When Iran’s football team met England at their first match of this World Cup the Iranian players refused to sing the national anthem in support of the ongoing anti-regime protests back home. This act of solidarity and political courage should not be taken lightly since actions like these are met with fierce repercussions against the players themselves or their families …

Al-Arabia – Iran on Monday summoned the German ambassador to protest last week’s UN Human Rights Council decision, based on a resolution co-sponsored by Berlin, to probe Iran’s response to nationwide protests. It is the third time since the demonstrations started more than two months ago that Tehran has called in Berlin’s representative to the Islamic Republic. The nationwide protests …

Al-Arabia -Accusations by the United States that Iran was behind an attack on a tanker in the Gulf of Oman are baseless, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said on Monday. The Liberian-flagged Pacific Zircon was struck by a projectile off the coast of Oman which the US central command identified as an Iranian-made drone.

Al-Arabia – Iran will reject a newly-appointed independent UN investigation into the country’s repression of anti-government protests, the foreign ministry said on Monday, as demonstrations showed no sign of abating.“Iran will have no cooperation with the political committee formed by the UN Rights Council,” ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said. The UN Rights Council voted on Thursday to appoint a probe …

Iranwire – The U.S. football federation has temporarily displayed the Iranian national flag on social media without the emblem of the Islamic Republic, in a show of show solidarity with protesters in Iran. The move came before the United States faces Iran on November 29 in a World Cup match amid decades of enmity between the countries and a nationwide …

Iranwire – “Did you know?” is the title of a series of new IranWire reports. We will collect, analyse, calculate and compare data from reliable sources and will produce an infographic. The aim of these reports is to draw a clear picture of events in Iran.  *** Did you know that the Islamic Republic has suppressed approximately one widespread anti-government protest every four …

Iranwire – Payam Vali is one of the members of Iran’s long persecuted Baha’i religious minority who have been arrested in the country in the past two months. He was taken to custody on September 24 after police raided his home and workplace in the city of Karaj, near Tehran. He was severely beaten by the officers after resisting arrest. During interrogations, …

Iranwire – Supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s ideological influence has affected Iranian athletes in all respects: from mandatory hijab for female athletes and forbidding men and women to shake hands to the prohibition on playing with Israeli athletes and now using the football team for the benefit of the Islamic Republic.  The government’s efforts to create competition between fans of the clubs of …

Iranwire – More than 105 people have been killed in Kurdish towns over the past month, an Iranian MP said Sunday as security forces continue to violently clash with protesters. Jalal Mahmoudzadeh, representing the Kurdish city of Mahabad in the Iranian parliament, also said Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi should be held accountable for the situation in Kurdish areas of Iran. …

VOA – The United Nations children’s agency issued a statement Sunday condemning “the violence and abuse that have reportedly claimed the lives of over 50 children and injured many more during the public unrest in Iran.” The agency said it is “deeply concerned about continued raids and searches conducted in some schools” and said that “schools must always be safe …