Iranwire – The office of a prominent Iranian Sunni cleric who has been missing for four months accused the Islamic Republic of hypocrisy, saying that it is organizing rallies in support of the Palestinians while cracking down on its own people. A statement published by Molavi Abdulghaffar Naqshbandi’s office called the state-sanctioned annual rallies marking Quds (Jerusalem) Day on April 14 a …

Iranwire – Iran’s Premier League football club Malavan Bandar Anzali FC says the national football federation has rejected its request to host female fans in its stadium for a match against Tractor FC on April 15. The club of Bandar Anzali, in northern Iran, apologized to its female fans on April 14 for their continued exclusion from Sirous Ghayeghran stadium.  …

Iranwire – Iran’s most prominent Sunni cleric again used his Friday sermon to preach religious tolerance and to criticize the policies of the country’s Shia leadership, amid popular calls for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. The ideologies of those “closed-minded individuals who hold positions of power” have “hindered progress and led to irrational decisions,” Molavi Abdulhamid, the Sunni Friday …

Iranwire – Iranian lawyers are challenging the authorities’ claim that removing hijab in public, including in private cars, is a “crime” that should be punished, amid heated debate over mandatory headscarf rules. All women in Iran must conceal their hair with a headscarf and wear loose fitting trousers under their coats while in public. But a growing number of women …

VOA —Iran’s president on Friday delivered an unprecedented speech to an annual pro-Palestinian rally in the Gaza Strip — a rare display of Iran’s importance to the Hamas militant group that rules the territory. Speaking virtually to hundreds of supporters of Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group gathered at a soccer stadium in Gaza City, Iran’s President Ebrahim …

Al-Monitor – Beijing hosted this month the first formal meeting of the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia in more than seven years. The diplomatic breakthrough is certainly welcome news and opens opportunities in the region. However, this deal rests on many recent unexpected geopolitical developments that have created shifting strategic perceptions and conditions for both Saudi Arabia and Iran to come …

Al-Monitor – Israel’s National Cyber Directorate announced Friday afternoon that it had identified and blocked several attacks on websites of Israeli banks. The directorate explained the attackers tried to overwhelm the sites and make them crash. “Thanks to the banks’ strong cyberdefenses, the websites continue to be live and operational, barring the occasional interruptions,” noted a statement by the directorate, explaining that the attacks …

Shabtabnews – In an open letter the International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights (IOPHR) on the 50th day Mr. Vahid Beheshti’s hunger strike  urged “the UK Government to implement the views of a large section of the general public who are endangered by the threats posed by the IRGC, and also the views of the majority of MPs, who on …

Iranwire – An Iranian academic group says more than 400 students have been suspended or expelled in the wake of recent nationwide protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last September while being held for allegedly violating the strict Islamic dress code for women. The Union Council of Iranian Students said on April 13 that 435 students had …

Iranwire – The Bahramian family from the city of Semirom, in the central Iranian province of Isfahan, has faced increasing pressure from security agencies for months. One of its members, Morad, was killed by security forces during protests in the city in mid-November. His brother Fazel has not been officially charged since he was taken into custody on January 1, …