Iranwire – As protests continue across Iran, there are many unanswered questions about how the Islamic Republic trains the police, the riot police, plainclothes agents and interrogators to brutally suppress protests and abuse protesters. This article looks at official studies to try to answer some of the most important. The police, the riot police, officially called “special units”, and plainclothes …

VOA – Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Monday the widespread protests following the death in police custody of a young woman last month are not the actions of “ordinary Iranians” as he accused the United States and Israel of planning the demonstrations. The protests, now in their third week, have been met with a crackdown by police and …

VOA – The United States on Sunday rejected Iranian reports that Tehran’s release of two detained Americans will lead to the unfreezing of Iranian funds abroad. Baquer Namazi, 85, was permitted to leave Iran for medical treatment abroad, and his son Siamak Namazi, 50, was released from detention in Tehran, the United Nations said on Saturday. Now Iran is awaiting …

VOA – Thousands of people gathered in several countries Sunday to condemn Iran’s crackdown on protests in that country that began after the death of a young woman while in police custody. Thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets over the last two weeks to protest the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been detained by …

Iran-HRM – Following the brutal murder of a 22-year-old woman from Kurdistan province, Mahsa Amini massive protests sparked all over Iran and have continued to date spreading to all provinces of Iran. Repressive forces have responded violently attacking protesters with tear gas, firing shotguns, and brutally beating them. The death toll has raised to over 300 and over 15,000 have been arrested. This …

19fortyfive – Through their brave protests, the Iranian people are sending a message to the world: the Islamic Republic is repressive and unreformable. Its fearsome security services are the beating heart of the Iranian establishment. Long overdue were the recent U.S. sanctions on the regime’s Morality Police force, which harasses and detains women for purported immodest dress, and in whose custody twenty-two-year-old Mahsa Amini …

Al-Arabia – Clashes in Iran’s southeast claimed the lives of five members of the Revolutionary Guards, state media reported Sunday, raising the death toll from violent unrest there two days earlier.State media on Friday reported the fighting in Zahedan, capital of Sistan-Baluchestan province, later confirming the deaths of four members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), including two colonels.“With …

Al-Arabia – Iran is awaiting the release of about $7 billion in funds frozen abroad, state media said Sunday, after it allowed an Iranian-American to leave the country and released his son from detention. Baquer Namazi, 85, was permitted to leave Iran for medical treatment abroad, and his son Siamak, 50, was released from detention in Tehran, the United Nations said …

RFL/RE – Iran has threatened retaliation against the United States if it targets drones that Tehran has been using to attack Iraq’s northern Kurdish region. Since September 23, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has been using drones in deadly attacks targeting the capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, Irbil, and the eastern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah. Mohammad Bagheri, chief …

In the two weeks since the Iranian people have been protesting the murder of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody, social media users have repeatedly warned that security forces have used ambulances to arrest and transport protestors. Several videos have been published that show ambulances standing in line in front of detention centers and police stations, or other facilities that …