Al-Monitor – Turkey and Iran agreed to increase cooperation on Syria on Tuesday amid an ongoing thaw between Ankara and Damascus. Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, during his visit to Ankara.  Speaking after the meeting, Cavusoglu said they discussed several bilateral issues and regional developments, including the latest rapprochement between …

RFL/RE – Some 12,000 of members of the Iranian diaspora met from all over Europe on January 16 in the EU Parliament host city of Strasbourg to urge the bloc to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terror group. Pressure is growing among opposition exiles and activists for the EU and Britain follow the United States and …

Iranwire – An Iranian court has sentenced journalist Alireza Khoshbakht to six years in prison, her mother says, amid a brutal crackdown on nationwide protests and the media in the country. Zahra Mohammadi tweeted on January 17 that Khoshbakht was handed five years on the charge of “collusion with the intention of committing a crime” and one year for “spreading …

Iranwire – Elaheh Tavakolian is one of hundreds of Iranians who sustained severe eye injuries after being hit by pellets, tear gas cannisters, paintballs or other objects fired by security forces amid a brutal crackdown on anti-government demonstrations. Tavakolian, a PDH student, says she was struck by several pellets during a recent protest and that she lost sight in one …

Iranwire – Iranian authorities have arrested at least 96 ethnic Kurds during the first 15 days of the year, activists say, as the Islamic Republic tries to suppress the anti-government protest movement that has rocked the country for four months. Hengaw, a Norway-based group that monitors rights violations in Iran’s Kurdish regions, says those arrested included 13 children and five …

Iranwire – An Iranian student and political activist who has recently been released from custody last week described the living conditions in the prison where she was incarcerated as “horrific.” Leila Hosseinzadeh is among more than 18,000 Iranians who have been detained in connection with the anti-government protests that have swept Iran over the past four months. Hosseinzadeh was released …

VOA – Iranian American Siamak Namazi has launched a seven-day hunger strike to call attention to his continued detention in Iran, while calling on U.S. President Joe Biden to bring home all Americans jailed in Iran. Namazi was arrested in 2015 and convicted of what the United States and the United Nations said were false spying charges. His appeal Monday …

Iran-HRM – Saleh Mirhashemi Baltaghi, a 36-year-old karate champion and bodybuilding instructor from Isfahan, was arrested during nationwide protests on November 16, 2022. The Iranian Judiciary sentenced him to Moharebeh (War on God) and death. Saleh Mirhashemi was born in 1986 and has a 4th Degree Black Belt in Karate. Saleh Mirhashemi had just begun his joint life with his …

VOA – The American and Sydney Pen Associations have issued a joint statement calling for the release of Ali Asadollahi, an Iranian poet, and other writers imprisoned in Iran. “Asadollahi has been an inspiring and leading poet of his generation,”the statement said, and his work has been translated into English, Italian and French. Ali Asadollahi, who is also a literary …

VOA – Syria and key ally Iran agreed Saturday to renew an economic strategic arrangement between the two countries as Damascus prepares to welcome Iran’s president in the near future. Since Syria’s uprising turned into civil conflict in 2011, Tehran has sent thousands of Iran-backed fighters to help President Bashar Assad stay in power amid fighting that killed hundreds of …