Al-Arabia – Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian will meet in Beijing on Thursday to discuss the next steps of their diplomatic rapprochement amid a China-brokered deal, Asharq al-Awasat newspaper cited an unidentified source in Riyadh as saying. The meeting will mark the first formal contact between Saudi Arabia and Iran’s top envoys since …

RFL/RE – Iran has appointed an ambassador to the United Arab Emirates for the first time in seven years as Tehran continues to attempt to thaw relations with several of its Gulf state neighbors. The state news agency IRNA reported that Reza Ameri, the head of the Foreign Ministry’s expatriates office, has taken up the post. He previously also held …

Iranwire – Hossein Souri, head of Iran’s National Boxing Federation, said in November 2022 he was refusing to return to his country in support of anti-government protests that had swept the country for weeks. Souri made the announcement while in Spain for a youth boxing tournament. Two young Iranian boxers participating in the competition also asked for asylum. In an …

Iranwire – Iranian forces have foiled a drone attack on a Ministry of Defense complex in the central city of Isfahan overnight, according to local media. The authorities say they could not confirm the reports. “The Amir al-Momenin complex in Isfahan was the target of a failed attack by a small drone which was foiled by defense systems,” the semi-official …

Iranwire – Enforcement of the Islamic Republic’s dress code is expected to reach a new level as the supreme leader’s representatives across the country wrote a letter to President Ebrahim Raisi on the matter and a Tehran official said the armed forces should be used to help enforce mandatory hijab laws. “The resources and capabilities of the people, Jihadi forces, …

VOA — Twenty Iranian schoolgirls were hospitalized Tuesday after the latest in a mysterious wave of poisoning attacks that have sickened thousands of pupils, state media reported. The girls were treated after suffering shortness of breath in Tabriz, the capital of the northwestern province of East Azerbaijan, reported the news agency IRNA. “Emergency experts were immediately dispatched to the scene after …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – In the 200 days since the start of the nationwide protests, at least 537 people have been killed by state forces according to Iran Human Rights records. The majority were killed in the first months of protests. The Islamic Republic has also executed four protesters after show trials and without due process, which were met …

Al-Monitor — Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) declared on Tuesday its intent to avenge the killing of two Iranian officers in Israeli air raids in Syria last week.  “The Zionists do know what happened to them in the past few hours,” declared Brig. Gen. Ramezan Sharif at a televised news conference in Tehran on Tuesday. Sharif did not elaborate on the …

londonworld.com – Vahid Beheshti hasn’t eaten in 41 days and has lost over 13kg (17% of his body mass). But the British-Iranian human rights activist and journalist remains determined to continue his hunger strike till the UK government adds Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to its list of international terrorist organisations. The 46-year-old has been camped outside the Foreign and Commonwealth …

Al-Arabia – The UN Human Rights Council denounced Tuesday the rising numbers of executions in Iran, including of people who received the capital punishment in connection with protests that have rocked the country. The top United Nations rights body approved a resolution voicing “deep concern at the reported surge in the number of executions, including of individuals sentenced to death …