RFL/RE – Iranian authorities have arrested a niece of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after she recorded a video describing the authorities led by her uncle as a “murderous and child-killing regime.” Farideh Moradkhani comes from a branch of the family that has a record of opposition to Iran’s clerical leadership and has herself been jailed previously in the country. …

Iranwire – Iranian police have arrested sports journalist Mehdi Amirpour and moved him to the notorious Evin prison, the reporter’s wife said on Saturday.  Security forces raided Amirpour’s house at 2 am on Sunday, confiscated his electronic devices and arrested him after he posted about Iranian athletes’ support for the ongoing protests on his social media accounts.  With the 2022 World Cup in …

Iranwire – In a speech on November 22, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised the Basij paramilitary force for their key role in the bloody crackdown on antigovernment demonstrations, and urged them to keep their morale “high” as the more than two-month-old protest movement showed no sign of easing. Addressing Basij militiamen and their commanders, Khamenei ended his one-hour …

Iranwire – Iranian authorities have indicted rapper Toomaj Salehi with “corruption on earth” and “enmity against God,” two charges that carry death sentences, his Twitter account says. Salehi, who has criticized the Islamic Republic through his lyrics, was arrested nearly a month ago amid a wave of nationwide protests against the clerical regime. Salehi was informed of the charges against …

gatestoneinstitute.org – The new enrichment program is taking place in the Fordo nuclear center which, built deep underground, is supposed to be immune from possible air strikes. As on the eight previous occasions when this trick was used, Tehran’s message is addressed to Western powers, notably the United States: resume the nuclear talks or else! The mullahs played that trick …

VOA – An Iranian bank manager who served an unveiled woman has been fired, local media reported on Sunday, as demonstrations triggered by the mandatory head covering rule shake the Islamic republic. Women in the country of more than 80 million people are required to cover their heads, necks and hair, a law enforced by the country’s morality police. The …

VOA – Prominent Iranian dissident Hossein Ronaghi and former national soccer team player Voria Ghafouri have been released on bail, according to Iran state media Saturday. The two are among the dozens of prominent rights activists, journalists and lawyers who have been arrested amid Iran’s crackdown on protests that were ignited by the death of Mahsa Amini. Amini, a 22-year-old …

Al-Arabia – Engaging in negotiations with the US will not solve Tehran’s issues with Washington, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Saturday. Khamenei criticized voices calling for talks with the US to help ease the pressure on Tehran amid the ongoing protests. “Some people claim to have political understanding, but their analyzes in newspapers and online really make one …

Al-Arabia – Iran’s political turmoil cast a shadow also over Iran’s second match at the World Cup on Friday, with pro-government fans harassing anti-government fans outside the stadium in Qatar. Unlike in their first match against England, the Iran players sang along to their national anthem before the match against Wales as some fans in the stadium wept. Some Iran …

RFL/RE – Hackers have disrupted the work of Iran’s Fars news agency, one of the main sources of news disseminated by the state during protests over the death of a young woman in police custody in September, the agency said. Fars said its website had been disrupted late on November 25 by a “complex hacking and cyberattack operation…Removing possible bugs…may …