more people could follow his example, instead of taking the path of appeasement in the name of cultural sensitivity, the long years of murder and mayhem wrought by the Islamists on the West might come to an end.” — Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Unherd, August 7, 2022. [A] terrible and different reality: the fatwa is gaining ground… Islamic …

Iran-HRM – With the re-emergence of COVID-19 in Iran, the number of prisoners suffering from this disease has also increased. Many political prisoners infected with COVID-19 are deprived of proper treatment. The poor and unsanitary conditions of prisons, the lack of health and medical facilities, and the overpopulation of prisons have all helped in spreading the infectious disease. In addition …

RFL/RE – Iranian security officials have stepped up their pressure on filmmakers who signed a recent statement against state repression to force them to rescind their signatures. In case of refusal, the filmmakers have been warned they could be blacklisted and banned from making films in the Islamic republic. A blacklist is due to be released next week, officials have …

RFL/RE – The lawyer for jailed journalist Keyvan Samimi says his client faces new charges on top of those filed against him for attending a protest rally in May 2019. Samimi, a member of the Religious Nationalists Council, was on temporary medical release when he was summoned to the Evin court on May 18 and subsequently sent to the Semnan prison.Lawyer Mustafa …

Iranwire- The following report is based on a series of testimonies collated by a citizen journalist in Iran from current inmates at Rajaei Shahr Prison in Karaj. Formerly known as Gohardasht, the facility was the site of the documented massacre of hundreds of political detainees in 1988, for which the ex-prison official Hamid Nouri was recently convicted in Sweden. Iran’s current president, …

Iranwire – The Baha’i International Community (BIC) today reported news of an effort to incriminate the Baha’is in Iran through a staged video production, filmed in a kindergarten, designed to produce proaganda footage that would show Baha’is teaching their religion in educational establishments. On 31 July, according to the latest BIC statement, and the same day that intelligence agents were invading …

Iranwire – The city of Urmia in West Azerbaijan province has become the latest to report chronic water supply problems after recent extreme weather in Iran. Earlier this week citizens of Shahrekord in Charmahal and Bakhtiari province protested outside the governor’s office after piped water was cut off for nine days straight. Local officials said a pipeline from the Koohrang spring had been temporarily …

gatestoneinstitute.org – Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was reportedly the second target of the Iranian regime. The IRGC member reportedly offered $1 million for his murder. The Biden administration remains silent and evidently continues to see “diplomacy” — read: appeasement — as the only path to deal with the Iranian regime. “I continue to believe, Biden said on …

Al-Monitor – The buzz is that the parties may be close to an agreement to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).  So close that Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid sent a message to the White House to walk away from the negotiations and avoid concessions above and beyond the original 2015 agreement.   On Aug. 8, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell clarified …