CHRI – The announced pardons and sentence reductions for tens of thousands of people charged or prosecuted for taking part in the protests that have swept Iran over the last four months, issued at the behest of the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on February 4, 2023, are a political ploy aimed at covering up vast and blatant violations of human …

Al-Monitor — The Iranian government presented to parliament this month a swollen budget bill for the next Persian year, starting in March 2023. While the draft plan envisages huge boosts of up to 50% in security, intelligence and media spending, the share of tackling air pollution is reduced to half from roughly $8 million to $4 million.   The cut specifically targets the …

Al-Arabia – Opponents of Iran’s regime are urging foreign ambassadors to boycott an annual celebration of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Tehran, with a hashtag campaign led by individuals who have lost family members to the regime. The event, reportedly taking place on Thursday, involves meeting with Iranian officials, including the president, to celebrate the anniversary of the 1979 revolution …

ecfr – A revolution is under way in Iran. A revolution started by women who have managed to win over almost the entire nation to their cause. They fight fearlessly for freedom and against the terror of the Islamic regime, which has oppressed the largely secular population for 44 years now. Freedom or terror – this is what the Iranian revolution is about. The …

RFL/RE – Opposition figure Mir Hossein Musavi has called for the “fundamental transformation” of Iran’s theocratic political system as anti-regime protests continue to rage across the country. In a statement on February 4, the 80-year-old called for a “free” referendum and the drafting of a new constitution. Musavi, a former prime minister who has been under house arrest since 2011, added that …

Iranwire – A prominent Iranian sports journalist who has been sentenced to 18 years in prison was released from detention, his wife says. “Ehsan Pirbornash was released today, Wednesday…He could make it to Kyan’s birthday,” Behnaz Mirmotaharian tweeted, in reference to their son. She has also posted a video of Kyan waiting for his father. It was not immediately clear …

Iranwire – The health of a French-Irish national imprisoned in Iran for more than four months is “getting worse,” with his eyesight starting to fail, his sister says. Bernard Phélan “can’t see clearly anymore,” after cornea surgery last year, Caroline Masse-Phélan said in a written statement to AFP news agency on February 7. Phélan, who suspended a dry hunger strike …

Iranwire – Despite threats and crackdowns by the government of the Islamic Republic in the 43 years since the 1979 revolution, protests by teachers and workers have never stopped, even though the authorities have prevented them from creating independent trade associations and pursuing their demands. Many labor activists and teachers have been sentenced to long prison terms, expulsion, exile and …

Iranwire – Iran and Russia have not been invited to send an official delegation to this year’s annual Munich Security Conference, which is to be attended by figures from the Iranian and Russian opposition instead. The event, a leading international forum for the discussion of global military and security issues, is set to take place in the German city on …

CHRI – More than four months into the Islamic Republic’s violent suppression of nationwide protests in Iran, in which hundreds have been killed in the streets by state security forces and scores sentenced to death, governments worldwide can and must take urgent actions to signal to the authorities in Iran that their violent repression will carry onerous costs, states a …