RFL/RE – Iran has summoned the Italian ambassador to protest what it called “interventionist” policies, the Foreign Ministry said late on December 29, a day after Rome called in Tehran’s envoy over its harsh response to nationwide protests. Tehran summoned Italy’s Giuseppe Perrone to protest “the continuation of the interventionist statements and actions of some Italian officials in the internal …

Iranwire – The Sunni Friday prayer leader of the eastern Iranian city of Zahedan has urged the country’s Shia clerical leaders to respect the rights of all religious minorities and to stop accusing members of Iran’s persecuted Baha’i religious community withapostasy. Molavi Abdolhamid, Iran’s most prominent Sunni cleric, has repeatedly criticized the Islamic Republic’s harsh response to an ongoing wave …

Iranwire – Farzad Marzbani, 24, studied mechanics at Tehran’s Payam Noor University and worked in a company with one of his professors until he was taken into custody three months ago. Marzbani was stopped at a police checkpoint on September 28 while he was carrying his working equipment and tools in the trunk of his car. He was sentenced to three …

Iranwire – Iran’s military has kicked of naval, air, and ground exercises in the coastal area of the Gulf of Oman and near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, state media report. Commandos and airborne infantry will take part in the drills, along with submarines, drones, fighter jets, helicopters transport aircraft and air defense systems, state TV said on December 30. …

Iranwire- Iranian women have been at the forefront of the nationwide protest movement triggered by the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of morally police. Many of them are among the thousands of victims of the brutal state crackdown on the demonstrations calling for more freedoms and women’s rights. Nearly 500 people have been killed and more …

Iran-HRM – Sajjad Pirfalak, the uncle of Kian Pirfalak, wrote on his Instagram that they would not accept any “fake or unreal narrative about Kian’s murder.” Kian Pirfalak, 9, was killed by security forces on November 16, 2022, as he and his family passed in a car. Kian’s mother said she saw the security forces and plainclothes agents who ordered …

Al-Monitor – The Iranian government named a new governor for the country’s central bank, and arrested 96 currency brokers in an attempt to halt unprecedented plummeting of the national currency.   Following a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Thursday, Mohammad-Reza Farzin replaced former central bank governor Ali Saleh-Abadi, who resigned from his post following weeks of pressure.    According to the state-run …

Al-Arabia – Israel has improved its readiness to attack Iran, outgoing Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on Wednesday as he cited preparations that the military is making to hit nuclear sites. Speaking at an Air Force graduation ceremony, Gantz said that pilots may one day be called upon to take part in such an offensive. “You may cross the sky …

Iranwire – Alireza Hosseini, 28, died after being hit by a stray of bullets fired by security forces on September 23 during a street protest in Eslamshahr, Tehran Province. This report tells Hosseini’s story through the eyes of an eyewitness who spoke to IranWire. This witness spent three weeks looking for the victim’s family before finally meeting with his father. …

Iranwire – On December 27, 1981, six Iranian Baha’is, seven men and one woman, who had been sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court, were executed. They were charged with being members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Iran. The eight had been tried behind closed doors and without access to any lawyer, even a public defender, …