RFL/RE – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has fired on the headquarters of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in northern Iraq, the latest in a series of attacks as Tehran accuses them of fomenting a wave of unrest inside the Islamic republic. At least one person was reported killed in the attack late on November 20 that hit buildings of Kurdish …

Iranwire – Iranian armed forces arrested dozens of protesting university students in a mainly Kurdish city last week, amid a hardening of the authorities’ response to nationwide demonstrations. Security and intelligence agencies raided a dormitory of the University of Razi in the western city of Kermanshah, and beat up students before taking them away, sources told IranWire on November 22. …

Iranwire – Azerbaijan’s State Security Service (DTX) announced last week it had busted an Iranian spy network and arrested five Azerbaijani citizen on charges of treason. The five alleged spies had been gathering information about the Azerbaijani military, including its drones, and the country’s energy infrastructure. At least two of the suspects had received religious training in Iran. The announcement …

Iranwire – Iranian authorities have shut down a newspaper that published an op-ed by a University of Tehran professor, and banned another reporter from practicing their profession, in a continued crackdown against media workers. The offending article, by Sadegh Zibakalam, an outspoken academic, had voiced criticism of the government’s crackdown on the recent nationwide protests. Mizan news agency, affiliated with the hardline judiciary, announced that …

Iranwire – Iranian authorities have arrested a member of Iran’s long persecuted Baha’i religious minority amid an intensified crackdown on the faith, IranWire reports.  Sanaz Tafazuli was driving in her car in the eastern city of Mashhad on November 22 when she was apprehended by intelligence officers who confiscated her electronic devices and religious books. Tafazuli was taken to an …

VOA – Iran has begun producing enriched uranium at 60% purity at the country’s underground Fordo nuclear plant, official media reported Tuesday, describing it as a response to a resolution by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog. The step was seen as a significant addition to the country’s nuclear program. Enrichment to 60% purity is one short, technical step away from …

VOA – On day two of the World Cup in Qatar, Iran’s turmoil from a two-month long protest movement against Islamist rule was apparent among Iranian fans in the stadium as their men’s football team slumped to a 6-2 loss to England. A VOA Persian reporter who was at Monday’s first match of the tournament for Iran and England at …

CHRI – With Iranian security forces launching a massive assault on protesters in Kurdish-populated cities in Iran, and mounting deaths being reported, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) calls on the UN and governments worldwide to urgently communicate to the Islamic Republic that the continued use of lethal force against unarmed protesters will result in intense and coordinated …

CHRI – In a joint statement obtained by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) and translated into English, 21 Iranian human rights lawyers have called on UN officials and agencies to take immediate steps to end child killings in Iran, where at least 50 children have been killed since September 2022, when state forces began deploying lethal force …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s main motion picture association, publicly known as the House of Cinema, has compiled a list of more than 100 media personalities, including cinema, theater and music artists, who have been detained, banned from working or leaving the country, and deprived of their ongoing contracts due to online activities in support of protests or personally joining the rallies. Speaking to …