Iranwire – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has fined Iran’s football federation $300,000 over fraudulent practices in the issuance of professional licenses to clubs, Iranian officials say. The AFC’s Disciplinary and Ethics Committee has sent a letter to the Islamic Republic’s football federation to inform it of the decision. “We had time to respond until yesterday, which we did. But …

Iranwire – Iranian intelligence forces have launched a wave of house searches against Baha’is in the southern city of Kerman in an apparent escalation of recent crackdowns by the authorities on the Baha’i community. Kerman Intelligence Department agents searched the homes of Nasrin Dowlat and Hedayat Hakimian on Thursday, seizing their electronic devices, including mobile phones, laptops, and tablets, without …

Iranwire – On April 9, while the Islamic Republic continued to harass and suppress Iranian women over their defiance of forced hijab, the Iranian parliament approved the general outlines of a draft bill called “Preventing harm to women and improving their safety against maltreatment.” The bill was initiated around 12 years ago and was repeatedly sent back and forth between …

Iranwire – Flooding caused by torrential rains cut roads in the western Iranian province of Lorestan and triggered the evacuation of residents living around a dam on April 13. The flooding waters broke the gates of the Kamandan dam in the city of Azna, pushing the authorities to move nomads living around the structure and residents of Kamandan village to …

Iranwire – Prominent Iranian political prisoner Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraei has been sentenced to seven years in prison and banned from leaving the country for two years on charges of “gathering and collusion” and “propaganda against the regime.” On April 13, the Tehran Revolutionary Court also banned Iraei from staying in Tehran after her release and from joining political parties or …

VOA – Iran has seen renewed poisonings of schoolchildren around the country in the first seven school days of the new Persian year after a holiday hiatus, leaving many Iranians angered but no closer to knowing who is behind the poisonings and why. In the latest poisonings that have mostly affected Iranian girls’ schools, VOA’s Persian service observed credible reports of incidents …

Al-Monitor — Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian stressed regional cooperation in restoring peace to Afghanistan, as he met in Uzbekistan with counterparts from China, Russia and Pakistan for the latest security situation under the Taliban. During the four-way meeting with China’s Qin Gang, Russia’s Sergey Lavrov and Pakistan’s Hina Rabbani Khar on Thursday, Amir-Abdollahian said that what Afghanistan needs is “regional …

RFL/RE – Thousands of Iranian workers have signed a protest letter sent to President Ebrahim Raisi against an increase that would see the minimum wage rise by only about half of the current inflation rate. In the letter, which was signed by almost 20,000 workers, a request was made to immediately annul the increase and instead approve a new pay …

Iranwire – Well-known civil rights activist Sepideh Qoliyan, who is awaiting trial for “insulting” the Islamic Republic’s leader, has been subjected to physical abuse and threatened with rape while in custody, a relative told IranWire. Qoliyan was re-arrested last month, hours after she posted on Twitter a video of herself without the mandatory hijab shouting slogans against Supreme Leader Ali …

Iranwire – In 2018, dozens of courageous Iranian women protested the Islamic Republic’s repressive mandatory hijab laws by removing their headscarves in public and by placing them on sticks. The defiant protesters, who became known as the “Girls of Revolution Street,” were accused of “encouraging corruption” and received severe punishment for that. Two Iranian men, Reza Khandan, the husband of …