Iranwire – Iranian security forces have arrested a blogger who had shared posts about a wave of poisonings at girls’ schools, local media report. Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), said the influencer’s Instagram page was blocked and all the posts were deleted following the arrest on March 9. It did not disclose …

Iranwire – “God, God: Save Khomeini until Mahdi comes / Take from our lives and add it to the Leader’s life!” Those like me who spent their childhoods in Iran in the 1980s remember this slogan well. Every morning, schoolchildren had to line up like in army barracks and chant this slogan loudly. And if their voices were not loud …

VOA – A U.S. citizen imprisoned by Iran on spying charges the United States rejects as baseless gave a rare interview from Tehran’s Evin prison on Thursday beseeching U.S. President Joe Biden to secure his release and that of two other American nationals. “I implore you, sir, to put the lives and liberty of innocent Americans above all the politics …

Al-Monitor – Saudi Arabia and Iran have agreed to resume diplomatic relations. The two countries will also re-establish their embassies in each other’s countries, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.  The agreement was made in China following days of negotiations. It was signed by Saudi national security adviser Musaed Al-Aiban. head of Iran’s National Security Council Ali Shamkhani, and a Chinese …

Al-Monitor – By boycotting a foreign policy conference in New Delhi in February, Iran’s foreign minister may have made latent contradictions in the Indo-Iranian equation even more obvious.   Hossein Amir-Abdollahian suddenly signaled his displeasure over a promotional video shared by the hosts of the Raisina Dialogue and cancelled his trip set for this week. The annual event organized by the Observer Research Foundation …

RFL/RE – The United States and Europe’s top powers on March 8 expressed alarm at Iran having produced a small amount of uranium enriched to 84 percent purity — close to weapons grade — and said Iran must explain how it happened. The UN nuclear watchdog found uranium particles enriched to up to 83.7 percent at Fordow, a site dug …

Iranwire – Demonstrators returned to the streets across Iran on International Women’s Day amid nearly six months of nationwide protests against a clerical establishment that have deprived women of their most basic rights. The protesters demanded more freedoms and women’s rights and voiced anger and frustration about the authorities’ belated response to the poisoning of hundreds of schoolgirls since the end …

Iranwire – Global freedoms declined for a 17th consecutive year in 2022, but ongoing protests against repression in Iran and other authoritarian countries show that people’s desire for freedom is enduring and that no setback should be regarded as permanent, a US human rights watchdog says. “Recent events in Iran are another reminder that millions of people are willing to …

Iranwire – Prominent Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi has urged women to take to the streets across the country on International Women’s Day to demand their basic rights be respected, amid more than five months of nationwide protests demanding fundamental economic, social and political reforms. “On Women’s Day, conquer the street with female symbols,” Mohammadi said in a message on March 8 from Tehran’s …

VOA – The U.S. State Department Wednesday honored women and girls who have led protests in Iran as it gave out its International Women of Courage awards. In addition to 11 individuals honored at the White House ceremony, this year the State Department announced a new group award named after former Secretary of State Madeline Albright. “In every region, there …