Iran-HRM – Arshia Takdastan is an 18-year-old citizen from Nowshahr, north of Iran. Arshia was born on June 13, 2004. He was accepted to the national entrance exam in electronic engineering and was scheduled to go to university from September 24, 2022. But the Revolutionary Guards-IRGC’s intelligence agents arrested him on their way to class at Nowshahr’s Azadi Square. Iran’s …

CHRI – The UN Fact-Finding Mission should investigate the suspicious deaths of a number of recently released detained protesters, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said in a statement today, which Iranian authorities have labelled “suicides” despite significant evidence indicating otherwise. “We are seeing a number of suspicious deaths of released detainees who were clearly tortured while in state custody, …

Al-Monitor – Chinese hacking group Playful Taurus aimed cyber attacks at Iranian government platforms from July to December of 2022, according to a report published Wednesday by American cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks. The company’s analysis suggests that four entities of the Iranian government’s infrastructure have been compromised by what is known as an advanced persistent threat (APT), or cyberattack campaign with the goal to mine …

Al-Arabia – Iran’s armed forces general staff, which coordinates activities between its conventional army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), warned the European Union on Thursday not to list the elite force as a terrorist entity, state media reported. On Wednesday, the European Parliament called for the EU to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization, blaming it for …

RFL/RE – An Iranian man has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for decapitating his wife and displaying her head in public in a so-called “honor killing.” Mona Heidari, 17, was killed last year in February by her husband, Sajjad Heidarnava, and his brother Heydar in Ahvaz, the capital of the southwestern Khuzestan province.After the gruesome killing, video footage …

Iranwire – The Iranian government says the Islamic Republic will take “reciprocal measures” if the European lists the powerful Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, after the European Parliament called for such a move amid a bloody crackdown on anti-government demonstrations. “It is necessary to respect mutual security in the world of diplomacy and increase mutual trust instead …

Iranwire – Iranian authorities have reportedly moved the family of a 16-year-old girl who fell into a coma in November after allegedly being beaten by security officers to a place under their supervision. The Kurdpa news agency reported on January 17 that Hasti Hossein Panahi and her family were taken from their home in the village of Qoruchai to an …

Iranwire – The recent execution of Alireza Akbari, a former deputy defense minister and an Iranian-British dual national, gave way to reports that Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), was about to resign. The council has denied such reports. Shamkhani was appointed to the post in 2013, and his tenure coincided with one of the most turbulent times for …

Iranwire – Amid growing international condemnation of Iran’s execution of protesters, the UN human rights chief has accused the Iranian government of using the death penalty to “punish” demonstrators and “strike fear” into the population. “The weaponization of criminal procedures to punish people for exercising their basic rights – such as those participating in or organizing demonstrations – amounts to …

VOA – London-based commodity markets data company Kpler tells VOA it believes Iran recorded a big increase in energy exports last year, even as the United States continued its policy of demanding a global ban on Iranian oil sales. In a phone interview from Paris on Wednesday, Kpler senior oil analyst Homayoun Falakshahi said the company estimates that Iran’s average …