CHRI – An Iranian-born Swedish citizen and dissident, Habib Farajollah Chaab, who was reportedly lured to Turkey by Islamic Republic agents and then forcibly taken to Iran in 2020, is at risk of being executed after the Iranian Supreme Court upheld his death sentence. “Chaab was a hostage from the moment he was abducted and taken to Iran against his …

RFL/RE — Dozens of Iranian students across the country say they have been banned from entering their universities after they protested the suspected poisoning of pupils that has hospitalized scores, mainly schoolgirls. According to the United Students Telegram channel, at least 40 students at the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences and 30 students at Tehran’s Allameh University have been denied entrance to …

RFL/RE – Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who is visiting Iran, met on March 13 with President Ebrahim Raisi, state news agency BelTA reported. The two signed a roadmap agreement on bilateral cooperation for the next three years, BelTA said. Belarus is not a direct participant in the war in Ukraine, but it has provided logistical support to Russia for the …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Judiciary has announced the confirmation of death sentence for Habib Farajollah Chaab, better known as Habib Asyoud, increasing the risk of his imminent execution. The Swedish-Iranian dual national was kidnapped from Turkey by Islamic Republic forces in collaboration with international drug gangs in October 2020 and taken to Iran. Expressing …

Al-Monitor — Turkey’s Deputy Foreign Minister Burak Akcapar and his Syrian counterpart Ayman Susan will meet in Moscow on Wednesday for two days as part of efforts to advance the Ankara-Damascus thaw, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu News agency reported on Monday.  The two-day talks will be hosted by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov. The Iranian side will be represented by  Ali-Ashgar …

Al-Arabia – Iran has announced more than 100 arrests nationwide over the mystery poisonings of thousands of schoolgirls, charging that the unidentified alleged perpetrators may have links with “hostile” groups. In the wave of cases since late November, schoolgirls have suffered fainting, nausea, shortness of breath and other symptoms after reporting “unpleasant” odors on school premises, with some being treated …

RFL/RE – At least five people were killed and two more injured when an explosion tore through a residential building in Tabriz, in western Iran, early on March 12. The blast, which occurred at around 3 a.m. local time, damaged three buildings and affected around 20 apartments, according to firefighters quoted by the Fars news agency. There has been no …

RFL.RE – The co-leader of Germany’s ruling Social Democrats, Lars Klingbeil, has slammed Tehran over the sentencing of a young student and called for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to be placed on the European Union’s terror list. The German politician said he was deeply shocked by the sentence against Samaneh Asghari, a young engineering student, who he said …

justthenews – China shocked the world this week with the surprise announcement that it had brokered a deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to resume normal diplomatic relations, dealing a significant blow to U.S. interests in the region. The arrangement marked the latest is a string of ever-bolder moves by Beijing to further its aim of global hegemony at the …

RFL/RE – Iran’s hard-line judiciary says its Supreme Court has upheld a death sentence against a Swedish-Iranian dissident who went missing from a Turkish airport two years ago before turning up in Iranian custody accused of terrorism. The defendant, Habib Chaab, a founder and former leader of a separatist group called the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz …