Al-Monitor – Iran has reportedly registered its first import order purchased via cryptocurrency.  The Iranian news outlet Tasnim reported today that the crypto amount is worth $10 million.  The outlet left out numerous details on the order, including what the order is for and from whom, plus which cryptocurrency was used.  Cryptocurrencies will be used widely in Iran for foreign trade, according …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said he expects all parties to the Iran nuclear deal to demonstrate “seriousness” in restoring the accord. Amir-Abdollahian was speaking with EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell after diplomats wrapped up their latest round of talks in Vienna on Monday. Iran and the United States had engaged in indirect talks mediated by the European Union on a …

RFL/RE – A Russian rocket successfully launched an Iranian satellite into space on August 9 amid accusations that Moscow might use it to improve its surveillance of military targets in Ukraine. The remote sensing satellite, called Khayyam, was launched by a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in southern Kazakhstan, at 08:52 a.m. Moscow time on August 9, according …

RFL/RE – Iranian labor rights activist Narges Mansouri has not been released from prison despite her family having paid bail she was granted for temporary release, the watchdog Iran Human Rights says. Iran Human Rights said a court six weeks ago granted Mansouri bail of 400 million tomans for her temporary release, and her family provided the amount and completed the registration …

Iranwire – On August 3, around 200 agents from various government agencies raided the village of Roshankouh, near Sari, the provincial capital of Mazandaran, and destroyed six homes belonging to Baha’i villagers. Human rights organizations reported that agents had gathered the villagers in one place, confiscated their mobile phones so that they could not take pictures or film the events; …

Iranwire – Despite earlier promises to the contrary, English Premier League football matches were not shown on Iranian TV this weekend due to a last-minute decision by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. Fans waiting to watch Fulham v Liverpool on Friday, or Manchester United v Brighton on Saturday, were left staring at alternative coverage on the IRIB’s TV3 and Varzesh …

Iran-HRM – Political prisoner Maryam Akbari Monfared has reacted in an open letter to the recent remarks of Hossein Mousavi Tabrizi, chief prosecutor of the Revolutionary Courts during the 1980s, about the execution of political prisoners in 1988. Responding to why complaints about the extrajudicial executions in 1988 have not been followed up in Iran Mousavi Tabrizi recently claimed in …

VOA – The European Union on Monday said it put forward a “final” text to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal as four days of indirect talks between U.S. and Iranian officials wrapped up in Vienna. “What can be negotiated has been negotiated, and it’s now in a final text. However, behind every technical issue and every paragraph lies a …

Al-Monitor – Negotiations in Vienna to revive the nuclear agreement to reduce Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for US sanctions relief have made slow progress in the last week. The current round of talks ended today, and Iran’s negotiators have returned to Tehran to conduct consultations.  A senior Iranian nuclear negotiator told Iranian reporters that the proposals discussed “require comprehensive review.” The …

Shabtabnews – IOPHR in a open letter, to the Deputy Commissioner of the European Commission and High Representative of the European Union in Foreign Policy and Security Affairs, requested that any agreement with the ruling regime of Iran be firmly conditional on the regime’s strict compliance with international human rights standards. The letter stated that such conditionality is a necessity …