Iranwire – Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence has issued a surreal statement in a bid to legitimize the ongoing mass arrests, imprisonments and property confiscations of Baha’is in Iran. More than 100 members of the peaceful religious minority group, including former community leaders, have been targeted in the past few weeks while the authorities have raided at least 52 homes and businesses …

Iranwire – In a program that aired late on Saturday, Iranian state TV broadcast a “confession”  by Sepideh Rashnu, a 28-year-old writer, journalist and editor, and opponent of forced hijab. It is not clear when, where and in what circumstances the short film was recorded. Rashnu was arrested earlier this month, shortly after a video circulated online of her being accosted …

Iranwire – On July 24, the Iranian Campaign to Support the Rights of People with Disabilities shared a disturbing video that showed violent treatment and neglect of people with serious disabilities at a care center in Ahvaz, Khuzestan province. It included footage of a young woman being restrained on the floor half-inside a bathroom stall, a man having a seizure apparently going …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Reza Meraji who was sentenced to qisas for murder, was executed in Shiraz Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, man was executed in Shiraz Central Prison on July 31. His identity has been established as 30-year-old Reza Meraji, who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder after being arrested four years ago. At the time …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Nemat Valipour who was sentenced to qisas for murder, was executed in Sabzevar Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, man was executed in Sabzevar Prison on July 31. His identity has been established as 36-year-old Nemat Valipour, a factory worker who was sentenced to qisas(retribution-in-kind) for murder. Informed sources told Iran Human Rights that Nemat …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Saeed Shehbakhsh and Ziaollah Barahouyi-Yagizehi, two Baluch men sentenced to death for drug-related charges, were executed in Damghan Prison. According to Hal Vash, two Baluch men were executed Damghan Prison on July 29. Their identities have been reported as 35-year-old Ziaollah Barahouyi-Yagizehi and Saeed Shehbakhsh who were sentenced to death for drug-related charges in the …

Al-Monitor – A few days after EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell presented the United States and Iran with a new proposal to salvage the tattered 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran appears ready to talk. “We shared our proposed ideas, both on substance & form, to pave the way for a swift …

Al-Monitor – The Biden administration issued a new round of sanctions Monday targeting the sale of Iranian oil and petrochemical products to East Asia, dialing up the pressure on Iran to resume compliance with the tattered nuclear agreement.  The Treasury Department sanctioned four companies in Hong Kong, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates that it said were used by Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industry …

RFL/RE – The head of Iran’s atomic energy organization, Mohammad Eslami, said on August 1 that the Islamic republic has the technical capability to produce a nuclear bomb but has no intention of doing so, according to the semiofficial Fars news agency. Eslami reiterated comments made last month by Kamal Kharrazi, a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Iran …

Iranwire – Security agents raided and searched the homes of a number of Baha’i citizens across Iran yesterday, 31 July, during which three members of the Baha’i community’s former leadership were also arrested. IranWire first reported the raids and arrests yesterday. The homes and workplaces of several families, including that of Soha Sabeti (Rahmani) and Soraya Manouchehrzadeh (Mishaghi), were raided by agents …